On Why The Black Community Has Been Able to Break Barriers And Establish Longevity In Music And Dance

DJ Drama speaks onstage during the Thug Motivation Radio Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of “TM:101” at SiriusXM Studios on June 23, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty Images.DJ Drama: I mean in the words of Malcolm X, ‘by means necessary.’ I feel like hip-hop is a good representation of Black people in America. Through the years [we’ve been] fighting against the odds and just making our own path in our own lane — time and time time again proving ourselves to be not only like, forward thinking, but, you know, the standard of where music was going or where society was gone or, a reflection of what society was or had been or, you know, or what what’s about to be.Kiki Symone, Dance Captain, Brooklyn Nets’ Brooklynettes: I think Black people and Black culture are just amazing in the sense that we know how to make something out of nothing. We know how to make a moment our own. When they tell us that we don’t fit, when they tell us you can’t, when they tell us there’s no room for you, we’re like, cool. And then [we] plan a cookout and [we] get everybody together and then there’s always somebody who’s on the beat, there’s always somebody doing hair, there’s always somebody that is willing to share their talents. And then this collaboration happens because there’s a shared understanding of what it’s like to feel like you don’t belong somewhere. It becomes so loud, it’s undeniable.Kevin Ross: It’s funny because we are, I dare to say 80 and above percent responsible for a lot of just American music in general. Anything that is made within America as pertains to music, our DNA is there. Whether that be rhythm and blues, what we know as pop music, rock and roll, [and] dance for that matter. If we created it here in the States, our DNA is heavy within it. There were other hues in the room, but we were there, we were present, and we showed up and we showed out.

On Moments That Changed The Culture

Josh Stewart.Photo courtesy of Josh Stewart.Stokley Williams (Mint Condition): [One moment] had to be James Brown. [He’s] one who really made so much because he was so connected to the community. Like when he first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. He was introduced as a great new rising star, and we were like, new rising star? We knew about 10 years before that. But for him to be introduced to the world like that, it was just amazing. He quelled a lot of the communities when there were uprisings. The government was calling him. We need you! I mean, that’s huge. Who does that? Your pastor couldn’t do that, political leaders couldn’t do that. It took somebody like James Brown. That was a moment.

On Why Black Culture Deserves To Be Celebrated

Jadakiss: Black culture deserves to be celebrated because we do sh-t that can’t be done. We add value to everything we put our hands on. It’s when we touch something, the world gravitates to it and the wildfire starts. That’s why they need us for everything — from commercials, for food, cars, to promote sneakers, liquor, TV shows, content, whatever it is.

On What Is Necessary For New Generations To Celebrate Long-Term Wins And Continue To Revolutionize The Culture

Stokley: There’s three things I always say, and they’re still true: first, whatever it is that you’re trying to do, whatever industry that you’re in, your skill set is so important. Learn it. The youth spirit is like, go, go, go, go, go, and do the flashiest thing. I want to be famous. That’s not what it is. That fame and all that stuff comes after your skill set, after you’ve done the thing that you’re trying to practice to a high level. You also make sure that you learn the industry, the business. That’s number two. Know people other than musicians. There’s agents, there’s lawyers — learn these different positions, what they do, understand it. Then, always be up on the technology because the technology is going to move. Otherwise, you get left behind.”

On How They’ve Impacted Black and Pop Culture

DJ Drama: When it’s all done and done, I have probably one of the most recognizable or impactful voices when it comes to the culture, when it comes to hip-hop. I feel like what I’ve done as a DJ/producer with my brand and my platform is change the way people digest music.

Stokley: I always felt that it was bigger than me. I really wasn’t about fame, it was about culture. To be in the Smithsonian Museum is just an amazing thing. I’m so thankful that we [Mint Condition] have been able to do what we’ve done. We’ve got younger generations discovering the music and all of the things that we were trying to create, and we were just mimicking what we saw. It funneled through us, the way that we saw the world. I enjoy watching other people discover what we did, and I’m listening to certain things, likeOkay, you know you got that from us? It’s a thread that runs through.

On Their Proudest Accomplishments

Brian “Killah B” Bates attends the 2025 BET Awards at Peacock Theater on June 09, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET.Brian “Killah B” Bates: Finding out that I’m the first Black country producer to go No. 1 in country [music]. That’s the proudest, biggest moment for me. I made not only history, but Black history. I don’t know how I can top that.Jadakiss: My proudest accomplishment is seeing two of my five kids graduate college; being able to buy my mom a house; being able to enjoy my success with both of my parents.DJ Drama: I don’t know if what I accomplished with mixtapes or withGangsta Grillzhad ever been done before. I grew up as a fan, as a student, but being able to be here 20-plus years later, Grammys…I don’t know if I could have ever dreamed of accomplishing all that I [have]. When you get in the game, you set out to be a part of the culture. We all want to make a legacy or make a name for ourselves. My goal, when I first started DJing, was to get my name on a flyer. The things I’ve accomplished beyond that are nothing I could have imagined in my wildest dreams.

On Why Music, Dance, And Other Forms Of Creative Expression Are Crucial To Black Culture

Kiki SymonePhoto by Jon Taylor.Kiki Symone: I think that naturally we connect through movement. We want to dance together. We’re all tapped in the same way. Music comes on and we are just united. It’s an escape for us as well. We turn to music and we turn to art and we turn to dance as a way to escape from our day-to-day life, and also to find more confidence in who we are. We use it to take ourselves to the next level. We discover new talents, we discover new abilities about ourselves, and these are the outlets that we find them in.DJ Drama: I think that hip-hop is the ultimate expression, and music has always been that for us as Black people in America. I think a lot of times, the thing that captures people first is the beat. When you think about the drums or the percussion or instruments, you know, when you step out on a dance floor, it’s that first forward drum pattern or those first notes that get you to move your hips or move your feet. As producers or as DJs, that relationship with the instrumentation, with the music is what we feel like is a stronghold on people— whether it’s a dance floor or whether it’s a backyard or a barbecue. That’s always been something that Black people have been synonymous with.

