Growing Up Hip Hop Review: the hidden you never know

Growing Up Hip Hop Review: The Quick Answer

If you just want the bottom line: Growing Up Hip Hop is a WE tv reality franchise about the adult children of hip hop legends, and it’s been running since January 7, 2016. The original series sits at 3.9/10 on IMDb (272 ratings), the Atlanta spinoff sits at 4.1/10, and the New York spinoff is actually the best-rated of the three at 6.1/10. There are three real installments in this franchise, not four — the original, Atlanta, and New York. Anyone telling you there’s a fourth spinoff isn’t telling you the truth.

Now let’s actually get into why the ratings look like that, and which one is worth your time.

Behind The Scenes Of Television’s Favorite Hip-Hop Dynasties

Here’s what makes this franchise different from every other celebrity-kid reality show: the parents aren’t just famous, they’re hip hop’s actual founding generation. We’re talking Rev. Run, Russell Simmons, Damon Dash, Master P, Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Flavor Flav, Irv Gotti, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s family. The show’s whole premise is watching their kids try to build something of their own while living in that shadow.

The original series was created by Datari Turner and executive produced in part by two of its own stars, Angela Simmons and Romeo Miller. It premiered on WE tv on January 7, 2016, and ran for seven seasons before wrapping March 9, 2023. That’s a genuinely long run for a reality show, which tells you something the low IMDb score doesn’t — enough people kept watching to keep it on the air for seven years.

The franchise itself is bigger than most people realize. It’s really three separate shows:

1. Growing Up Hip Hop (2016–2023) — the original, set mostly in LA
2. Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta (2017–2021) — the spinoff, four seasons, 48 episodes
3. Growing Up Hip Hop: New York (2019) — a single 13-episode season

First Family Of Hip Hop Review

If there’s one cast that earns the “first family” title, it’s the original LA group. The core cast across the run has included Angela Simmons (Rev. Run’s daughter), Romeo Miller (Master P’s son), Damon “Boogie” Dash (Damon Dash’s son), Kristinia DeBarge (El DeBarge’s daughter), Egypt Criss (Eric B.’s daughter), and Pepa from Salt-N-Pepa. That’s five different hip hop dynasties in one friend group, which is genuinely rare — you’re not going to find that overlap of legacy families anywhere else on TV.

A 2016 review from a viewer who watched the premiere summed up the early complaint pretty well: the pilot spent most of its time on the cast’s personal projects and relationships instead of digging into what it actually felt like to grow up with iconic hip hop parents. That criticism followed the show for years — people wanted more insight into the family history, and got more relationship drama instead.

The Three Real Installments, Reviewed Honestly

Growing Up Hip Hop (Original)

Features: Seven seasons, 2016–2023, WE tv. Created by Datari Turner. Main cast across the run includes Romeo Miller, Master P, Angela Simmons, Egypt Criss, Boogie Dash, Pepa, Damon Dash, and Kristinia DeBarge.

Real Viewer Consensus: IMDb rating sits at 3.9/10 from 272 ratings. Viewer reviews are split between people who find the cast’s conflicts entertaining and people who find the show shallow. One long-running complaint on IMDb is that the show leans hard into fighting and confrontation instead of the “growing up” angle its title promises — one reviewer bluntly said the show should’ve been called “Aging Hip Hop” instead.

Pros:

• The deepest, most recognizable cast of any installment
• Seven seasons means there’s a lot of history to follow if you get invested
• Real access to genuine hip hop royalty, not distant relatives

Cons:

• Low critic and audience presence on Rotten Tomatoes (the show currently shows zero critic reviews there)
• Repetitive relationship drama according to long-time viewers
• Slow to deliver on the “behind the legacy” angle it promises

Best For: Longtime hip hop fans who want the full, multi-season saga and don’t mind starting from the beginning.

Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta

Features: Four seasons, 48 episodes, 2017–2021. Cast includes Bow Wow, Zonnique Pullins (T.I.’s stepdaughter), Reginae Carter (Lil Wayne’s daughter), Da Brat, Waka Flocka Flame, Tammy Rivera, and Lil Mama.

Real Viewer Consensus: IMDb rating sits at 4.1/10. Reviews are more polarized here than the original — some viewers rate it near the top purely for entertainment value and call it “pure comedy,” while others call the cast’s conduct a genuine disgrace to the network.

Pros:

• Slightly higher-rated than the original on IMDb
• Bigger, more varied cast with more overlapping storylines
• Atlanta’s hip hop scene gives it a different energy than the LA-based original

Cons:

• Same criticism as the original around manufactured drama versus real substance
• Longest-running spinoff, so it can feel repetitive by season three or four

Best For: Viewers who already like Bow Wow, Da Brat, or Waka Flocka Flame and want to see them outside of music.

Growing Up Hip Hop: New York

Features: One season, 13 episodes, aired August 29 to November 21, 2019. Cast includes Ja Rule’s son and daughter, Flavor Flav’s daughter, Fat Joe’s son, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s son (Young Dirty Bastard), Kid Capri’s daughter, and Irv Gotti’s son and daughter.

Real Viewer Consensus: IMDb rating is 6.1/10 — meaningfully higher than the other two installments, even with fewer total ratings (46 votes). That said, some individual reviews are brutal, with at least one calling it the worst cast they’d ever seen on the franchise.

Pros:

• Highest average rating in the franchise
• Deep bench of legendary hip hop names (Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Flavor Flav, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s legacy, Irv Gotti)
• Tighter, single-season story means less filler

Cons:

• Never got renewed past season one, so the story just stops
• Smaller sample size on ratings makes the higher score less certain
• Some of the harshest individual reviews in the whole franchise, despite the higher average

Best For: Someone who wants a shorter watch and cares more about the density of famous hip hop names than franchise length.

Quick honest disclosure: this isn’t a paid or sponsored review. I’m not affiliated with WE tv, Datari Turner Productions, or any cast member — this is based on publicly available ratings and reviews as of writing.

How To Pick The Right One For You (Viewing Guide)

You don’t need to watch all three in order — pick based on what you actually want out of it.

If you want the deepest lore and the most episodes to binge: Start with the original. Seven seasons is a real commitment, but you’ll get the fullest picture of the group dynamics and history.

If you want the most dramatic, meme-worthy moments: Atlanta is generally considered the most chaotic of the three, which is exactly why some fans rate it higher for entertainment even with a similar overall score to the original.

If you want the shortest watch with the strongest cast of actual hip hop legacy names: Go with New York. Thirteen episodes is a weekend, not a month, and the cast list reads like a who’s-who of late ’90s and 2000s hip hop.

If you’re brand new to the franchise entirely: Watch the original first. The Atlanta and New York casts occasionally cross over with characters from the original (Angela Simmons and Lil Mama both show up outside their “home” installment), so starting from the beginning makes those moments land better.

Common Questions About Growing Up Hip Hop

Final Verdict

Here’s the honest wrap-up: none of the three Growing Up Hip Hop shows are winning any awards for prestige television, and the ratings reflect that. But that’s not really the point of a show like this. What you’re actually getting is real access to the kids of hip hop’s founding generation, figuring out their own identities in public, with all the mess that comes with that.

If you want the fullest story, start with the original. If you want the most entertaining chaos, go Atlanta. If you want the tightest watch with the strongest cast of legendary names, New York is genuinely the most slept-on installment of the three.

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If this review helped you figure out where to start, I’d really appreciate you sharing it with a friend who’s been wondering the same thing.