Hip Hop News That Isn't About Dumb Sh*t
A hand-curated collection of innovative, inspiring, and insightful Hip Hop stories
👋 Greetings friends, neighbors, supporters, and haters!
On tonight’s livestream show, I’ll be previewing a bunch of upcoming Hip Hop interdisciplinary events (conferences, festivals, etc.), where Hip Hop is treated not just as entertainment, but as a full fledged culture, subject matter, pedagogical tool, and — if you come to any of the ones I’ll be presenting at — problem solver, liberatory infrastructure, and a necessary-but-all-too-rare tool for civic leadership and systems change.
Swing over to YouTube (preferred) to make sure your notifications are on. (You can also watch it here on Substack.)
Quick shouts to the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College for inviting me to discuss Hip Hop’s unique, powerful, but still untapped ability to uplift lives, livelihoods, and communities. From an engaging book talk, to intellectual and artistic cyphers with community members, I know for a fact that folks were truly inspired by all the brilliance and possibilities that exist within Hip Hop culture.
Want to bring me to your organization/school/municipality? www.mannyfaces.com/contact
📰 HIP HOP NEWS THAT ISN’T ABOUT DUMB SH*T
THEY REMINISCE OVER YOU
🕊️ RIP Corey “Mr. Complex” Roberts
DROPPIN’ SCIENCE
🧠 Researchers are studying how DJing and hip-hop music production could help improve ADHD symptoms in young adults through creative, non-drug therapy.
🏫 Columbia University and NYU team up for event focused on indigenous hip hop decolonization and ‘Edutainment’
🎶 Students use music to open up about trauma
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
🎭 New Hip Hop based musical celebrates the life and legacy of John Lewis
🏛️ Hip hop exhibit expands at Wisconsin Historical Society for Black History Month
📸 Brooklyn’s Finest Photo Installation Honors Hip-Hop Legends At Borough Hall
💡 Berkeley’s Flow Lounge is a hip-hop incubator and community builder
🕺🏾 Abramz Tekya: How Hip-Hop Built a Community in Uganda
EVERYDAY PEOPLE
🍩 The fictions around Donuts reaffirm J Dilla’s legend
🎧 Unmasking US rap iconoclast MF Doom’s final years in West Yorkshire
💞 Christopher ‘Kid’ Reid reveals he underwent heart transplant
🎨 Mixed-media artist Sherwin Banfield: Combatting the Erasure of Black Genius
🎤 Young Rapper Boss Tootie Lands Cal-Waste Campaign
🖼️ Saad Moosajee’s tour visuals for Wu-Tang Clan pay tribute to multiple generations of hip-hop majesty
Get your copy today at www.hiphopcansaveamerica.com/book
INDUSTRY
✝️ Gen-Z is turning to Christian hip-hop in 2026: What’s behind the move?
📻 The Kid Mero: ‘Let Me Get in There and Shake Shit Up’
STOP, LOOK, LISTEN
🏫 A$AP Rocky Transforms Harlem Classroom Into a Rap Video
🎧 Video Music Box founder and media pioneer Ralph McDaniels on Hip-Hop and Jazz
🎧 Rapper Ana Tijoux rediscovers her roots in hip-hop
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
📺 Citizen Reporting in Minneapolis and Hip Hop's Spirit in Journalism
📺 Hip Hop, Poetry & Power: Lyrical Faith & the Black AF (Artistic Freedom) Conference
📺 Hip Hop Therapy: How Rap Helps Heal Youth Trauma
Everything I share here is part of a bigger mission I truly believe in. If you believe in it too, becoming a paid subscriber is the most direct way to help me keep building and expanding this work.
Thank you.
- Manny
🔥