Hanif Abdurraqib

A stunning collection of essays using music as a vantage point through which to examine and interrogate the world we live in, culturally and politically. In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Abdurraqib’s is a voice that matters. Whether he’s attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown’s grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly. In the wake of the nightclub attacks in Paris, he recalls how he sought refuge as a teenager in music, at shows, and wonders whether the next generation of young Muslims will not be afforded that opportunity now. While discussing the everyday threat to the lives of black Americans, Abdurraqib recounts the first time he was ordered to the ground by police officers: for attempting to enter his own car. In essays that have been published by the New York Times, MTV, and Pitchfork, among others—along with original, previously unreleased essays—Abdurraqib uses music and culture as a lens through which to view our world, so that we might better understand ourselves, and in so doing proves himself a bellwether for our times.

Essays

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

Syrina

And, ultimately, the problem becomes when those men don't age beyond the ado- lescent heartbroken temper tantrums that we all have before we learn better and start to know better. It's not a measure of being morally superior to this band on stage, or not failing in my own politics around sadness, gender, and anger. But it's the difference between trying to chip away at the emotional debt one has accrued versus piling on top of it. 

 Even now, I'm not as invested in things getting better as I am in things getting honest. 

the forever-era of little brothers raiding anything that their older siblings want to keep from them

They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us quotes

Join the club