Lyricism may have taken a backseat to trap and drill music, but Dave East believes it has always been existent. During a recent interview with HipHopDX, the Harlem native shared his thoughts about lyrical rap and its presence in modern-day hip hop.

“Honestly, I feel like the lyricism never left hip hop,” East said. “I just feel like with the introduction of the internet and social media and all of these different streaming services and platforms, it just gave everybody, they mother, they aunt, they uncle and they grandmother and they daughter and they niece a[n] opportunity to showcase what they got. And I think it’s dope.”

“Like me trying to get in, all I had was my block, my building, the people that was like, literally I could walk and rap to them,” he continued. “That was my fan base. Now you could literally make a song on your phone and make a cover art on your phone for that song and release it to a million people within hours, so I think that just opened up mad lanes.”

With the technological advances, East claimed that “rap is now the biggest highway,” noting that it includes several lanes for aspiring rappers, including lyricism.

“You got the Griselda dudes that just came back. They just brought that talking talking, like the shit that I love,” said the Paranoia 2 star. “So I feel like all of that, it never left, but the other shit just got highlighted more. I feel like the shit that you could just party to, that’s what really got highlighted. But I feel like back in the day you was partying to them lyrics. The beats was rocking, but you was rapping along to a JAY-Z song in a club. And JAY’s spitting some shit.”

The rapper is also doing his part to ensure that lyricism is staying alive. He’s working with Vado and Lloyd Banks to release a project under their group name, The Council.

“You know anything with Vado, Banks and me is gonna be heat,” he teased.