Subject:

Hip-Hop and Rap

  • Blogs

    April 1, 2013

    Paid Dues - San Manuel Amphitheater - 3/30/13

    Paid Dues Independent Hip-Hop Festival San Manuel Amphitheater 3/30/13 Traffic was hellish. Parking was a mess, the outhouses were a disaster, the lines for food were ridiculously long, and one edifice labeled "will call" was not, in fact, will call. The dust was Coachella-like, and after the boil ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 29, 2013

    Terrace Martin's Jazz and G-Funk

    Terrace Martin plays tomorrow's Paid Dues festival in San Bernardino. The producer, saxophonist, and emcee came up on the streets of Crenshaw and Slauson, and was tapped for Snoop Dogg's 2004 Rhythm & Gangsta album at 17 and for Quincy Jones' production staff at 22. Millions of record sold contain ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 29, 2013

    Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge - The Mayan - 3/28/13

    Ghostface Killah with Adrian Younge The Mayan 3/28/13 Somewhere between a classic film score and an adventurous concept album is where Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge meet on their upcoming album "Twelve Reasons to Die. Inspired by Tarantino and the RZA, the album is heavy in genre specific homa ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 28, 2013

    Ghost-Writing Allegation Rocks the Rap Battle World

    In the decade since 8 Mile, the art of battling has become mainstream and big business. But recently it's faced controversy, with one rapper accusing another of paying for his rhymes. In the world of competitive battling, this is strictly verboten. A January bout for Canadian battle league King of ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 27, 2013

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    March 27, 2013

    Dawn Richard - Roxy Theatre - 3/26/13

    Dawn Richard The Roxy Theatre 3-26-13 Sure, the line was small outside the Roxy, but they were a faithful few. Once inside they got what they came for, as Dawn Richard (formerly of Danity Kane and Diddy - Dirty Money) took her loyal fans on a musical journey from grimy hip-hop to fist pumping EDM.

  • Blogs

    March 26, 2013

    Fairfax's Truth Studios Makes More Hip Hop Than Money

    For nearly two years Truth Studios, a recording space in the Fairfax District, has been a haven for West Coast rap talent. On any given night, you might find clothing reps chattering, owner Nick Breton rolling blunts with rappers, and intoxicated laughter absorbed by the muted walls. The combination ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 20, 2013

    Can You Match The Eyes To The Rapper They Belong To?

    This is a ridiculous thing, to be sure; a game birthed in the crevices of 2 a.m. emails and WAY TOO MANY mp3s and SoundCloud links. And it's as simple as it is stupid as it is infinitythings. On the following page you'll find a picture of eight separate sets of eyes. Underneath the picture you'll ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 11, 2013

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    February 20, 2013

    Producer Khalief Brown: Beats for a Space Brawl

    [Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] It's rare that you hear a rap song on the radio and your only thought is, "Who produced this?" That's what happened last summer when I first heard Kid In ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 18, 2013

    Sorry, But Kanye Is the GOAT

    Kanye West is the greatest hip-hop artist of all time. He's made the best albums and changed the game the most, and his music is the most likely to endure. One thing before we get going: This isn't one of those arguments meant to piss people off or "start a conversation." We really mean it. And, c ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 12, 2013

    Who's the All-Time Champion of Rap Beef on Twitter?

    Twenty years ago, rap animosity was expressed via diss songs. Like, if someone pissed you off you went home, thought about it, went to a recording studio, pressed up your album, and sent it around. The object of your diss might not find out until six months later. More recently the rise of the mix ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 8, 2013

    Man Alleges Lil Wayne Entourage Member Smashed His Head With Skateboard

    Last year Downey, California-based bill poster Alfredo Marino saw Lil Wayne on Fairfax Avenue. He approached him hoping to get a photo, but says the encounter ended with a member of the rapper's entourage smashing him in the back of the head with a skateboard and sending him to the hospital. Marino ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 6, 2013

    Fuck Guilty Pleasures: Critics Need to Lay Off Macklemore

    [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.] The number one song in the country, as you probably know, is a Seattle-based white independent hip-hop artist's ode to sh ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 4, 2013

