LL Cool J

My Awkward Night With Fitz and the Tantrums at Jimmy Kimmel Live

[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 hits the town with LA-based soul-pop band Fitz and the Tantrums.] I should probably have dropped quarts of acid into the disgusting coconu ... More >>

I Tried To Teach My Sons About Music While Fishing But Instead They Just Did Karate Moves On The Beach

[Editor's Note: Shea Serrano sometimes writes about Why This Song Sucks, and sometimes about his hilarious and poignant life and times. Better put your shoes on because your socks are about to be blown off.] 7:18 a.m.: I'm taking the boys fishing this morning. There's a serviceable little fishing p ... More >>

LL Cool J's Authentic: A Track By Track Review, Without Prejudice

LL Cool J can do no wrong lately. Actually, strike that, LL Cool J does everything wrong lately. Last year there was his trend-hopping track "Ratchet," dubbed one of the worst of 2012. More recently there was his duet with Brad Paisley, "Accidental Racist," in which he more or less forgave the sin o ... More >>

How to Spot Hollywood's Nonthreatening Black Man (NTBM)

Brad Paisley's "Accidental Racist": Why This Song Sucks

Monday, Brad Paisley, a white man, joined hands with LL Cool J, a black man, and attempted to end racism with a song called "Accidental Racist" (below), wherein Paisley addressed the debilitating dread of being an affluent white male in America and LL panthered around in the background, high-fiving ... More >>

Taye Diggs Takes Down Burglary Suspect Hassan Juma, L.A. Cops Say

Updated at the bottom with Juma charged. First posted at 12:19 p.m. Monday. A burglar chose the wrong home last night, cops say. No, it wasn't LL Cool J's place. This time the residence belonged to Taye Diggs: Cops say the actor, who had been at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, came home to find 20 ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

5 Dumbest Criminals In Los Angeles For 2012

See also: *The 10 Dumbest L.A. Criminals in 2012 (Slideshow). The L.A. area has no shortage of intelligence-challenged suspects, but 2012 was a banner year for our annual look at our fave dumbest criminals. From the L.A. city employee who claimed he was laid-up while engaging in pro athletics to t ... More >>

The 1997 Edition Was the Best MTV Video Music Awards

Tonight is the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. Now in its 29th year, it's had its share of memorable moments, none more so than during the 1997 broadcast. On the occasion of its 15th anniversary, here's the case for why it was the best VMA's ever televised.

Turns Out LL Cool J Is Hard as Hell

A would-be burglar picked the wrong house this morning and the suspect was met with the fists of fury of one LL Cool J, who had in fact warned us via classic rap songs that he's "hard as hell" and that his "mama said knock you out." That's reportedly what happened to the intruder, who cops told the ... More >>

Let's Play 'Guess the Rapper'

See also: KDAY, the Gangsta Rap Oldies Station, Breaks New Ground by Playing Music From the Bad Old Days Below are some illustrations of rappers. (The top is an example.) They also contain hints to help you guess who they are. There are 15 total. If you miss more than three, you lose and everyone ... More >>

Top 10 Sexiest Hip-Hop Video Vixens

LMFAO 'Bikini Girl' Says She Was Fired For Being 'Big Boned' Top Ten Sexiest Album Covers We've Ever Seen Top 60 Worst Lil Wayne Lines on Tha Carter IV Top Ten Rap Albums For People Who Don't Know Shit About Hip-Hop Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time: The Complete List Thoughts From A Rando ... More >>

Did Canibus Ruin His Career By Breaking Out His Notebook During a Rap Battle?

See also: *Top Ten Rap Albums For People Who Don't Know Shit About Hip-Hop *Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time Last month, Los Angeles hosted one of the most hotly-anticipated rap battles in years, pitting Canibus against legendary battler Dizaster at Exchange LA. But it didn't live up to ... More >>

Get Ready For Los Angeles' Biggest Rap Battle in Years

Rap battles have always been important in hip-hop. Many aspects of the genre's evolution and spirit of competition have sprung from the art form, and each generation has had its landmark battles. The 1981 Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee battle at New York's Harlem World took MCing to the next level, while ... More >>

Ten Rap-Rock Songs That Are Actually Awesome

See also: Crazy Town's Shifty Shellshock Is Out of His Coma! Here's Everything You Need To Know About Him Rap-rock remains the coolest idea ever. You've just been scared off of it by the mountain of terrible rap-rock in existence. Here are ten songs that prove the Woodstock '99-tainted genre could ... More >>

The Most Overrated Male Musician Sex Symbols

See also: Top 20 Sexiest Male Musicians of All Time: The Complete List Last week, we unveiled the Top 20 Sexiest Male Musicians of All Time. As usual, there were cries of "What about that one guy I think is hot?" We agree with some of them. Jim Morrison was a talented mess with serpentine hips that ... More >>

