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Every month around the end of the month our patrons of RapReviews have whatever amount they pledged toward supporting the site billed to the account of their choosing. Shortly afterward the 1st of the month the funds become available for withdrawal save for a 25 cent service fee. That is remarkably low to me at least but may account for the small size of our Patreon on the whole. Over the last three months that added up to $121.29 for December, $116.35 for January, and $125.28 for February. I expect that March will be in a similar range to those previous numbers but I’ll know soon enough.

It’s no joke when I say “thank you.” I’m very grateful for the fact that I’m still able to write about hip-hop music and culture after doing this for over a quarter of a century. Obviously with the kind of numbers that you see above it’s not life changing money, but it’s the kind of support that covers the basics for RapReviews.com — webhosting, server upgrades, the occasional album, and whenever there are office supplies needed (like shelves to hold physical media). To have even a small amount of expenses covered by our readers truly humbles me. There was a time after I lost my job as a sports writer that I considered hanging up my hat for good and archiving the site. Your support showed me I was wrong.

I’ve already mentioned this support only covers the basics. Luckily for me I have a wife with a university job who also plays cello professionally, and since we were fortunate to pay off many of my debts when I had a much larger website with a lot of ad clients, we just need to cover utilities, groceries and taxes to stay afloat. That’s why your pledges for RapReviews make such a substantial difference. If it weren’t for the crowdfunding the expenses toward running the site would not be tolerable combined with the basic cost of living.

I know food and gas hasn’t gotten any cheaper since 2020 for you than us, so the fact you’d commit to it even with your own cost of living going up is a blessing for this site. Again I don’t like to throw words around like “blessing” lightly. We get to 95% every month and you get us to 100% and make us whole. So I want to say thank you not only on our behalf but on behalf of every reader of the website and every writer who has contributed over the years. Thanks to you the site remains free of charge and their work is not “lost media” that vanishes from the internet. Thank you all.

Sincerely,
Steve ‘Flash’ Juon, RR EIC