Rich Homie Quan has been getting a lot of hate for forgetting the lyrics to "Get Money" during VH1 Hip Hop Honors tribute to Notorious B.I.G. The Roots' Questlove is defending the Atlanta rapper's flub, saying the problem wasn't with Quan, but with society's treatment of art as a disposable commodity.
In a post on Instagram, Questlove defended Rich Homie Quan. "A lot of you "real hip hop heads" seem to magically think that the music of our prime is gonna just translate on dopeness alone. I mean EVERYbody should know this song right? It's the Hood National Anthem. Even Big's rival had to reference "Get Money" to clap back at him. So how it all fall apart? I don't blame RHQ. I blame us," Questlove wrote. "I don't mean shame on radio & media programmers either for these diminished returns. I literally mean you and I. We are to blame."
"We watch what we eat... but won't treat the music we consume like we do food. You need BALANCE! If you haven't made a playlist for about 20-50 people in your lifetime (mixtape/spotify/tidal/apple/etc) then you failed hip hop culture. --not sayin you gotta be all deep making Dilla b side Japanese import levels of stuff. But something as simple as "La Di Da Di" can easily be forgotten in these days & times. YOU gotta pay it forward," Questlove explained.
"America is a disposable art society that makes genius innovations only to toss out yesterday's creations tomorrow," he said. "And the way we mass consume entertainment, it's a wonder we can separate quality from trash."
You can read Questlove's full post here.
Rich Homie Quan has himself apologized for his performance, which he says was the result of "nerves and technical difficulties." Singer-songwriter Faith Evans, the widow of the late Notorious B.I.G., has since urged Biggie fans to "cut him [Rich Homie Quan] a break," saying that while she thinks Quan could benefit from learning more about hip hop history, she thinks his flub was an honest mistake.
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com
