TD 1
black men in America. They identify around five h
undred cases where this has happened, and 30 in which the use of lyrics penned by the accused has helped to secure a death penalty. The lyrics written by these men is viewed as a confession of crimes committed, in a way that is never applied to other art forms: film, novels, the lyrics of artists in traditionally white genres. “In short,” say Nielson and Dennis, “this practice happens because it works, few are aware it’s happening, and even fewer are critically challenging it.” I’m glad that we could do our bit to raise that awareness, which will hopefully lead to a closer examination of the process. – What design considerations go into Brick? You have always gone with a selection of covers featuring interviewees. How impactful has the idea of offering a choice been? We work with the incredibly talented Oliver Shaw of Catalogue on the design of the mag. We try to approach each edition of the magazine with a blank slate – the type treatments we use, and the general design language of layouts change from issue to issue, reflecting the content featured, and the personalities of the artists on the cover. We’ve been putting four artists on the cover(s) of each issue since Edition 04. As we cover such a broad range of music, it helps to communicate that by featuring such diverse artists on the cover. – Have you come across any hip-hop from Ireland of late? All the time, really. It’s such a strong and underrated scene. We’ve been honoured to feature Cosha and Maverick Sabre in recent issues – he was photographed for us by Cian Oba-Smith in Ballymun last year. Rejjie Snow has been a long-time friend of the mag, but we’ve weirdly never gotten around to doing an interview! In terms of newer stuff, I’ve really been enjoying JyellowL, Kojaque and Denise Chaila. – Who is currently inspiring you? (music, fashion, books, life). I’m currently reading Sticky Fingers, a biography of Jann Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone. I’m not sure I’d say it’s inspiring though, more of a cautionary tale! I’m most often inspired by the work of other great independent magazines such as Victory Journal out of New York, or Courier from London. Issue No. 9 is out now, £12 brickthemag.com 47