Elliott Wilson is a 41-year-old American hip-hop journalist, television producer, and the founder/CEO of the popular website ‘Rap Radar’. He’s also the former editor-in-chief of XXL magazine. Under his direction XXL became the No. 1 music magazine on newsstands. While there, he became known for his outspoken editorials under the nickname, “YN.” Over the course of his career, Elliott has interviewed and profiled artists including Jay-Z, the Notorious B.I.G, Eminem and Royce da 5’9”, Mobb Deep, Rick Ross, A Tribe Called Quest, DMX, Big Daddy Kane, J. Cole, Ja Rule, DJ Khaled, Lauryn Hill and the Fugees, and every member of the Wu-Tang Clan. A self proclaimed “social media kingpin,” Wilson—with close to 100,000 Twitter followers and more than 17,000 Instagram followers—is known for curating hip hop culture outside of the confines of traditional.
Wilson has been writing and talking about hip hop and rap music since 1992, when he became music editor for Beat Down magazine. He is the co-author of two critically acclaimed books: ego trip’s Book of Rap Lists (St. Martin’s Press, 1999) and ego trip’s: Big Book of Racism! (Regan Books/HarperCollins, 2002). In 2004 Entertainment Weekly named the ego trip collective one of the “25 Funniest People in America.” Both books were created in the spirit of the short-lived magazine ego trip.
Originally from Queens, New York City, Wilson has written for a number of publications including GQ, VIBE, and Rolling Stone.
In spring of 1996 Wilson went to College Music Journal (CMJ) as a beat-box editor. At the end of that year he made his move to the big time as music editor of The Source magazine. In September 1999 Wilson went to work at Harris Publications as editor-in-chief of XXL magazine, and in 2005 he launched, their website, XXLmag.com. He also co-created Hip-Hop Soul. In 2004, Wilson co-executive produced VH-1’s TV’s Illest Minority Moments: Presented by ego trip. In 2005 Wilson co-executive produced three specials for VH-1, under the umbrella of “ego trip’s Race-O-Rama”: Blackaphobia, In Race We Lust, and Dude Where’s My Ghetto Pass?. In January 2007, VH-1 debuted the eight-episode series The (White) Rapper Show. Wilson served as co-executive producer. In April 2008, VH-1 debuted ego trip’s Miss Rap Supreme. Wilson served as co-executive producer.
Wilson tenure at XXL ended in January 2008 under controversial circumstances. On March 9, 2009, in partnership with Paul Rosenberg, he launched RapRadar.com. Rap Radar documents mainstream hip-hop and rap culture in real time. Rap Radar has been nominated for best hip-hop web site for the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2010, 2011, and 2012. In 2010, Wilson became editor of RESPECT. magazine. In 2012, Wilson launched Keep It Thoro, a two-hour weekly show on East Village Radio. The show, hosted by Wilson, features new music, and interviews with today’s most popular and relevant artists. Since the summer of 2012, Keep It Thoro has been EVR’s No. 1 overall show.
In 2011 The Hollywood Reporter named Wilson to its list of “Top 20 Music Industry Innovators.” Billboard named Elliott Wilson to its “Twitter 140” in 2011 and 2012, a list of the most influential people in the music business. In 2011, MTV listed Wilson as one of six “Hip-hop Culture MVPs.” Wilson has appeared as an expert on ABC, CNN.com, MTV, MTV2, VH-1, BET. He has endorsed as a part of Hennessey USA’s “Wild Rabbit” campaign—the tagline for which is “never stop, never settle.”
Elliott Wilson’s father is African American. His mother is Ecuadorian and Greek. He has two younger brothers, Kenneth, and Steven. Wilson attended William Cullen Bryant High School and went on to attend LaGuardia Community College and received an Associates degree in liberal arts in 1992. Wilson lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Danyel Smith. They were married in Los Angeles in June 2005.
Elliott Wilson played organized baseball until he was 16, he used to work at Macy’s, he’s seen Jay-Z live in concert over forty times, and he DVRs all available episodes of Seinfeld, Pardon the Interruption, and Good Times. In his spare time Wilson likes to travel, read sports nonfiction, collect music, and attend Knicks, Nets and Mets games.