This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross. Hip-hop is being celebrated this month in honor of its 50th

anniversary. My guests are two music journalists who love hip-hop, covered for NPR music,

have written extensively about it for most of their adult lives, and grew up with it.

But they're also not afraid to call out hip-hop when they see misogyny, homophobia, or transphobia.

Rodney Carmichael and Sydney Madden host the NPR Hip-hop podcast,

louder than a riot. Here's how they describe this season.

And from NPR music, this is louder than a riot.

Where we confront the double standard, that's become the standard.

On every episode of this season, we talk about one unwritten rule of hip-hop that affects the most

marginalized among us and holds the entire culture back.

And one that a new generation of rap refuses to stand for.

This season, they're highlighting the stories of female gay and queer rappers

who were daring enough to be themselves, in spite of all the pressure to conform to the

standards set by the straight, often hyper-masculine men who have dominated rap

for most of its history. In the first season, louder than a riot investigated the connection

between hip-hop and mass incarceration, or as they put it, the collision of rhyme and punishment

in America. Unfortunately, louder than a riot was one of the show's NPR eliminated during

its recent round of budget cuts. So the current second season is also the final one.

Sydney Madden, Rodney Carmichael, welcome to Fresh Air. I've really enjoyed your podcast,

and it's a pleasure to have you on the show. I'm sorry that the show was canceled,

but at least you got two really good seasons out of it.

Oh, thanks so much, Terry. We're definitely glad to be here.

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