Neil Kulkarni (26 July 1972 – 22 January 2024) was a British music journalist, author and musician from Coventry, England.^[1] Upon his death, Clash magazine called him "one of the sharpest pens of his generation".^[2] He primarily focused on hip-hop and metal.^[3]

Kulkarni was born in Coventry to parents who had immigrated from India.^[4][5]

Kulkarni was initially a writer for Melody Maker from 1993 to 2000, where he called out the publication's overlooking of Black artists.^[6] 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,^[7] DJ Magazine,^[8][9] and Drowned in Sound.^[6][10]

Kulkarni was the author of books including The Periodic Table of HIP HOP (Penguin, 2015), a module leader on the Music Journalism course at BIMM Birmingham,^[6][11] and a musician with the band The Moonbears.^[12]

Kulkarni died on 22 January 2024, at the age of 51.^[13][6] At the time of his death, Kulkarni had a partner, four children (two of them are step-children) and four grandchildren.^[6]

• Hip Hop - Bring the Noise: The Stories Behind the Biggest Songs (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2004)^[3]
• Eastern Spring: A 2nd Gen Memoir (Zero Books, 2012)^[3]
• The Periodic Table of HIP HOP (Penguin Books, 2015)^[3]

• Archive
• The Neil Kulkarni Guide to Being a Record Reviewer
• The Wire archive
• The Quietus archive