Charlamagne says youth of today are less willing to shovel snow for cash like his generation did
Radio host Charlamagne tha God complained that youth of today are less willing to do blue-collar side hustles like people of his generation did.
"The Breakfast Club" host Charlamagne tha God and his co-hosts argued Tuesday that many of today’s young people are not taking odd jobs to make money — like shoveling snow — that many past generations would have done, pointing to a decline in work ethic.
"Now, this came from, of course, we got a little blizzard. And I ain't see too many kids out there shoveling snow," co-host DJ Envy explained for context on the show.
"I really was thinking about that yesterday because I'm like, ‘Man, this is a day to come up,’" Charlamagne said. "It looked like 16-17 inches of snow where we live at in New Jersey, New York City area.
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Charlamagne tha God speaks on stage at Cry Out 2024 at the George R. Brown Convention Center June 22, 2024, in Houston, Texas. (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
"It's like ‘Yo, go out there, get a shovel’ and these kids, you can get the electric shovel that when you hit the snow it just damn near disappears. You can go get, you know, snowblowers for the cheap. There's all type of ways that you can go out here and make some money. I don't know why these kids ain't out here getting it. And, by the way, y'all want to complain about, you know, people from other countries taking jobs? Them Mexicans was on it yesterday."
Charlamagne said some migrant workers pulled up to the area where he lives and "made some bread" by clearing away the snow.
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Charlamagne said young people are not as willing to do blue-collar work for extra money in the same way previous generations did. (iStock)
He offered a suggestion for why modern young people are different.
"Y’all kids just don't know how to hustle no more, cuz all y'all hustlers on social media. Y'all too busy trying to get likes and engagement," Charlamagne said.
"And then social media makes it seem like anything like that is corny," co-host Jess Hilarious added. "Like, they don't want you to do that now, that's not ‘cool’ to do now."
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Residents dig out their cars in the South Boston neighborhood after a winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow across the region Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Boston. (Charles Krupa/AP Photo)
However, Charlamagne gave some credit to the younger generation.
"I do want to say something to these kids though," he said. "These kids do have new hustles. So, like, you might have a kid that, like, that'll make candles. You know what I'm saying? Like, these kids do different things that may not necessarily be the blue-collar work we used to do, but some of them is out here, you know, being creative with their hustles."
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