N.W.A. (Band)

Top 10 L.A. Hip-Hop Producers in History

For better or worse, L.A. hip-hop is strongly identified with gangsta rap, and that genre is mostly identified with its rappers and their outsized personas. But the classic Los Angeles albums wouldn't be what they are without the incredible sonic textures that define them, the funk, electro, rock, a ... More >>

Can Aja Brown, Compton's Hip, Refreshing Reform Mayor, Turn This Woeful City Around?

Could Dr. Dre Save KDAY?

As we reported in April, local gangsta rap oldies station KDAY -- the best station in L.A. -- has been sold, for almost $20 million. The buyer is RBC Communications, which is largely owned by a Chinese-American entrepreneur named Anthony Yuen. Word on the street is that KDAY's format will switch to ... More >>

Dr. Dre on His USC Academy: "This Is the Biggest Thing I've Ever Been a Part Of"

As our sister blog The Informer reported yesterday, Interscope Records boss Jimmy Iovine and boss of all bosses Dr. Dre pooled together $70 million they had lying around to establish the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. It will offer stude ... More >>

Ice Cube Talks About His Favorite Projects He's Ever Worked On

Having long, long ago secured his place in the rap pantheon, Ice Cube today is, to the average Dlisted reader, a man to be both mocked (for his Are We There Yet period) and possibly feared -- if, say, confronted in the type of bar where denizens consume Coors Light. But in person he's cordial and ... More >>

A Brief History of the Blowjob in Pop Music

Currently dominating charts, Flo Rida's "Whistle" recycles the wholesome Disney chorus "whistle while you work" as a blowjob instructional. Like many before him, Flo Rida enjoys receiving oral sex, and like almost as many, he has turned the practice into a popular song. Over the years, tracks discu ... More >>

Cypress Hill's "Pigs" Is Now a Lullaby

See also: *Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums Of All Time *Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time Not long ago, Rob Getzschman decided to turn Cypress Hills' 1991 ode-to-police "Pigs" into a lullaby. Or, as he would say, "back into a lullaby." (You can hear the song below.) Under the auspices of his folk pro ... More >>

KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez on His New Album: "I Am Moved By Single Moms, Moved By Junkies"

Each week as Monday night becomes Tuesday morning, KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez maintains a musical vigil over the airwaves. He mixes in everything from hip hop to house, along with smoothly articulated descriptions of these "samples and sounds." Today, sipping Intelligentsia coffee in broad daylight a ... More >>

Author Jeff Chang: Hip-hop Predicted the L.A. Riots

[Editor's note: Over the past week West Coast Sound has been speaking with rappers and writers whose work has been influenced by the L.A. riots, to coincide with their 20th anniversary yesterday.] Jeff Chang is the author of Can't Stop Won't Stop, perhaps the most important book about hip-hop ever ... More >>

Ice Cube - KDAY Krush Groove - April 28, 2012

Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, Mystikal and others KDAY Krush Groove Gibson Amphitheater April 28, 2012 An invitation to Ice Cube's gangsta nation is tough to decline, even for those on the right side of the law. Which is why at one point during the Krush Groove hip-hop concert on Saturday a yellow-shirte ... More >>

Tupac on the L.A. Riots: "I Hate to Say I Told You So, But I Told You So"

See also: Our coverage of the 15th anniversary of Tupac's death Tupac Shakur was a gangsta rapper of the old mold; he called himself a thug, sure, but he was also quite conscious when it came to social issues, particularly those impacting the black community. The rare video below -- taken one wee ... More >>

Dr. Dre Tribute Album: We Tear It A New One

Now I need a doctor​Seeing as Detox still shows no signs of life -- seriously, another couple years of this and we're going to get angry -- what's a real G supposed to do? For that matter, what are we supposed to do? Well, there certainly is plenty of prime Dr. Dre material ripe for re-purpo ... More >>

Nic Adler On Balistyx And The Genesis Of Grandmaster B

Kevin Scanlon​See also: Bud Bundy's Rap Career?! Hear David Faustino's Music Our cover story this week "Bud Bundy, Original Gangsta" focuses on David Faustino and his Balistyx party, which ran for two years in the early '90s and helped bring hip-hop to the west coast mainstream. Faustino's me ... More >>

Justin Bua's Paintings Of His Most Influential Rappers

Justin Bua​Justin Bua is a hip-hop painter; you may have seen the print of his painting "The DJ" (see below), at Target, of all places. It's been out for over a decade, and has been selling ridiculous amounts of copies for years. He's done portraits of everyone from Nas to Kool Herc to Quee ... More >>

Egyptian Lover & Arabian Prince - Freak City - 9-17-11

Lina Lecaro The Prince and the Lover....​Egyptian Lover & Arabian Prince Freak City September 17, 2011 Better Than: Old school hip-hop Serato DJ sets we've seen lately. Though the sound and style of West Coast rap music has evolved over the years, the lyrical bravado and the boldness of bea ... More >>

LinA In LA Club/Party Picks: Booze and Boobs On A Boat To Mexico!

