Aesop Rock

Under-the-Radar Acts to See at Coachella

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] Beware any tutorial about the "right way" to do Coachella. Stay sentient, steer clear of phosphorescent forms in spirit hoodies, drink water, and never m ... More >>

Music Picks: Fishbone, the Growlers, Redd Kross

The Five Best Concerts to See in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, July 13 Aesop Rock EL REY THEATRE A heavy hitter in the early-aughts' onslaught of brainy indie-rap word-slingers, Aesop Rock now is 15 years into a nearly blemishless career. This New York native and San Fran transplant is celebrated for his nearly unmatched ability to braid colorful verbi ... More >>

Music Picks: Aesop Rock, Azealia Banks, Toots & the Maytals

Also, Mariachi El Bronx, Phil Ranelin, Spaceghostpurrp and others

Hanni El Khatib Makes an Album With Dan Auerbach, Gets Drunk

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] "I'm blaming you if I puke later." "Fine. But admit it in the story," Hanni El Khatib replies, passing a vodka and soda that I didn't order. We've been ... More >>

Music Picks: Physical Forms, Kimya Dawson, Madame Recamier, Young Hunting

Also, Lizz Wright, Wanda Jackson, Iron and Wine, Wallpaper. and others

WATCH/MP3: Aesop Rock Remixes a Psych-Rock Band, Raps All Over 'Bosico' by Grimace Federation

Aesop Rock waves the finger at you and the suckas you've mushed.​San Francisco's Aesop Rock returns to rap with a stunner of a remix (and video) in which he name-checks Sailor Moon, does the sprinkler, and "butchers" the work of Philadelphia psych-rock band Grimace Federation. The original is ... More >>

2Pac and Walt Whitman

Two professors anthologize the best rap lyrics

Hip-Hop Label Def Jux Goes on Hiatus: EL-P Steps Down as Artistic Director, Releases Statement

definitivejux.net​It's a sad day for hip-hop. After months of speculation amongst fans, Definitive Jux founder EL-P released a statement today announcing his plans to officially put the independent label on hiatus in 2010, and step down from his role as artistic director in order to concentrat ... More >>

SF Edition: INCHES reviews Lazer Sword, Tempo No Tempo, Themselves, Young Prisms (MP3)

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and labels, indie or other), believing that good m ... More >>

Tonight: Ninjatune Night @ the Echo with Blockhead and Yppah

Ninjatune Night at the Echo with Blockhead and Yppah

FREE Track from Upcoming, Rosie-Perez-Themed MURS-Slug-Aesop Rock Collaboration

​Roll over Christina Ricci and Lisa Bonet: cult-actress-obsessed rappers MURS (from LA's Living Legends) and Slug (from Minneapolis' Atmosphere) are unleashing their third collaboration as Felt. Joined by respected lyricist Aesop Rock, next week Felt will release Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Per ... More >>

Music Picks: Sky Saxon Tribute, Daddy Kev, Grace Jones, The Mekons

Also, Jarvis Cocker, Regina Spektor, Ida Maria, Themselves and others.

Black Moth Super Rainbow's Kaleidoscopic Surgery

Meet the Musicians: Tobacco, Graveface, the Seven Fields of Aphelion, Power Pill Fist, Iffernaut and (of course) Father Hummingbird.

The Actor Becomes a Director: With Shia LaBeouf and Chris “Cage” Palko, Making the "I Never Knew You" Video

"This shit is better than riding unicorns"

A Conversation with Posdnuos of De La Soul: On Nike Run Mixes, The Current State of Hip-Hop and Oodles of O's

De La Soul, back in the day Only a handful of rap groups can be bandied about as G.O.A.T: Wu-Tang, Outkast, EPMD, Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, UGK, The Geto Boys, and De La Soul. If you need an introduction to the De La -- Posdnuos, Dave/Trugoy the Dove, and Maseo -- you obviously hav ... More >>

If the Lakers Were Rappers: A Study in Similitude

Prediction: If Kobe doesn't grow a mullet, the Lakers will take it in June. Kobe Bryant = Kanye West Raised in more affluent circumstances than their peers, Kobe and Kanye are not only among the best in their respective fields, they share a severe lack of humility and empathy. Mutually ol ... More >>

Inauguration Day Extravaganza: The First Hip-Hop President?

