If I were to say that Trill Entertainment and Stones Throw were the two best independent hip-hop labels of the last decade, it would not be an insane suggestion. The picture above depicts the heyday of the Baton Rouge imprint run by Mel and Turk, since relocated to Atlanta and for all practical purposes, a […]

There are two essential reasons why this post exists: the first is obviously Mystikal. Every time I write one of these posts, I feel a twinge of uneasiness considering Mystikal was convicted of an indefensible crime. It’s a little strange to write posts in all caps about OMG MYSTIKAL, but yo, listen to this man […]

Information is scarce on the status of Boosie. I was told two months ago that he might get out this summer — but he might not get out until next year. What’s clear is that the officials at the Angola Penitentiary are determined to make his incarceration as painful as possible. I’ve repeatedly attempted to […]

The third episode of the Shots Fired Podcast with myself and Nocando is now live. I’ll let the show description do the leg work: “On this week’s episode of Shots Fired, Jeff Weiss & Nocando discuss the phenomenon of ratchet. The duo talk about the many definitions of ratchet, Lil Boosie’s connection to the origin […]

I met Max Minelli in a strip mall parking lot on a broiling Baton Rouge May afternoon. The  Boosie trial had just ended and the city was slowly settling back into its usual hair trigger lull. We spoke for about an hour, pausing every ten minutes when a different patron passed by, stopped, and strolled […]