Rihanna

David Sabastian: A Rapper and Fashionista on the Verge

"Not to be vague, but I think everybody of this generation has Anti in them," emerging rapper David Sabastian argues, sweat trickling down his face. It's hot out here. Twenty minutes earlier, he was spray-painting an empty swimming pool, dressed in a black, mostly leather outfit and matching ski mas ... More >>

The Five Greatest Showmen in EDM

This week's cover story on Steve Aoki attributes much of his rise to the EDM shift from wallflower DJs to over-the-top showmen. World's Douchiest DJs: The Top Five Aoki is not the only DJ to elevate the dance floor from the collective trance of rave's past to the kind of fist-pumping festivals rep ... More >>

Chris Brown Faked Community Service With Help Of Police, L.A. D.A. Says

Chris Brown is the new Lindsay Lohan. First he's accused of socking somebody. Now L.A. prosecutors say he violated his probation by essentially faking his community service papers. And police in Richmond, Virginia are implicated in the scam, prosecutors indicate. The L.A. County District Attorney' ... More >>

Chris Brown Allegedly Punches Frank Ocean Over WeHo Parking Spot

Sheriff's investigators want to talk to Chris Brown after the pop singer allegedly punched crooner Frank Ocean over a parking space at a West Hollywood recording studio overnight. The fracas happened last night in the 7200 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, according to a sheriff's statement. While ... More >>

What's the Difference Between the EDM Scene and the Beat Scene?

Dance music is all the rage these days. That time you thought giant robots were battling at your recent family reunion? Nope, that was just your 12-year-old niece listening to dubstep. See also: *Moon Rocks: The Best High on Earth *What the Hell Is Trap Music (and Why Is Dubstep Involved)? But no ... More >>

Rapper Wax Loses Def Jam Deal, Regains His Mojo

See also: Rapper Wax on 'Rosana' and Little Mamacitas Who Don't Play Recently L.A. rapper Wax told us about his Internet-generated fame, the raunchy hit video for "Rosana," and being signed to Def Jam. But even more recently he had surprising news: he's parted ways with the label, after being on it ... 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 >>

Music Picks: Rome, The xx, Aretha Franklin

Also, Cannibal Corpse, I See Hawks in L.A., Smokey Robinson and others

L.A. Likes Twilight, S.F. Likes The Big Lebowski, and Other Differences From StumbleUpon's Study

L.A. likes Twilight and S.F. likes The Big Lebowski? So says a graphic put out by the social networking site StumbleUpon, analyzing the cultural differences between the two cities. "You can see a lot of things that actually aren't surprising," says StumbleUpon data analyst Tim Abraham, who conduct ... More >>

Music Picks: Hootenanny, The Moonbeams, Kamasi Washington

Also, Eleni Mandell, Endermen, The Lions

The Jocks of L.A.

Los Angeles loves its sports as much as any city does; there's no shortage of folks who will begin seething at a misspoken word about a favorite team or player. Say hi to the jocks of Los Angeles, who inspire that fervent brand of rage and rapture that can only come from a glance at the scoreboard.

Matt Kemp: Fan Favorite

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2012 issue. Check out our entire People 2012 issue here. By late afternoon, most of the players have already left the Dodgers' spring training campus at Camelback Ranch in Arizona, but Matt Kemp is still standing. After signing autog ... More >>

Music Picks: Soweto Gospel Choir, Garbage, Neon Trees, Jennifer Leitham

Also, Kitty, Slaughterhouse, James, Chairlift and others

Fiona Apple and the Best of SXSW Yesterday

​See also: Five Attractive Strange People Working for Tips at SXSW If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at SXSW. To break down ... More >>

Jonathan Gold's 60 Korean Dishes Every Angeleno Should Know

See Also: A Google map for all 60 of the Korean dishes Jonathan Gold says every Angeleno should know, read "5 Koreatown Restaurants Open 24 Hours: Hangover Soup," learn about "5 Koreatown Beer Joints: Hite Requirement," or just look at more of Anne Fishbein's beautiful Koreatown food photography. I ... 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 White-Glove Treatment

