"Let it rock, let it rock, LET IT ROCK!!!" This was one of the JAMS of 2008 (yes 2008, it's been that long), and I just bugged out remembering that this song actually existed. Bugging out being a good and bad thing; good thing because Kevin Rudolf was admittedly a guilty pleasure artist back in the day who bended the genre with his heavy guitar influenced music which included some huge rap features, but bad because PEOPLE ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THIS BACK THEN!
Kevin Rudolph didn't have the longest tenure in music (and to be honest I'm unsure if he still makes music), but the time he spent on top was time that people enjoyed. I was just leaving middle school going into high school when "Let It Rock" dropped, and you couldn't pass a hang out spot without an iPod blaring some "Let It Rock", or having Mr. Rudolph "welcome you to the world"! Rudolph gave a crisp new rock feel to an already rising popular hip hop genre, and boasting this new blended genre were big names like Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and even Nas jumped on a song on Rudolph's 2008 (pretty sure it's his debut) album In The City.
But is it bad that people listened to this back then? Obviously hindsight is 20/20, so if you listened to Rudolph back then, would you use the excuse that "everybody was listening to it"? Does a "hip hop head" lose their credibility if they bump some Kevin Rudolph? HELL no. "Guilty pleasure music" shouldn't be a thing that exists, because if you liked listening to this music back then, then you don't have to explain shit. So shut up, quit thinking so much about it, and sit back and bump you some (for my era) classic Kevin Rudolph, included are 2 of his biggest hits below.
(*I do not own either one of these songs/videos, or the rights to them*)
I came across this page because I googled "whatever happened to Kevin Rudolph?" I am glad I am not the only person pondering this. I graduated high school in 2007 and "Let it Rock" was a big deal for me in college. I used to listen to it when I ran cross country on my little iPod Nano. Good memories, good song. I hope Kevin is doing well!
ReplyDelete^^same I literally googled word for word "What happened to Kevin Rudolf?". I've always been a fan and I was curious if he fell of or just cashed out and retired. Either way every few months I come back to I Made It as I'm driving home and can remember every single word.
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