Sacha Jenkins, legendary journalist and filmmaker, has died at 53.
Raquel Cepeda, Jenkins’ wife, fellow journalist, and filmmaker, confirmed with The Hollywood Reporter that her husband died on Friday (May 23) from complications of multiple system atrophy. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Jenkins’s extensive career spanned various media, from print journalism to film, and fans admired him for his deep understanding of hip-hop culture and his ability to document it. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent his formative years in Queens, New York.
His career began in 1989 when he launched a graffiti magazine called Graphic Scenes & Xplicit Language. He followed that up with the iconic hip-hop newspaper Beat Down before co-founding the hip-hop magazine Ego Trip with fellow journalist Elliott Wilson in 1994.
The Philly native entered the filmmaking space with his directorial debut, Fresh Dressed, which was released in 2015. In addition to directing, Jenkins served as a writer and producer on several documentaries, including Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, All Up in the Biz and Harley Flanagan: Wired for Chaos.
Jenkins was also part of Complex’s story, assisting in its pilot print issue.
Jenkins has also written for several publications, such as Spin and Rolling Stone, and co-authored Eminem’s biography The Way I Am in 2008. He also spent time with Vibe as a music editor and writer-at-large. One of his last jobs was serving as the creative director at Mass Appeal.
Below, watch Jenkins’ Idea Generation interview.
