Bönz Malone

Bönz Malone is a Bronx-born writer and actor.

Career

Bönz Malone began his writing career at Youth Communication in 1986, where he was a teen writer and reporter for New Youth Connections (later renamed YCteen), a magazine written by and for New York City public high-school students. At Youth Communication, Malone developed and perfected his hip hop writing style in a monthly column called Streetalk, which ran from 1987 to 1989. Bonz later took the Streetalk column and style to Spin magazine, Vibe magazine, and other venues for which he became a notable contributor.

Malone has been called the Hunter S. Thompson of Hip Hop.

Malone co-wrote and starred in the 1998 prison film Slam, which won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

While Malone was at Youth Communication he was featured in What's Going On, the Marc Levin television documentary about graffiti and street life. It was the first of several Levin films in which he appeared.

Malone is the author of the lavish coffee table book Hip Hop Immortals, for which he profiled 85 hip hop artists.

References