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's "Thuggish Ruggish Bone": Why This Song Sucks

[Editor's note: Why This Song Sucks determines why particular tracks blow using science. It appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.] Song: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" History: "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" was Bone Thugs' 1994 breakout single. It's one of the most pioneering, ins ... More >>

Why the Grammys Stink

See also: *2012 Grammys: The Best, the Worst and the Weirdest *Deadmau5, Rihanna - House of Blues - 2/13/12 *Dan Wilson: From "Closing Time" to Adele's "Someone Like You" So, our Grammy credentials were fairly limited last night. In fact, we were trapped in a room for eight hours, with journalists ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins' KCRW Show Tomorrow Night: Three for the Price of One -- Engineer X, the Young Will Bentley, and Henry

KCRW Broadcast #147 for Saturday, January 7, 2012 Fanatics! Just so you know, this set was specifically engineered and put together with great care in order to bring you the maximum enjoyment as we gather together live for the first time this year. 2012 promises to be interesting to say the least ... More >>

The Rise and Stall of Pac Div

Kristofferson San Pablo​In the late aughts, the safe money was on L.A.-via-Palmdale trio Pac Div. They seemed poised to lead the burgeoning "New West" movement -- the pre-Odd Future crop of young rappers seeking to reclaim hip-hop for the Left Coast. They were the group everyone from industry ... More >>

Exile: How West Coast Can You Get?

Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey

Top 10 Ripped Rappers (With Pics to Prove it)

Foxy Brown: the good ol' days​ Last Weekend, Eminem was doing his thing at the Grammys, but inquiring voyeurs just wanted to know, "where were those angry abs? Luckily, there's a stockpile of trashy pics on the Web that we can lust at. LL Cool J hasn't let himself go yet, and Nelly (despite h ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2011 Inductees Leaked?

​A much less momentous version of Wikileaks has interfered with the mysterious selection process for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Website Hits Daily Double apparently got hold of the list of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees for 2011 a few days early (the official announcement is tomorro ... More >>

Top 5 Old-School Jams That Get Us Pumped Up When We Hear Them on KDAY

KDAY is the L.A. radio go-to when you want to pump the old-school jams, (we love that on their website they tell us, "On Air Now: All your favorite back in the day hits. Next Up: All your favorite back in the day hits.") but our favorite thing about listening to the station is the oh-my-God-I-totall ... More >>

Rock Picks: Prefuse 73, the Gaslamp Killer, VoicesVoices, Beyond the Pale

Also, Do Make Say Think, the Living Sisters, Wale and others

Right Said Fred Cancels Halloween, Will Not Dance on King Tut's Tomb

By Daiana Feuer King Tut might rise from his fake tomb at the Egyptian Theatre, but Right Said Fred will not be dancing on his head. Richard and Fred Fairbrass were scheduled to perform "I'm Too Sexy" live during the King Tut's Tomb Halloween spectacular on Saturday night in Hollywood. An email ... More >>

Amanda Blank: Philadelphia Freedom

MC knows no genre boundaries, has little reverence for copyright, and easily surfs between street and camp

Rock Picks: Don Caballero, Yo! Majesty, Joan Baez, Juana Molina

Also, Extreme Animals, Andrew Bird, Peach Fuzz, and others

Bands and Brands

Your favorite band is playing the Roxy tonight — but you’re not invited

N.W.A: A Hard Act to Follow

Hip-hop and hype from the streets of Compton (reprint of May 5, 1989, Weekly cover story)

Film Reviews: Hot Fuzz, Redline and More

Also In the Land of Women and the documentary, Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea

Film Reviews: Disturbia, Perfect Stranger and More

Also Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Thetaers, The Ritchie Boys and this week's pick, Red Road

Benefits of Being Dumped

Music Picks

For the week of June 22 - 29

Freaky Kinky Nation

The weird-ass, beautiful history of ’80s hip-hop, as curated by Tommy Boy records

The Beat Goes On

Rick Rubin

Yarr Yarr Yarr

Singin' like a pirate, lookin' for a song

grammy diary

Tue., Feb. 7 LL Cool J at the House of Blues Wed., Feb. 8 The Grammys at the Staples Center Now, for my personal awards

Rock & Dance Club Listings

For February 3 - 9, 2006

Rock Picks

For February 3 - 10

Art Pick: Abo Ovo, Tue., Feb. 7

The Revolution Will Be Posterized

Songs, Songs, Songs

Eazy Does It

Gangsta rap hits L.A.

Assimilation Strategies

In America So Beautiful and Deliver Us From Eva

Beat Baggage

Word According to B.I.G.

Night of the Long Knives

Ol' Black Eyes is back