    Top 10 "You Can't Tell Me Nothing" Rappers

    In Macklemore's forthcoming single, "Can't Hold Us," he raps, "Nah they can't tell me nothing," thus continuing a long line of rappers to whom one can not tell nothing. It makes one wonder: Why are people always trying to tell rappers something? Why do the rappers refuse to listen? Why all the doub ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 30, 2013

    There's This Amazing Kid Rapper at the School Where I Teach

    Within The Kid's peer group -- the children at the school where I teach junior high ESL -- he stands out. He is generally the same age as them, and he's generally of the same intelligence academically. However: He's white. He's definitely that. Where he lives, most of the kids around him, are ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 22, 2013

    Lil B Is the Most Important Rapper of the Decade So Far

    Lil B, the heavily tattooed Berkeley, California rapper with a gleaming grill and oversized earrings, entered the hip-hop game in 2006 as part of Bay Area rap group The Pack. Over the last three years he's garnered a tremendous Internet following, popularizing the words "swag" and "based," the lat ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 18, 2013

    Openly Gay Rapper Rob B Draws From Influences Far and Wide

    On a recent cool Friday afternoon, 25-year-old Mexican-American, openly gay rapper Rob B sits in one of the many cafés peppering Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. He's tan and toned, a 6-foot-1 part-time model who has done everything from runway to hand modeling, and today he's fitted in al ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 17, 2013

    Smoking Wax Weed With Rapper Demrick

    [Editor's note: Soon-to-be-award-winning gonzo music journalist Danielle Bacher prowls the late late night scene for West Coast Sound. For this installment, she hit the town with Demrick, aka Young De, a rapper and songwriter who has collaborated with Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill, Kurupt and Xzibit. Als ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 14, 2013

    DJ Muggs Does Dubstep. Prepare For Your Head to Explode

    DJ Muggs at 44 still rocks his skull cap and looks not unlike the 20-something hip-hop head who first appeared in Cypress Hill's video for "How I Could Just Kill a Man." He sits at a laptop in his Burbank studio, playing a track he recently produced featuring a pair of hit Queens rappers, Action Bro ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 14, 2013

    Eight Rules for White People Who Like Hip-Hop

    White people and their sometimes-problematic place in hip-hop culture have been in the news recently. At The New Republic last week Dave Bry mulled Chief Keef and whether it's ok for white music critics to like violent rap, while we wrote about white entertainers who think they have a pass to say th ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 11, 2013

    Action Bronson: I Can't See Myself Wearing a Skirt or a Wig

    One of hip-hop's do-no-wrong stories of 2012, Albanian Queens-native Action Bronson put out Blue Chips for free and followed it up with Rare Chandeliers last year. He signed to Vice Records and made countless critics' year-end lists flowing unpretentiously on typical rap fare (girls, chronic, hooker ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 4, 2013

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    January 3, 2013

    Hip-Hop Albums We're Excited For in 2013

    The world didn't end, the new year is upon us, and it's time to get pumped about 2013. While we've all but given up hope that 2013 will be the year we see Detox, there's still plenty of releases either officially announced or highly likely to land that have us excited. It's with the boom-bap baby ne ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 2, 2013

    Here's What Didn't Suck About B.E.T.'s Top 100 Videos Of 2012

    On December 31, BET showed their Top 100 videos of the year. It was a block of television that ended at 10 p.m. and began, if I'm remembering accurately, around 48 BC. I'd planned on watching all of it, absorbing the videos and then using that information to reach some grand, great point about rap ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 25, 2012

    The Five Best Los Angeles Rap Albums of 2012

    As Max Bell noted in his round-up of L.A. rap earlier this month, it was a very good year for hip-hop in our city, with all corners of the varied scene -- from Open Mike Eagle's smart 4NML HSPTL to Odd Future's rambunctious The OF Tape Vol. 2 to Ty$ and Joe Moses' raunchy Whoop! -- well represented ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 18, 2012

    Which White Entertainers Have a "Hood Pass" to Say the N-Word?

