Nicki Minaj

The Best Concerts to See In Los Angeles This Weekend

Don't forget to check our constantly-updated Los Angeles Concert Calendar Friday, June 7 Ink-N-Iron Festival THE QUEEN MARY This three-day veneration of art, cars, music, burlesque and all things tattooed boasts some impressively wild, certified legends scattered among the horde of rockabilly huck ... More >>

The Best Concerts to See in L.A. This Week

Monday, April 8 Thao & the Get Down Stay Down THE TROUBADOUR Usually, when songwriters are as wickedly intelligent as Thao Nguyen, they tend to write morbidly gloomy and/or overly serious anthems of great meaning and purpose. That's not to say the Virginia native doesn't have her grand and heavy mo ... More >>

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 >>

Bizarre Ride: Jeff's Humorous Predictions and Most Anticipated Albums for 2013

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] Half of January has elapsed and we've survived. There was no collapse due to fiscal cliff, Central American apocalypse or dubstep deluge. A new year unfu ... 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 >>

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 >>

Madonna - Staples Center - 10/11/12

Madonna Staples Center 10/11/12 Better than: Pop music's current Madonna-wannabe starlets. Madonna's MDNA tour is a mostly-dark assault to the senses, and many have focused on its controversial themes, words and antics. At Staples Center last night, we were looking at the bigger picture: No one in ... More >>

The 15 Most Ridiculous Band Photos

By Daniel Hill Here at West Coast Sound we see literally one shitload of press photos every week. Many of them stick to a template: Gather all band members together, shoulder to shoulder. Make sure no one smiles, ever. Have the artists try to look thoughtful, but also like they are not trying to l ... More >>

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 >>

2 Chainz Has The Year's Funniest, Creepiest Sexual Boast

[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.] Formerly known as "Tity Boy," Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz is best known as a member of Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace crewand ... More >>

Let's Talk About the Crazy Names For Musician Fan Bases, Like "Beliebers"

As Jerry Seinfeld might say: What's the deal with all these crazy names for musician fan bases, like Lady Gaga's "Little Monsters" and Justin Bieber's "Beliebers"? It's all wrapped up in the tradition of fan clubs, which have been around at least since 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie coupled an Elvi ... More >>

Nicki Minaj - Nokia Theatre - 8/8/12

Nicki Minaj Nokia Theatre 8/8/12 Plenty at Nicki Minaj's show last night proved to be distractions -- lackluster choreography, tacky costumes that looked straight out of Target and no thematic cohesion. But it was more than that; she's clearly not ready to headline her own show. Last year, Minaj ... More >>

Music Picks: Rusko, HARD Summer, SMOD

Also, Beachwood Sparks, Jesca Hoop, Ravi Coltrane and others

Ice Age: Continental Drift

Is Pop Music Defensible?

Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time Every day America swallows lots of sickly sweet pop music, without hint of a stomach ache. But what about in the long run -- will it give us, to extend the metaphor, stomach cancer? Now pop ain't all bad, but it's certainly a hydra-headed monster of paradox; the more ... More >>

Here Are the Songs They Play at a Middle School Dance

1:04 pm: In about 25 minutes, I'm going to be chaperoning a middle school dance. The dance is for the school's graduating 8th graders, of which there are several hundred. I've probably chaperoned fifteen of these things already. It's like being a bouncer at a night club, except this party will take ... More >>

Top Five Most Overrated Female Musician Sex Symbols

See also: *Top 20 Sexiest Female Musicians of All Time: The Complete List *The Most Overrated Male Musician Sex Symbols Last month we offered up our top 20 sexiest female musicians list, and were delighted that everyone agreed with our choices! Just kidding; we were more annoyed that folks suggest ... More >>

Critics Need to Lay Off Nicki Minaj

[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.] Nicki Minaj is a polarizing figure; one could say folks love her or hate her, but many in the hip-hop world love to hate ... More >>

Toni Monroe Is a Big Beautiful Rapper

See also: Top Ten Sexiest Fat Chicks in Music Toni Monroe is beautiful. She has a powerful stage presence, and doesn't need a hype man. But yet, she's something of a hard sell. For one thing, she's white. For another, as her press release says, she is rap's "biggest" new artist -- a reference to he ... More >>

Azealia Banks - Coachella - 4/21/12

See also: Our Complete Coachella Coverage One assumes that thousands of people shouting, "I guess that cunt getting eaten" in unison has never happened at Coachella before. Yet you could hear just that yesterday during Azealia Banks' set; it was afternoon, and most of us weren't even drunk yet. ... 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 >>

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 >>

2012 Grammys: The Best, the Worst and the Weirdest

Rebecca HaithcoatDrake's after-party​See also: *Why The Grammys Stink *Deadmau5, Rihanna - House of Blues - 2/13/12 *Dan Wilson: From "Closing Time" to Adele's "Someone Like You" Adele won everything. Kanye didn't show. Nicki Minaj out-Gaga'ed Gaga by showing up with a Pope imitator as her e ... More >>

The Boss vs. the Bawse: Who's Better, Bruce Springsteen or Rick Ross?

