They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us
Ratings30
Average rating4.5
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.
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“I hope they find each other in a room where a song that they know all of the words to crawls up the walls and rattles the lights above their heads.”
Hanif lived rent free in my head for days - his words, his prose - his insights into my own past thru what I couldn't imagine someone half across the world was also experiencing. I will miss this book, but I close this one - extremely thankful for what I've learned.
I L O V E D this. I forget where I saw it recommended but I almost didn't pick it up because it's a lot of music criticism of music I don't especially like, but it was overall so highly recommended that I checked it out. And I'm so glad I did!! The author is also a poet and you can definitely tell, his style is so beautiful and moving. Even when I'm not familiar with the artists, these essays are always about more than music. (I have to admit I did prefer it when I was familiar with an essay's subject, such as Ms. Carly Rae Jepsen.)
Still: after this I'll read whatever Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib has to say about anything.
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