EP 234: Christina Lee’s (ATL) music journalism
“Music journalism doesn't have to be chasing celebrities or whether this music is good or not. You can ask what does it mean — and sometimes that itself can be provocative. Being in Atlanta opened my eyes to the work that we do.”
Christina Lee is a music journalist who’s covered Atlanta’s hip hop scene for over a decade. Her award-winning culture reporting and criticism appears in Billboard, The Guardian, NPR Music, Vulture,The Washington Post and more. Christina goes so far beyond just covering the fun celebrity aspect of music - she has a real community and social angle to her work - covering the local - and national impact of elements like criminal justice, RICO statutes, gentrification, and even jury duty - and what they mean to our society at large. Basically punk rock for journalism - work that is definitely worth a read. Christina’s a contributing editor to community journalism nonprofit Canopy Atlanta. She also co-host and co-write the limited podcast series “King Slime: The Prosecution of Young Thug and YSL” - covering the ongoing trial of Jeffery Lamar Williams, known across the globe as Young Thug. This is a show not just following an ongoing case, but really digging into the whys of the prosecution - in Atlanta of all places - which has become a modern day mecca to hip hop and Black culture. Beyond her work - and as rad as Christina sounds - and is - it was really interesting to hear her growing up between two cultures in the suburbs of Maryland, and how MTV gave her a glimpse into what writing and journalism could be.
LEARN ABOUT CHRISTINA
christinalee.me
POD: iheart.com/podcast/1119-king-slime-the-prosecutio-120640605
twitter.com/MinaAnnLee
MENTIONS
BAND: Fugees - allmusic.com/artist/fugees-mn0000182415/
ZINE: Canopy Atlanta - canopyatlanta.org
Paste Magazine - pastemagazine.com
ZINE: Creative Loafing - creativeloafing.com
POD: Rodney Carmichael // Louder Than a Riot - npr.org/podcasts/510357/louder-than-a-riot
BOOK: Fleishman Is in Trouble (Taffy Brodesser-Akner) -.goodreads.com/en/book/show/41880602
BOOK: Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital (Elise Hu) - goodreads.com/book/show/62121560-flawless
BOOK: Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation (Anne Helen Petersen) - goodreads.com/book/show/48930297-can-t-even
PERSON: Young Thug - wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Thug
PERSON: Gunna - wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunna_(rapper)