Rappers leaving and returning to the music industry is as old as hip-hop itself.
With the news of Terrance Howard’s retirement (yes we consider him a rapper) The Root takes a look back at the history of rappers retiring (and unretiring) from hip-hop. Some of them actually retire, but a majority of them end up returning with another album. Here are some of the names.
Terrance Howard
Yes I know, Terrance Howard isn’t really a rapper. But in two of his most prominent roles, he plays a rapper (Hustle & Flow, Empire). In a recent interview, Howard shared he was retiring from acting, which means he’s walking away from playing another rapper again, for now.
Too $hort
In 1996, Too $hort released Gettin’ It (Album Number Ten), the last album the Bay area rapper made with Dangerous Crew, his posse, before announcing his retirement. On the opening track “Gettin’ It,” the Oakland rapper even said, “It’s getting close to the end, y’all. But we’re gonna kick it like this on the last album.”
Three years later, the “Blow the Whistle” rapper released Can’t Stay Away in 1996 and has since released more than a dozen albums. His most recent release was in 2020, a collaboration album with E-40 titled, Ain’t Gone Do It / Terms and Conditions.
A Tribe Called Quest
While A Tribe Called Quest is not one artist, they are one entity and their 1998 album, The Love Movement was meant to be the group’s final album. While the album isn’t terrible, it definitely is not one of their best. In the years following, members of the group released their own solo projects.
The group came together again in 2016 shortly after the death of Phife Dawg to release, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service.
Master P
Similar to Too $hort, on Master P’s 1998 album, Da Last Don, the New Orleans rapper announced that it would be his last project. Who could blame him? He was already a successful music executive thanks to his No Limit Records imprint.
But nearly a year and a half later, Master P released Only God Can Judge Me in early 1999. He has since dropped dozens of records with his latest album coming in 2020, which I didn’t know until now.
Ma$e
Mase’s 1997 debut album Harlem World was a hit and included many classic singles including “What You Want” and “Lookin At Me.” But in 1999, two years after his debut, the New York City rapper announced that his sophomore album, Double Up, would be his last.
Of course, it wasn’t because five years later he released, Welcome Back. But, since his third album, Mase hasn’t released a solo project since.
Jay-Z
Jay-Z is the Michael Jordan of rap. Not only because of his success but because of the number of times he announced that he was retiring. In 2003, the Brooklyn rapper made it known that his classic release, The Black Album, would be his last album.
But clearly, it wasn’t because three years later he released Kingdom Come. If 4:44 is his last album it’s a great sendoff considering some of the dicy releases before it. But hopefully, he returns with new music in the future.
50 Cent
After the infamous 2007 album matchup between 50 Cent’s Curtis and Kanye West’s Graduation, the Queens rapper lost a “loser leaves town” bet for getting killed in first week sales.
As we all know, 50 Cent did not go anywhere and released Baby By Me in 2009.
Andre 3000
The only person on this list who actually retired is the person who didn’t announce it. After Outkast’s last album Idlewild, Andre 3000 has not dropped a full-length album since.
Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco has announced retirement more than some artists have released albums. In 2008 he threatened to retire because of issues with his label, Atlantic Records, but he didn’t. Years later he said his 2012 album Food & Liquor II would be his last, but he wasn’t. In 2016, he said he would be dropping three albums in the same year before he retired, but no dice.
Believe it or not, in 2019 he said he might retire again, but the next year, he released an EP.
Lil Wayne
While Lil Wayne never came out and said it, he often hinted that he would walk away from the industry because of problems with his label, Cash Money. Many fans thought his retirement would come with the release of the long-anticipated album Tha Carter V, but it wasn’t.
After the release of the album in 2018, Lil Wayne has released a couple of mixtapes and collaborative albums.
Childish Gambino
The talented, actor, writer, comedian and rapper said years ago in 2017 at Governor’s Ball that his next album would be his last. In 2020, he dropped the creative 3.15.20 and has since focused on his hit TV show Atlanta. He hasn’t dropped a solo project since, so I guess he’s stuck to his word so far.
Yasiin Bey (Mos Def)
Although he released his last solo album, True Magic, in 2006 he did not announce his retirement from music in 2016 on Kanye West’s website.
But in 2022, along with his Blackstar co-star Talib Kweli, the duo dropped their long-awaited follow-up to their 1998 album No Fear of Time. So I guess he’s still retired since he hasn’t released a solo project?
Joe Budden
The talented New Jersey retired from rap because he found an occupation that he was better at than rap, podcasting. Budden’s last album, Rage & the Machine, was released in 2016 and Joe hasn’t hopped on a mic since.
His focus has been on his popular show, The Joe Budden Podcast.
Nicki Minaj
In 2019, seemingly out of nowhere, Nicki Minaj shared with her fans that she planned on retiring from music so she could start a family. Although she later clarified that she was just thinking about her future.
She hasn’t released a new album since, but she has dropped some singles.
Lil Tecca
After dropping his debut album, We Love You Tecca, the then-teenage rapper said he was going to stop rapping. In a tweet, he wrote, “Hate this shit. I love y’all but this shit won’t b continuing as long as y’all thought… At least I tell y’all what ima do before I do it. There’s like 30 other rappers that sound just like me y’all will b good.”
Of course, he didn’t go through with it because in 2020 he dropped Virgo World and in 2021 he released We Love You Tecca 2.
Logic
In 2020, Logic announced that his latest studio album, Under Pressure, would be the last of his career and even hosted a live stream where he cried and listened to the album with fans. But literally, a year later he released Bobby Tarantino III and in 2022 he released Vinyl Days.
Kid Cudi
Just days ago, after the release of his latest album Entergaltic, the Cleveland rapper teased that he’s “nearing the end” of his music career saying on Hot Ones, “I just don’t know if I wanna do music, drop albums for too much longer, you know? “I’m kind of nearing the end on all things Kid Cudi, I think.”
We’ll see if he sticks to his word.
Styles P
The Lox rapper just recently announced in an Instagram post that after he drops two more albums in late 2023, he’ll be retiring from rap for good, only appearing on features and special performances with Jadakiss and Sheek Louch.
In the post, he wrote, “I believe I have run myself down a tad bit over the past few years. Being a super hard working emcee and a health advocate. For one, I’m not really that great at multi tasking it’s actually my drive that keeps me going and that slack falls back on my family, business partners and co workers. I thought about it harder and came to the conclusion that I need to walk away from my solo career period ( I think I gave y’all enough ).
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