Common (Rapper)

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

Don't forget to check our constantly-updated Los Angeles Concert Calendar Friday, September 6 Anticon 15th-Anniversary Party featuring Baths, Daedelus, Doseone, et al. ECHOPLEX Tip your hat to 15 years of Anticon greatness: The label/collective founded by Oakland's Adam "Doseone" Drucker has champ ... More >>

Yeah She Raps, But Don't Call iLLCamille a "Female Emcee"

On a Friday night, West Pico bar The Mint was host to a small, hardcore crowd of hip hop purists donning hi-top fades and African medallions. On stage, a woman dressed in a vintage Nike windbreaker, silver leggings, and gold bamboo earrings grabbed the mic and introduced herself to the crowd. "I lik ... More >>

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - The Troubadour - 4/8/13

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down The Troubadour 4-8-13 Better than... folk songs by the fireplace. They say go big or go home. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down did both. Playing Los Angeles as the last night of "a very long tour," Thao should have been exhausted, but performed with big energy and big ... More >>

The Best Concerts to See in L.A. This Week

Monday, April 8 Thao & the Get Down Stay Down THE TROUBADOUR Usually, when songwriters are as wickedly intelligent as Thao Nguyen, they tend to write morbidly gloomy and/or overly serious anthems of great meaning and purpose. That's not to say the Virginia native doesn't have her grand and heavy mo ... More >>

Fuck Guilty Pleasures: In Defense of Common

[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.] Rap only exists in extremes. Don't let the polite reviews of Lil Wayne's Carter IV fool you, for instance. It got lots of ... More >>

Fuck Guilty Pleasures: John Mayer's Body of Work is a Wonderland

[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.] John Mayer has been persecuted for years. Way back in 2003, the Village Voice mocked his music in an article called "Phal ... More >>

Common - House of Blues - December 21, 2011

​Common House of Blues December 21, 2011 Attempting to get everyone in the mood last night, Power 106's DJ Reflex spun classics from folks like Souls of Mischief, A Tribe Called Quest, and Pete Rock & CL Smooth. He attempted to throw in some more recent, mainstream songs and played a few cuts ... More >>

UPDATE: More Artists Added to Rock the Bells 2011 Lineup

​ Originally published May 24, 2011, 8:18 p.m. New artists were just announced on the Rock the Bells 2011 lineup:

Bouncing Cats

The Black Rap Bart Simpson Returns: Fresno's Fashwan Drops New J. Cole-Featuring Mixtape

​Fresno rap up-and-comer and local pot promoter (hey, bruh, keep the green in Grizzly City), Fashawn has just dropped a new mixtape/free album via XXL Magazine. You should cop it, if only to hear what a black Bart Simpson sounds like rapping. (We actually think Fash owes West Coast Sound some ... More >>

It's J. Dilla's Birthday! Here's the Best Way to Celebrate It

​Only the good die young. J Dilla -- the Detroit producer who was a founding member of the Soulquarians collective (along with Questlove, D'Angelo and James Poyser) and is heralded as one of the most influential producers in hip-hop -- passed away five years ago this month. But House Shoes, Di ... More >>

A Cure for the Monday Funk

Nightranger: Studs and Poses

This weekend: Sunset Strip Music Festival, Boris, Cyndi Lauper, the Antlers, Morris Day, Cap'N Jazz, Something Corporate, Chemical Brothers

Christina M. FeliceVanaprasta​By now, we're sure you have your strategy mapped out for Saturday's street festival portion of the Sunset Strip Music Festival. You're hitting the Sunset Strip early for Semi Precious Weapons; you're darting between outdoor stages for the likes of Travie McCoy, ... More >>

Sunset Strip Music Festival

Nightranger: Stars, Cars & Guitars

Sunset Strip Music Festival Releases Set Times

Kristin BurnsObey my dog!: Billy Corgan wants you to buy tickets to the Sunset Strip Music Fest honoring Slash​ The Sunset Strip Music Festival, the Westside celebration of the riff (plus Kid Cudi, Common, and Fergie), have released set times for their August 28th street fair. This year's even ... More >>

Attention J-Dilla Heads: Slum Village's T3 on Finally Releasing the Album, Dilla's pre-Tribe Beginnings and that Whole "New Native Tongues" Reputation

E1 MusicSlum Village's T3: No fear of a black hat​"The idea for a Slum Village reunion album came from a conversation I had with J Dilla before he passed away," says T3, the last living member of the beloved Detroit rap group. Released this week, Villa Manifesto is a fitting end to the Slum Vi ... More >>

Can a Yeasayer Remix Save N*E*R*D (and Nelly Furtado) from Totally Sucking?

