Life in a Shanty Town

By Byron Crawford

A free, weekly email newsletter from the pioneering hip-hop blogger and author of books like Infinite Crab Meats and No Country for Black Men, with topics including racism, homophobia, healthy living, respect for women, tolerance for religion and who really runs the music industry

Previous issues

A horse is a horse, of course of course

#109 May 24, 2019

Hopocalypse Now

#108 May 17, 2019

Deplatform Chance the Rapper

#107 May 10, 2019

#106

May 3, 2019

Crabs weren't meant to live in a barrel – Internets,Some concert venue in New York has been remodeled, and the TIs brought Jay-Z in to do anoth
#105

Apr 26, 2019

Damn, Bun B really does shoot people – Internets,After what happened to Nipsey Hussle, I don't know if I could have handled losing Bun B.I m
#104

Apr 19, 2019

Tiger Woods walked so that Lil Nas X could run – Internets,When black people excel in fields typically dominated by white people, it makes me feel lik
#103

Apr 12, 2019

Why are you so far away from me (in age)? – Internets,I was watching Weezer's NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, and it occurred to me, what if the gir
#102

Apr 5, 2019

How Nipsey Hussle's death was really about me – Internets,I was disappointed to hear that Nipsey Hussle was gunned down outside his store in the less
#101

Mar 29, 2019

Cop my new book, Wardrobe Malfunction – Internets,It's just my luck that my new book, Wardrobe Malfunction, drops the same week that the Muel
#100

Mar 22, 2019

Kodak Black paid Young MA a compliment – Internets,What kind of world do we live in, when a man can't express his desire to make sweet, passio
#99

Mar 15, 2019

Pray for YBN Almighty Jay – Internets,As I'm typing this, my figurative thoughts and prayers are with YBN Almighty Jay, who was v
#98

Mar 8, 2019

Reminder: Michael Jackson made Thriller – Internets,This week I watched the Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland, and I feel like I'm
#97

Mar 1, 2019

Stakes is high, funds is low – Internets,I was disappointed to hear that De La Soul won't be making any money from their back-catalo
#96

Feb 22, 2019

Bury Jussie Smollett underneath the jail – Internets,It turns out I was right about Jussie Smollett.Yesterday, the "Empire" actor turned himself
#95

Feb 15, 2019

Only the best artists are MeToo'd – Internets,Last week it was nothing but good news from me, but that was last week.This was a tough wee
#94

Feb 8, 2019

The lord giveth, and the lord taketh away – Internets,First of all, a couple of important announcements:1) Not that anyone gives a shit, but I'm
#93

Feb 1, 2019

Who really put a shoe on Jussie Smollet? – Internets,What does it say about me that, when I heard that "Empire" star Jussie Smollet was nearly a
#92

Jan 25, 2019

Why Big Boi, Travis Scott and Gladys Knight agreed to perform at the Super Bowl – Internets,When I wrote, a few weeks ago, about Jay-Z trying to talk Travis Scott out of performing at
#91

Jan 18, 2019

What's Hov got to do with it? – Internets,Jay-Z has been suspiciously quiet about the Lifetime R. Kelly movie, for someone who, not t
#90

Jan 11, 2019

Surviving Touré – Internets,I believe it was Willem Dafoe in the movie The Last Temptation of Christ, or possibly 2Pac,

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