    The late aughts saw a debate in the hip-hop community about the use of the n-word, sparked in part by Nas' plan to name his 2008 album Nigger (he ended up calling it Untitled), as well as Russell Simmons' call for industry self-censorship of the word. In 2007 the city of Detroit even hosted a "symbo ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 17, 2012

    Why This Songs Sucks: The Worst Rap Tracks of 2012

    Welcome to another installment of the worst rap songs of the year, brought to you by Why This Song Sucks. See also: Why This Song Sucks: The Worst Rap Tracks of 2011 They are all here this year: The all-the-way aged king, the suddenly mortal demigod, the former darling, the current darling, the m ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 17, 2012

    The Best Rap Singles of 2012

    Let's be honest: It's been a great year for hip-hop. Mainstream and underground MCs made some of the most refreshing and innovative work in years. It's been a good year for albums, for sure, but also a dynamite one for singles. Here are our picks for the five best five, from artists around the count ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 15, 2012

    Power 106 Cali Christmas Concert - Gibson Amphitheatre - 12/14/12

    Meek Mill, Rick Ross, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar Power 106 Cali Christmas Gibson Amphitheatre 12/14/12 Ah, the holiday season in L.A. -- a crisp chill is in the air, every twinkly light installment and bit of tinsel available has been vomited onto that particular property on Los Feliz Blvd. ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 11, 2012

    2012: A Landmark Year in L.A. Hip-Hop

    L.A. hip-hop hasn't seen a year like this one since 1992, when the word G-Funk was (re)defined and art-rap was steadily making noise in and around Leimert Park. Twenty years ago saw, of course, the release of The Chronic, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, The Predator, Spice 1, and Way 2 Fonky, among ot ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 11, 2012

    Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Announced: N.W.A Was Fucking Slighted

    The craptastic rock and roll hall of fame inductees were just announced. Here's who was nominated: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Chic Deep Purple Heart Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Albert King Kraftwerk The Marvelettes The Meters Randy Newman N.W.A Procol Harum Public Enemy Rush Donna Summer ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 10, 2012

    The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Week

    Monday, December 10 Lamps PEHRSPACE Lamps are punk (like Chrome? Or Suicide?). They're from space (like Hawkwind?) but also from hell (like Electric Eels!), where everything melts together into a big hot white ball of confusion that's bright enough to give off some sick kind of light but which will ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 10, 2012

    The Five Most Annoyingly Overplayed Songs at Greystone Manor

    Greystone Manor is the trendy WeHo nightclub usually filled to capacity with A-listers, desperate housewives, Arabian sheiks, ball players, dot-com CEOs and others who have something to do with reality television. Any given Sunday night you might witness Drake buying twenty bottles or Rihanna and Ch ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 6, 2012

    Clyde Carson Finally Has a Big Hit with "Slow Down"

    Last December, Bay Area rapper Clyde Carson recorded "Slow Down." Within a couple months, a DJ named J-12 had invented a dance specifically for the song, inspiring dozens of kids to upload their own versions to YouTube. A year later, it's inescapable, with Power 106 playing it every hour on the hour ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 5, 2012

    I Gave My Grandma Master P's 1995 Album Ice Cream Man. It Didn't End How I'd Hoped

    First there was this, the video of DMX, a man who built a career being scarier than nuclear war, charming everyone's pants off with a Christmas carol about a reindeer with a nose that is both excellent (Kids: "Yay! Red nose! You're adorable, Rudolph!") and terrible (Doctors: "Oh no. Red nose. You're ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 3, 2012

    Top Five Ratchet Songs of 2012

    Ratchet music emerged in 2012 as the preferred sound for rap fans on the west coast looking to party. Though it kicked off in Shreveport, Louisiana, Los Angeles producer DJ Mustard uprooted the formula and molded it for folks like YG, HBK and Tyga. The result? An inescapable mesh of raunchy lyrics, ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 1, 2012