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 >>

Music Picks: M83, Club Cheval, Chuck Inglish, Meshell Ndegeocello

Also, Elvis Birthday Bash, Barbara Morrison, Phonte and 9th Wonder, and others

Best L.A. Twitter Beefs of 2011 (and Who Won)

​Like most news bloggers, we probably spend too much time on Twitter. Tips arrive in real time -- quicker than on news television, or over the wire -- and Twitpics open us up to a world of witnesses. In effect, we might also talk about it too much. (Online celebrity rags are guiltiest of all: ... More >>

Why This Song Sucks: Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away"

[Editor's note: Why This Song Sucks determines why particular tracks blow using science. It appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.] See also: Our review of Katy Perry at Staples Center last night Song: Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away" History: "The One That Got Away" is the sixth sing ... More >>

Katy Perry - Staples Center - 11-22-11

Timothy Norris​Katy Perry Staples Center 11-22-11 See also: *Our Katy Perry Slideshow *Why This Song Sucks: Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away" Better Than...Playing a game of Candyland with 20,000 of your closest friends and Kobe Bryant. When you look behind you and up from the floor in ... More >>

Zola Jesus Brings Her Unsettled and Prickly Vision to L.A.

Groupon Concert Tickets: Why The Ke$sha, Rick Ross, and Rihanna Fire Sale?

​In May, Live Nation and Groupon combined forces in a presumed effort to jumpstart the struggling concert ticket market. Indeed, in recent months you've been able to get Groupons for all sorts of big shows. The partnership has been a boon to musically-inclined bargain hunters, but it also gets ... More >>

Music Picks: Shelby Lynne, Marsha Ambrosius, John Scofield Quartet, Wiz Khalifa

Also, Leon Russell, Chris Brown, Azar Lawrence Quintet and others

Kanye West - Call of Duty XP 2011 in Playa Vista - September 3, 2011

Lina Lecaro Kanye West​Kanye West Call of Duty XP 2011 event in Playa Vista September 3, 2011 Held Friday and Saturday at the Hercules Campus in Playa Vista (where the Spruce Goose was built), Call of Duty XP 2011 was a two day convention centered around the titular military-themed video game ... More >>

Compton Rapper Game Returns to an Industry That's Gone Soft

Will his old tricks still work?

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

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

How Katy Perry Tied MJ's Singles Record, and Why She's More Relatable Than Beyonce

Xposurephotos.com​Yesterday Katy Perry's boppy single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" rose to the number one slot, making Teenage Dream the first album in the near 19-year history of Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart to produce five number ones. Big news. But today could bring Perry's career ... More >>

Funk Singer Miguel's Ready to Ascend the Rock Star Throne: "I Completely Study Freddie Mercury"

www.cherylfoxphotography.comMiguel at Key Club last Thursday​Onstage before last Thursday's sold-out show, the one-name wonder's bedroom-eyed funk brought the women in the crowd to screams. Spinning, dropping into the splits, and stirring the pot with his hips, he was a rock star. No, we wer ... More >>

Did You Know that Ricky Gervais Was a Synth Pop Star in the 1980s?

