The 40/40 Club of Rap
Congratulations to Killer Mike. With the June 3rd release of Run the Jewels 4, Mike has officially joined the 40/40 Club of Rap. Which means he’s rapped on at least 40 tracks released since turning age 40. Lots of guys rap a little after turning 40. But the 40/40 Club means it’s a life choice, not a fluke.
Elder rap has come a long way since the early days of hip hop. Back when Chuck D was 28, and at the peak of his powers, he was reluctant to reveal his age because he thought the kids would tune him out. But 2020 is a time when senior citizen rock bands sell out arenas and middle aged dudes on skateboards aren’t uncommon. So it makes sense that once rap matured, mature rappers became possible.
2 Habits of Highly Effective Elder-Rappers
1. Work with good producers. Because no matter what your age is, good production is
half the battle.
2. Rap about cool shit or rap cool about whatever shit, but never rap lame about lame shit, especially not over a lame-ass track. No one wants to hear you spit about being a grumpy old man over a janktety ass beat. Which would seem to go without saying. But spoiler alert—there’s at least one example where that rule was not followed…
Methodology
Figuring out who’s in the 40/40 Club is no exact science. Combing discographies is hard work. Since it’s damn near impossible to figure out the exact date a song was recorded, I went by release date. I tried to find and count all post-40 guest raps (aka features) and discount tracks that were actually skits. Mistakes do happen. But until someone proves me otherwise to produce an even better list, here is the 40/40 Club of Rap—with links to some samples of post-40 output.
2 Chainz—At 6’5”, he’s also a member of the Tall Rappers club, so he has options on a Friday night. Even at 40+ he’s a “Threat 2 Society”, albeit one who’s considerate enough to break down proper jump shot form for any youngsters who might be listening.
Black Thought—The voice sounds a little raspier but the lyrics and skills remain. “Get Outlined” and “Conception” (featuring Reek Ruffin) are two of several good songs from Thought’s 2018 album with Salaam Remi, Streams of Thought Vol. 2, which almost sounds like it could be a Roots album. It’s actually tighter than anything than anything the Roots have done in years.
Bun B—20 years after UGK outshined Jay-Z on “Big Pimpin’”, Bun B is still keepin' it “Trill Over Everything.” “Slow it Down” is more of a smoke and chill song.
Chuck D—Not sure if the kids are listening, but Chuck is pushing 60 and somehow still rappin’, with or without Flav. I’m here for a Public Enemy movie and classic PE. I may not be all im for senior Chuck D solo albums. “Cavemanic” is a solid 2018 song, but if you’re like me, you’re probably more inclined to revisit the fierce version of Chuck on old PE records
Del the Funky Homosapien—Hit the big 4-0 with “Mental Fitness” intact. Might not be able to consistently bring it like he could in his prime, but there’s no shame in that. His most recent output was Gate 13, collaboration with producer Amp Live, which isn’t Del and a band, thought it sounds like it is. Check out “Get Some of Dis” and you can decide if that ‘s a good thing. If you’re into sci-fi rap, Del and Dan the Automator’s 2nd Deltron album, Event 2, released in 2013, is some post-40 Del work worth checking out as well (and if you like that, you’d be crazy not to check out the original Deltron 3030 album.
DJ Quik—With his laid back vocal style and 70s soul-oriented beats, it seems like he could rap another 20 or 30 years. “Pet Semetary” is an example of that. It’s also that he does shows a with a band now, meaning it’s not all on him to energize the crowd. That being said, Quik might still feel the need to “Move Something.”
E-40—40 is still in the game at 50+. At 43, he was still a “Barbarian” on the mic. On “40 Water,” he raps “I heard 40’s 40 but 40 don’t act his age,” something pretty much all middle aged dudes can all relate to.
Eminem—2013’s “The Monster” was a post-40, Number 1 Hit with Rhianna. Monsters remind me of zombies which reminds me of an Eminem song I like called “In Your Head,” which samples “Zombie” by the Cranberries. “Nowhere Fast” is in the radio-friendly Em category —lady singer on the hook—and includes a somewhat surprising, but welcome, anti-NRA rant.
Freddie Foxxx (aka Bumpy Knuckles)—“Inspired by Fire” is good. A DJ Premier beat—even one that sounds like it came straight off the Preemo strings-and-durms assembly line—always helps and Freddie sounds roughly the same as he used to. On the other hand, Freddie has a song called ”Grumpy Old Man.” He broke both the rules! The beat sounds tired, he rhymes slow, it’s a called “Grumpy Old Man,” but when Freddie nails lines like “i’m lyrical like I’m 3-Pac,” it kind of works.
Ghostface Killah—A perfect example of how to hit middle age in stride is Ghost’s album Apollo Kids, which was released just after his 40th. Includes “Purified Thoughts” and “Superstar”, a collabo with Busta Rhymes.
