The Old Head Tier List 2023 

NES Dreamcast would be a hard ass name tho

“They are 35 years old and picking their kids up from school.” Brother, could you PLEASE leave me alone

Am I the only one who would be interested in hearing Old Head rappers rapping about Old head shit? Talking about regrets, life changes, having conversations with themselves from previous works-- idk, I think the contrast within the discography would be kinda fire.

FD is living proof that when you say "I'm not gonna make the mistakes of the previous generation when I'm their age," you can actually make good on that promise.

Being a teacher, you realize you are an old head automatically it happened to me, my third year of teaching I told kids Lupe Fiasco was my favorite rapper. They told me I was too 2000-late to be 2000-late-teen. I felt like an old lion forced to leave the herd. 🥲never recovered since 🥲

I think we can agree that Andre's song about his colonoscopy would probably be fire.

I think what consistently gets left out of the Andre 3000 conversation is that he is an ARTIST! Rap is a medium. If he is not inspired to produce rap music, for whatever reason, we should not judge him. Any artist can attest to how it feels when you lose the love. It is his genius and integrity to the art that made him so beloved in the first place. Who knows, maybe he will one day feel compelled to rap again but the fact that he is still creating is wonderful.

I think people understand Charleston is an agent. The problem is a lot of people agree with him and feel the same way about black people that he does.

“Brunch on Sundays” is an amazing song by Nas. I wish Andre understood that it’s okay to rap about everyday life. He could be like “Raising a child with Miss Badu. You laughed at my flute, but the joke’s on you. ‘Cause this peace I’ve found is so profound. You just blowin’ hot air while I blow wind sounds.” Idk 😂😂😂 he would say this 1000 times better, but you get the point.

New oldhead symptom is starting a positive podcast with your wife Why FD's locs looking so luxurious

I think you nailed it talking about how some old heads forgot it was supposed to be about being better than your elders, not becoming them.

NES Dreamcast is lowkey a fire rap name though

Andre is like the wisest rapper ever to have done it & is just so cool. I remember seeing him talk about why he wasn't doing a hip hop album and basically explaining that in order to do hip hop you have to be hip and he doesn't think he's hip anymore. Here in the coolest mother-funker on the planet explain why he's not cool it's probably the coolest thing I have ever seen.

Nas is 50 and is still putting out great stuff

Andre is aging like FINE wine though. damn!!!

Andre coming out with a solo flute album in 2023 is so on brand. I love him for it.

To be dead honest i don't got a dog in this fight since my music selection is some weird shit made by some german dude in his basement in the 90s but i always appreciate FDs takes

I have an uncle who is an Antivaxxer and is a former Trump supporter, so everything you said about Charleston White hits home unfortunately. 😂😂

I agree with you on a lot of points... no slander against big boi shall prosper. Outkast worked so well because 3000 and Big Boi were opposites but they worked well as a team.

I think we look at hiphop with such a narrow lens and that is a big reason why hiphop continues to be in a state of arrested development. Hiphop is art and is ageless. Certain aspects of hiphop (club music, etc) should be left to the youth. But why the hell can’t a 50 year old rap? What about being older would make us think they have nothing to offer? Shouldnt it be the exact opposite? It’s weird.

Budden said I believe music is a frequency like no shit bro 💀

Before even watching: Charleston is a self-admitted rapist. He's bottom tier no matter what

An album about Andre 3k getting an oil change would be more compelling than 90% of what’s currently out there.

Simple. Hip hop has been commercialized. We don’t have control of what popular. With that said, anything that is catchy will be played and anything challenging or “different” will not.

Tapping into the youthful need to compare everything on a tier list is genius

Damn, the locs looking majestic

Speaking as an old punk rocker the energy is always out there and someone is carrying the torch, just gotta find them

Country songs about pick up truck and the resulting sales of pick up trucks in this country has done more harm than any references to violence in music.

I honestly do want to hear Andre rap about colonoscopies.

That Charleston white take is SPOT ON!!! I've been telling folks he is Candace Owens if she was your drunk uncle at a cookout

joe budden is lowkey a manosphere guy

Qrs Tv screen sounds exactly like krs one, who is in fact one of the oldest of heads

As a younger head, KRS was one of the OG's to have 3 letters in the beginning of his alias...hell if not the first.

If we want hip hop to be fully taken seriously it can't just be a "youth" genre that people grow out of. There needs to be longevity there.

"Y'all enjoy that" 😂 THIS IS ENTIRELY MY VIBE *puts on Tribe*

I felt called out when you said no one under 30 was looking forward to Welcome 2 Collegrove lmao

Andre is taking a good path. While I agree he should engage with the next gen, I love that he is experimenting, evolving, exploring music beyond the boxes some folks seem to want him to stay in.

