SELECTED PRINT FEATURES:
︎How DMX Met the Devil in God’s Country
︎In the late 2000s, the rapper went to the Arizona desert to make an album he hoped could save him. Then Sheriff Joe Arpaio — and his own demons — got in the way [December 2021, Rolling Stone]
︎Feature: How Hyperpop, a Small Spotify Playlist, Grew Into a Big Deal
︎A report on Spotify’s Hyperpop playlist and the online music communities, and young artists, that have been grouped together under its banner. [November 2020, The New York Times]
︎Feature: Ecco2K
︎A shortform profile of Swedish musician and designer Zak Arogundade, bka Ecco2K, for The New York Times’ Up Next column. [June 2020, The New York Times]
︎Feature: Leak This
︎How online communities forming around stolen rap music are creating a new age of leaks at the expense of the artists they stan. [The FADER’s 2019 20th Anniversary Issue]
︎Cover Story: Playboi Carti
︎The 22-year-old rapper has already gone through multiple eras and become a generational icon. Tucked away at home in Atlanta, he says he’s growing up and making the best music of his life. [The FADER’s 2019 Summer Music Issue]
︎Cover Story: Blueface
︎The rapper has perfectly engineered his viral success, polarizing the internet along the way. How long can he make it all last? [The FADER’s 2019 Spring Style Issue]
︎Feature: Working On Dying
︎A Philly production family is bringing internet rap’s most haunting sounds to the mainstream. [The FADER’s 2018 Now Issue]
︎Feature: YNW Melly
︎In the midst of legal ups and downs, the Florida rapper seeks to rise above it all on his debut project, I Am You. [The FADER’s 2018 Fall Fashion Issue]
︎Cover Story: SOB X RBE
︎Four childhood friends from Vallejo try to take over the world by doing what they’ve always done: sticking together. [The FADER’s 2018 Summer Music Issue]
︎Cover Story: NBA YoungBoy
︎The teen rap prodigy was raised in Baton Rouge, and he’s taking his city’s sound to new heights. Now he just needs to leave. [The FADER’s 2017 Paradise Issue]
︎Oral History: DMX’s Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood
︎The remarkable true story of how DMX’s Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood was made. [The FADER’s 2017 Faith Issue]
SELECTED INTERVIEWS, ESSAYS, CRITICISM, AND REPORTING:
︎Feature: The Summer Without a Song
︎2020 seems to be without an anthemic song of summer. Is this because of the pandemic or a sign of how splintered the music industry is now? [July 2020, Wall Street Journal]
︎Feature: How loops are changing the sound and business of rap production
︎With rappers recording at a nonstop clip, and sampling more difficult than ever, hip-hop producers are increasingly outsourcing their melodies to a global network of loopmakers. [April 2020, Pitchfork]
︎Feature: Five Stadiums’ Worth of Music Fans Are Tuning In to Wild Instagram ‘Battles’
︎Superstar music producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz are drawing hundreds of thousands of people to watch songmakers go song for song on livestream. [April 2020, Wall Street Journal]
︎Interview: A conversation with Pop Smoke
︎Less than two weeks before Pop Smoke’s tragic death, he spent a day with Complex as he celebrated the release of Meet The Woo 2. This was his final editorial interview. [April 2020, Complex]
︎Interview: Engineer Kesha Lee on the long and demanding journey to Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake
︎A conversation with Grammy-winning engineer Kesha Lee on the two and half year process of making Uzi’s long-awaited sophomore album. [April 2020, Pigeons & Planes]
︎Feature: The many phases of Clams Casino
︎At home in New Jersey with one of the most important producers of the decade. [October 2019, The FADER]
︎Report: NYPD requests Pop Smoke, Casanova, more removed from Rolling Loud lineup due to gang affiliation
︎I obtained an NYPD document calling for five rappers to be removed from the Rolling Loud lineup in New York. [October 2019, The FADER]
︎Report: Tay-K’s “The Race” video and lyrics are being used as evidence in rapper’s sentencing
︎I reported from the courtroom in Dallas during Tay-K’s capital murder trial. [July 2019, The FADER]
︎Report: Hackers are leaking Lil Uzi Vert songs on Discord
︎I reported on a Discord “groupbuy,” where users crowdfunded thousands of dollars to buy unreleased Lil Uzi Vert songs. [April 2019, The FADER]
︎Essay: YNW Melly may be put on trial but his lyrics shouldn’t be
︎Online, many have pointed to the lyrics of the Florida rapper’s two-year-old song “Murder On Mind” as evidence of his guilt. They’ve been used against him before. [February 2019, The FADER]
︎Interview: Sada Baby is Detroit’s most charming rap star
︎With unforgettable similes and electrifying dances, the rapper has become one of his city’s brightest stars through natural charisma. [September 2018, The FADER]
︎Interview: How Lex Luger found his way back
︎The Virginia native on getting “looped out,” dealing with addiction, and returning to music. [August 2018, The FADER]
︎Review: Travis Scott’s Astroworld
︎On his highly anticipated third album, the Houston rapper is at his most effective, ceding room to his talented guests and picking his spots more carefully than ever. [August 2018, The FADER]
︎Feature: Tink is finally free
︎After nearly four years in label limbo, the Chicago rapper and singer has been released from her deal with Timbaland. [February 2018, The FADER]