Rap’s Younger Generation Deserves More Credit Than it Gets

Rap conversations about generations tend to sound similar. At times, they can have a dismissive undertone.

Older music heads talk about the music they grew up on with pride. Younger artists are often placed under a microscope, expected to prove they understand the history they’re stepping into. Somewhere along the way, the conversation turns into a standoff between “then” and “now.”

But sometimes the gap between those worlds closes in a way that feels natural and less tense.

The latest episode of The Almanac of Rap, featuring producer 9th Wonder and burgeoning rapper Reuben Vincent, challenges this conversation. When host Donwill sits down with the two North Carolina natives, the discussion lands on their joint effort, Welcome Home. Donwill points out something that feels rare in rap conversations today: the project feels like a generational alignment.

For Donwill, seeing a veteran like 9th Wonder working alongside a younger voice like Vincent was something beautiful to watch unfold.

9th Wonder agrees, but he also sees the collaboration as something bigger. For him, the album challenges the idea that younger artists aren’t capable of depth or intention.

“It’s also going to show all the cats my age that it’s more of him that exists,” 9th explains. “We just have so much of a bad taste in our mouth when it comes to, ‘Man, the young generation doesn’t know nothin’. All they wanna hear is this and that.’ That’s not true. I see it all the time in my classes.”

That perspective carries weight coming from someone who’s spent years teaching students about hip-hop and its history at places like Duke University, North Carolina Central University and the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports & Entertainment. It also reinforces a truth that often gets lost in broader conversations about rap: younger artists aren’t disconnected from the culture’s roots. Many of them are actually studying it closely.

Reuben Vincent knows that assumption pretty well. Especially considering that he spent about 20 of his 24 years listening to rap.

Over the years, listeners have often been surprised when they learn how young he is. At just 24, his music carries a level of reflection and intentionality that some people associate with artists much older and further along in their careers.

But for Vincent, that reaction says more about perception than reality.

“A lot of people, when they hear my music, they’ll be like, ‘I didn’t know you were 24,’” he explains. “Which I respect and appreciate because it’s a compliment. But when my first project Love Is War came out, Pitchfork did a review and said, ‘Ain’t no way a 22-year-old is talking about all this stuff.’”

For Vincent, the comparison isn’t complicated at all.

“How old was Tupac? How old was Nas? How old was OutKast when they were making those records?” he asks. “They were my age. They were talking about things with depth and intention.”

That reminder reframes the entire conversation. Rap’s most celebrated voices were often stepping into the threshold of adulthood when they made their most impactful work. The difference today isn’t necessarily the artists themselves. It’s the assumptions placed on them.

And moments like this one on The Almanac of Rap show that the divide people talk about so often might not be as wide as it seems.

Listen to The Almanac of Rap on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and subscribe on YouTube to watch full episodes each week.

Check out Season 4’s latest episode of The Almanac of Rap with 9th Wonder and Reuben Vincent here, and watch the full episode below: