Why you're seeing more and more rap nostalgia today
CBC Arts | Posted: June 22, 2023 11:17 PM | Last Updated: June 22, 2023
Lifelong rap fans Dalton Higgins and Ian Andre Espinet discuss the rise of hip-hop nostalgia concerts
Whether it's packaged tours featuring your favorite hip-hop acts of the past, or online events like Verzuz featuring rap legends going head-to-head in a live concert-style battle, rap nostalgia is big business right now.
With Nelly's Hot In Herre festival touching down in Toronto this weekend, and LL Cool J's own branded throwback concert The F.O.R.C.E. Live coming to Canada later this summer, we figured it was a good time to dig into the rap nostalgia phenomenon.
Culture critic Dalton Higgins and event producer Ian Andre Espinet discuss the rise of hip-hop nostalgia concerts and what they might say about the way we value older rap demos today.
You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Panel produced by Ty Callender.
For more stories about the 50th anniversary of hip-hop — including Tom Power's conversations with some of the artists who witnessed and shaped the genre — check out Hip-Hop at 50 here.