Neil Kulkarni

Kulkarni was born in Coventry to Marathi Brahmin parents who had immigrated from Maharashtra state, India, his father a chemist and his mother a midwife, and grew up with his sister Meera. Kulkarni graduated from the University of York. == Career ==

Kulkarni was initially a writer for Melody Maker from 1993 to 2000, where he called out the publication's overlooking of Black artists. Following the discontinuation of the imprint Kulkarni wrote freelance for magazines and media including Uncut, Vox, Loaded, Spin, Metal Hammer, Plan B, The Source, The Guardian, Bizarre, The Quietus, DJ Magazine, and Drowned in Sound. Kulkarni was the author of books including The Periodic Table of HIP HOP (Penguin2, 2015), a module leader on the Music Journalism course at BIMM Birmingham, and a musician with the band The Moonbears. == Death ==

Kulkarni died on 22 January 2024, at the age of 51. At the time of his death, Kulkarni had a partner, four children (two of them are step-children) and four grandchildren. ==Bibliography==