Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine Donate $70 Million To USC For Arts Academy

Must be nice to have so much cash that you can pair up with a buddy and donate $70 million to a private, rich kids' school like USC. Of course, the headphone-endorsement business has been good to Dr. Dre, a.k.a. Andre Young. The same endeavor has been good to Jimmy Iovine, not to mention American I ... More >>

Veteran Producer Sir Jinx is the Missing Link

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] See also: Edward "Apple" Nelson Is a Legendary L.A. Drummer and 70-Year-Old Yoga Enthusiast Sir Jinx is the missing link. He is a vital nerve. Remove th ... More >>

This Is What It Feels Like In My Stomach Right Now

There is an evil inside of me. It is brooding and malevolent and vicious. It is absolute darkness. It is rotting my body on a cellular level. And it is there because I thought a bad idea (getting a burrito at the mall right before it closed) was a good idea ("HEY, LET'S GET A BURRITO FROM THE MALL B ... More >>

Making It in the Music Industry: L.A. Weekly's 2012 Music Issue

Xzibit Carries the Weight

Post–Pimp My Ride, the rapper strides forward

Die Antwoord - Meltdown Comics - 11/13/12

Die Antwoord Music Video Marathon Nerdist Showroom inside Meltdown Comics 11-13-12 Better Than...Shark Week hosted by Dr Dre. It's easy to dismiss South African rap group Die Antwoord as a novelty act, since at first glance, they come off as little more than an extended Ali G skit: silly hip-hop p ... More >>

Let's Raise a Glass for the Underrated Warren G

This weekend Warren G turns 41, celebrating with a show at the Key Club on Friday. But while everyone knows him for "Regulate," his signature duet with Nate Dogg, he's actually had important roles in hip-hop history, many of which have gone under-discussed. Warren Griffin III started his career as ... More >>

Kendrick Lamar's Mood Music

The Compton rapper carries the expectations of his city on his shoulders. It's tiring

Pop Quiz: Can You ID These L.A. Bands?

School's back in session, and we decided to give you a pop quiz that tests your knowledge of five Los Angeles-bred bands. Can you identify the following groups based on the clues and pixelated photos we've provided? Oh, just to up the ante: for every incorrect answer you provide, you must remove a ... More >>

The Five Upcoming L.A. Rap Albums We're Most Excited to Hear

Top Ten Rap Albums For People Who Don't Know Shit About Hip-Hop Top 60 Worst Lil Wayne Lines on Tha Carter IV Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time The 20 Worst Hipster Bands Ah, the fourth quarter. The season of brown leaves, event records and holiday shopping -- also known as "the least bad ... More >>

KMG the Illustrator: RIP to The Above the Law Rapper

[Editor's note: Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. Be sure to also check out the archives.] *Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time: The Complete List *Top Ten Rap Albums For People Who Don't Know Shit About Hip-Hop If you ever go to a nightclub ... More >>

L.A.'s Top Five Actors-Turned-Rappers, Including Warren Beatty

See also: *Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time: The Complete List *Here Are Pictures of Dr. Dre's New $13 Million House Only a decade ago everyone was complaining about how the rappers were taking all of the acting roles in Hollywood. But nowadays the pendulum has swung in the other direct ... More >>

Coachella Promoters Headed to Court to Stop Counterfeit Concert Goods Sold Around Indio

Goldenvoice, the promoter behind Coachella, wants to put a stop to counterfeit t-shirts, hats and other merchandise being sold today around the event at Empire Polo Club in Indio. It's expected to file a federal lawsuit today that would empower local cops to "seize and impound" the gear, according ... More >>

Here Is a Children's Cartoon About Snoop Dogg's Murder Trial

See also: Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Tupac's Hologram at Coachella, April 15, 2012 Before kids' programming was relegated to cable, the major networks competed for young viewers. With the relatively new Fox network's penchant for cutting edge programming, their block of '90s shows for kids was no exce ... More >>

Eazy-E's Daughter Commemorates the Anniversary of His Death, Lies On His Tombstone

Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of Eazy-E's death. To commemorate the date, his daughter E.B., who is also a rapper, put on a gauzy white gown and curled around her father's tombstone. She also re-created two of her father's iconic album covers. You can see them below.

