Introducing: Louder Than A Riot

Bobby Shmurda. Nipsey Hussle. Mac Phipps. DJ Drama. What happens when hip-hop stars come into contact with the criminal justice system? In Louder Than A Riot, a new podcast from NPR Music, hosts Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden explore the interconnected rise of hip-hop and ma ... Show More

In this first episode, a mysterious conspiracy letter sends us on a journey to find out just how entangled hip-hop and mass incarceration have become over the last 40 years. We travel back in time to 1980s Atlanta with Killer Mike, 1990s Oakland with Too Short and beyond. From Re ... Show More

When New Orleans rap phenom Mac Phipps signed with Master P's No Limit Records, he knew his dream of hip-hop stardom was within reach. But in February 2000, Mac was accused of murder and the dream became a nightmare. Over the next three episodes, we investigate this story of race ... Show More

In this episode from NPR's Louder Than A Riot, New Orleans rapper Mac Phipps speaks exclusively to NPR about the power dynamics at play throughout his clemency hearing, and hosts Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael examine how his hip-hop career continues to affect his image in t ... Show More

In this bonus feed drop we share an episode of NPR Music's new podcast Louder Than A Riot. Hosts Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden spent a year investigating the link between the rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration. In this episode they look at the story of Mac Phipps, a rap ... Show More

After Hip Hop artist Tupac Shakur is gunned down in a shocking drive-by shooting, Las Vegas Homicide Detective Wayne Petersen’s investigation takes him deep into the Compton gang scene – where he uncovers the chain of events that ended the life of a music icon.   Hollywood Homici ... Show More

A Drogheda feud member, convicted of a brutal abduction and torture, has launched his rap career with a highly produced music video about crime and carnage on the streets of his home town. Criminal Dean Thornton is hoping to find fame with his song about feuding, guns and gangste ... Show More

Les années 80.Le hip hop commence à voir le jour.La cocaïne, elle, est déjà partout. Et bientôt, le crack va faire une entréefracassante dans la vie des ghettos.Cette consommation sans précédent va permettre à quelques dealers de devenirles nouveaux rois de la rue et de représent ... Show More

Public Enemy were revolutionaries – both in their message and their music. In the 1980s and 1990s, they elevated hip-hop to an art form. They did this with Chuck D's booming voice, Flavor Flav's comic levity, and the auditory assault of the Bomb Squad's production. But with that ... Show More

Drug wars, recessions and record violence in the 1980s had US cities in crisis. Hip hop artists responded by shifting from party music to a new style called "conscious rap." Artists like Public Enemy and Digable Planets championed a sound that was political, community-minded and ... Show More