--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Old-school hip hop, i.e., whatever was…" description: "\"Old-school hip hop, i.e., whatever was popular when you were nineteen, is great. Everything since then is intolerable.\" — Teju Cole" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png" --- # Old-school hip hop, i.e., whatever was popular when you… ![“Old-school hip hop, i.e., whatever was popular when you were nineteen, is great. Everything since then is intolerable.” quote by Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/teju-cole-2851_everything_old-school-hip-hop-i-e-whatever-was-popu_2302372.png) > “Old-school hip hop, i.e., whatever was popular when you were nineteen, is great. Everything since then is intolerable.” [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author nostalgically praises the hip‑hop of his youth, dismissing later music as inferior. **In simple terms:** Old music is better than new. Key Takeaway Question why we idealize the past. Themes nostalgia cultural criticism music taste Mood critical contemplative Type analysis opinion When to use this quote - music playlists - cultural discussions - media analysis Key Concepts generational bias subjective aesthetics Questions to Reflect On - What makes music timeless? - How does nostalgia shape taste? A Different Perspective Such blanket judgments ignore artistic evolution. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hip hop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hip-hop/) [Old school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-school/) [Rapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rapper/) ## Related quotes > [I come from the golden age of hip hop when all the greats came on the scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coolio/i-come-from-the-golden-age-of-hip-hop-when-all-the-greats-came-on-the/) [Coolio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coolio/) > [The part of modern pop music I don't know much about is hip hop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mercer/the-part-of-modern-pop-music-i-don-t-know-much-about-is-hip-hop/) [James Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mercer/) > [Hip hop classes and ballet are what I've been keeping up with, and of course my usual abdominal workout, which consists of 500 sit-ups…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/briana-evigan/hip-hop-classes-and-ballet-are-what-i-ve-been-keeping-up-with-and-of/) Briana Evigan > [I realized how far-reaching the effect of hip hop was when I walked by a jewelry store named Bling in a small, rural town…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-stoute/i-realized-how-far-reaching-the-effect-of-hip-hop-was-when-i-walked/) [Steve Stoute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-stoute/) > [We can come from our own particular point of view and lay it down. We should not be throwing verbal rocks at each other.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandmaster-flash/we-can-come-from-our-own-particular-point-of-view-and-lay-it-down-we/) [Grandmaster Flash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandmaster-flash/) > [I live in a neighborhood that's really filled with sound - there's a lot of Jamaican auto body shops, and the guys next door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sxip-shirey/i-live-in-a-neighborhood-that-s-really-filled-with-sound-there-s-a/) [Sxip Shirey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sxip-shirey/) > [You have this ability in hip hop to be invincibly cool, and that is a part of G-Eazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-eazy/you-have-this-ability-in-hip-hop-to-be-invincibly-cool-and-that-is-a/) [G-Eazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-eazy/) > [The methodologies of examining hip hop are borrowed from sociology, politics, religion, economics, urban studies, journalism, communications theory, American studies, transatlantic studies, black studies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/the-methodologies-of-examining-hip-hop-are-borrowed-from-sociology/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I'm so sick of hearing that U.K. hip hop doesn't get credit and success when I'm working to get it - for me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estelle/i-m-so-sick-of-hearing-that-u-k-hip-hop-doesn-t-get-credit-and/) [Estelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estelle/) > [By denying its musical and artistic merit, hip hop's critics get to have it both ways: they can deny the legitimate artistic standing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/by-denying-its-musical-and-artistic-merit-hip-hop-s-critics-get-to/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I have thought about the next steps, and you know, they still don't know that I can dance. They don't know it, and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naima-adedapo/i-have-thought-about-the-next-steps-and-you-know-they-still-don-t/) [Naima Adedapo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naima-adedapo/) > [Somewhere down the line, the evil ones stole the legacy of hip hop and flipped it to a corporate type of hip hop. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/afrika-bambaataa/somewhere-down-the-line-the-evil-ones-stole-the-legacy-of-hip-hop-and/) [Afrika Bambaataa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/afrika-bambaataa/) > [I can dance. I like hip hop and stuff and jazz movements, but I'm horrible in ballet. I tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keke-palmer/i-can-dance-i-like-hip-hop-and-stuff-and-jazz-movements-but-i-m/) [Keke Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keke-palmer/) > [Early '90s hip hop is my thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-alcott/early-90s-hip-hop-is-my-thing/) [Dylan Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-alcott/) > [In hip hop, it's a lot more about lacing a hot track. I start it, I help mix it, I help write it, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-blanco/in-hip-hop-it-s-a-lot-more-about-lacing-a-hot-track-i-start-it-i-help/) [Benny Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-blanco/) ## More by Teju Cole > [One of the difficulties of photography is that it is much better at being explicit than at being reticent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/one-of-the-difficulties-of-photography-is-that-it-is-much-better-at/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [Note-taking is important to me: a week's worth of reading notes (or "thoughts I had in the shower" notes) is cumulatively more interesting than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/note-taking-is-important-to-me-a-week-s-worth-of-reading-notes-or/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [It's an Obama book, certainly. I was delighted, and astonished, to hear recently that he was reading it. It's a book about a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/it-s-an-obama-book-certainly-i-was-delighted-and-astonished-to-hear/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [Because I'm an art historian, I have some experience of writing that comes out of close attention. That's what really art history is. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/because-i-m-an-art-historian-i-have-some-experience-of-writing-that/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [For purposes of marketing, writers are designated as poets, novelists, or something else. But writing is about matchmaking, an attempt to marry sensations with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/for-purposes-of-marketing-writers-are-designated-as-poets-novelists/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“Most of the people around me yesterday were middle-aged or old. 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On the best days, all three.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/writing-as-writing-writing-as-rioting-writing-as-righting-on-the-best/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“The site was a palimpsest, as was all the city, written, erased, rewritten...Generations rushed through the eye of the needle, and I, one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-site-was-a-palimpsest-as-was-all-the-city-written-erased/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“As I contemplated the silent world before me, I thought of the many romantic ideas attached to blindness. Ideas of unusual sensitivity and genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/as-i-contemplated-the-silent-world-before-me-i-thought-of-the-many/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [Always say 'no pun intended' to draw attention to the intended pun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/always-say-no-pun-intended-to-draw-attention-to-the-intended-pun/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [In a sense, Open City is a kind of Wunderkammer, one of those little rooms assembled with bric-a-brac by Renaissance scholars. I don't mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/in-a-sense-open-city-is-a-kind-of-wunderkammer-one-of-those-little/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [One of the chief characteristics of a mob is its quickness. It is sudden. 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