As an old head, yes, I agree. We are not in the best space right now but we trying. We trying.

People don't give enough credit to Uncle Charlie. This man has been consistently making music and hits for over four decades while staying connected with new and upcoming artists. He's been a progressive icon for nearly half a century. It irks me because I feel like he's not talked about enough when it comes to his ability connecting with the youth. First name Charlie, last name Wilson, S tier oldhead.

My 2 cents for what it's worth. I think the producer has out-talented the MC for so long and producers have been background characters for so long that they're now catching views and streams for their own work in genres and scenes where producers are front stage (EDM).

Y’all ain’t ready for the new NES Dreamcast tape

Nas and Andre 3000 are true artists. They produce when inspired. Being in high demand won't convince them otherwise.

So are we okay with Hip-Hop forever being a genre for young people? I thought it was said because Hip-Hop itself was young, but as we got closer to it being 50 years old we saw rappers stay in the genre longer or still able to release good music. Its confusing that Andre put hip-hop in a box like that, because none of his guest verses were young sounding. Just sounded like a mature man rapping. And if you go back, even when he was critical of the culture, the verse was loved and praised.

Busta Rhymes just had an interview with Diary of a CEO a couple weeks ago and it just popped up in my feed yesterday. I didn't finish, but while he did have some "back in my day" moments, he explained that the change was because they had guidance and accountability from the Old Heads, while kids today don't. I thought that was a really honest take

Charleston white almost worse than Candice owens cause he figured out to appeal to more black people and idk how i feel about it. I saw him 85 south show and it hurt my spirit

When FD said "hmaninmamamananemenanmea" I FELT THAT 🔥

When it comes to the well being of hip hop, we need to figure out how to bring back artist development without being exploitative. Also this streaming era is kinda trash too. Like in terms of chasing algorithms. Just make good music.

Thank you for the Charleston White takes. I hear older black people that I respect say Charleston White is real for what he says, I thought I was going crazy.

A video with you and Shawn Cee would be really dope!

18:00 … please remember. Hip-Hop is made up of four important elements. The *DJ*, the *MC*, the *B-Boy/Girl* and the *Graffiti Artist*. The backbone of Hip-Hop is the DJ and the music. *The DJ* - The music was designed to bring people of colour together and use our cultures as the music foundation for all of us to stand on. With the music and common beats, we find community. We made something that was ours. We humbled ourselves to the music we loved as took parts that spoke to us and brought it to the table as DJs. *The MC* - is the voice of the people. The voice asked only one question; “What are YOU going to do. Hip-*Hop*. The *Hop* is the movement.. the doing, the action. What action are YOU going to take. Someone DJs better than you, what are YOU going to do about it? Someone is living the dream you see for your life, what will you do about it? The cops are killing us in the streets, what will you DO? The MC is the voice that calls out this challenge to make ourselves better, faster and stronger.. so we can survive. *The B-Boy/Girl* - represent the response to the MC’s call to action. We dance better, move stronger and faster, we unite as teams to show the culture that we are stronger. We unite and protect ourselves from injustice and oppression. We *move* as one. When the movers and breakers started getting arrested in the streets for doing what we do best, express, the movement evolved to illustration. *The Graffiti Artist* - was born when racism tried to stop the movement. Racism did not realize that movement is louder than words. Movement is so loud we use it to write our names to say we were here. To say, “I AM”. Graffiti is the silent movement and action of words. The silent protest that says, “no matter what racism tries to do to me, I AM STILL HERE. WE ARE STILL HERE.” In order to understand where the culture of Hip-Hop is going, we must first understand the above truths of our four elements. Take what is *Hip* and make it your own, *Hop*. Earth, Fire, Water, Wind.

This is where I think Desus & Mero were good examples. Middle-aged guys who were in the hip hop entertainment/commentary space and were open and gracious to younger rappers. Sometimes the best people equipped to platform younger rappers may not be older rappers themselves but rather people who understand the culture and are good interviewers. I will disagree with you in OutKast. There is no OutKast without Big Boi. There is no Love Below without Speakerboxxx. They,are a string of classic albums together because of their unique chemistry and presentation.

I really enjoyed this video. You are so right about generational conversations and not just about music. The "back in my day" can be applied to any topic and its wrong. It is not back in your day it is today. If you are an old head I am ancient because I was in college when you were born. I have been around since the beginning of Hip Hop. I am with you - today's music is what they like so who am I to comment. If you think your peer group got issues with Gen Z you know what types of conversations I have to endure with my peer group. I get into so many discussions with them but they always lose because I lived when they lived so I know 1st hand what was really happening. I just retired from teaching HS Computers and Business a career I didn't start until I was 50. The 1st thing I said to my classes was I am not a hypocrite - you will not hear me lie about how the students were so much better back in my day. That statement alone , I learned from students that i saw after they graduated, made them want to listen to what I was trying to say in class. We have to talk to each other not at each other. Keep up the great work!

