Emcees
YNW Melly and the Pretrial Decade: How a Capital Case Became a Test of the System Itself
YNW Melly, born Jamell Demons on May 1, 1999 in Gifford, Florida, is a rapper who rose to fame in...
Ladies Run the Numbers: How Cardi B, Sexyy Red, Latto & Co. Turned a “Moment” Into Hip-Hop Infrastructure
This piece argues women in rap have shifted from a sidebar to the genre's structural core. It points to figures...
Art on Trial: How Maryland’s PACE Act Challenges 40 Years of Rap Jurisprudence
For nearly four decades, American prosecutors have treated rap lyrics as confessions, with at least 500 criminal cases hinging on...
Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar: The Complete Record
Drake versus Kendrick Lamar was less a traditional beef than a case study in modern rap warfare. The on-record battle...
No Rap Songs on the Billboard Top 40… So What? Let It Burn.
For the first time in 35 years, no rap song sits in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 40, prompting crisis...
50 Cent, BMF, Rick Ross and the Hustle for the Story
This piece explores tension between 50 Cent and Demetrius 'Big Meech' Flenory, the imprisoned co-founder of the Black Mafia Family,...