    Nas & Lauryn Hill - The Wiltern - 11/30/12

    Nas & Ms. Lauryn Hill The Wiltern 11/30/12 Better than...a Kelis and Wyclef double billing Nas & Lauryn Hill have a strong incentive to tour recently -- tax problems. Ahead of their double billed show last night at the Wiltern (they play again tonight) fans were hoping that they as well as the IRS ... More >>

  • News

    November 29, 2012

    Everybody's a Critic: Readers Respond to Our Food, Movie and Music Critics

    Nas & Ms. Lauryn Hill The Wiltern 11/30/12 Better than...a Kelis and Wyclef double billing Nas & Lauryn Hill have a strong incentive to tour recently -- tax problems. Ahead of their double billed show last night at the Wiltern (they play again tonight) fans were hoping that they as well as the IRS ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 29, 2012

    Rap Genius Got $15 Million in Investor Financing. So Why Does Everyone Hate Them?

    In Malibu last weekend, an ebullient crowd including rappers Mike G and Shawn Chrystopher have gathered for the birthday party of Mahbod Moghadam. Champagne is poured into red solo cups, while a volvano vaporizer circulates. Moghadam is an eccentric character who is the face of the extremely succes ... More >>

  • Music

    November 15, 2012

    Xzibit Carries the Weight

    Post–Pimp My Ride, the rapper strides forward

  • Blogs

    November 14, 2012

    Greydon Square Is the Atheist Rapper

    Midway through an interview with Greydon Square, I sneeze. "Bless you," the 31-year-old rapper born Eddie Collins says instinctively. He catches himself. "I know, an atheist that says, 'Bless you.' Habits, man." Greydon Square is the atheist rapper. In hip-hop, a genre in which where rappers thank ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 12, 2012

    Jay Rock: Our Interview With Kendrick Lamar's About-to-Pop Crewmate

    Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city is the frontrunner for hip-hop album of the year, and one of its most discussed verses comes from his Black Hippy crewmate Jay Rock. Far from new to the game, Jay Rock has put out music both on major labels and independently, he's been in boardrooms and boarde ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 8, 2012

    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 >>

  • Blogs

    November 7, 2012

    What's the First Rap Song I Should Play For My Newborn Son?

    In maybe one or maybe eight or maybe two or maybe six days, my third son will be pulled from my wife's womb. (C-section life, bitches.) He has a name, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. If you want to refer to him as Boy C, that's cool. That'll do just fine, I imagine. There are a bunch of r ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 5, 2012

    Waka Flocka Flame - Club Nokia - 11/4/12

    Waka Flocka Flame Club Nokia 11/4/12 There's this great moment midway through rapper MGK's video for "Wild Boy," on which Waka Flocka Flame is featured. "You think you're a good rapper?" MGK asks Waka. "Fuck no," Waka replies. See also: Our slideshow of the concert That was the general consensus ... More >>

  • Music

    October 25, 2012

    Kendrick Lamar's Mood Music

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

  • Blogs

    October 22, 2012

    Suburban White Fake Rapping Dads Are the Worst

    Gangsta rap jokes are almost as old as gangsta rap itself, with seminal hip-hop comedies CB4 and Fear of a Black Hat dropping in 1994. There are probably earlier examples in song; indeed, short of hair metal, few musical genres are more ripe for parody. Since then gangsta rap gags have not abated, ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 19, 2012

    Check Out My Hip-Hop Coloring Book

    I'm writing a book called Bun B's Jumbo Coloring And Rap Activity Book. It's not finished yet, though, so right now it's just a tumblr. It has that name for three reasons. First, because I'm making it with the rapper Bun B -- you know, from UGK, one of the most important figures in the history of a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 18, 2012

    Kendrick Lamar - Club Nokia - 10/17/12

    Kendrick Lamar Club Nokia October 17, 2012 From a distance, it looked like a lazy protest was being staged at L.A. Live last night -- a handful of people dressed alike in baggy white t-shirts wandered the sidewalk or propped themselves up on fire hydrants, occasionally waving placards that announc ... More >>

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