The Old Slim Shady

Recently on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS, he had Aretha Franklin on as his guest, and they were discussing her recent sold out shows in Los Angeles.

While watching them discuss her selling out every show, I started thinking about which present artists could pull this sort of thing off twenty or thirty years from now. There may be plenty of bands and artists that are popular today that might be able to fill up arenas thirty years later. But could rappers do this? I'm not so sure. Somehow, I can't picture Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg performing "Nothing But a G Thang" in a packed arena when they're 60. I can't picture 20,000 old people paying $50 or more to see that or Eminem or OutKast or other rappers. I don't think this has any bearing on the quality of the music, but hip hop seems so much of a youth thing, much moreso than rock or other genres of music in which "singing" is involved. Maybe I'll be wrong about this. But I just can't see it.