Steven Blush

STEVEN BLUSH got his start in the 1980s promoting hardcore punk rock shows in Washington, DC. He published the award-winning Seconds Magazine and served as music critic and editor for the late, great Paper Magazine, where he became the first writer to cover both rock and hip-hop music. His journalism has appeared in over 25 publications, such as Spin, Details, Interview, The Village Voice, and The Times of London. He is the author of eight books about rock culture and sports, including American Hardcore (2001), American Hair Metal (2007), Lost Rockers (2015), New York Rock (2016), Bustin’ Balls (2020), and the trilogy of When Rock Met Disco (2023), When Rock Met Reggae (2024) and the acclaimed, new When Rock Met Hip Hop (2026). He wrote and produced the theatrically released, Sundance Film Festival-premiered documentary American Hardcore (Sony Pictures Classics, 2006), and also released an expanded Second Edition of American Hardcore, now available in six languages.