MY FAVORITE MUSIC WRITING FROM 2003

I promised a few weeks back to include some examples of music criticism I DO like. Here's a short list of stuff from 2003 that's been standout to me:

Ta-Nahesi's oft-mentioned Voice piece on 50 Cent and gangsta rap in a post-crack era

Josh Kun on Eminem, Tupac and Race in America

Ernest Hardy's re-review of Meshell's new CD, providing great insights into not just the artist but Hardy's own process as a critic.

Elizabeth Mendez Berry's look at Jay-Z and The Black Album

Hua Hsu's essay on Nas from my book Classic Material - yeah, you gotta cop that book.

Also, two things folks might want to check out.

1) "Censorship by Word Count" by Kyle Gann - an articulate explanation of the phenom I was bemoaning before: declining word counts at most publications and why this is bad, bad, bad for music criticism.

2) "Favourite Scribings of 2003" by Jason Gloss - a fairly lengthy breakdown of notable music criticism from the past year including a "worst of" list (I love "worst of" lists!)