Freelance journalist. Words at VICE, Pitchfork, Telegraph, The i, Guardian, New Statesman, Dazed, Time Out, BBC, Little White Lies & many others. Commission me on: thobbsword@gmail.com
The Guardian: 'All that mattered was survival' - the songs that got us through 2020
I wrote about DJ Screw's 'My Mind Went Blank'.
Dazed: Podcasts to listen to now that Christmas is cancelled
My rap podcast 'Exit the 36 Chambers' made this Dazed listicle.
The Guardian: 'Audiences don't want white anger' - how white rap grew a conscience
With Machine Gun Kelly and Post Malone swapping gold grills for guitars this year, are white rappers using Black aesthetics becoming a thing of the past?
Little White Lies: The 10 best film soundtracks of 2020
From Birds of Prey’s intoxicating mix of rap and pop music to Tamar-kali’s atmospheric Shirley score.
Dazed: Jack Harlow has the world at his feet
As he releases his debut album, That’s What They All Say, the artist assesses the changing dynamics of the white rapper, vulnerability in music, and identifying as an ‘attention whore’.
DOGMAG: Welcome to the Collard Experience
"Not many people could make a song about tending to a shivering friend experiencing a drug overdose sound seductive, but Collard (real name Josh Collard) isn’t your typical artist. “I spent the night with you when you overdosed / made the house warm when your skin was cold,” he delicately croons on 2017’s knockout single ‘Sofa’, an ode to loving someone so much that you find comfort in being at their side, even at their lowest moment."
Little White Lies: Know The Score - Open Mike Eagle on 'Punch-Drunk Love'
In the 13th and final part of this series, the Chicago rapper describes the moment he fell in love with Jon Brion’s dreamlike score.
The Guardian: How our writers voted for best songs and albums of 2020
We’ve announced our favourite releases of the year – now the Guardian’s music critics reveal their individual top picks of 2020.
VICE: An Interview With The Guy Behind WWE's Most Famous Wrestling Theme Songs
"If you grew up in the 1990s or 2000s then it’s likely you’ve punched the sky while listening to one of Jim Johnston’s songs. The composer is responsible for professional wrestling’s greatest theme music, helping bring The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin and many more to life via creepy church organs, smashing glass and huge riffs."
The Guardian: Exit the 36 Chambers as a 'Podcast of the Week'
In print and online, my rap podcast 'Exit the 36 Chambers' was listed among The Guardian and The Guide's podcasts of the week.
Okayplayer: Behind The Beat - Ski Beatz & Camp Lo Created a New Language With “Luchini AKA This Is It”
Behind The Beat is a new series where we talk to rap producers about the making of their most iconic beat. For our second edition, we speak with Ski Beatz, who crafted Camp Lo’s iconic single “Luchini AKA This Is It.”
Huck: The Cameroonian inmates who made an album behind bars
As inmates inside Douala Central Prison gear up for the release of their first album, writer Thomas Hobbs speaks to the people behind the project about their hopes of inspiring empathy towards Cameroon's poor.
dCS: At the movies
Film and music writer Thomas Hobbs takes a look at five composers making powerful scores for TV and film.
BBC: Remembering Trog, the strangest horror film of its era
Joan Crawford’s final film, Trog – about a scientist who befriends a caveman – was dismissed by critics. Yet according to film legend John Waters, it maintains a strange charm, writes Thomas Hobbs, as it turns 50.
Telegraph: Murder raps, baths of blood and misandrist fan art... meet Ashnikko, the enfant terrible of MeToo
An audience with the breakout blue-haired rapper, whose provocative brand of feminism makes Miley Cyrus look like a Disney princess.