Find Trent Reznor in The Club Plus 1970s Congolese funk that sounds like it went through a meat pulverizer!

wrote about Blu & Exile's Time Heals Everything and the virtues of rapping about rapping for this week's Five Albums at
@hearingthingsco.bsky.social

Earl Sweatshirt, Mike, and Sideshow Are Proving That Rap Doesn’t Need to Have a Chosen One Recent albums from the indie rap heroes gracefully toe the line between humility and divinity

went long on the new Earl Sweatshirt, MIKE, and Sideshow albums in relation to how they subvert hip-hop's chosen one motif--while still outrapping the competition--for @hearingthingsco.bsky.social www.hearingthings.co/earl-sweatsh...

Chief Keef: Skeletor Read Dylan Green’s review of the album.

wrote about Chief Keef's Skeletor, which is fun and reflective in spots but won't be making Sosa's highlight reel, for Pitchfork

Elucid on the Music He Wants to Soundtrack His Funeral The Queens-born rapper/producer speaks on fatherhood, the joy of celebrating life, and the nooks and crannies of his album I Guess U Had To Be There.

spoke to Elucid about the five songs he’d want played at his funeral (he prefers “homegoing”) for our Existential Playlist series at @hearingthingsco.bsky.social. we also spoke on fatherhood, fish fries, and the closing of the Colosseum, among other shit

The Scythe / Denzel Curry: Strictly 4 the Scythe Read Dylan Green’s review of the album.

wrote about The Scythe’s debut, which is fun in spots but doesn’t measure up to the sum of its parts (Denzel Curry, TiaCorine, BKTHERULA, Ferg, Key Nyata) for P4K

Liv.e and Karriem Riggins Want You to Love Each Other and Go Outside The singer-producer duo known as GENA speak on romance, comfort, the relationship between rap and R&B, and creating their debut album, The Pleasure Is Yours

spoke w GENA, the duo consisting of Liv.e and Karriem Riggins about love, the healing power of Martin, and the art of going outside for @hearingthingsco.bsky.social. And yes, the pleasure was mine

some time after Abe and I spoke I learned that as a New Jersey resident I was able to get a NYPL card. now that I have one I hope to utilize some of the resources son earmarked in here, especially the Schomburg

was also featured in this exhaustive piece by Abe Beame about the shrinking of hip-hop archives for Defector!

Lost Recipes | Defector In 1991, Spin magazine took the Compton rap collective N.W.A out to eat for a profile at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan. The white author presents gangsta rap as a cynical enterprise, no different ...

I wrote about old rap magazines, the fight for the future of hip hop’s past, and the impact the digital age has had on history, for @defector.com
defector.com/lost-recipes

What Does Underground Rap Even Mean in 2026? The term “underground” is used to describe everyone from indie rappers like MIKE to idiosyncratic stars like Ken Carson. So, what does it even mean for rap music in 2026?

my latest piece for Pigeons and Planes attempts to answer an age-old question in rap circles: what does it mean to be "underground"? spoke to a grip of artists across the spectrum in an attempt to find the answer

basically yea

my exact thoughts. some really cool moments on there and I wish he'd just fully lean into the somber shit because trying to recreate DFMB at this level doesn't sound right. $ex Appeal and Dramatic Girl legit awful

as a Keem truther since Sound of Bad Habit who’s been kinda let down by much of the post-DFMB stuff I’m looking forward to locking horns w the Rap Caviar-pilled types

Baby Keem: Ca$ino Read Dylan Green’s review of the album.

*slot machine voice* better luck next time :(

wrote about the new Baby Keem for P4K

What Does It Mean For Rap to Have “Substance”? Hip-hop is constantly mired in discussions about importance, significance, and, yes, substance. If you come up for air, you’ll feel it all around you.

Hip-hop is constantly mired in discussions about importance, significance, and, yes, substance. But if you come up for air, you’ll feel it all around you. Read Dylan's thoughts on the latest version of this age-old convo

What Does It Mean For Rap to Have “Substance”? Hip-hop is constantly mired in discussions about importance, significance, and, yes, substance. If you come up for air, you’ll feel it all around you.

wrote about the LaRussell x Wayne discourse and gave my two cents on what it *really* means for rap to have substance for @hearingthingsco.bsky.social

Announcing…

Reel Talk #10 w very special guest Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon

Join us for a screening of the 2006 T.I.-starring classic ‘ATL’ at Loudmouth on Saturday, February 21 from 6-10PM, sponsored by @lexrecords.bsky.social

$15 tix. doors at 6, movie starts at 7.

🎟️🎟️: posh.vip/e/reel-talk-...

this edition of Reel Talk will operate on sliding scale admission, meaning if cost is an issue, hit my DM and we’ll figure it out. I want Reel Talk to be accessible to all. honor system is in effect, so if you *can* afford it, please buy a ticket 🎟️💜

Announcing…

Reel Talk #10 w very special guest Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon

Join us for a screening of the 2006 T.I.-starring classic ‘ATL’ at Loudmouth on Saturday, February 21 from 6-10PM, sponsored by @lexrecords.bsky.social

$15 tix. doors at 6, movie starts at 7.

🎟️🎟️: posh.vip/e/reel-talk-...

Monocultural Rap Stardom is Dead—And That's OK What does it mean to be a rap star in 2026? Some thoughts on rap’s current standing in the mainstream and the genre’s health in the post-social media era.

What does it mean to be a rap star in 2026? A$AP Rocky, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar aren't the only rappers doing things worth your attention. Dylan says fuck a Big Three--go find your own generational rap hero.

ICYMI (it was originally published on Saturday): I wrote about how the death of hip-hop monoculture is Actually A Good Thing

gonna be fire

good looks this had been sitting on my spirit for a while. get to that Squills show whatever it takes, he’s so fire. where would you be going?

Monocultural Rap Stardom is Dead—And That's OK What does it mean to be a rap star in 2026? Some thoughts on rap’s current standing in the mainstream and the genre’s health in the post-social media era.

I went long on the latest round of Hip-Hop Is Dead discourse--no more superstars, rap not charting that one time, blog-era stars hogging space/attention--and how, despite all that, rap continues to thrive in the margins for @hearingthingsco.bsky.social

Roc Marciano: 656 Read Dylan Green’s review of the album.

I've been reading P4k since the late nineties, I have thoughts on the paywall, but nothing is gonna stop me from reading @cinemasai.bsky.social on Roc Marciano's latest. GREAT music writing.

pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...

bless man. fr

Roc Marciano: 656 Read Dylan Green’s review of the album.

wrote about Roc Marciano’s 656 and how he’s once again reminding us all how it’s done for my first Pitchfork review of 2026

Does the World Need Another A$AP Rocky Album? The rapper takes a break from Denzel movies and daddy-dom to drop his most superficial album yet. Plus: Must Hear indie rock about a literal dead horse.

"For all the #taste and eclecticism being projected outward," Dylan writes, A$AP Rocky's new one "comes off as too manicured—musical aura farming that doesn’t connect at a visceral level."

I reviewed the new A$AP Rocky album and spoke on the pros and cons of leaning on aesthetics in this week's Five Albums

😘😘