Byron Crawford
Encyclopedia
Byron Crawford also known by the nickname Bol, is a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

ger based in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 who writes ByronCrawford.com and wrote a daily (Monday-Friday) online column for XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...

magazine for 5 years. In February, 2008 XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...

 readers voted that Crawford was the site's best blogger by a margin of over sixteen percent http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=19935. Byroncrawford.com won Hip Hop Connection
Hip Hop Connection
Hip Hop Connection is the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. HHC has earned international recognition and was described by Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world".-History:...

's 2008 Hip-Hop Blog World Cup, which deemed it the best hip hop blog of the year http://www.byroncrawford.com/files/File0022.PDF. While Crawford bills Byroncrawford.com "the only hip hop blog on the Internet", he also regularly reviews music from other genres and writes on politics and race and gender relations. Brian McManus of Philadelphia Weekly
Philadelphia Weekly
Philadelphia Weekly , is an award-winning alternative newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, published every Wednesday.The paper was founded in 1971 as a sister publication to the South Philadelphia Press. In 1995, the paper became Philadelphia Weekly...

called Crawford "blogging's master craftsman" for his opinionated but laid-back writing.

While past reports have calculated Crawford's blog as only having 40,000 unique readers, his addition to XXL magazine's roster of online columnists and publicized feuds with artists, their fans, and their family, including Bun B
Bun B
Bernard Freeman better known by his stage name Bun B, is an American rapper and was one half of the southern hip hop duo UGK . He is also a guest lecturer at Rice University located in Houston, Texas...

, Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco , better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco , is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Lupe is the CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food...

, Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

, Donda West, and Joe Budden
Joe Budden
-Early life:Budden was born in Spanish Harlem, but lived in Queens until he was 12 and from there moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. He is one of five boys...

 have boosted his profile considerably over the past few years. http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-04-20/music/cold-cuts-bun-b-vs-byron-crawford/ The Riverfront Times
Riverfront Times
The Riverfront Times is a weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri that consists of local politics, music, arts and dining news in the print edition and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its website...

 claims that Byroncrawford.com gets more traffic than the sites for Vibe and Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...

 magazines. http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2005-11-02/news/the-mad-blogger

Crawford gained notoriety in 2004 when he reported that rapper Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

's single "Jesus Walks
Jesus Walks
"Jesus Walks" is a hip hop song by American rap artist Kanye West. It was released on May 25, 2004 as the third single from his debut album, The College Dropout. The song is built around a sample of "Walk with Me" as performed by the ARC Choir. "Jesus Walks" was well-received by music critics, who...

", which had just been nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

, was written by and bought from rapper Rhymefest
Rhymefest
Che Smith , known by the stage name of Rhymefest, is an American hip hop artist from Chicago, Illinois whose first official album, Blue Collar, was released on July 11, 2006. He co-wrote Kanye West's "Jesus Walks", which won a Grammy at the 47th Grammy Awards. In October, 2010, Rhymefest announced...

, and began a petition to disqualify the song.

Rapper Phonte
Phonte
Phonte Coleman, better known as Phonte, is a Grammy nominated American rapper, formerly of the now defunct North Carolina trio Little Brother and one-half of the duo The Foreign Exchange. He has also recorded R&B-flavored output as a singer...

 of the group Little Brother has spoken out in support of Crawford, and Crawford claims that during a meeting with Questlove, the Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...

drummer named several rappers that regularly read his blog.

External links

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