Hip-Hop Journalist Sacha Jenkins Dies at 53

Sacha Jenkins, a pioneering hip-hop journalist, filmmaker, and cultural historian, has died from complications of multiple system atrophy at age 53, though some sources report 54. Jenkins began his career with the graffiti zine Graphic Scenes & Xplicit Language and the hip-hop newspaper Beat Down before co-founding the influential magazine Ego Trip. He shaped hip-hop narratives through Ego Trip's books and VH1 TV series and contributed to major publications like Vibe, Rolling Stone, and Spin. Jenkins most recently served as creative director at Mass Appeal. His acclaimed documentaries include the Emmy-nominated Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James, Fresh Dressed, and Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues. Jenkins is remembered as a cultural authority who profoundly influenced the documentation of hip-hop, punk, graffiti, and broader American culture.