Drake, in rebuilding mode, goes all in by releasing three albums at once

Rodney Carmichael is a storyteller, journalist and cultural critic, covering hip-hop at NPR Music. After diving headfirst into a career that took him from the God-fearing backwoods of Texas, where he covered religion at the Waco Tribune-Herald, to the red carpets of Black Hollywood, where he covered celebrities at the run-and-gun urban weekly rolling out, the prodigal son returned home. Back in Atlanta, he spent a decade documenting the city's rise as rap's reigning capital while serving on staff as music editor, culture writer and senior writer for the alt-weekly Creative Loafing.