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When Rich Homie Quan forgot Biggie lyrics during a performance at VH1’s Hip-Hop Honors, the reactions were immediate and ruthless. Soon after, Quan apologized, explaining that he was nervous and that he never meant to disrespect Biggie. “I greatly apologize not only to Biggie Smalls, but also to all of my fans and to New York,” he wrote on Instagram.
Lil Kim, who was also on stage during the performance, came to his defense: “People make mistakes and things happen sometimes that we can’t fix or undo. If you guys only knew the technical difficulties that went on behind the scenes.”
Questlove’s commentary on the whole ordeal isn’t so much about Rich Homie Quan as it is about all of us. “I don’t blame RHQ,” Questlove wrote. “I blame us. I don’t mean shame on radio & media programmers either for these diminished returns. I literally mean you and I. We are to blame.”
He goes on to explain that we treat music and art today as if its disposable, and that we’re so obsessed with personalities and social media presence that we’re forgetting about artists who really make an impact. “We have no more singing groups or bands or crews w major record deals,” he explains. “If you can barely count 10 fingers worth of worthy acts that give you the chills in 2016? You in trouble. The #CultOfPersonality stage of entertainment started in 96, & some 20 years later we got more famous people than we have those that affect us.”
Read Questlove’s full message below.
