This is one of the most difficult and depressing evenings of my journalistic career, so forgive the imminent tweet storm. (1/)
Many of you reading this aren’t from LA, but it’s where I was born and raised, third-generation local, loyal to the soil—the people, cultural institutions, artifacts, franchises, and native eccentricity that make it unique. (2/)
Few things were as valuable to my adolescent & early adult education as @LAWeekly. It illuminated hole-in-the-wall restaurants, municipal graft, lurid crimes, essential art films, esoteric bands & underground rappers I needed to know. It was indispensable on every level. (3/)
For most of my life, the Hollywood cliché threatened to swallow LA whole. It was a slanted portrayal, rooted in truth but exaggerated. There was so much more vibrancy to this place, the slang, sabor, and essence that outsiders couldn’t grasp. (4/)
LA Weekly's writers understood that & chronicled its complexity like no other publication. They knew that it was no longer 72 suburbs in search of a city, but a city whose greatest charms revealed itself only to the curious and intrepid. (5/)
I was basically a kid with a small blog, who could count his paid writing gigs on 1 hand. It was a dream that I never woke up from. My first piece started a war with Deerhunter. My second piece was on Soulja Boy and wound up anthologized in the Best American Music writing, '07 7/
A decade passed. In that span, I’ve worked w/ some of the finest editors breathing. @Laurie_Ochoa, @sarahfenske, @mshalhoup, Ben Westhoff, @AndyHermannLA , @rhaithcoat, @bainofyrexstnce. I’ve made some of the best friends of my life working for the paper, but it went deeper (8/)
These were a-alikes who understood the culture from the inside out. An institutional knowledge that can’t be duplicated or replaced. I’ve been fortunate enough to write cover stories on DJ Quik, Busdriver, Freddie Gibbs, Tyler, the Creator, & too many others to list (9/)
I’ve covered the Lakers from the Staples press box, & even got shouted out on the 1st page of Phil Jackson’s book for something written in LA Weekly. For the last 6 yrs, I’ve written the Bizarre Ride column, which has been the most enriching experience of my career. (10/)
With minimal guidance & full editorial freedom, I’ve been able to interview artists, chefs, & NBA all-stars from every zip code, who represent every idea this city contains—both guardians of its tradition & those who wouldn’t be happy until every sacred cow was slaughtered (11/)
No subject was too strange. No topic too obscure. I was able to get paid to write haikus about rap albums. It's been a great gig. (12/)
These are the positive things. During this last decade, I have nothing good to say about the paper’s owners. New Times, then Village Voice Media, then Voice Media Group, who did everything in their power to erode my faith in the paper and desire to contribute to it. (13/)
I make less today writing for them than I made when I started in 2007. Since I’ve had my column, multiple publications have offered me far more money to take it elsewhere, but I’ve always turned it down. (14/)
I didn't quit out of loyalty -- because fuck everyone in upper mgmt. I did it because I was loyal to the city. I know that’s corny, but I also know there's significant value in shining a light on obscure local artists before hundreds of thousands of eyes in print each week. (15/)
Over the last two months, my colleagues at the Weekly and I have been kept in constant suspense about the new owners. For reasons that still remain unclear, they purposely kept their identity a mystery (16/)
No guarantees of job security were given. No plans to revamp the paper offered. No one had a clue, except for the fact that no good could be expected from a shadow owner with minimal journalistic experience and little respect for what the paper means to the city of LA. (17/)
Today, we found out. Every single one of LA Weekly editors was fired. It’s devastating, craven, & profoundly stupid. Basically, everything you’d expect in the modern day media world. (18)
I was given the opportunity to keep my Bizarre Ride column, but for obvious reasons, I’m resigning. I’d rather starve than work for a company that would treat my peers in such a fashion. (19/)
Make no mistake about it: this is evil. This is evil like the Koch Brothers buying Time. Or Peter Thiel shuttering Gawker. Rupert Murdoch buying WSJ and so on. As always, Prodigy was right: there’s a war going on outside and none of us are safe. (20/)
I’m still a little bit in shock right now and figuring out my next moves. I’m not worried, but I’m furious. I’m enraged this has happened to my friends and co-workers and keeps happening to so many others I love. (21/)
All I know is that we need to keep fighting this insanity and support good journalism however we can. Whether it’s giving to a Patreon or subscribing to a paper, pressuring these sulfurous morons into doing better or volunteering at a charitable cause. (22/)
If you’ve read my work at the LA Weekly. I can’t thank you enough. It’s been a privilege and honor to get to write about about these people and places, and hopefully contribute to the culture in some small way. (23/)
This is a sad end to a chapter that I’m very proud of, but I’m excited for what comes next. Thanks again. California Love, Westside, fuck Semanal Media as a staff, record label & as a motherfucking crew (24/24)
