They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us

Hanif Abdurraqib (1983-) is a poet, culture critic, and essayist from Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of two collections of poetry: The Crown Ain’t Worth Much (2016) and A Fortune for Your Disaster (2019). Additionally, he has published three nonfiction collections: They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us (2017), Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest (2019), and A Little Devil in America: Notes In Praise of Black Performance (2021). A Little Devil in America was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

In 2021, Abdurraqib was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a “Genius Grant.” He won the award for “Forging a distinctive style of cultural and artistic criticism through the lens of popular music and autobiography” (“Hanif Abdurraqib.” MacArthur Foundation). Abdurraqib is known in both his poetry and nonfiction writing for blending music with cultural identity, often exploring his identity as a Black Muslim man in America.

In They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, Abdurraqib operates in two main roles: enthusiastic music critic and grieving artist. As a music critic, Abdurraqib embraces artists regardless of whether or not they are critically acclaimed.