logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2020
1h 4m

'Prison To Prison Pipeline': Isis Tha Sa...

NPR
About this episode
Hip-hop loves a hero's come-up, but the culture often has a hard time seeing women as heroes. Two years ago, when Louder Than A Riot editor Chiquita Paschal discovered she had a sister — who rapped — she quickly saw how that double standard can take shape. Chiquita's sister is Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, aka Philly rapper Isis Tha Saviour. In this episode, Chiquita takes us on Mary's hero's journey — from her time as a ward of the state to finding her voice in rap. And together, they delve into incarceration's ripple effects on families like theirs, and how hip-hop can help transform trauma into freedom.
Up next
Dec 2020
Captured By The Game: Nipsey Hussle
After LA rapper Nipsey Hussle was murdered in 2019, city officials praised him for his community advocacy. But NPR has learned that behind the scenes, some law enforcement officers branded Nipsey as a gang member, and that label meant another man from Nipsey's neighborhood would ... Show More
1h 5m
Dec 2020
Making Revolution Irresistible
Yo Gotti grew up in Memphis just across the state line from Mississippi State Penitentiary (aka Parchman) — so this year, when he learned about the squalor its inmates were living in, he wanted to help. Gotti enlisted Jay-Z and Roc Nation to sue the department of corrections for ... Show More
1h 8m
Mar 2021
21 Years and 1 Day: Mac Phipps (Exclusive)
After 21 years in prison, Mac Phipps has been recommended for clemency, which could mean early release. As we reported in our first season, Mac was convicted in 2001 of manslaughter, for a crime he has always said he did not commit. Now, we follow the former No Limit rapper as he ... Show More
47m 49s
Recommended Episodes
May 2024
Episode 571: Criminal Dean Thornton releases rap song about Drogheda feud
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
17m 53s
Dec 2020
The Camouflage Assassin: Mac Phipps
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
1h 1m
May 2021
Hollywood Homicide: Tupac Shakur
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
49m 44s
Dec 2023
One Thing: Rap Lyrics & RICO: Young Thug on Trial
A high-profile criminal trial is underway in Atlanta that could have major implications for the music industry. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has alleged Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug is the cofounder of a criminal street gang responsible for violent acts and is ... Show More
15m 56s
Mar 2021
BONUS: Rapper Mac Phipps, After 20 Years In Prison, Is One Step Closer To Freedom
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
47m 56s
Jun 2019
Bryan McCann, "The Mark of Criminality: Rhetoric, Race, and Gangsta Rap in the War-on-Crime Era" (U Alabama Press, 2017)
On this episode, Dr. Lee Pierce (she/they)--Asst. Prof. of Communication at SUNY Geneseo--interviews Bryan McCann (he/his)--Associate Professor of Communication at Louisiana State University--on a dope new work of cultural criticism The Mark of Criminality: Rhetoric, Race, and Ga ... Show More
1h 2m
Jun 2017
Rap on Trial
Olutosin Oduwole was an aspiring rapper and college student when he was arrested in 2007. He was given an unusual charge: "attempting to make a terrorist threat." Prosecutors used his writings — which he maintains were rap lyrics — to build their case against him. This week on Hi ... Show More
52m 53s
Jun 2023
Episode 300 - Tupac & Biggie: ‘2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted’ - Part 1
Stories of death, drugs, and gang violence were inextricably linked, in the 90s media, to the nation’s biggest rap stars.  Tupac Shakur was one of the decade’s biggest and most admired music icons – until his life was cut tragically short in 1996. By the time he died, he’d been i ... Show More
1h 3m