Dr. Dre Admits He Doesn’t Like Modern Hip Hop, but “Never Gonna Hate on It.”

Dr. Dre admitted that most of the songs released in hip hop today don’t quite match his taste, but he’ll never take the position as a hater. “This. is just what it is. Hip hop is evolving,’ said the rapper on Kevin Hart’s Peacock talk show Hart to Heart. “If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it…I’m keepin’ it all the way 100 with you. Some of this shit, most of this shit, I don’t like. I don’t listen to a lot of that shit. But I’m not hatin’ on it. I’m never gonna hate on it.”

Dr. Dre is regarded as a founding stone for hip-hop, a genre that is now 50 years old. He’s celebrated as a pivotal figure in the industry who has been a champion for some of the world’s most-known hip-hop artists.

“Anybody that’s talking about the state of hip hop right now, when talking about it from a negative place, sounds like somebody’s fuckin’ grandfather,” said Dr. Dre.

As for his taste, the rapper enjoys acts like Snoop Dogg and Eminem, who he discovered. Michael Jackson and Prince are also on his list. He praised Kendrick Lamar as a “forever artist” who goes on his list. “Kendrick Lamar is a real motherfuckin’ artist, like, the true definition of the word.”

Last month, Dr. Dre received the first-ever Hip-Hop Icon Award at the 2023 Rhythm & Soul Music Awards.