by Mary plays
May 24, 2025
Jenkins died of complications stemming from Multiple System Atrophy.
Influential journalist and filmmaker Sacha Jenkins has died. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the cultural legend who co-founded 1990s magazine Ego Trip, died due to health complications May 23 at 54 years old.
Jenkins’s cause of death was confirmed by his wife, fellow journalist Raquel Cepeda. On the morning of May 23, Jenkins suffered from multiple system atrophy, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects both the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
Jenkins, a Philadelphia native, built a long and diverse career in journalism through his passion for culture and the arts. His career took off when he launched Graphic Scenes & Xplicit Language, credited as one of the very first magazines focused on graffiti art.
Later in life, he partnered with his longtime friend Elliott Wilson, who would continue to work in both journalism and television, to start the hip-hop newspaper Beat Down. Jenkins and Wilson’s next major project was the iconic Ego Trip, a magazine that blended hip-hop culture with skateboarding.
Though he was originally born in Philadelphia, Jenkins himself was raised and shaped in New York City. He chose to move to Queens in the late 1970s to put his finger to the pulse of hip-hop, where it was truly taking off. In the epicenter of the city, graffiti and skateboarding were both emerging as popular mediums of expression.
Jenkins explained in a 2024 interview with Idea Generation, “It was very important for me to be directly involved, because I learn from hip-hop, from hardcore, from graffiti, whatever. Being a practitioner, being involved, or understanding these cultures and subcultures has always been very germane to my evolution. Having that experience really helped me navigate the world at large.”
Jenkins had a prolific creative career. In journalism, Jenkins began by writing underground zines, but continued to write and edit in major magazines such as Vibe, Rolling Stone, and Spin. Most recently, he was the creative director at Mass Appeal.
Over the years, he engaged in telling and poignant interviews with big-name artists from different musical backgrounds, wrote several books centering on graffiti, created an off-Broadway play, and directed multiple films.
As a filmmaker, Jenkins was also a force in the industry. Most recently, he produced the documentary “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues” and still has a new film on the way called “Harley Flanagan: Wired for Chaos,” which focuses on the life of legendary Cro-Mags bassist and frontman.
Jenkins directed multiple notable films, including “Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James” in 2021, “Fresh Dressed” in 2015—which takes a dive into the history of Hip-Hop fashion—”All Up in the Biz” in 2023, a documentary about rap legend Biz Markie, and a 2019 four-part series on the “Wu-Tang Clan, Of Mics and Men.” Some of Jenkins’s other credits include: “Everything’s Gonna Be All White,” “Around The Way,” “Supreme Team,” “Generation Dead: The Walking Dead Fan Documentary,” “You’re Watching Video Music Box,” “Rolling Like Thunder,” “Cypress Hill: Insane in the Brain,” and “City Girls Point Blank Period.”
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