Terminator X Says Modern Rap Is "Worst It's Ever Been"

by Andres Tardio

Terminator X says he left the music business because he was "fed up with the greed and cutthroat environment..this includes Public Enemy."

Terminator X, who worked with Public Enemy for years, recently spoke with Crazy Hood about why he decided to retire from the music industry.

"I left the music business because I was fed up with the greed and cutthroat environment that it is—this includes Public Enemy," Terminator X says. "That is not an environment I choose to be in. My family started an ostrich farm, which I participated in, but it is not the reason I left the music business."

Since he left the industry, Terminator X says the genre's gotten worse.

"I think the subject matter of modern Rap is, for the most part, the worst it’s ever been," he says. "Most of what I hear out there is either sex, violence, or drugs. I would be happy if they would simply find anything else to rap about. That would be a good start." 

Terminator X says he has a theory as to why the genre has deteriorated in his eyes. 

"The original Hip Hop has been lost to the music business," he says. "The original Hip Hop music was done out of love of Hip Hop music and culture. Rap music today is a product of the music business which decides what it thinks is sellable and marketable. The DJ was one of the most important elements of Hip-Hop. Now, DJs in Rap music are almost irrelevant. The DJ has gone the way of the R&B band. In my opinion, the original Hip Hop music has been altered forever. Times change. Culture develops and changes. Such is life. Music will carry on and change always as everything else does. I hope the DJ and scratching will return to Rap music."

hiphopdx.com