Tone Loc performs at "I Want My 80's" Concert The Theater at Madison Square Garden on November 6, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Paul Zimmerman/WireImage)
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Tone Loc and Young MC Talk Touring in Their 50s: "It's Kept Me a Little Younger"

Tone Loc and Young MC Talk Touring in Their 50s: "It's Kept Me a Little Younger"

Published Tue, July 19, 2022 at 10:57 AM EDT

During their run on I Love The ’90s Tour, Tone Loc and Young MC delivered some news — touring keeps them feeling young.

"Sometimes it gets tough," Tone Loc, 56, acknowledged in an interview with HipHopDX. "But the one thing about it, I must say it has kept me a little younger. I must say because when I look at a lot of these old TV shows and these old movies, they’re always talking about people over 50 being old. I don’t feel like an old man ... I’m so happy I’m in the over 50 club."

In the same interview, Young MC agreed. “I know for me, when I hang around people my own age, outside of the music business, they look and feel older than me than I am," he said.

As of late, there's been a pivot toward 80s and 90s music, especially in R&B and Hip-Hop. Part of it is probably cyclical — every generation rediscovers the decades before them. Part of it is spawned by a thirst for normalcy and feel-good vibes, captured by events like D-Nice's immensely popular Club Quarantine and Swizz Beatz and Timbaland's Verzuz series. Young MC, who's toured steadily since the mega success of his 1989 song "Bust A Move," sees the fresh wave of interest firsthand.

“The interesting thing is people used to poo poo ’80s music," he said, adding that a shift has taken place with a new generation of listeners being ushered in. “They didn’t want to skip over a decade. So you see a lot of 80s fans. There’s a lot of 80s festivals that go out now.”

Young MC, now 55, also says that he's in a better place now because his perspective has matured.

“One thing about being this age is that you learn to not take yourself so seriously so you don’t let anybody walk all over you, but you don’t take yourself so seriously," he said. "Like I know of groups that won’t get into a limo that’s over three years old. There’s stuff that you can make people do if you’re famous, but if you’re a younger person, you might make somebody jump through a hoop. Whereas now it’s like, they’re doing their job. I’m doing my job. I’m getting my thing done. I’m getting paid. Let’s get it done. Even if all this stuff, all the bells and whistles aren’t there, the shows are called 'grinders.' That’s what Lo calls them. You just kind of grind your way through it, get paid and get out of there.”

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