Inspectah Deck—One of the very best elder rappers in my opinion. If you liked Deck 25 years ago, you’re gonna like him now as half of the group Czarface. “Hazmat Rap” features some classic Deck on the opening verse. With Czarface, you can always count on pro wrestling references, comic book similes, and Czar operating a jobs program for other elder rappers like Doom, Ghost, and the GZA. In 2015, Method Man even found time in between acting gigs to join in on “Nightcrawler.”
Jay-Z—Looking for an elder Hov song? You can find one. I have faith in you. Alright, fine. How ‘bout “The Story of OJ?” And if you can handle Kanye, Watch the Throne represents post 40 output for Jay. For that album, I’m partial to “Otis.”
Killer Mike—You should really check out all of the entire new RTJ album. You can get it for free at the Run the Jewels website and then have the option to give money to a recommended charity. But if you need a gateway drug, check out “Ooh Laa Laa” featuring Greg Nice and DJ Premier. For some angrier RTJ, check out JU$T, which features Pharrell and Zack de la Rocha
Kool Keith—would it surprise you to learn that Kool Keith and Doom have a collabo song called “Superhero”? Then you’ve apparently never heard of either one of them.
KRS-One—In 2007 KRS did collabo with former Marly Marl called “Rising to the Top.” It’s pretty good, provided you can embrace the tradition of rappers horribly singing
their own hooks (which KRS has always embraced). It’s also noteworthy that South Bronx’s KRS collaborated with one of his old Queensbridge rivals. I also enjoyed “Forever” featuring his old pals Channel Live. But if you’re planning a deep dive, keep in mind, KRS was preachy even when he was young, so expect plenty of KRS rappin’ about the good old days and how central he is to them.MF Doom—When he was in his early 30s, Doom rapped that he’d “probably still be speaking in rhymes as an old fart.” 16 years later, he has been proven to be correct. And since “speaking in rhymes” is a good description of his rap style, who knows who long he’ll decide to keep going and how many new alias’s he’ll decide to rap under? He’s not exactly cranking out the albums at his 2003-2004 levels anymore, but he does still pop up in features. “Avalanche” is a
song with regular producer collaborator Madlib. Doom also did a 2018 album with Czarface, which included “Nautical Depth,” a song where Deck leads off strong and Doom bats 2nd. Discussion topic: Is Deck the Rickey Henderson of rappers?Raekwon—Rae’s 2017 album “The Wild” has some good songs. “Nothing” is a classic Rae criminal POV, “Crown of Thorns” is more uplifting, and for something completing different, check out “Marvin” a song about Marvin Gay featuring CeeLo Green.
Rick Ross—Has a voice that should age well, and as long as he keeps rapping, we should all be able to live vicariously through big baller fantasy/actual William Leonard Roberts vacay songs like “Santorini Greece.”
Royce Da 5’9”—Marshall Mathers’ old friend has had a long solo career and has made 2 PRhyme albums with DJ Premier. “Power” is an energetic song about surviving a dysfunctional household growing up. “Loved Ones” is a PRhyme an interesting crime boss POV song with the crime boss wife POV handled by Rhapsody.
Slug—Atmosphere’s “My Best Half” is rap rarity, a tribute to a rapper’s wife. with a head nodding bass line.
Snoop—The Tall Rapper Club President may smoke a lot, but that doesn’t mean he can’t stay ”Focused”.
Tech N9ne—KC’s finest still raps athletically as ever, as he demonstrates on “Outdone” “Fragile”, is a slow jam 2013 collab with Kendrick Lamar and Kendall Morgan where Tech rips his verse to shreds.
Too $hort—Did you Short Dog was still rappin’? Me either. Did you know Short was still rappin’ about pimpin’? I had no idea. Any guess what the song “19,999” might refer to? (if you click on the video, it’s old Short Dog style cartoon characters)
Future Members of the 40/40 Club?
1. Big Boi—We can hope, but an Outkast reunion is probably not happening. That said, Big Boi showed he still has something left in the tank on his 2017 album Boomiverse. Has the age, needs more songs.
2. Nas—His voice and style should age well.
3. J-Cole—35 years old. Seems on track.
4. Freddie Gibbs—Soon to be 38 year-old just dropped his 2nd album in 12
months, this time with Alchemist instead of Mablib.
5. El-P—Meets the age requirement, but by my count he’s 1 song short! It’s possible I missed
a feature somewhere, but just to be safe, we’re going to need RTJ5 to make it official.
6. Esoteric—The other rapper in Czarface brings balance to the force. Another album or two, and he’s in.
7. Jean Grae—Jean is 40+, she just needs more songs. Then we’ll be finally have a lady in the club. Nikki Minaj and Rhapsody are 37 year-olds we’ve each released an album in the past 2 years, so they’re also possibilities.
8. Pusha T—Pusha and Kanye may not be able to make another album as tight as the 22 minute Daytona, but they should probably try anyway. ATheoretically, more Kanye producing time means less time for all the other stuff Kanye does.
Czarface rappers Inspectah Deck and Esoteric.
40/40 Club member Killer Mike with club guests (and potential members Andre 3000, Big Boi, and El-P.