Later that year, Adler began a three-year stint as contributing music editor for the Ann Arbor Sun,[3] a weekly underground newspaper edited by the poet and activist John Sinclair and published by David Fenton.
During the next six years Adler worked closely with a variety of artists, including Run-DMC, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and De La Soul.
"[14] DEFinition was praised by the critic Cinque Hicks in Creative Loafing as "a voracious and wide-ranging visual survey that makes the case that hip-hop's musical heritage is only part of the story.
In the fall of 2023, an autobiographical comic book by Umar Bin Hassan of The Last Poets entitled "Up South in Akron, Summer 1959," was published by Music Arkives Ltd.[17] Adler was its editor.
Adler was an early champion of hip-hop photography; in 1991, he wrote the text for "Rap: Portraits and Lyrics of a Generation of Black Rockers," which showcased the work of Janette Beckman.
[18] During the gallery's five years of existence, Adler curated or co-curated one-man shows showcasing the work of photographers Michael Benabib, Al Pereira, Ricky Powell, Ernie Paniccioli, Harry Allen, and others.
Group shows celebrated Run-DMC,[a][19] women in hiphop,[b][20] VP Records and dancehall reggae,[c][21]Southern hip-hop,[d][22] and ego trip Magazine.
[23] Gina Wang, writing for Mass Appeal magazine, praised the book as "a visual trip through a mismatched combination of celebs, knuckleheads, animals and NYC's indigenous subjects, all shot from Powell's gritty perspective.
Over the course of the next three years the label released 18 titles, including recordings by the Last Poets,[27] Allen Ginsberg,[28] Michele Serros,[29] and Sekou Sundiata,[30] two CDs of short fiction from The New Yorker magazine,[31] a two-CD set of readings of Edgar Allan Poe[32] produced by Hal Willner, and the soundtrack to The United States of Poetry,[33] a five-part PBS television special.
Reviewing the series for The New York Times, television critic Virginia Heffernan wrote, "It may be the first monograph on this subject to position hip-hop confidently and specifically in the history of American music without having to make elementary arguments about its value or its significance.
It was inspired by his belief that "a singer or instrumentalist performing a song is like an actor bringing a script to life or a cook working from a recipe – every interpretation is going to have its own unpredictable flavor.