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

Send half of the squad to MY house

#117 Jul 19, 2019

Don't free A$AP Rocky

#116 Jul 12, 2019

Lil Nas X is the gay rapper

#115 Jul 5, 2019

#114

Jun 28, 2019

Louis CK is back! – Internets,If you have any female friends or family members who are considering a career in comedy, wh
#113

Jun 21, 2019

Who wouldn't want free money? – Internets,My ancestors worked hard to build this country so that white people could have the privileg
#112

Jun 14, 2019

They don't want you to be a sore loser – Internets,On Twitter this week, some of the most perceptive, insightful members of the hip-hop commun
#111

Jun 7, 2019

They hate to see a brother on the Forbes list – Internets,I was feeling a deep sense of personal satisfaction the other day when it was announced tha
#110

May 31, 2019

Never preemptively accept an apology – Internets,The fact that Meek Mill went to prison for popping a wheelie on his motorcycle, and now he'
#109

May 24, 2019

A horse is a horse, of course of course – Internets,I can't help but feel that there's some added significance to the fact that Cardi B is suff
#108

May 17, 2019

Hopocalypse Now – Internets,It's a testament to an adulthood misspent that, when it was announced yesterday that aborti
#107

May 10, 2019

Deplatform Chance the Rapper – Internets,Louis Farrakhan never said a single thing that wasn't true, and yet he's been banned from b
#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

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