Scoop Jackson on Chicago Roots, Slam Magazine, and the Birth of XXL

Today's guest is Scoop Jackson — writer, cultural critic, and one of the most distinctive voices at the intersection of hip-hop, basketball, and Black identity. From the South Side of Chicago to Howard University, Scoop turned his academic study of hip-hop into a career that reshaped sports and culture journalism — as a founding voice at Slam Magazine, a key architect of XXL, and a national columnist at ESPN. Now he's telling the origin story of hip-hop itself, co-writing the Grandmaster Flash memoir that brings the DJs, breakers, and writers of the Bronx together in one place for the first time. This is Mixed and Mastered with Scoop Jackson. Mixed and Mastered is hosted by Jeffrey Sledge and produced and distributed by Merrick Studios. Catch all our episodes at https://merrickstudios.com/mixed-and-mastered-pod and for early access, live recordings and more, join us on Merrick Studios+