Grown Up & Glowed Up: Not Everyone Matured like Maxwell

From 1996 to 2016, Maxwell has stayed relevant by staying true. Can the same be said about anyone else?

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After twenty years in the business, Maxwell is still as relevant as the day he dropped his debut in ’96. His fifth album BlackSUMMERS’Night drops today, and reflecting on his long career reveals a velvety-smooth transition from his early years to adulthood. 

Other artists around the same age haven’t been quite so fortunate. While Maxwell’s music has reflected his growth as an individual, artists like Juicy J are embarrassingly giving us the same salacious material as 40 year-old men that they were serving up as young bucks in 1996.

Who has adapted with age, and who is still stuck in the 90s? 

Common

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1996: 24 years oldBeefing with Ice Cube, drops "The Bitch In Yoo"

2016: 44 years old. Rapper, Model, Actor, Author, Activist. Stars with Ice Cube in Barbershop 3

Common is a perfect example of someone who has matured, adapted and ultimately thrived. Early in his career, Common was a socially-conscious rapper who grappled with his own negative issues; he was vocally homophobic and staunchly opposed to mixed-race relationships.

Through the course of his career, Common has resolved his issues. Famously coming to terms with a friend’s homosexuality on 2002’s “Between Me, You and Liberation.”

20 years after beefing with Cube, Common, who has smoothly transitioned into a flourishing film career of his own, starred alongside his former enemy in 2016’s Barbershop 3. It’s a full-circle moment after a long career of hits, misses, and growth, which has yielded more success in his 40s than in his 20s. An unusual feat for a rapper.

Juicy J

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1996: 21 years old, working on the follow-up to southern classic Mystic Stylez with Three 6 Mafia.

2016: 41 years old, and still talking money, weed and hoes on feature verses for every 20-something year old rapper’s latest single.

There’s no dispute that Juicy J has managed to keep up with the rap game in a way that very few of his contemporaries have managed to. But there comes a time when you’re 41 years old, and uttering a phrase like “slob on my knob” becomes that much harder to pull off.

The Juiceman may be pumping out those guest features and singles in 2016, but he’s still talking about sex, strippers, weed, lean – and nothing else. These are essentially the same things he was rapping about when he was 21, and it’s very possible he’s now going into even more explicit detail. We can imagine his audience of millennials might feel uneasy about hearing from someone–now as old as their dad–spilling details on their latest strip club conquest.

Not to mention the fact that it seems like the guy has been dressed in a t-shirt, jeans and shades for the better part of two decades. We’re not asking Juice to go from a G to a gent overnight, but it would be cool to see him at least act his age from time to time.

Maxwell

1996: 23 years old, drops debut album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, becomes every woman’s favourite singer.

2016: 43 years old, releases fifth album BlackSUMMERS’Night, still your girl’s favourite singer.

Maxwell is the don dada of this whole conversation. While R&B singers have come and gone around him since 1996 (Anthony Hamilton, Akon, Lyfe Jennings where ya at?), Maxwell has stayed relevant purely by staying true to himself. 

Never one to work with the hottest producer or pursue an ill-fitting rap collab, Maxwell has stuck with the same in-house production team, eschewed guest spots and created five exceptional albums entirely on his own terms.

From the sensual grooves of Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, Embrya’s afrocentric response to neo-soul, and the uptempo celebration of BlackSUMMERS’Night, the subject matter might vary with every release, but the soul is always there.

Working to the same formulas but updating them slightly as he transitioned from a 23 year-old silk-shirted lothario to a grown man; suited, booted and crooning that classic modern soul that hits you right in the feels.

Redfoo

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1996: 20 years old, budding Los Angeles rapper

2016: 40 years old, reality TV staple/struggle rapper

The Redfoo story is an interesting one. In 1996, ‘Foo was known as the producer of one hit-wonder Ahmad’s classic "Back in the Day", and was formulating plans to take over with fellow LA rapper Dre’ Kroon. While artists such as Defari and Dilated Peoples eventually broke through from the LA underground, 'Foo and Kroon were unfortunately left behind. 

In 2006, Redfoo struck gold with LMFAO, ganking the Melbourne Shuffle and taking it worldwide. No longer a backpack rapper flippin’ flows about “wiping out lyrical famine,” 'Foo was now famous for rockin white frames and zebra-skin tights.

Fast forward to 2016, Redfoo is now 40 years old and still wearing the same shit. He’s still trying to push Party Rock on us, 10 years later. No longer the star he once was, 'Foo is now out there with a cameo appearance in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip and reportedly clocking first-week sales of 144 copies. Maybe it’s time to ditch the frames and 'fro and grow up?

Michael Jordan

Nas

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1996: Riding high on the success of his debut Illmatic, and dropping the follow up It Was Written.

2016: An elder statesman of rap who fans are still always waiting to hear from 20 years later.  

It’s arguable that Nas is one of the few rappers who, despite starting his career so early, managed to evolve and change his sound with the times while still staying true to his original persona. While Nasty Nas made the successful transition from hungry young blood to mafia don mid-career, he now almost sits entirely above the game as a hip-hop legend and authority.

His story-telling ability and his tendency to place himself as a character in these carefully woven tales has meant that he’s always been able to stay lyrically relevant. He’s often made very bold statements about the state of hip-hop – but they’re always taken seriously because of the respect he’s accumulated in the game, putting out solid releases that aren’t simply aping the latest trend.

His maturity has even extended to his rap beefs, eventually making amends with greatest rival Jay-Z, even working together in both a musical and professional capacity. Nasir is no slouch in his style either, never looking out of place when he’s suited up and toking on a cigar. Plus, we also feel like you’d never catch him out trying to haphazardly rock Supreme after seeing his daughter’s boyfriend wear it one time – which is more than can be said for some rappers.

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