See also: Battle of the Barbies: Who's Better, Lil' Kim or Nicki Minaj? [Editor's note: Deathmatch pairs two artists who have something in common, and determines who is better. It's a concept we sort-of ripped off from MTV, except that instead of claymation it's the printed word!] Rick Ross is a p ... More >>

Battle of the Barbies: Who's Better, Lil' Kim or Nicki Minaj?

See also: The Boss Vs. The Bawse: Who's Better, Bruce Springsteen or Rick Ross? [Editor's note: Deathmatch pairs two artists who have something in common, and determines who is better. It's a concept we sort-of ripped off from MTV, except that instead of claymation it's the printed word!] Lil' Kim ... More >>

Hip-Hop's Four Elements: The Old Ones Suck. Here's Our Suggestions for New Ones

We've long thought hip-hop's "four elements" were bogus. Sure, back in the early days of the genre, rapping, DJing, graffiti writing and b-boying were interwoven into the culture. But c'mon. Even back then, it was pretty arbitrary. I mean, it's not like guys in the Bronx invented tagging. Cavemen ... More >>

Top 11 Fashion Trends of 2011

Lina Lecaro ​The barrage of blogs tallying the year in trends and fashion has begun, and of course, we are totally participating. We do it every year, after all. And while we try to note the obvious, we also strive to call out the stuff you're not likely to see on the other blogs, stuff we no ... More >>

Heavy D RIP: The Hip-Hop/R&B Pioneer Dies In Los Angeles

​By Dan Hyman See also: On the Eve of the Grammys, Heavy D Discusses His Nomination, Reggae, Diddy and More Heavy D, the iconic rapper and founder of hip-hop group Heavy D and the Boyz, died today in Los Angles. He was 44. The rapper was reportedly rushed to the hospital after being found un ... More >>

Dedication To My Sex: Why Lloyd and His String of P-Bombs Pissed Me Off

If only iTunes had a return policy, or at least the ability to exchange for store credit. I'd gladly swap the original version of Lloyd's "Dedication to My Ex" for the cleaned-up radio edit, because frankly I feel like I got tricked. I heard the song for the first time in the car, and for much the ... More >>

Ayomari and TiRon Get The Girl

TiRon and Ayomari​Under-the-radar rapper TiRon Jeffries was nervous about approaching dream hampton, first female editor of The Source and co-author of Jay-Z's Decoded. But like a freshman boy in high school who somehow had a shot with the most untouchable senior goddess, he wavered while his ... More >>

Best Posts of the Week

Kelly ClancyLionel Boyce​TGIF. Who's ready for a drink? We're here to offer you a bit of pregame entertainment, by way of our best West Coast Sound posts of the week. Let's start by bringing you up to date on our new columns. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out Odd Future member Lionel B ... More >>

Why This Song Sucks: Birdman's "Y.U. Mad," featuring Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne

​By Shea Serrano Welcome to Why This Song Sucks, a new column from West Coast Sound. Unlike Fuck Guilty Pleasures, we're not arguing that something everyone hates on is actually good, we're arguing that certain songs blow. See, here's the thing: This existence, this music writer thing, is p ... More >>

Top Five Most Tired Rap Cliches

​Last week we brought you the 60 worst Lil Wayne lines on Tha Carter IV. Those lyrics are bad mainly because Wayne has stopped exerting effort; he clearly used the first thing that came into his head, even if said thing was, "Nothing standing in my way/ Like nothing's my security." But give ... More >>

Kreayshawn: Overnight Sensation

Top 10 Least Sexy Sex Stunts in Rap Songs

​Rappers aren't known for their ability to make our toes curl at the merest suggestion of sex--they leave that to Jill Scott, or Jodeci, or J*Davey. No, they're likely to get us all twisted up in our bedsheets for a different reason--confusion. Hearing one too many lines that made us go, "Hu ... More >>

