sheldon
@jiggyraps.bsky.social
editor, npr music; writer all over
previously: the new yorker, pitchfork
author, changes: an oral history of tupac shakur
sheldonpearce.com
previously: the new yorker, pitchfork
author, changes: an oral history of tupac shakur
sheldonpearce.com
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...
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.
www.npr.org
July 28, 2025 at 4:58 PM
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...
eight years of flower boy — the album tyler finally put it all together; still his best: pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...
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.
pitchfork.com
July 21, 2025 at 7:23 PM
eight years of flower boy — the album tyler finally put it all together; still his best: pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...
Reposted by sheldon
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.
www.npr.org
May 24, 2025 at 4:37 PM
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...
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.
www.npr.org
May 24, 2025 at 4:28 PM
wrote about common and kanye, the divergent paths of “consciousness” in rap, and 20 years of Be: www.npr.org/2025/05/24/n...
Reposted by sheldon
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.
www.npr.org
May 5, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Ryan Coogler's period thriller knows "the devil's music" isn't the opposite of the holy word, but its twin.
Reposted by sheldon
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.
www.npr.org
May 5, 2025 at 5:41 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.npr.org
May 5, 2025 at 3:38 PM
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 turns 15 today. you really just had to be there: pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...
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...
pitchfork.com
March 31, 2025 at 2:54 PM
earl turns 15 today. you really just had to be there: pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...
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...
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.
www.npr.org
January 15, 2025 at 6:59 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.npr.org
December 31, 2024 at 8:17 PM
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...
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...
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?
www.npr.org
December 30, 2024 at 7:19 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.npr.org
December 30, 2024 at 7:17 PM
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...
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...
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.
www.npr.org
November 25, 2024 at 9:47 PM
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...
Reposted by sheldon
You should read @jiggyraps.bsky.social on MF DOOM. www.npr.org/2024/11/21/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.
www.npr.org
November 21, 2024 at 9:48 PM
You should read @jiggyraps.bsky.social on MF DOOM. www.npr.org/2024/11/21/g...