World Famous V.I.P. Records Officially Closes

c/o Kelvin AndersonOwner Kelvin Anderson Sr. with Craig Mack, left, and Notorious B.I.G., right​For this week's feature story, we wrote about the impending demise of World Famous V.I.P. Records in Long Beach, which once boasted a dozen branches and was instrumental in the rise of West Coast hi ... More >>

Bizarre Ride: Jeff Weiss's Five Los Angeles Music Archetypes

[Editor's note: Longtime Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's new column, "Bizarre Ride," begins today. You can find it on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.] The L.A. cliché is a war of shadow and light: fallen stars gone to seed, saccharine pop and gangsta rap. But this is 2012 and Dr. Dre is a headphone g ... More >>

Remember Our Top 20 L.A. Rap Albums? Here Are The Worst Records By Those Artists

​[Editor's note: Haterade Monday continues! Earlier in the day we told brought you the five dopiest Beach Boys songs (including one where Brian Wilson raps). And now, on the heels of our top 20 greatest L.A. rap albums of all time here's some more drivel from classic artists.] Hip-hop doesn' ... More >>

Meet Iggy Azalea, the Street Smart Blonde Bombshell Behind "Pu$$y"

​When 21-year-old Australian rapper Iggy Azalea was a preteen, she was obsessed with Tupac. She plastered her wall with his photos. She tried to recite his lyrics with his inflections. She visited the Seven Day Theory website religiously, but figured going to an Outlawz concert in Oz when she ... More >>

Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time: 20-16

​Editor's note: For our music issue, out on Thursday, Ian Cohen, Rebecca Haithcoat, Jeff Weiss and Ben Westhoff run down the top 20 L.A. rap albums of all time. We're unveiling the list all this week on West Coast Sound. The party waits for no man. So while we watched the tubes for Detox, Los ... More >>

Afrika Bambaataa Plays Tomorrow, Inspires Our Top Five Electro Anthems Of All Time

Afrika Bambaataa​Along with Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa is a card-carrying member of hip-hop's holy trinity. Back in the genre's baby years, Bam helped bring competing Bronx streets gangs together in the name of musical unity, and cut the seminal electro track, 1982's "Pl ... More >>

Top Five Moments from The Game's Hoodmorning (No Typo)

​On his new mixtape, Hoodmorning (No Typo), Game insults his haters' geographical acumen. "I'm in Cannes, France," he barks. "You don't know where that shit is." This might not be the strongest diss ever, but there's much to like on the tape; his voice is plaintively expressive, and he has an ... More >>

Pulitzer-Prize Winner Jonathan Gold Writes Moving Nate Dogg Obituary for LA Weekly

Christopher Victorio for OC WeeklyMr. and Mrs. Broadus before Nate Dogg's memorial service Saturday ​ Within the structure of a classic G-funk track, a musical form as precise as a Mozart string quintet, after the opening skit, the establishment of the minimal beat, the rapper's expository ver ... More >>

L.A. Album of the Week

AWOL ONE's The Landmark

Music Picks: Breakestra, Slang Chickens, the Muffs, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

Also Meth Leppard, Tennis With Lord Huron, Kid Infinity and others

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 12/6-12/10

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "When you see how they react to the live octopus tentacles at Masan or the pig ear chicharrones at Lazy Ox Canteen, you may have a better idea of how they might handle the idea of babysitting triplets or a sudden move to Icel ... More >>

DANCE CLUB PICK: WHO LOVES THE '90S?