Image via Hip Hop is Read Unless you've been living in the Madagascan Rain Forest or are a cave-dwelling ignicolist in Outer Mongolia, you're well aware that today marks the inauguration of Barack Obama. To the delight of the rap world and the chagrin of the social security set, Obama has been bi ... More >>

Kosha Dillz Freestyles at Sundance, Unveils Tour Video

Back in September, L.A. Weekly met up with New Jersey-based Jewish rapper Kosha Dillz (real name Rami Even Esh) at the Aesop Rock/Rob Sonic/DJ Big Wiz show at the Troubadour. That night Dillz killed it on stage with Yak Ballz and, well, now he's freezing his ass off in Park City, Utah. All for goo ... More >>

Photos That Defined 2008: Food, Music, Cobrasnake, Nightranger and Breaking News

Have some time to kill over the holidays while avoiding chit-chat with your second cousin twice removed? Well, why not peruse L.A. Weekly's favorite photos of 2008.  We've broken down this year's most unforgettable images into several categories: Year in Photos, Year in Food, Year in Music, Yea ... More >>

Weiss' 25 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2008

25. Prafit-"Nice Weather" The nice weather is long gone--the ostensibly immutable Los Angeles sun blotted by kidney colored clouds and cold rain. So Prafit's ode to the sizzle of July feels like an antique postcard documenting endless light, chicken breasts smothered in BBQ sauce, and basement ... More >>

Weiss' 50 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2008 (#50-26)

Over the next two weeks, myself and a very talented cadre of contributors will be emulating the book above. Unlike said tome, it won't cost money and you'll get free MP3s--which, presumably, serve a tangible purpose. Now go cry into your near-beer, Phillip Ardagh, you lovable rogue. 50. Redman ft ... More >>

Beyond the Stage: From the Troubadour to Medieval Times with Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz

Typically, the idea of Medieval Times conjures images of wide-eyed girls dressed in bedazzled cone hats, waving scepters, at their princess party… that, or of a berserk Jim Carrey dragging Matthew Broderick onto the sandy tournament floor for some overly competitive, Cable Guy axe wielding. Mediev ... More >>

Tobacco-Fucked Up Friends

I'm a sucker for any aesthetic that veers towards on the psychedelic and druggy, so it's no surprise how much I'm digging Tobacco's new Fucked Up Friends record dropping in October on Anticon, who have gone from ashy to still ashy but classy in my book following recent releases from Why? and Dosh ... More >>

DIY MTV: Music Videos Struggle to Keep Up With YouTube

Weiss Muxtapes #7 and #8: I Can't Live Without My (Internet) Radio

Have you ever read this blog and wondered to yourself, hmm...this Jeff Weiss fellow has some self-righteous and ill-founded opinions, is it possible that he may be in the wrong medium? One would hope. Yet despite my repeated attempts to turn these misguided ideals into a viable run for the GOP nom ... More >>

Coachella Day One: Walk the Line

I hate lines. They're somewhere in the lower rungs of my own personal inferno along with club kids in fedoras, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the abstract concept of valet parking. Unfortunately, entering Coachella brings me into contact with three of those four food groups as quite often, while wai ... More >>

Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow & Aesop Rock-"Dirt"

On last year's None Shall Pass tour, Aesop tabbed Pittsburgh psych weirdos Black Moth Super Rainbow to open for him. It was an inspired move and one that I recommend more rappers do, lest I get stuck standing stupidly watching a bunch of mush-mouthed Myspace MC's clinging to arbitrary 20th Century ... More >>

Discovering the Candidates Through Their Playlists

It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To

The Special Technique of 5 O' Clock Shadowboxin'

You'd be hard-pressed to find two rappers more diametrically opposed than Zilla Rocca and the man known as Weezy F. (Scott Fitzgerald) Baby. The two practically exist in different galaxies. Wayne, an iced out, ecstasy popping maniac from the streets of New Orleans, practically extra-terrestrial in ... More >>

Weiss' Top 50 Albums of 2007 (#25-21)

25. Wu-Tang Clan-8 Diagrams [SRC/Loud] 8 Diagrams is east coast hardcore rap that doesn't sound like it was made on the east coast. It was recorded in LA but it doesn't sound like LA either. considering it isn't loud, it isn't flashy, and it certainly couldn't soundtrack a barbeque unless Jim Jarm ... More >>

Weiss' Top 50 Albums of 2007 (#50-46)

50. Redman-Red Gone Wild [Def Jam] Other than M.O.P., Redman is the only East Coast rapper able to conceptually re-make the same album since 1992 and get away with it. The only difference is that where Billy Danze and Fizzy Womack are concerned with curb-checking you if you wander into Browns ... More >>

The 25 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2007 Pt. 4 (#9-6)

The film that ended the Cold War. 9. Hi-Tek Ft. Talib Kweli & Dion-"Time" "People get caught up in a time and what that song represents to them at the time they hear it. Nothing I'm gonna do after that is going to match up to that time period, because they can't get that back. So I have to real ... More >>

Rock Picks: Akron/Family, Duncan Sheik, PJ Harvey, Jill Scott

For the week of Oct. 11 - 18

Record Reviews: Aesop Rock and 4Hero

Aesop Rock, personal trainer? Believe it.

stones throw discog

Rock Picks

For the week of Nov. 30 – Dec. 7

Rock PIcks

For the week of Nov. 24 - 30

Mush Is Good Music

Mysto Laurel Canyon indie label scores again with Tree Colored See

Young / Gifted / Beautiful / Black

L.A.’s Murs just wants to be your favorite rapper. Is that so wrong?

Nightranger

Twists and Kisses

Ear pretzels from Television

Effed Up and Emotional

Atmosphere, Aesop Rock

Into the Mix