Shatter the Standards

THĒO. I’m a Full Sail alumnus, trained writer, vinyl obsessive, and GROAVEN/Shatter the Standards’ primary architect.

Murffey Zavier has been writing about rap as a hobby for his now-defunct blog. He is also an aspiring writer, film composer, and artist. Even more than that, he is a massive fan of jazz, all kinds of R&B, and hip-hop with an experimental bent.

I'm a freelance writer finishing up my New Media Journalism master of arts degree. When I'm not working, I’ll turn on my playlist in my spare time.

I'm a writer at heart, but music is my drug. Closed mouths don't get fed. For MC.

the internet's biggest unknown Dilla fan

“Damn right, I like the life I live because I went from negative to positive.” – Biggie.

People read about you and think you're on top of the world, have everything you want, and can have any woman you want when you're not.

Co-founder and senior editor of GROAVEN. DMs still closed on other socials.

Amplify the global Black soundscape—connecting legacy, politics, and future-leaning music culture in one feed.

Shatter the Standards sparks discussion around albums and new music that mainstream outlets often overlook, elevates the next generation, provides context, and keeps hyperbolic industry chatter out of the room.

Celebrate the depths of modern soul—documenting the intimate frequencies of R&B, hip-hop soul, neo-soul, and groove-centered art across the diaspora.

it’s a bloom in disguise that the work can look messy first then hit you later like it always knew where it was going

I got plans for you and me \ud83d\udcdd

\ud83c\udf0d Slow growth is better than no growth

romans 8:18 lots to smile about ✨\ud83d\udc8c\ud83e\udea9\ud83c\udf37\ud83c\udf1e

Soul and funk historian, and one of the anchors for any lineage project.

\ud83d\ude80 \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf2 Jesus\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffe BeenOne

music archivist. music columnist. music storyteller. ✍\ud83c\udffb

Writes about independent rap scenes, along with further insights on LPs and tapes.

helping trace ideas across catalogs without fanfare

Am so sensitive!

I trace music like an everyday ritual. The living rooms, the porches, the mixtapes that raised a city. \ud83d\udd0a

The one and only associate staff writer for Words Past da Margin (Shatter the Standards)

funny when it helps, plain when it counts.

Words Past da Margin documents the culture as craft, history, and lived record. They document, decode, and celebrate the full spectrum of hip-hop, so every style speaks past the margins of Black music history.