Sacha Jenkins: Visionary In Hip-Hop And Counter In Culture, Chuck Creekmur Remembers
Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur talks about one of his heroes in creativity, the incomparable Sacha Jenkins.
A few years ago, I had the privilege and honor to sit on a panel with the ubiquitous creative Sacha Jenkins. For me, it was more than a speaking engagement, it was a moment of validation. I had followed his work for years, decades actually. Sacha, the co-founder of the legendary ego trip magazine, represented a curvy, creative lane I deeply admired. To share space with someone who helped shape the very culture I coveted felt like an arriving. It should be noted, this was a few short years ago.
Now, did I arrive in the same way he did? Not quite. But I felt accomplished. Proud. And though I never got to know Sacha deeply on a personal level, I knew his work inside and out. Like myself, he had a wildly diverse creative palette. That versatility made me feel seen.
I own his Merciless Book of Metal Lists. I have Piecebook: The Secret Drawings of Graffiti Writers. And of course, the Ego Trip books are on my shelf, staples in any Hip-Hop culturalist’s library. He stood alongside peers like Kevin Powell and dream hampton, journalists who transcended the byline to become cultural architects. And in Sacha’s case, that rebellious spirit was never far from the surface. In my early days they all inspired me to get serious about creating. That led to my work with Grouchy Greg in building AllHipHop. When I came on board, I brought my own lens. I had a distinct focus on lifestyle, drawn from my prior online publication dedicated to the “lifestyles of aggressive people.” Ego trip was the “The Arrogant Voice of Musical Truth.” That raw, unfiltered energy poured into AllHipHop. I studied the game. I studied the greats. And Sacha was one of them.
Under Sacha’s editorial vision, ego trip was more than a magazine. It was an audacious, genre-smashing blueprint. Quirky, defiant, and often absurd, it offered a version of Hip-Hop media where there were no rules. It wasn’t always polished, but it was always true. For those of us building Hip-Hop platforms outside the mainstream, ego trip was just as influential as legacy titles like The Source or XXL. It proved you could build culture without permission.
Sacha’s creative journey didn’t stop there. He co-created Ego Trip’s The White Rapper Show on VH1, eventually becoming creative director at the revitalized Mass Appeal. He directed classic documentaries like Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, You’re Watching Video Music Box, and produced Supreme Team with Nas. Even when critics panned Everything’s Gonna Be All White—Showtime’s lowest-rated doc at the time—Jenkins stood firm. By the way, I was featured in that docu-series with a motley crew of truth-tellers and it was dope. He told hard truths, even if it made people uncomfortable. Haters gonna hate. So what.
What makes Sacha Jenkins important isn’t just his talent. It’s his willingness to evolve, to challenge the system, while advancing the culture within said system. In an era where many creators chase viral clicks or placate platforms, Sacha chose authenticity every time. He reminded us that Hip-Hop is not just music. By the way, he was never just Hip-Hop. When he texted me his punk rock band, I knew he knew we were like minds, counter culture even within Hip-Hop.
Sacha Jenkins’ work was never about playing it safe. To me, it was about pushing the envelope until it was shredded and tattered. I appreciated when he left Mass Appeal. I don’t know why he left, but I was happy. We talked as the were creating the Rick James documentary, because I was the last to interview the great funk legend. I now realize, in looking at our texts, this guy was that guy. But not that guy dying for social or social media validation or that guy living for others. Like the late Greg Tate, he was just that guy empirically.
His legacy is a torch passed to every journalist, filmmaker, and creative who dares to speak truth without selling out. You can be radical, intelligent, hilarious, and disruptive and still be respected. He showed us we, the non-rapping, yet rapping better than the rappers, creative as hell, intellectual in the streets and classroom artsy ass kids from everywhere are the culture too.
Rest in culture, Sacha Jenkins.