Sidney Madden
Sidney Madden is a reporter and editor for NPR Music. As someone who always gravitated towards the artforms of music, prose and dance to communicate, Madden entered the world of music journalism as a means to authentically marry her passions and platform marginalized voices who do the same.
Originally from Boston, Madden graduated from Hofstra University in New York with a bachelor's degree in journalism and sociology. As a freelancer, she earned bylines at MTV, People's Choice, Nylon Magazine and more before joining the editorial team at storied hip-hop pillar XXL Magazine.
During her time at XXL, both as an editorial assistant and assistant editor, Madden pitched, wrote and edited news posts and features for the outlet and interviewed artists ranging from all eras and facets of rap — from Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent to Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B and Lil Uzi Vert. In addition to working on cultural touchstones like the magazine's annual Freshman Class covers, in 2016, Madden assisted in reporting out one of the magazine's seminal investigative packages, The Current Status of Every Murdered Rapper's Case, which revealed the high percentage of unsolved murders involving rappers over the last 30 years.
Madden joined the NPR Music team in 2017, serving as editorial lead for digitizing and editing music stories that air on NPR's premiere news magazine programs, Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. In 2018, she began producing Tiny Desk Concerts with a special focus on bringing burgeoning, left-of-center artists from the worlds of R&B and hip-hop to the desk. To date, her Tiny Desk Concert productions include Jorja Smith, Megan Thee Stallion, DVSN and Snoh Aalegra. She's also created reports for on-air and digital that contextualize hip-hop culture within society's larger strata — whether it's unpacking the genius marketing of Cardi B, Tyler, The Creator's subversive heartbreak or the socioeconomics that fuel Solange's downhome Afrofuturism.
In September 2020, after two years of research, reporting and development, Madden became the co-host of Louder Than A Riot, NPR Music's first narrative investigative podcast that traces the interconnected rise of hip-hop and mass incarceration.
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The rap icon treated fans to an epic set featuring the best of her sprawling discography.
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Like her idol Trina two decades earlier, Latto saw her creativity open up when she started rapping explicitly about sex. But with her frankness came harsh new standards to live up to. -
Rapper Doechii hoped her video "Crazy" would make a statement by presenting her nude body as a vessel of power, not sex. YouTube saw things differently. -
Not everyone who was part of rap's ascent gets included in its story. MC Sha-Rock, of the original Funky 4 and the Funky 4 + 1, reaffirms her role in hip-hop's formative years as the first woman MC. -
In hip-hop, unwritten rules have forced Black women and queer artists to fight for space. Can the genre's rule-breakers push their way to the center, while pushing the culture forward?
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A jury in Los Angeles on Friday found singer and rapper Tory Lanez guilty of three felony charges — including assaulting rapper Megan Thee Stallion with a firearm in 2020.
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The charges stem from a dispute that took place after the rappers left a pool party at Kylie Jenner's house in Los Angeles in 2020. Lanez was accused of assaulting Megan by shooting her in both feet. -
Rapper Tory Lanez is on trial for allegedly shooting rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Louder Than A Riot host Sidney Madden discusses the first week of testimony from outside the courthouse.
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Rapper Megan Pete, known as Megan Thee Stallion, took the stand in a LA courtroom to testify against rapper Tory Lanez. Pete says Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, shot her in 2020.
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As the key witness for the prosecution, the Houston rapper spoke for the first time in explicit detail about the night Lanez allegedly shot her in 2020.
