Local Writer Says Farewell
In 2005, the Village Voice's music editor, Chuck Eddy, its web editor, Nick Catucci, and their intern, Nick Sylvester, had the novel idea that the Voice's music section might become something more than a once a week proposition. The eventual result of this idea was something called Riff Raff, written by Sylvester, which updated at the revolutionary pace of one post per day. It was a free-for-all of bravado criticism, proto-SEO-baiting headlines ("Live: Gang Gang Dance Accept Blame for Cheney Shooting"), real interviews that read like they were fake (and vice versa), and instant reactions to sub-par Cam'ron dis tracks. Eventually, Nick and Chuck brought on a seven-foot tall Baltimore rap fan named Tom Breihan to write a second blog, which Tom called Status Ain't Hood. Status, in its long run at this paper, trafficked in a wide-eyed love for hip-hop, inexplicably definitive opinions ("Pitbull: Better Than Nas"), and posts that ran to thousands and thousands of words, even when they were about zombies. ![]()



























