Payroll Giovanni

Right now, Detroit street-rap is in a great place; it's been a while since we've heard an album more energetic or inventive than Sada Baby's…

One of the strongest, most underrated rap albums of the year thus far is Big Bossin, Vol. 2, the full-length team-up between Detroit street-rap veteran…

Two years ago, Payroll Giovanni, the Detroit street-rap veteran and lead member of the local crew Doughboyz Cashout, teamed up with the Texan rap producer…

It's one thing for a rapper to tell you he had a fucked-up childhood. It's entirely another for a rapper to describe, in minute and…

Back in 2016, Payroll Giovanni, the most visible member of the Detroit street-rap institution Doughboyz Cashout, teamed up with the gifted Texan producer for the…

Streaming changed things. 2017 was the year that rap once again reaffirmed its stranglehold on the collective imagination of America's youth. Like the moment when…

Is there anything better than seeing a one-hit wonder become something more? One-hit wonders are becoming more and more of a rarity; anyone can find…

This is a complete bullshit occurs-to-you-in-the-shower thought, but bear with me here: Trap music is our disco. It's our late-'10s equivalent of what was happening…

Detroit rapper Payroll Giovanni is an absolute underground treasure, a flinty and hardnosed street-rapper who comes up with beautifully elaborate ways to talk about committing…

The larger societal events of the past year had an interesting effect on rap music. Even more than usual, black Americans had to insist, as…

Near my house, there used to be a discount movie theater, a big strip-mall monstrosity that never drew any crowds. I took my son to…

As long as Soundscan has been keeping track of these things, only 20 albums have sold more than a million copies in the first week…