Cash,,, you couldn't be more wrong my man.
If you don't respect KRS, you don't respect the foundation of Hip Hop. If you don't respect the foundation of Hip Hop, you have no place in its culture.
By challenging Nelly, KRS was highlighting the paucity of substance in Hip Hop today that Nelly epitomises. Nelly had to resort to dissing KRS for his age - that's all he can do! Nelly is gonna get old too and what legacy will he have? Sure, he'll be rich. Big deal. You may as well idolise Britney Spears or Bill Gates. Why even bother being part of Hip Hop culture?
Imagine denying James Brown's place in music history because 14 year old white kids weren't buying his music in his later years! Imagine dissing Muhammed Ali because he got too old to fight! Totally absurd.
Times moves on. Music tastes change. No one is arguing with that. But someone has to keep reminding people that they're living in a fool's paradise, chasing the American dream.