SUPER EMPTY. is a digital magazine focused on the stories, sounds and characters of North Carolina hip-hop and the broader creative culture that surrounds them, from Wilmington to Applachia and everywhere in between. Through original writing, photography and illustration, we publish considered, thoughtful reporting and arts criticism that resists easy flattening or simplification, and pushes back against the polarizing, quick-hit nature of modern media — always striving for work that makes you think, not just react.

Similar to its early days as a personal, Durham-based blog in 2015, Super Empty is still a small operation, and still publishes a mix of reviews, profiles and opinion pieces centered (mostly) on North Carolina hip-hop. But our aspirations, much like the challenges facing both journalism and the arts in general, are now greater. At a time when budgets and resources for major outlet arts reporting continues to shrink, and more and more of what we see is generated by A.I., the need for in-depth, human-made coverage has never been more urgent. And in a landscape where the most viral, universally "relatable" content tends to win the day, our awareness of what's happening down the street has never been worse.

In its 2024 iteration, SE's approach is straightforward: paying talented writers (and photographers and designers/illustrators) to tell the many stories, from current events to historical retrospectives, that too often go untold. To help the curious not just discover new music, but better understand it, and to help the not-curious realize why they should be in the first place.

While our primary lens is through hip-hop, as it has been for the past decade, our scope extends to the other topics that hip-hop touches throughout the state's creative culture as well, from food, to visual arts, to political organizing. In other words, everything.

Our goals this year are simple. To demonstrate the sustainability of our small, regional-sized, extremely part-time model; to pay writers, editors, illustrators and photographers well; and to build momentum going into the future, we're looking to sign up 300 total paid members, across (roughly) two tiers:

• 250 "Reader"-level subscribers ($2/mo. or $20/yr.)
• 50 "Partner"-level subscribers ($10/mo. or $100/yr.)

It's a reflection of the challenging times we live in that this goal seems both Herculean in its scale, and also not nearly robust enough to fully deliver on the goal of a vibrant, well-resourced arts outlet that pays at- or above-market rates, and champions the complex narratives that are rarely suited for social media. But it is a start. And piece by piece, week after week, we'll give North Carolina's hip-hop and creative culture more and more of the coverage it rightfully deserves.

We'd love for all supporters of SE to follow along with our emails and articles, but if you'd prefer to financially contribute to our independent arts journalism without being a subscriber, that's an option too. Tap the button below to make a donation that helps us keep paying writers, photographers and designers to do the work of documenting North Carolina's creative culture.