I’ve been waiting for this story to go live for weeks now, and it just made the front page of the NY Times.  This is the first major piece in the mainstream media on the use of rap lyrics in criminal trials, and also the first to give a real sense of how pervasive the practice has become.  Charis Kubrin and I worked with the story’s author, Lorne Manly, throughout the process, and we’re both really pleased with how it turned out.

A big thank you to the NY Times for seeing the importance of this issue and devoting significant resources to covering it.  Also a shout out to Lorne Manly, who nailed this piece!

For people who want even more information on the topic, Charis and I just published our first article on this–called “Rap on Trial”–in Race and Justice.  The official published version is available on the journal’s website, but the pre-production version is posted (for free) at SSRN.  I’d also recommend Andrea Dennis’s seminal article, which I’ve posted here more than once.

Yesterday, my latest piece, “Where Did All The Female Rappers Go?” went live at NPR.  In this one, I look at the significant decline of women in mainstream rap music and consider some of the reasons for it.  I was fortunate enough to interview hip hop pioneer MC Lyte, who was very candid about her disappointment in the current industry climate for women.

The piece ends with the upside:  the “underground.”  I’ve been listening to a lot of women who are far more talented than many of the artists (e.g., 2 Chainz, Waka Flocka Flame) who are on major labels.  There are a number of really skilled MCs out there, but check out Awkwafina, Ruby Ibarra, Nitty Scott MC, and Gifted Gab for some different styles.