CRAFT
45 minute read • Longreads
In a long essay, Michael A. Gonzales recounts how he became a hip-hop journalist, at a time when the idea of a "hip-hop journalist" was not even formed yet. It's a story filled with great anecdotes, useful tips, and insights on what the media landscape once was. In an ideal world, this would be the starting point for a Netflix series.
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IN MEMORIAM
43 minute audio • Texas Monthly
In the wake of the passing of Bushwick Bill at age 52, Texas Monthly produces this never-aired-before interview of the Geto Boys rapper, recorded in 2013 while he was in Austin to work on a live-band reinterpretation of his Christian rap album My Testimony of Redemption. A fitting context for a discussion about mortality, faith and finding peace.
+ Sour Candies and Moscow Mules: Remembering Bushwick Bill
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✪ MUST READ
14 minute read • Talkhouse
If you're like us, you have probably been targeted by these slick Masterclass ads, always waiting for us in every corner of the Internet. Like us, you may end up surrendering to their relentless digital media strategy. This essay by musician Adam Schatz is the story of the man who decided to sign up. It is by no mean a sponsored article, but a loving piece on the joy and mysteries of creativity, with an unbridled admiration for the Virginia producer. We guarantee you will want to play a Timbaland track right after reading it.
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CULTURE WAR
7 minute read • The Daily Beast
By now, anybody remotely interested in pop knows all the details about "Old Town Road", which is closing his tenth consecutive week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It takes a reporter like Tarpley Hitt to find a new, insightful angle to the story: she puts in perspective Lil Nas X's rise to fame with the curious case of Adam Calhoun. This confederate flag-waving "hick-hop" loudmouth also used social media antics and country rap to build his brand (with wildly different intents and outcomes). It's a great read that shows, once again, the depth of the conundrum when hip-hop and country collides in Trump's America.
+ On a lighter note: who can say no to a Facetime conversation with the makers of "Old Town Road"? (We can't)
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POLITICS
12 minute read • The Nation
From Jay-Z's "Story of O.J." to Killer Mike's Trigger Warning show and the late Nipsey Hussle's ventures, the conversation around black ownership has become even more prevalent over the last few years. "While the politics of transformative black ownership animate the world of entertainment, it can be poisonous for public policy" notes writer Aaron Ross Coleman in left-leaning weekly The Nation, with a thought-provoking stance that provides more context behind the For Us By Us slogan.
+ Justin Tinsley on Jay-Z's becoming hip-hop's first billionaire: "the moment matters far more than the actual figure in Jay-Z’s checking account."
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PODCAST
30 minute audio • Wabe.org
Bottom of the Map is a new podcast exploring Southern hip-hop culture and its impact on the world. In lively conversations, Georgia-based journalist Christina Lee and Dr. Regina N. Bradley take hip-hop as a segue into broader reflections on societal dynamics. The latest episode focuses on fatherhood through the output of artists like Andre 3000 or Offset.
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