sheldon

British hip-hop eyes a global tipping point black british music (2025), the new project from multi-hyphenate Jim Legxacy, tells the story of a U.K. rap scene overspilling its borders as it rarely has before.

wrote about ‘black british music (2025),’ and black british music in 2025, and leg(x)acy, and a vision of uk rap as the polestar of a diaspora: www.npr.org/2025/07/28/n...

Tyler, the Creator: Flower Boy On Tyler’s sincere and most accomplished album, he gets to the essence of what he's been chiseling at: the angst of a missed connection, the pain of unrequited love, and navigating youthful ennui.

eight years of flower boy — the album tyler finally put it all together; still his best: pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...

It's your world: Common, Kanye and the conflicted promise of 'Be' In 2005, two Chicago titans made a generational classic and then sprinted in opposite directions, each daring the rest of hip-hop to follow them.

In 2005, two Chicago titans made a generational classic and then sprinted in opposite directions, each daring the rest of hip-hop to follow them.

It's your world: Common, Kanye and the conflicted promise of 'Be' In 2005, two Chicago titans made a generational classic and then sprinted in opposite directions, each daring the rest of hip-hop to follow them.

wrote about common and kanye, the divergent paths of “consciousness” in rap, and 20 years of Be: www.npr.org/2025/05/24/n...

In 'Sinners,' the blues is a portal between this world and the next Ryan Coogler's period thriller knows "the devil's music" isn't the opposite of the holy word, but its twin.

Ryan Coogler's period thriller knows "the devil's music" isn't the opposite of the holy word, but its twin.

In 'Sinners,' the blues is a portal between this world and the next Ryan Coogler's period thriller knows "the devil's music" isn't the opposite of the holy word, but its twin.

Love this piece by my brilliant colleague Sheldon Pearce on Sinners. Lonnie Holley! James T. Cone! This read takes you places www.npr.org/2025/05/05/n...

In 'Sinners,' the blues is a portal between this world and the next Ryan Coogler's period thriller knows "the devil's music" isn't the opposite of the holy word, but its twin.

wrote about sin and sinners and their cultural memory, the blues as spirit and rap as the blues, soul as a supernatural force, godliness and godlessness dancing along the ancestral plane, the juke as tabernacle, time machine, and tombstone www.npr.org/2025/05/05/n...

Earl Sweatshirt: Earl Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Today we revisit Earl Sweatshirt’s debut mixtape, the keystone to Od...

earl turns 15 today. you really just had to be there: pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...

Bad Bunny's politics of presence Benito's Saturn Return leads to a folk revival on 'DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,' remixing the poetics and politics of Puerto Rican roots music.

the brilliant carina del valle schorske wrote about the new bad bunny album, the folk revival brought on by his saturn return, and so much more: www.npr.org/2025/01/15/g...

Kendrick Lamar takes the West Coast off standby Lamar's blowout Juneteenth concert, held at the Forum in Los Angeles and live-streamed on Amazon Music, planted flags for the future of LA rap, while uniting in hate for a certain Toronto titan.

and, finally, everything i wrote on the year in beef:
www.npr.org/2024/04/11/1...

www.npr.org/2024/04/18/1...

www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1...

www.npr.org/2024/06/20/g...

GOAT debates are a hip-hop tradition. Spotify is here to spoil the fun Canon-making is a core part of rap fandom, the subject of endless barbershop parleys and message-board battles. But something curdles when the companies that control the music business enter the chat.

a petty dispatch on a streaming giant’s attempt to push music discourse: www.npr.org/2024/06/07/g...

Post Malone's winding country road The duet-packed F-1 Trillion marks a new chapter, but it's no wild swerve — the one-time SoundCloud rapper has had his eye on Nashville for years.

a feature on post malone charting his path to country music: www.npr.org/2024/08/15/g...

JPEGMAFIA, rap's most tireless agitator, looks inward I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU, the artist's fifth album and first since his Kanye collabs made him a snark target, swings back at everyone in sight — but saves a few knocks for himself.

here’s a review of my rap album of the year: www.npr.org/2024/08/08/g...

The book of Ka The Brooklyn MC, who died this month at 52, rapped from an intense commitment to writing as a form, and a DIY ethic that put him in charge of every aspect of his business.

eulogized the god mc ka: www.npr.org/2024/10/28/g...

Bless this mess: Tyler, the Creator and the chaos of adulting Musically, CHROMAKOPIA is the rap auteur's most confident album. Emotionally, it might be his most self-effacing, as it stares down a new set of responsibilities.

here’s another on tyler, the creator’s second adult awakening: www.npr.org/2024/11/01/g...

Jay-Z and Beyoncé's blank space: The endless social climb of pop's royal couple The Carters have it all: wealth, influence, critical cred, fanatic fandoms. So what drives their quest for approval from institutions like the Grammys, who may never truly see them?

wrote about the carters’ empty pursuit of institutional acceptance: www.npr.org/2024/03/28/1...

Requiem for a team: the lost promise of Rich Gang Ten years ago, two rappers found a chemistry so potent it couldn't be recreated. Today, even with one tragically absent and one indefinitely detained, the legacy of what they made is everywhere.

a thread of highlights from the year, starting with this piece on the legacy of rich gang: tha tour pt. 1: www.npr.org/2024/09/14/g...

K-pop's uncertain English-language future Cultural differences are a key charm of Korea's exploding pop market. When its stars start directly courting American listeners, is it even K-pop anymore?

for my EOY essay, i wrote about k-pop (a thing i love), its industry (a thing i loathe) and the search for where one begins and the other ends as america becomes the new measuring stick www.npr.org/2024/12/23/g...

Sheldon Pearce's favorite albums of 2024 For NPR Music's hip-hop and R&B editor, no list could capture an accurate picture of the year, yet there's still value in calling out the albums that felt unignorable.

as we close things out, here’s a list of albums for 2k24. idk what it *means* but i know they’re important to me: www.npr.org/2024/12/20/g...

Kendrick Lamar's rules for rap's new administration Lamar already won the year in a landslide. On his bristly new album, GNX, the rapper aims to change the state of play for everyone else.

wrote about kendrick lamar’s gnx, the mandate of his incoming administration, loosening up, crashing out, and doing it for the culture: www.npr.org/2024/11/25/g...

MF DOOM's music was his legend. The man himself was the myth The late rapper's 2004 album MM..FOOD may never have the classic status of its sister release, Madvillainy. But 20 years later, it's the one to play if you want to hear the essence of his artistry.

You should read @jiggyraps.bsky.social on MF DOOM. www.npr.org/2024/11/21/g...