XXL plans expansion; dumps editor

This is involving rather a lot of reading between the barebone lines, but we suspect Elliott Wilson's enforced departure from XXL amid claims that publisher Harris Publications wanted the title to "expand its scope" is an indication that the hip-hop cash-cow has finally started to dry up and Harris hopes to keep the magazine alive by moving its scope from a musical force which is rapidly turning niche again.

Meanwhile, The Smithsonian is hosting a gallery full of hip-hop portraits this coming autumn, which suggests that any role the music had as the authentic voice of anything is coming to a pause, if not a halt. The big names are now so big they get covered in the mainstream media and in the national gallery; when your counter-culture becomes the culture, people looking for an escape are going to look elsewhere.