Email Author Keegan Hamilton

Awards

• 2012 - National Council on Crime and Delinquency/Prevention for a Safer Society Award, published October 12, 2011

  "Meet Mr. Buzzard"

• 2012 - National Association of Black Journalists Awards, published March 2, 2011

  "The Wrong Man"

• 2011 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published September 1, 2010

  "Dog Beat Dog"

• 2008 - National Association of Black Journalists Awards, published September 5, 2007

  "2 Hot in Here"

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2008 Stories by Keegan Hamilton

• Ear Burns: Our critics spew some haterade about 2008's bummer songs, albums and events

  published December 17, 2008

  The end of the year is a time for critics to reflect on the best music they heard in the past twelve months. But such positivity neglects the... More >>

• We made you a mixtape! 2008: The year in music.

  published December 17, 2008

  2008 was a weird year for music. Gloom and doom predictions about sinking album sales overshadowed the industry, and labels seemed to... More >>

• It's No Country for Old Bail Bondsmen. Just ask Jerry Cox

  published December 10, 2008

  "Bring them to me." That's the order Jerry Cox supposedly gave a team of bounty hunters he dispatched four months ago to capture Lance... More >>

• Royal Contrast: Hip-hop ex-pat Wafeek celebrates paradoxes with new album, The Aristocrats

  published December 3, 2008

  When St. Louis ex-pat rapper Wafeek cracks, "I could be two men 'cause I'm contradictin'" on his new record, The Aristocrats, it's said... More >>

• Labor Pains: St. Louis landscapers worry they'll be short Mexican workers to mow lawns and bag leaves

  published December 3, 2008

  For the past nine years, Lee Mueller, owner of Reliable Landscaping and Tree Care in south St. Louis County, has hired half a dozen laborers... More >>

• Family Affair

  published November 19, 2008

  Far too often, artists adopt a nickname and then forget what their moniker was supposed to mean. Not so with the St. Louis rap group Family... More >>

• STD-Day: The recent HIV scare at Normandy High School has prompted cries for better sex education

  published November 5, 2008

  Last month the St. Louis County Department of Health launched a routine investigation into the origin of an HIV case. During the course of the... More >>

• Rap the Vote

  published October 29, 2008

  While guitar-toting troubadours have been rallying young people to Rock the Vote for nearly twenty years now, a certain presidential candidate... More >>

• Celebrate Life

  published October 29, 2008

  While the candy-industry-fueled Halloween is a treat for kids, marauding teens and drunken adults, Mexico's Día de los Muertos (Day... More >>

• Old School: Unearthed in a cluttered storeroom, a pair of vintage St. Louis hip-hop recordings help tell the history of rap

  published October 22, 2008

  From the street, Vintage Vinyl's shop in the Delmar Loop looks like your classic friendly neighborhood record store (albeit one housed in a... More >>

• Sing the Body Politic: Of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping challenges and shocks listeners

  published October 22, 2008

  Avant-garde artists, and in particular musicians, have struggled to strike a balance between genius and pretentiousness for decades. From Lou... More >>

• Royce Da 5'9"

  published September 17, 2008

  Once upon a time, Royce da 5'9" was poised to become one of the biggest names in hip-hop. Among other accomplishments, he was partnering... More >>

• An Arrow Runs Through It: Bowfishers take aim at Asian carp

  published September 17, 2008

  Save for the lightning flashes of a distant thunderstorm, it is a pitch-black night on the Mississippi, a few miles downriver from Festus. A... More >>

• Hold That Tiger: The recent big cat attacks in Missouri have residents and state officials calling for tougher exotic animal laws

  published August 20, 2008

  Earlier this month an 800-pound tiger managed to scale a twelve-foot chainlink fence and maul a 26-year-old volunteer at the Wesa-A-Geh-Ya... More >>

• St. Louis Hip-Hop Family Reunion

  published August 13, 2008

  Whether it's an east side emcee claiming that rappers from the city get more radio play or a north-side native dissing his Metro East... More >>

• Look Out Below!: Arborists from around the world descend on Forest Park for the International Tree Climbing Championships

  published July 30, 2008

  The climber stands beneath a massive oak, craning his neck to peer into its leafy belly. He throws a nylon rope high into its branches, tests... More >>

• Indie-An Summer: Two RFT staffers attend the hipster mecca that is the Pitchfork Music Festival

  published July 23, 2008

  In recent years, outdoor summer festivals — long a tradition in the UK and Europe — have become a staple of the United States... More >>

• League of Nations: Immigrant soccer players from across the globe go balls out at a tiny park in north St. Louis

  published July 23, 2008

  On a recent Sunday in north St. Louis' DeSoto Park, several hundred onlookers are gathered around two rocky soccer fields. On this sun-kissed... More >>

• Dark Night: This kingdom is built on sneaky filming in the Florida Keys

  published July 16, 2008

  For part of the production of Mosquito Kingdom, the cast and crew traveled to an island in the Florida Keys and shot the film without... More >>

• Craptastrophe: Record rainfall has created a dung dilemma for Missouri farmers

  published July 9, 2008

  As record-setting rain poured down on Missouri late last month, state farmers, lawmakers and environmentalists knew — in a most literal... More >>

• Faster Than a Speeding Rocket Scientist: Cards rookie Brian Barton chooses baseball over aerospace engineering — for the time being.

  published June 25, 2008

  Baseball ain't rocket science. But if it were, that wouldn't stop rookie St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Brian Barton. He's pretty good... More >>

• OldestProfession2.0: A new generation of local "providers" and "hobbyists" create a virtual red-light district

  published June 4, 2008

  If you're researching auto repair on the Internet and stumble across www.stlasp.com, you might well hit... More >>

• Say It Ain't So: Joe's Café Has Closed Down

  published April 23, 2008

  Bill Christman's art studio near Washington University looks like it could play host to one fine party. Out front a hulking sculpture of a... More >>

• The strange and violent world of St. Louis' bail bondsmen

  published April 16, 2008

  On the evening of December 31, 2004, Jerry Cox was relaxing with his wife on his backyard patio in St. Charles, enjoying the outdoor fireplace... More >>

• Dan Deacon

  published April 9, 2008

  If there is in fact a fine line between genius and madness, Dan Deacon takes that line, bellows distorted nonsensical lyrics and dances... More >>