Yes, ladies (and gentlemen), that is Ricky Gervais in the 1980s​ The new print issue of Rolling Stone magazine (the one with Rihanna's perhaps-photoshopped booty shorts on the cover) has a feature/interview with UK comedy great Ricky Gervais (creator of The Office and Extras, and controversia ... More >>

Far East Movement Pays Surprise Visit to Franklin High in Los Angeles

Far East Movement surprises Fanklin High.Jena Ardell​ Remember the days when a Billboard Chart-topping Hip Hop group would perform during your lunch break at school? We don't either, but that's exactly what happened when Far East Movement paid a surprise visit to Franklin High School in Los An ... More >>

13 Badass Bob Cut Girls: Quorra, Aeon Flux & Other Short-Haired Antiheroes

​ Why is it that every time they need an edgy, bad-ass, anti-hero-type chick, they stick her in a skintight bodysuit and a bob cut? Presented here are a baker's dozen of pop-culture's greatest bob cut women. An homage, if you will, to the hairstyle preferred by little girls, dominatrixes and f ... More >>

L.A. Radio Personality Michael Linder To Start Venice-Centric Internet Station, Following Layoffs At KABC And KNX

KVB.fmFinally -- a voice for stoned skater kids and funnel cakes​Internet-only news outlets Yo! Venice! and AOL Patch's fluffy Venice branch are about to have some friendly competition on the neighborhood news watch. "If Venice Patch was a print newspaper, it'd be more of a shopper," says L.A ... More >>

Theater Reviews: Hollywood Fringe Festival

Dubstep Is ... Bang!

Today Los Angeles, tomorrow the world for U.K. bassman Rusko

Gaga, Taylor and Wayne, Oh My! The Napkin Holder Plays Space 15 Twenty

The T-shirt reborn.​On Saturday evening, Hollywood's Space 15 Twenty celebrates the opening of its Planet White T-Shirt exhibition, conceived by L.A. arts organizer Triple-Major and benefiting Designers Against AIDS. The installation, which runs through April 18, promises to re-imagine and tr ... More >>

Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson and the Lizard People: The Incredibly Strange World of Music Conspiracy Theory

​Last month we reported on the persistent Internet rumor that Lady Gaga is actually a puppet of occult forces. That post was extremely popular and our amazing readers used it as a springboard to engage in a lively, still ongoing debate in the comments section (44 and counting!). Well, this mo ... More >>

A&R Star Makers: The Vanishing Gatekeepers

The once-powerful executives have become an endangered species

Rock Picks: Willie Nelson, Maude Maggart, Two Tears

Also, Cold Cave, Ceci Bastida, Califone, and others

Bulletin: City Official Andrew Adelman Resigns After Rape Allegations

Andrew Adelman ​​Andrew Adelman, the general manager of the city's Department of Building and Safety Department, has resigned amid allegations that he raped an unconscious woman after a pub crawl organized by city employees in July. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has named Raymond Chan as Adelman's ... More >>

Andrew Adelman's Building & Safety Mess

Lurid rape claim aside, there's no mystery about his failed oversight

Boxing, Sex and Madness: Mike Tyson, James Toback and the Ties That Bind

In Tyson documentary, boxer tells it in his own words

Think Blink: Paris Hilton and Rihanna's Eyelash Master, Ja'Maal Buster

The eye spy can spot the good fakes from the bad in an instant

Foxtail Wagging

Bolthouse unlocked; playing out; reel rock & roll

Don't Mess With the Fanboys, Not Even for $500 Million Deals

The horror, the horror

Kanye West goes to space, sees weird lady mannequin there

Kanye West with Rihanna and N.E.R.D., April 21, Nokia Theatre L.A. Live If you're going see Kanye West's second of two shows at the Nokia tonight, you should bone up on the narrative, because like all big ticket stage spectacles – Cats, Stomp, “Oh, Streetcar!” – there’s kinda sorta a half ... More >>

Grammy Hair Talk: Night of the Long Bob

If you're doing Pink's hair, even if you're not doing her hair in pink, you have to remember she's still Pink.

Radiohead: Rainbows in Curved Air

The analog pleasures of Radiohead's digital revolution by Randall Roberts (Photo by John Spinks) There are a few different ways to get to Big Sur from Los Angeles, but in the big picture it doesn't matter which route you take, because regardless, you're leaving Los Angeles and going to Big Sur. You ... More >>

Born in the USA

Killers summon their inner Springsteens