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Music

If Waka Flocka Bans Lil Xan from Hip-Hop, I’m Banning This Stuff Too

Lil Xan said Tupac was "boring" and now Waka Flocka Flame wants him out the game. I've got some suggestions.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB
Left via VICELAND; right via Instagram

We've been here before, not that long ago actually: in late 2016, Lil Yachty appeared on Ebro Darden's Beats 1 show, and showed an indifference towards hip-hop greats like Tupac and the Notorious BIG. Ebro and old guard hip-hop fans were cross because to them, it felt like a show of disrespect to the genre's rich history. To Yachty, much younger, it was no big deal. Such is the reality of the rap fan generation gap.

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Essentially a similar thing has happened again: Lil Xan was interviewed by Revolt for their "On Clout 9" segment, where he called Tupac's music "boring." Waka Flocka Flame thus tweeted "LiL Xan banned from hip hop," citing his lack of knowledge of his predecessors. Obviously this goes both ways: it's important to understand the history of a genre – especially one rooted in struggle, like hip-hop – but also, it's probably true that "cancelling" or "banning" people is less good than educating them or encouraging them to educate themselves, especially when they're people with working internet connections like Xan (for his part, Lil Xan filmed an Instagram story saying good-naturedly, "Lil Xan's not going anywhere. Sorry! You gotta look at this ugly face for a lot longer guys.") Mostly though, it's beautiful to imagine being able to ban someone entirely on, like, one quote. If we are gonna do that here are some candidates I'd like to throw into the ring:

1) My mum

For saying "No" when I asked whether I was allowed a plate of roast potatoes only for my Christmas dinner.

2) Nigella

Is Britain's favourite sexy TV chef she my second mother? Yes. Did she say, of a bundt cake, "I've oiled the cup so it slips out easily" on her Christmas episode? Also yes. Sorry Nigella.

3) Jesy from Little Mix

Jesy I am sorry

4) Me, tbh.

One time I wrote the word "Donut" accompanied by a smiley face as a legitimate sentence in an article which, in and of itself, probably deserves a big old ban doesn't it?

5) Morrissey

Yeah I'm actually kind of serious about this one. The 'one thing' here is basically just literally everything that has ever come out of his mouth. When the bannable offender is some older white dude who refuses to listen to anyone ever, then maybe banning is a feasible option.

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