Skepta Questions Racial Double Standard For Aging Rappers

Skepta questioned why Black rappers feel pressure to leave music as they get older while white rock stars keep their place onstage.

In an interview published November 6 by British GQ, the 44-year-old addressed the issue after its interviewer brought up André 3000’s concerns about rapping past 40.

He pointed to Iggy Pop performing shirtless as an older rock star. Skepta acknowledged questioning his own future, then decided, “bruv, I’m still making the best music.”

“Why can Iggy Pop grow old and still be on stage with his top off doing rock music, but we can’t? All of them, all the rock bands. [But] Black rappers get to 35, 38 and start panicking. So why is it okay for white people and not Black people to grow old in music? This is something Black artists need to stop doing to themselves,” Skepta said.

His condition was that his lyrics should fit his life now. He also urged older Black artists to keep contributing to the culture.

“The stuff we’ve got is a blessing, and the kids need more people who are speaking up for the culture, to stay in the culture and carry the work on,” the legendary rapper said.

The interview accompanied his new album, The Fork and Knife.

André discussed his difficulty writing raps during the 2023 rollout for New Blue Sun. He told GQ, “I’m 48 years old. And not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way it does.”

He had kept working with producers and trying to write. In a separate NPR conversation, he explained that playing the flute felt immediate and free, while writing lyrics had become harder. He wanted listeners to know New Blue Sun had no rapping before they bought it and left open a return to rap.

His solo catalog has since expanded to include Moving Day and 7 Piano Sketches. The latter consists of solo piano recordings, some begun almost a decade earlier during a stay in Texas with his son.

Más Tiempo was launched in 2023 with fellow grime artist Jammer. Skepta’s wider career also includes the fashion label MAINS and the Mercury Prize-winning 2016 album Konnichiwa.

Skepta has also spent this year building a musical life beyond the sound that made him famous. His Más Tiempo project held its first Hï Ibiza residency from May 2 through October 3, with Saturday shows in the venue’s Club Room.

Black Coffee occupied the Theatre during the same Saturday residency season. The run followed Skepta’s 2025 appearance at Carl Cox’s Sunday residency at [UNVRS], extending his move into house music and DJing.