NES Dreamcast would be a fire ass name actually

As a 25 year old living in the Philly area I can say that Meek is heavily influential on people younger than even me especially in that scene but I understand what you were saying on that take and what Dee 1 was trying to get across

Big Boi always catching shade. Man is a certified legend.

This whole intro lmaoooo Making my morning 😂

I wholeheartedly disagree with being too old to rap. I just feel like maybe 3stacks doesn’t have a life worth rapping about now that he’s older. But you can definitely be 50 and put out heat, the question is will anyone under 30 care

Dee-1 has said repeatedly that he's PURPOSEFULLY aiming his discord towards artists of his generation, because the youngers still have time for growth & maturity; whereas old niggas aren't showing the much needed development 💯.

I’m 30. While working we had.a 19-20 year old in our crew. He asked me for some advice about the job. After I gave him advice, he said “I appreciate that unc.” That happened months ago and I still lose sleep over it lmao

I’m a old head and I find being associated with Mr White and Budden highly offensive and brutally unnecessary! 😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I will stick to my forever underground and indie crushes Little Brother, Oddisee, Black Milk, and Big KRIT! 💕

I think Andre is 100% wrong about not having anything to rap about at his age. Nas has been disproving that for the last 5 years or so with the Magic and Kings Disease albums. I think his real issue is the fact that he feels a level of insecurity in his craft and that’s understandable when you reached such heights at such a young age but say that. That don’t true and make it seem like you have less to talk about now than you did then and DEFINITELY stop talking down on the state of hip hop when you alone have to power to shift it but don’t do it

2:38 - 2:43 for a moment i got distracted cause it sounded like you were legitimately spitting a verse

Hip hop is not a Young Person's sport it is an expression of relatable content to the masses. Hearing something so relatable or jarring that it makes your mind wander that was true rap. Rhythm and poetry

The real travesty is old heads thinking they leaving any sort of ‘legacy’ other than one of being silent on Afrika Bambatta

I just have a problem with limiting rap to being a "young person's game". It's a limitation we don't put on any other art form and, given how young hip-hop is as a culture and as a movement I would say it's premature. The oldest rappers are in their 60's-70's and while I don't think we should be taking qeues from them, it's sad that even someone like Andre 3000 feels like he doesn't have a place. If he doesn't have another album in him thats fine, he's an artist not a machine, but to say it's because he's too old feels like a cop out *to me*

I recently found your channels and have been binging. We’re the same age and I didn’t realize how much I was missing these kinds of conversations in my life. Cheers!

I was around for the NORE “what what” era lol. I was like 8 or 9 yrs old but I was there. Young AF rapping Super Thug wondering who the hell Pharrell was in the video talking 😂. To be born in the late 80s, raised in the 90s and in high school and college during the early to mid 2000s. I’m a proud young-ish old head .

This why that Snoop/Chief Keef sit down will go down in history 😂

That earthy beat is so hard. I can’t stop dancing at work lol

This video is a nice balance between light-hearted and sincere social commentary.

Had no idea Nebula existed. Thanks for the plug. There's some good stuff there.

Even the fact that NES Dreamcast was your go to reference shows just how much of an old head you are lmao. You gotta go younger like PS GameCube

Great video but I also feel like GenX is the worse generation of old heads especially now that Hiphop/Gender wars topics makes up 95% of black celebrities podcast…. The pivot podcast has the conversations with young guys you talking about

So incredibly glad i found your channel great points!

Hi FD! I love your channel and I wanna say as a 29 yo I love that you chose to bridge the gap between the youth & older adults. I agree with you 100% when you said “you don’t solve the youths problems by designing things for them without their input”. Thank you for understanding that. Too many “oldheads” I’ve been around love to think that they know what’s best for us (even though I’ll be 30 next year) and instead of talking TO us they like to talk FOR us. As if we’re not intelligent enough to articulate what we really need in our own lives.

I believe Andre could absolutely rap about Grown man topics... Love, faith, leadership, resilience etc...but to each is their own

Big Boi actually just put out an interview with J.I.D. and I do believe Andre is in dialogue with a lot of younger artists, he basically says as much in one of his newer interviews. However it seems like he’s not interested in having public conversations in general but just had a few for the sake of promoting his new project. I do love the point about the dialogue between the youth and old heads tho, seems like it could be a good opportunity for both sides.

