NPR Louder Than A Riot- The Badder, The Better: Bobby Shmurda

I think when people initially think of nonfiction they picture a book. That is what I immediately thought of when I thought about nonfiction. Once I thought about it for a minute longer I realized that nonfiction is not just limited to books but that there is a lot of great nonfiction in digital media. For me personally, podcasts are one of my favorite forms of digital media and this past semester I had the opportunity to take a podcasting class. It was in this class that I discovered how many great podcasts were out there and when I discovered my personal favorite, NPR’s Louder Than A Riot- The Badder, The Better: Bobby Shmurda. This 3 part series deep dives into the life of Bobby Shmurda, a rapper from Brooklyn, NY who quickly rose to stardom back in 2014 with hit singles and with the guidance of Epic Records. While Bobby’s career seemed perfect, evidence in a murder case against GS9, Bobby’s group, was also developing putting his new found fame in jeopardy. Just as I was becoming intrigued with Bobby’s story, the podcast takes a turn and dives into how the Hip Hop industry and modern media exploits the criminal facade and how lyrics that roll off the tongue so easily for some can also be extremely painful for others to hear. In the second part, we are introduced to the family of Bryan Antoine, a young man who grew up just blocks away from Bobby and was tragically killed by members of GS9. I think that this is what made this podcast meaningful to me. I was hooked on the fact that my emotions and opinions could be swayed by every turn in this story.