They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

"With a slew of sharp and expansive essays, poet and critic Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib delivers a much-needed collection for our time. He is a firm but generous cultural critic, and as a music writer, he has proven to be one of the most essential voices of his generation. In They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, Willis-Abdurraqib covers subjects ranging from Migos to Carly Rae Jepsen and Bruce Springsteen. But in many cases, music is simply a vehicle for him to delve deeper, as he movingly explores themes of race, friendship and our shared quest for meaning."

"I loved, like beyond all measure, Hanif Abdurraqib's "They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us." It's a collection of essays about music and culture that are written with such insight and tenderness that I read it in a day and immediately read the whole thing again."