Lina Lecaro Crookers crank it out at Control, Friday​There is never a better excuse for excess and revelry than a birthday or anniversary. This week, two such occasions are mark-the-calendar-worthy, at the Avalon Hollywood and at the new Los Globos. An overnight excursion, a popular Italian DJ ... More >>

LinA In LA Club/Party Picks: Cosmic Prom, Shhh, Mattachine, James Pants, Arabian Prince

Lina LecaroBirthday Girl Miss Barbie-Q (here hosting last week's Artwerq); see Shhh Sunday. ​LA will be in-FEST-ed this weekend. The Sunset Strip Music Fest in West Hollywood and the Mad Decent Block Party downtown are the banner events, but those looking for something more intimate -- yet st ... More >>

D.O.C.'s Top Five D.O.C. Ghostwritten Songs

Brandon Showers​In the paper this week I get inside the head of D.O.C., who ghostewrote the bulk of the early Ruthless Records catalog and is all over The Chronic and Doggystyle. His own solo career was ascendent on the strength of his platinum debut No One Can Do It Better before a car accide ... More >>

BREAKING: MTV Discovers L.A. Still Has a Hip-Hop Scene!

In the beginning ... ​As announced in a trailer released this morning, MTV will air a weeklong look at L.A.'s hip-hop scene in a segment "we're calling 'The New West: An In-depth Look at L.A. Hip Hop.'" Though we're much obliged to them for referencing N.W.A.'s LA Weekly cover, we think the ... More >>

NWA Reunion Today at the Santa Monica Pier: Here Are All the Details

​ Everyone has been asking us all the details about the NWA reunion show that's supposed to happen today at the Santa Monica Pier. Here's what we know:

The Dirt Master: Neil Strauss Talks Rockers, Hookers, Drugs and Getting Hate Mail from his Ultimate Nemesis, Phil Collins

​You'll be seeing a lot in the blogosphere and beyond about Neil Strauss' revealing new book, Everyone Loves You When You're Dead, (out this week). The tome reveals shocking things about -and intimate moments with- the author's vast array of interview subjects over the years: Lady Gaga bawling ... More >>

Jane's Addiction's "Nothing's Shocking": The Word Cloud

​ Hey gang--guess what popular West Coast Sound feature is back? The Word Cloud! The 'Cloud has been M.I.A. for a few months, but we're restarting this Friday tradition with a great one--as per usual very suitable for making stencils and T-shirt iron-ons. For those of you with memories oblit ... More >>

Whatever Happened to N.W.A's Posse?

The Eazy-E True Hollywood (or True Compton) Stories behind the legendary L.A. hip-hop cover

Commitment to the Raiders

Ice Cube's new documentary chronicles the team's L.A. years

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Art Show Opens at Gallery 1988

Boys and girls as young as five stood in line alongside bespectacled, nearly middle-aged men on a chilly Friday night to pay tribute to an icon and hero: Prince Adam of Eternia, more popularly known as He-Man. Ivan Fernandez​The line that would eventually wrap around the corner began at the en ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Classic Lit and Classic Hip-Hop

Despite this weekend's downpour, and the subsequent rain traffic, Angelenos still hit the town. It's hard to resist the urge to leave the house when there's a tribute to classic literature at Bordello and a classic hip-hop artist at House of Blues. Wig Out! "Get Your Dickens On" Shannon Cottrell ... More >>

Hypnotic Brass Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble Shake the Explex

Hypnotic Brass Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble Shake the Explex

Mack 10’s Hustler Handbook

When in doubt, says the veteran rapper, heed the late Eazy-E’s advice: “Always stay about your money”

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 >>

KCRW Guest DJ Project Features Jonathan Gold This Week

KCRW's ever-illuminating Guest DJ Project, which this year alone has featured Danny Boyle, Zach Braff and Sara Vowell, among others, this week offers the LA Weekly's Pulitzer-Prize-winning food editor and former music editor Jonathan Gold, who picks five tracks to share with listeners.

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 >>

Rapper Dr. Dre's Son Dead at 20

The Los Angeles County Coroner reported today that the son of hip hop record producer and rapper Dr. Dre has died. Andre Young Jr. was found dead at his home in Woodland Hills on Saturday morning. Young was out the previous night and returned home around 5:30 A.M., according to Assistant Chief Ed W ... More >>

Bitter Sweet

Psych... The slide show of Project Runway's final five designer collections at Bryant Park on Bravo.com may have led us to believe there were 5 finalists up for the grand prize this year, but apparently it was some kind of runway ruse. Former LA Weekly staffer and Club Fuck/Sin-a-matic doorgirl Swe ... More >>

Compton Rises Again

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