Nas (Rapper)

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 >>

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 >>

Kendrick Lamar's Mood Music

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

Meet V-Nasty's Ex-Boyfriend (He's Not the Father of Her Baby)

At West Coast Sound we love us some V-Nasty talk. (If you've forgotten, she's Kreayshawn's crewmate, formerly known as the white girl rapper who drops the n-word.) So when we heard that her ex-boyfriend -- a Brooklyn rapper named Magneto Dayo -- was making his debut with a new mixtape about which sh ... More >>

Miguel Finds His Place

A rare R&B bird, he falls in somewhere between the hipsters and the mainstream

Ten Rap Songs More Republican Than Nicki Minaj

Earlier this week Nicki Minaj stepped in a fresh pile of political shit when she, in an attempt to stir the pot on a "Mercy" freestyle remix, rapped that she is voting for Mitt Romney. People stupid enough to think anything Minaj does or says matters were outraged, and some even sent her death threa ... More >>

A Hip-Hop Love Story

When Jon Whitfield moved to Los Angeles in 2008, he had no aspirations of seeing Hollywood Boulevard or hitting the beach in Malibu. He didn't come from his home state of Mississippi to play tourist. Then again, he also didn't come to fall in love, get married and merge his burgeoning musical career ... More >>

Here Are What People on Twitter Think Are the Best Songs Ever

I wish I were smarter. Were I a Stephen Hawking or a Marie Curie (or even Master Splinter) I'd be able to explain how Twitter is the unedited consciousness of young America, how it is simultaneously vitriolic and beautiful, how maybe no form of social media has before, or ever will, function as perf ... More >>

Animal's Chefs Have Badass Taste in Music

[Editor's note: Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. Be sure to also check out the archives.] You really haven't heard Kanye West and Jay-Z's "H.A.M." until it plays while you dig into a slab of Animal's balsamic pork ribs, delicata squash, arugula and p ... More >>

Music Picks: The Dickies, Rufus Wainwright, Jack DeJohnette

Also, Calle 13, Andre Nickatina

The Worst Moments of SXSW 2012

See also: *The Best of SXSW Music: Saturday 3/17/2012 *Ten Awesome Concert Posters at SXSW Spontaneous tattoo at the S.O. Terik-Filter showcase On Friday, Samantha Urbani from Brooklyn indie band Friends did something to a fan he might forever regret. At the S.O.Terik-Filter showcase, beneath a bl ... More >>

L.A. Woman Was the Doors' Bluesy Masterpiece, and Jim Morrison's Kiss-Off to L.A.

Bud Bundy, Original Gangsta

David Faustino parlayed his Married ... With Children fame into a hugely influential hip-hop party. Now he wants back into the scene.

Mary J. Blige - Club Nokia - 11-17-11

Timothy Norris​Mary J. Blige Club Nokia 11/17/11 Better than ... eating ice cream after a breakup. Dressed in an aquamarine silk shirt, black leggings, lace-up knee-high boots and a fedora, Mary J. Blige belted the final chorus of a song from her upcoming album, the clumsily titled My Life ... More >>

Scarface Is Out Of Jail, Performs At Key Club Tomorrow: Excerpts From His Last Interview

​Scarface plays the Key Club tomorrow night. This is big news, considering most folks didn't even know that the greatest of all southern rappers was out of the pen. In October 2010 he began a term at Montgomery County Jail in Alabama over numerous unresolved child support cases. (There is also ... More >>

The Ettes, Sade, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Benefit for Nick Curran

Also, Kendrick Lamar, the Punk Rock BBQ, Katy B and others

Music Picks: Laurie Anderson, Onibaba, Superchunk

Also, Hoodoo Gurus, Die Antwoord, Jonsi and others

Heart-Ons: Kelis And Robyn Bring All The Boys To The Yard, Eh, Music Box.

