Mick Jenkins says the underground is cut out from “hip-hop at 50” conversations

Mick Jenkins has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to defending hip-hop’s under-appreciated underground. “We’re celebrating 50 years of hip-hop, and a lot of artists like myself who’ve been in this joint for 10, 15 years, underground the whole time, don’t get to be a part of the celebration, but artists who’ve been here for six months get to be on stage at the award show,” he points out in conversation with Dylan Green on this week’s episode of The FADER Interview. “We’re celebrating 50 years of hip hop, not 50 years of rap. Not 50 years of top 40, 50 years of hip hop. How is the underground excluded from that? It’s half of it.”

With his new album, The Patience, out today via RBC Records and BMG Rights Management, Jenkins is stepping into a new chapter in his career; the project features big-ticket features like Freddie Gibbs, Benny The Butcher, and JID. But he’s still frustrated — on his own behalf and on behalf of others who’ve been in the game even longer than he has — that the underground is getting so little love half a century into hip-hop’s illustrious run.

“I remember a few years ago when Curren$y was on Twitter, surprised that he got invited to the BET Awards,” he tells Green. “He’s like, ‘Oh shit, they invited me. Oh shit!’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, why the fuck… What?’

“It’s that frustration,” Jenkins continues. “It’s the waiting for those things — waiting to put out an album and have features with my contemporaries. I’m here.”

Listen to the full interview via this link, embedded below, or wherever you get your podcasts.