On How To Push The Culture Forward

Singer-songwriter Kevin Ross is seen during a rehearsal for Wawa Welcome America July 4th Concert on July 03, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images.Kevin Ross: I think that music is a team sport, so it’s imperative for us to stay connected to past information. It’s not about just networking to the individual’s benefit, but it’s to say, Okay, well, if I’m getting this information, how is this sewing into the ecosystem? Our job is to continue to break glass ceilings, right? It’s 2025, and we’re still being the first at something and that still seems weird to me. Why is it still first? So we still have a lot of ceilings to break, and it takes a village, it takes a tribe, it takes a collective community for us to get there. It’s not gonna just take a few. It’s gonna take as many as we possibly can get on board.

On Connecting With New Generations

Jadakiss: For somebody to put Kai Cenat onto me now, it’s a beautiful thing. I’m supposed to know about him as well as he’s supposed to know about me. It’s therapeutic for the culture, and it will help both parties and it will help the culture in the long run. I think it’s important for the young ones to educate themselves on the history of culture to keep it moving forward correctly. You need to know the people that laid the foundation for you to even be here. You need to understand what they did to the culture, what they did for the culture. I’ll sit down with [Kai]. I’ll go over to his crib and act crazy with him — get on the stream and start dancing and give him some history and learn something about him. I think it’ll be dope. I’m fortunate enough to be one of the older cats that look young, so I don’t look out of place when I’m around these young kids.

Editor’s Note: Fellow streamer and gaming personality Fanum introduced Kai Cenat to Jadakiss in a recent live stream.

On Making History

Brian “Killah B” Bates: I feel completely chosen and honored by the Most High that that mantle and responsibility was placed on me to carry, without me asking for it. I feel it’s a huge responsibility that I uphold—to continue to break barriers down and break doors down. I was blessed to be one of the faces of this new country era and to reintroduce country [music] back into the eyes of the public as being Black and being created by Blackness. Being a people who had been pushed out of something we created and back to dominating it, it’s a surreal feeling.

On The Black Community’s Existence In Country Music

Brian “Killah B” Bates: The Little Nas [X]…the song was so massive, it definitely not only broke doors down, but also it took the chains of the gatekeepers. It took the chains that they put on country music completely off because multiple crowds and different demographics started to listen and accept country because it was paired with hip hop, paired with pop. Lil Nas X having an idea of crossing the genres and mixing together was that was the ticket and the permission to do country without their permission; without white people’s permission; without Nashville’s permission to enter in the country [world]. They tried to keep him out, but they really couldn’t because it wasn’t like he was doing the traditional style of country music. I feel like anytime you mix a genre with other genres, you’re doing what you call breaking barriers. And he did that the moment he dropped [“Old Town Road]. Any pushback about him being a part of that was just a waste of effort and a waste of time, in my opinion.

J. Valentine: Shout out to Beyoncé for winning that [Best Country Album] Grammy. They’ve created a new category within country [music]. They literally created something to separate it, now. Anything with music, pretty much starts with us. They were creating pop music from old Black artists. Once they gave it to white artists, it became pop. If you listen to classic country records, those songs are derivatives of older Black country artists.

Editor’s Note: Beginning in 2026, the current Best Country Album Grammy Award category will be renamed to Best Contemporary Country Album to allow for the inclusion of modern forms of country music. Additionally, a new traditional category, titled Best Traditional Country Album, will be created to recognize works that feature more traditional lyrical content and instrumentation.

On Getting Support To Pursue The Arts

Kiki Symone: If you don’t have support, I say, be afraid and do it anyway. If it’s really on your heart to be something, I don’t think you’re gonna be able to [stop]. You might be able to stop for a few years, but eventually it’s going to keep knocking and gnawing at you until you step back into what the purpose was in your heart in the first place.

Kevin Ross: I think that all of [my] mentors kept me leveled and kept me in a place where it’s like, ‘You are talented, but you can always be better. You can always work on this. Let’s work on your low range. Let’s work on the fact that you can sing, but you know how to write? Okay, I challenge you to write. Okay, you can write, but can you produce? I see that you play keys, but can you actually flesh out a song? Troy Taylor, can you finish a song? Can you execute it? Can I leave you in the room with the artist, and literally from nothing, and turn it into a masterpiece? Can you do that?’

On Why The Culture Needs Community Organizations

Courtney BennettPhoto courtesy of One Hundred Black Men.Courtney Bennett, 2nd Vice President, One Hundred Black Men: From cakewalking and minstrel shows to jazz, rock & roll, and hip-hop (and everything in between), our culture has been an economic engine of a bus where we still sit at the back. Organizations like One Hundred Black Men (OBHM) introduce young people to arts and culture through experiences that may be out of their reach economically or within the knowledge base of their families. Experiences include Broadway shows, concerts, and national and international trips.OHBM helps young people understand the message and intention of art, and discern whether it was created to confuse and oppress or uplift for success.“OHBM’s art education program, the Junior One Hundred Jazz All Stars (JOHJAS), has provided music business mentorship and paid performance opportunities to youth musicians for over three years. These young people have performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, [the] Apollo, and other prestigious venues while learning how to build meaningful careers in music.So in the words of these legends and leaders, Black culture is: Love. Excellence. Struggle. Magic. Creative. Timeless. Colorful. Soulful. Innovative. Melody. Brains. Talent. Prayer. Leaders. Brilliant. Powerful.