Papoose on New Music With Claressa Shields and Ageism in Hip-Hop

Papoose truly embodies the essence of hip-hop in every aspect. Ahead of his new album, set to be released this month, the Brooklyn-bred mainstay discusses his unwavering passion for the culture, ageism within the rap game, hopping in the booth with his girlfriend, legendary boxer Claressa Shields, and much more in a new interview for XXL‘s Talk It Up series powered by DistroKid.

With over two decades of elite lyricism under his belt, Papoose remains a student of the game, driven by the love of the sport rather than dollars and cents.

“Hip-hop is something you live, rap is something you do,” Papoose adamantly explains in the video below. “I’m a part of the culture, which is a word everybody throws around, but I grew up in this. So, growing up in this, it’s different than being attracted to this by money. People don’t understand. Guys like myself, and a whole other army of others out there, we would do this without one dollar involved. It’s a way of life.”

While Papoose prides himself on mentoring up-and-coming artists, such as his Wynn Records signee CuhDeeJah, he believes that the common notion of hip-hop being a young person’s game is merely a trope many less-skilled artists use as a cop-out for a lack of talent.

“I don’t think there was ever an age limit in hip-hop,” Pap tells XXL. “Your age doesn’t make you nice, your skills and your talent does. Those of us who really do this for real, we know that it’s competitive since day one. I think that, as time went on, certain individuals who realize they can’t compete started to use the age thing as an excuse. They kind of realize they can’t compete with those guys who are really gifted at this.”

Check out Papoose’s exclusive interview with XXL, where he discusses working on new music with Claressa Shields, following in the footsteps of his mentor, the late DJ Kay Slay, serving in an executive role as the head of hip-hop at Wynn Records and more below.