Sacha Jenkins SHR

Sacha Jenkins SHR (aka Sacha Jenkins) is an American musician, historian, writer, and filmmaker. Jenkins was born in Philadelphia in 1971, but lived in Silver Spring, Maryland until the separation of his parents in 1977 when he moved to Queens with his mother and sister.

Jenkins published his first zine, Graphic Scenes & Xplicit Language, dedicated to graffiti art, in 1988. In 1992, him and friend Haji Akhigbade founded Beat Down hip-hop newspaper. Beat Down’s initial music editor was future blogger Elliott Wilson. After a falling out between Akhigbade and Jenkins in 1994, Jenkins and Wilson co-founded ego trip magazine. ego trip’s focus spanned from rap and punk rock to skateboarding and Count Chocula, publishing 13 issues and garnering two books (ego trip’s Book of Rap Lists and ego trip’s Big Book of Racism) and three TV series hosted by VH1 (“Race-O-Rama” (2005), “ego trip’s The White Rapper Show” (2007), and “Miss Rap Supreme” (2008)).

From 1997 to 2000, Jenkins was the music editor of Vibe magazine. Jenkins co-authored Eminem’s biography The Way I Am, as well as co-creating the influential series Piecebooks with David “Chino” Villorente. In 2009, Jenkins wrote and produced the off-Broadway musical “Deez Nuts: A Musical Massacre,” and in 2011 directed “Negroes On Ice”, a travelling production featuring producer Prince Paul.

In 2015, Jenkins directed his first documentary, “Fresh Dressed”, a history of urban fashion from cotton plantations to corporate America.

Jenkins is currently a member of the bands The 1865 and White Mandingos, as well as the creative director of Mass Appeal, an urban culture magazine and website.