Austin McCoy

Austin McCoy is an assistant professor of history at West Virginia University. He is currently writing a cultural history of the rap group De La Soul for Simon & Schuster.

A painting includes a number of subjects, including Nicki Minaj, Ice Cube, a burning commercial building, and copies of Malcom X’s autobiography falling from the sky.

It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop

Austin McCoy

January 8, 2024

Issue no. 72

I saw myself as part of a beleaguered imaginary community—a “hip-hop nation.”

A map of the United States is torn up like scraps of construction paper that is rearranged and collaged into a loose rectangle. Broken greek columns are affixed on top of the collage. A megaphone has been placed in front of that.

After Floyd

Austin McCoy

October 3, 2022

Issue no. 65

We are stuck again in status quo America.