Eleven Weirdo Rock Star Alter Egos

​Something about achieving major fame in music seems to drive creative artists to assume new personae. Whether it be fodder for an epic concept album, a stab at a different genre or just plain boredom, many of our favorite stars have conjured up characters in order to explore and indulge their fan ... More >>

Catfight! Lil Kim and Keyshia Cole's Twitter Beef

What's beef?​To quote the late, great Notorious B.I.G., "Fuck that beef shit; that shit is played out." How very disappointed Biggie would be in his protege, Lil Kim. Once again, the increasingly catlike Kim took to Twitter to fire shots at Nicki Minaj ripping off her (Barbie) act. This time, ... More >>

Nicki Minaj Shakes Her Jelly for a Celly, The Kills Te-Kill-Ya

Lina Lecaro Darling Nicki sung for Samsung. ​Nicki Minaj for cell phones, The Kills for tequila ... it was another winning week on the Hollywood party circuit. If you read Nightranger posts regularly you know we rarely miss an opportunity to cover LA's money bags-backed promotional bashes. An ... More >>

Nicki Minaj Wins an Award for Twirling Her Bubblegum

​OhmiGAH Barbs! Nicki Minaj just won! The Pink Barbie brought home an early award from the MTV O Music Awards. The inaugural awards, the remainder of which will be handed out in Las Vegas Thursday night, are billed as "online, open, ongoing." Categories include Fan Army FTW, Favorite F**k Ye ... More >>

Music Picks: Prince, Amanda Jo Williams, Kendrick Lamar, Xzibit, Civet,

Also, Miguel, L.A. Bluegrass Situation, Heidecker and Wood, the Ditty Bops and others

Page Two: Best Week Ever (for Hip-Hop, R&B and Beats)

Never mind Coachella, this is the week L.A. gets funked up!

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 >>

Top 10 Crazy and Ridiculous Music Photos of 2010

Top 10 Crazy and Ridiculous Photos of the Year

Best Music of the Year Lists: Do Pitchfork, Billboard, NME, Vibe Have A Certain Gender Bias?

"Hey bro, we hear you like bros, so we put some bros in your End of the Year Best Music Lists so you can bro while you bro!"​Well, 'tis the time of year for lists and charts! Several mags and blogs attempted to answer the question you've been dying to ask: Who had the best album/"new music"? ... More >>

Worst (AKA Best) Screen Moments Of Leslie Nielsen, Pioneer Of 'So Stupid It's Funny' Slapstick

IMBDThanks to "Scary Movie 3," Leslie Nielsen was livin' large up to the end​In an effort to shrine a prolific Hollywood icon who got off on being retarded -- does it get any worse than doing the "Scary Movie" franchise in your late 70s? -- everyone's trying their damned-est to come up with Le ... More >>

Nicki Minaj vs. Lil Kim (And Five More Potential Combatants) (NSFW for Beef)

Nicki Minaj recently set the record for female rapper with the most singles on the Billboard Charts at once; her single "Your Love" hit number one this summer, making her the first female rapper with a number one single since Lil Kim's "Jump Off" in 2003. The Queen Bee was not amused, accusing M ... More >>

Willie Nelson Busted for Pot (Again), U2's Broadway Spiderman Flops, David Lynch Releases Single, Kathleen Hanna Doc & More Haiku News

Willie Nelson Busted for Pot, U2's Broadway Spiderman Flops, David Lynch Releases Single, Kathleen Hanna Doc & More Haiku News

Top Ten Videos to Feed Your Inner Gay Dude on Ecstasy, by DJ/VJ Ray Rhodes' Club Tigerheat

Lina Lecaro Videos and vamps- Tigerheat eye candy​Wanna see the hottest hits and soon-to-be hits really pop on the dance floor? There really is no place like Tigerheat, the exuberant, mostly gay gathering held every Thursday at Avalon. It'd been a while since we popped in, so we forgot just ho ... More >>

Today's Mystery: Why Does Will Smith's 9-Year-Old Daughter Sound Like a Grown-Ass Woman?

Will Smith's 9-year-old daughter: what's with the grown-ass voice???​Ok, today the fickle world of pop can't talk about anything other than the just-released video for "Whip My Hair," the hyper-hyped single by one Willow Smith, best known as "the daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith" ... More >>

News Haiku: Buy Ronnie James Dio's House, Bad Religion Turns 30, Far East Movement Goes National

News Haiku: Buy Ronnie James Dio's House, Bad Religion Turns 30, Far East Movement Goes National