N*E*R*Ds​Or a Hot Chip remix? Or one from Crookers? Or an entire iTunes EP of remixes of the exact same song -- the Nelly Furtado-featuring "Hot-N-Fun," which is neither of the things its title suggests? The Neptunes have made some of the darkest, weirdest, greatest beats that mainstream hip- ... More >>

Listen: James Poyser, Karriem Riggins and Madlib Collaborate on 'Funky Butt'

Madlib's "High Jazz" on LP​Current L.A. Weekly cover star Madlib is working his way through an incredibly prolific 2010 neatly bulleted by his album-a-month series, The Madlib Medicine Show. His label, Stones Throw, has just announced the seventh installment in that record chain, High Jazz, w ... More >>

Sanaa Hamri: Through an L.A. Lens

Movie Reviews: Trash Humpers, A Nightmare in Las Cruces, Letters to Juliet

Also, The Thorn in the Heart, Princess Kaiulani and more

Busdriver: Crushed Groove

"Your least favorite rapper/With a haircut like a pineapple/Wearing khakis torn/With a voice like a high soprano."

Sounds From Common, Looks From Louis Verdad & Brian Lichtenberg

Remembering Onyx Proprietor John Leech

Talking Hip Hop (and Phil Collins) With At the Movies' Ben Lyons

By Brandon Perkins Perhaps if Ben Lyons' movie chops were as obvious as his hip-hop track record, then sites like StopBenLyons.com wouldn't exist. Ever since the E! personality took the helm of the Siskel, Roper and Ebert's beloved At the Movies, Lyons has been berated with more thumbs down than ... More >>

First Thoughts on Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak

"You can't judge me on this because it's a reflection of my heart and soul. It's like judging a grandmother's love. Can you judge a grandmother's love by giving it 2.5 mics, or saying that it only sold a million?"--Kanye West, directly after the first unveiling of Heartbreak & 808s So Kanye's ... More >>

The B-Sides: Bishop Lamont Interview

Q: What was it like for you growing up in Los Angeles during the 80s? A: It was the LA of the Reagan administration. Drugs were really heavy in the streets at that time…more crack addicts…crack babies. It was a good time simultaneously because there was more creativity within the music and it ... More >>

Last Night: Common and N*E*R*D Tear it up at The Wiltern

Last night, Sunday September 14, hip-hop fans were treated to knockout performances by rapper Common and alt-hip-hop favorite N*E*R*D. The line at the Wiltern was insane in anticipation. Things started out on a high note, but it was later determined that Common's set had to be delayed due to N*E*R ... More >>

Rock Picks: Brian Wilson, the Juan Maclean, Common

Also, Citay, Nightwish, Savina Yannatou

Who's Biting J Dilla's Beats?

Hip-hop producer's legend ascends posthumously; estate struggles to maintain control

SXSW Flashback: Interview With Del Tha Funky Homosapien

It was my third night in Austin. Devin had just blazed through an epic set that had been celebrated in the appropriate fashion , El-P was currently on-stage and I was wandering around the Def Jux party with four cups of Jack in my stomach, a head full of smoke and the strange desire to approach p ... More >>

The 25 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2007 Pt. 3 (#14-10)

Mental Note: Avoid guys with the nickname "Mad Dog." 14. Redman-"Blow Treez" Why did we have to wait until 2007 for Redman, the man who taught a generation of impressionable youths how to roll a blunt, to sample Bob Marley, the greatest blunt roller of them all? Flipping the halcyon palm-tree ... More >>

Just Another Night On The Strip

Costume contest at the Key Club Monday Night Havent been back to Metal Skool's Monday mash since I used to deejay the VIP room, and thankfully nothing's changed. KISS wanna-bes, half-naked nymphos, ironic 'staches, lil creepy guys trying to look up my dress... Okay it was their annual Halloween pa ... More >>

Decision 2007: Kanye West vs. 50 Cent

A voter’s guide to the most important rap election in a generation

Hot off the Grill

And CHOLO a go-go

Femi Fatale

Son of legendary Fela Kuti carries on the revolutionary beat

Rock Picks

From October 13-19

Party Over Here!

Dave Chappelle raises the roof

Garth Trinidad & Friends

GARTH TRINIDAD & FRIENDS “Chocolate City” birthday at The Roxy, February 10

Thank You, J Dilla

Schmooze Operator

or, When Foxxes Attack

Live in LA

More Viola! More!

When Legend Precedes

The erstwhile John Stephens’ uphill battle with the hype

The Revelators

Martin Scorsese’s blue Christmas

Scratch That Niche

Popped

Academic jostling and anecdotal reminiscence at the Getty

Black Steel

Common in commotion