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

Keep snitchin', Tekashi 6ix9ine

#130 Sep 20, 2019

Everyone wins when the family feuds

#129 Sep 17, 2019

Finally, an Asian guy on SNL

#128 Sep 13, 2019

#127

Sep 10, 2019

Free Mac Miller's drug dealer
#126

Sep 6, 2019

Has Kevin Hart not suffered enough? – Internets,Imagine being Kevin Hart, laid up in a hospital bed, recovering from emergency back surgery
#125

Sep 3, 2019

Jay-Z silences naysayers with t-shirts, Meghan Trainor – Internets,When it was announced that Jay-Z had formed a partnership with the NFL to combat police bru
#124

Aug 30, 2019

Straight Guy Fall continues apace – Internets,At a time when a brother can find himself out of a job for simply expressing his beliefs, a
#123

Aug 23, 2019

What I won't do for fried chicken – First of all, a reminder: Starting a week from this coming Tuesday, I'm sending out two newsletters a
#122

Aug 20, 2019

Join the *real* resistance – Internets,I'm contacting you at a time other than Friday afternoon, and of course it's because I need
#121

Aug 16, 2019

Jay-Z takes a knee (on the black community's neck) – Internets,I've come to expect more from Jay-Z, despite his post-Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life output, so I
#120

Aug 9, 2019

Chance the Rapper sucks now – Internets,After years of rainbow-colored mixtapes, Kit Kat commercials and what have you, Chance the
#119

Aug 2, 2019

Save a horse, ride a cowboy (nullus) – Internets,There was a time when only proud, straight, masculine men could drop successful rap songs a
#118

Jul 26, 2019

It's hard out here for a pimp – Internets,It's a few days early as I'm writing this, so you'll have to forgive me if none of the thin
#117

Jul 19, 2019

Send half of the squad to MY house – Internets,In the spirit of the circa '04 blogosphere, I feel it's important to note at the outset tha
#116

Jul 12, 2019

Don't free A$AP Rocky – Internets,Police in Sweden threw A$AP Rocky in jail for at least two weeks just for assaulting someon
#115

Jul 5, 2019

Lil Nas X is the gay rapper – Internets,I was shocked, the other day, to learn that Lil Nas X is gay, and I'm sure it'll be even mo
#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

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