WATCH/DOWNLOAD: From Oakland to Compton, Aloe Blacc, MED and Oh No Pay California Love on New West Coast Anthem 'Where I'm From'

Aloe Blacc pays tribute to the state he's in. Could this be the new "California Love"?​ Oxnard rapper and Stones Throw artist MED doesn't eff around. When it comes to dropping singles, he goes straight for the broad-theme anthem, and always with a West Coast bent. On "Where I'm From," he bri ... More >>

Hundreds Turn Out For Walking Man Memorial Stroll In Silver Lake

Walking Man.​Several hundred people turned out Sunday for a walking tour to memorialize Silver Lake's omniscient Walking Man, who was found dead in a hot tub Wednesday night. The walkers took the path that 58-year-old Marc Abrams, often shirtless and in neon running shorts, was well-known for ... More >>

Walking Man: Death Of Silver Lake's Marc Abrams Ruled A Suicide

Monkey Fish via Flickr​The death of Silver Lake's "Walking Man," Marc Abrams, was ruled a suicide, county coroner's officials said Monday. "The cause of death was drowning, noted as a suicide," coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie told the Weekly. Abrams was found Wednesday in a hot tub. The lid wa ... More >>

At Last: Dâm-Funk Goes Gangsta With Compton's MC Eiht for 'Hood Pass Intact' Redo

MC Eiht (by Depiktions)​It was only a matter of time. Ever since L.A. funkstronaut Dâm-Funk emerged with a new take on this city's electro-rap past, he's been frequently cited as cutting that old '80s dope with the stuff that spiced up the '90s: G-funk. That latter medium emerged from the l ... More >>

How to Blow Your Career and Alienate Your Family, featuring Scott Storch

Illustration by Jason Seiler​Our sibling publication Miami New Times just published a long article about hip hop/pop producer (and LA resident) Scott Storch. Writer Gus Garcia-Roberts tried to interview Storch for this account of the spiral into drug-addiction and debt that destroyed his once- ... More >>

Tupac's 'All Eyez on Me': The LA Weekly Word Cloud [NSFW]

West Coast Sound has been analyzing classic Los Angeles albums for the past six months by creating word clouds from the lyrics. We've tackled Black Flag's Damaged, the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton, Guns 'n Roses' Appetite for Destruction and, most recently, just for kicks, ... More >>

Death Row's G-Funk Fire Sale

Death Row Records Auctions Off Its History in Fullerton

(All photos by Brandon Perkins. For full gallery, check out the Death Row Auction slideshow.) It was perfect. The portrait of Nate Dogg in itself was tacky, but Suge Knight's alleged tweaks to the painting -- black eye and multiple bullet holes -- were priceless. The frameless artifact wasn't th ... More >>

OD Death of Dr. Dre's Son Sparks CyberRacist Oubursts

For those who believe "race doesn't matter" or that we've moved into a color-blind, post-racial America, think again. Last Friday the L.A. County Coroner's office announced that the August death of music producer and rap legend Dr. Dre's son, Andre Young Jr., was due to a drug overdose. (See Christi ... More >>

Coroner: Dr. Dre's Son OD'ed on Heroin and Morphine

The Los Angeles County Coroner reported today that the son of hip hop record producer and rapper Dr. Dre died from an overdose of heroin and morphine. The drug tests had been pending for more than four months. The coroner's office wouldn't explain why it took so long for the report to be released -- ... More >>

Question in the Form of an Answer: An Interview with Chef Raekwon

No introduction necessary. Q: So what brings you out to LA? A: Just business brought me out here. I have an office set up out here and we’re just out here networking and keeping our minds at peace and just working on the album, staying in the studio. I’m doing a lot of things—dealing wit ... 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 >>

Have Movie Stereotypes Returned?

Back in black (and yellow) face

Record Reviews: Jonny Greenwood, Bishop Lamont, Melchior Productions

Blood soundtrack, Caltroit mixtape and No Disco Future

N.W.A: Compton's Most Vaunted a Hard Act to Follow

Two decades later, Straight Outta Compton is as vital — and brutal — as ever

City of Gods

L.A.’s Omar Cruz: Could he become the first Mexican-American rap star?

Pimp My Geo

Xzibit: Chrome wheels, platinum records, silver screens (and the dirt behind)

Live in LA

Compton Rises Again

Lil’ E on the legacy of Eazy and being his own man

White Man’s Burden

Eminem’s Encore falls into the gap between his obvious talent and his elevated stature

Ghosts vs. Boasts

Killaz and Victims

DJ Quik lays 'em out

Blacklisted by Metallica