The Summer tour co-headlined by Kelis and Robyn is called "All Hearts" but Friday night, when the tempestuous twosome thumped and pumped it up at the Music Box, it was more like, "all boys," the ratio of male to female appearing to be about 90% (gay) male and10% female. The place was a sweatpit of m ... More >>

Music Picks: Phosphorescent, Bomba Estereo, Gangi, Pablo Heras-Casado

Also, Jimmy Cliff, Suzy Williams, Funeral Party and others

Music Picks: Evelyn Evelyn, Booker T. Jones, Kaki King, Pete Rock

Also, the National, Entrance Band, Noodles, Bunbury and others

On Blast Party Like Rockstars....in an LBC apartment

​Long Beach's On Blast can now add television to its increasing resume as the group - singer Joshua Brown and multi-instrumentalists Travis Raab, Tone Blair and Andy Kiddoo - had its song "Wanna Lose Control" used in a 20-second clip on HBO's How To Make It In America last week. Rightfully so, ... More >>

SXSW Highlight Reel: Matthew McConaughey is a Dick

View more photos in the "Mariachi El Bronx, Dillinger Escape Plan, She Wants Revenge, Warpaint" slideshow. Erin BroadleyTropic Thunder screenshot at Red 7: the closest we got to taking a photo with Matthew​Matthew McConaughey may not be the first person you think of when it comes to SXSW. How ... More >>

Inauguration Day Extravaganza: The First Hip-Hop President?

Image via Hip Hop is Read Unless you've been living in the Madagascan Rain Forest or are a cave-dwelling ignicolist in Outer Mongolia, you're well aware that today marks the inauguration of Barack Obama. To the delight of the rap world and the chagrin of the social security set, Obama has been bi ... More >>

The 50 Best Albums of the Year (#10-1) (Sponsored By My Secret Identity )

And people acted surprised when Jerry O' Connell landed Rebecca Romjin. 10. Why? Alopecia (Anticon) It's tough to write about Why?'s breakout record without anxiously jotting down a few choice lyrics from songwriter Yoni Wolf's notebook. Not to downplay its musicianship, but Alopecia is forem ... More >>

Weiss' 50 Best Albums of the Year (#40-31) (Sponsored By Crystal Pepsi)

If you're going to drink one clear cola this year, make it Crystal Pepsi. Please.40. No Age-Nouns (Sub Pop) Face it, *Nouns* is this decade's *Let it Be* (The Replacements, not The Beatles): A ragtag posse of scruffy dudes sonically illustrating their homes with spectacular tunes and pure passi ... More >>

Weiss' 50 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2008 (#50-26)

Over the next two weeks, myself and a very talented cadre of contributors will be emulating the book above. Unlike said tome, it won't cost money and you'll get free MP3s--which, presumably, serve a tangible purpose. Now go cry into your near-beer, Phillip Ardagh, you lovable rogue. 50. Redman ft ... More >>

The 10 Best Hip-Hop Albums of the Half Year

Yes, I'm aware that this is a month late. I never said punctuality was my strong suit. (That would be rambling, stoned gibberish. ) Look for the best 10 non-rap albums sometime next week. 10 (tie). Nico the Beast-No Beast So Fierce Genre purists and anyone weaned on that mid-90s school of sav ... More >>

SXSW Day 4-Pitchfork Party Gets a 6.4, Due to Highly Derivative Partying

A Pitchfork party without Sparks? That's like Eliot Spitzer without whores: fatigued, thirsty and miserable. And rest assured, Sparks flowed like the River Ganges, even going as far to sponsor the bash, which wasn't really as bad as it was boring. A bunch of people sitting in bleachers trying t ... More >>

Weiss' Top 50 Albums of 2007 (#20-16)

20. Jens Lekman-Night Falls Over Kortedala [Secretly Canadian] On first listen, Jens Lekman reminds you of Morrissey. Like the ex-Smith's frontman, the 26-year old Swede's got a rich baritone warble, a sly wit and a penchant for moony-eyed romanticism. But that's where the similarities stop. Lekma ... More >>

Decision 2007: Kanye West vs. 50 Cent

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

Rock Picks

For the week of March 1 - 8

Rock Picks

For the week of February 22 – March 1

How Shit Be

Freestyle riffs & ruminations on black music and pop culture at the dawn of 2007

A Whole Lotta Whoop-De-Do

What to do in Los Angeles this week

Rock PIcks

For the week of Nov. 24 - 30

Rippin' & Dippin'

Move over, mashups! Now there’s somethin’ meatier: DJ Girl Talk’s Night Ripper

Live in LA

More Music Lists

Yesterday and Tomorrow

This Is Called The Show

Eminem returns to rankle

Roll With the New

L.A.’s hip-hop underground keeps it . . . “real”

Darkness Audible

An interview with Me'Shell Ndegéocello

A Dollar a Holler

Two sides of Nas' coin