Marcus J. Moore

Marcus J. Moore is a music journalist, editor, curator, pundit, A&R, music supervisor, and author of The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America. He’s working on his next book, High and Rising, a cultural biography of Herb Gods De La Soul, to be published by HarperCollins. Moore has been a contributing writer with The Nation and a contributing editor with Bandcamp Daily. His coverage of soul, jazz, rap, and rock can be found in The New York Times, Pitchfork, TIME, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, The Washington Post, NPR, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic, among other outlets. He’s also written extensive liner notes for albums by Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, among others, and bios for Chance The Rapper, Erykah Badu, and Jhené Aiko, to name a few. Ever the cratedigger, he compiles playlists for local restaurants, bars, coworking spaces, and cafés, and has been known to deejay in Brooklyn, East Africa, and the Washington, D.C. area. In 2020, he released his own album, a compilation of obscure jazz and Black Liberation soul, for indie label Paxico Records.