Ja Rule asserted that artists from his generation should actively contribute to the music scene to ensure the graceful aging of hip-hop.

Last week, the Queens native appeared on the Tamron Hall Show, discussing his recently announced upcoming album. Ja highlighted the album as a fresh beginning for him, emphasizing that it serves as evidence that hip-hop transcends age limits. The 47-year-old also said artists from his generation should keep making music so that the culture can grow gracefully like other genres, such as rock and roll.

“My album is called Can We Watch the Sunrise Together?” he told Hall. “If anybody’s familiar with the significance of a sunrise, it’s new beginnings, fresh starts and resurrections.”

He continued, “For me, I think hip-hop is moving into that stage like how rock and roll did when we grew up — you know, this is the 50th anniversary of hip-hop… hip-hop is growing up, and I think it’s time for artists in my age bracket to continue making music so we have those classic, you know, hip-hop stations and those classic, you know, hip-hop songs.”

The subject of age in hip-hop has been under discussion recently. André 3000 sparked controversy by stating that, at 48 years old, he lacks relevant topics for the current generation of listeners, prompting responses from many of his contemporaries.

Lil Wayne reflected on André 3000 comments and said during an interview.

“I read a depressing quote or two from someone that I respect a lot in hip-hop and music period,” Wayne said about André’s quote. “They would ask, ‘Why you ain’t been doing music,’ and they was like, ‘Man what am I gonna talk about? I’m in my 40s, like what am I going to talk about? What you want to know about me being 40 and the life I’m living?’…I was like that’s so depressing I have everything to talk about,” Wayne said.

Watch the interview of Ja Rule below.