I love the message. I'm starting a podcast at 43 as well, my 2nd one. My first was with a friend about nostalgia of the 90's in general, and most of it ended up being "man, times are not like they used to be." Maybe so, but the times don't END now unless you let them, and it's up to the creative types to use the young ones to springboard off of sometimes. I'll be looking for that new podcast of yours. Have fun, for yourself, forget about saturation in the podcast-o-sphere.

It’s 100% about engagement… I’m 38, I chat about music and the culture with the young bulls just to keep in touch, connected. It’s was the same problem with rock, rap, jazz… old heads never really try to understand.

I didn't realize we're the same age... I'm only halfway through, but I think I'm going to need a 6 hour version of this where you go through the entire cast of Def Jam: Fight For New York.

Hip hop isn’t in a rough space, the mainstream has just become less culturally relevant to fans of hip hop. Old heads are used to the mainstream of hip hop being the absolute thought leaders. That is not the case today. The biggest artists are really more like pop stars. The music itself is in a better place then ever. There are more great artists then ever before. Especially because of the ever more relevant international scene.

I have been waiting for this video all week!

"What A Job" with, Devin The Dude, Snoop Dogg, and Andre 3000, is the most enigmatic mystery of the mystical to ever emerge from this green earth. Rivaled only by -maybe- Chase with DOOM, Kool Keith, and Canibus. And some dude with the name of an herb. Parsley. Cory Ander. Something.

The problem with older rappers is they’re either completely out of touch and release a Magna Carta or they reflect on their life and release a 4:44...

Fd not being able to decipher yeat from DaBaby is the most old head thing I’ve heard him say

This one B side, this one is really a masterpiece. I cannot think of a single take in this video that I can in good faith disagree with bc truly, hip hop seems to be in a “passing the torch” era and this video not only highlights the differences in opinion across the “old head” community but also highlights how to ACTUALLY attempt to be the change that they claim to want to see. Truly touching stuff.

This is a lifesaving conversation, my brotha!!! We too often dictate the conversation as old heads instead of letting the drum circle invoke real village love! ✊🏾

Had to check out your student Franc Mono. I'm liking what I'm hearing so far.

This really is the tier list I never knew I needed

I don’t think it’s fair to say that Andre 3000 _needs_ to be in the hip hop game, or that he _needs_ to be addressing the youth. If he’s moved on from hip hop, he’s moved on. I understand the desire to branch out and explore beyond your starting point, as well as not be pigeonholed into feeling like you’re faking it just to remain in the game. I’d rather he pour his heart and soul into something he feels passionate about than just half-ass something because that’s what’s expected. To say that he _has_ to remain in one genre is like saying despite moving to a different state, you have to still pay taxes in your old one because that’s where you grew up and you owe it to your hometown to keep funding them.

for a second, because of the way you introduced it, i totally thought you were joking about starting a podcast! 🤭 but i am very excited to hear that!

Bro, you had me CRYING with the N.O.R.E ad lib! 😂

Love this video and agree with everything you sayin here, but i think we needa give andre 3000 more credit on the new album. he didnt just wake up one day and decide to do something cool he saw somewhere, he actually immersed himself in a vibrant community of people (mostly younger than him) making ambient music in los angeles. everything about him linking up with leaving records and all those musicians is so cool and it needs to be talked about more

Big Boi and JID had an interview together about a month ago. Haven't watched it though, so I'm not sure if what they were talking about is what you're looking for.

just started watching fd and he's already one of my favorite old heads. preciate you unc

The 50 second mark rap is literally the best rap I’ve ever heard 😭😭😭

Ready for Mr. And Mrs. Signifier podcast.

Finally a black person who calls out Charleston white bullshit.

You may never see this comment, but I really wanted to share this with you because I find value in it. I'm 30 years old, and my brother-in-law is 22, one day on a long road trip I challenged ourselves to play albums, or mixtapes that we thought had no skips. And then go back and explain why it had no skips. Of course neither of us agreed on a single album on the ride to the destination we had. But on the Ride back, we started to have similar, or the same artist in our list, but maybe different albums. We literally bridge the gap after listening to music for almost 4 hours straight. I had to understand what he valued in music, in the sound that he cared about, while also sharing what I valued in music and the soundscape that I appreciate it most. He will still send me music that I think is trash, like Yeat or playboi carti just so he can get a quick laugh. But he will also follow up with some smaller artists who are much younger than I am and I find value in the music itself, there are a few artists that have been on the XXL that's in the past 3 years I actually have listened to full albums from, it may not have been great, but I understand the value of it now. In return, my brother-in-law now has a greater appreciation for the artist that I like, and even when I do music myself, he has a better idea of the image and what I'm pursuing and why things like lyrics are so important. It made me Love him and hip hop even more.

Glad i found this channel 🤣 great stuff