The Game (Rapper)

Retro Sci Fiction/Fantasy Convention BlasterCON Debuts with Small Crowd and Big Ideas

Tucked into a corner of the Warner Center Marriott, a mid-sized room has been transformed into The Cantina. For three days beginning Friday, the place was open 24 hours a day as part of a new fan convention called BlasterCON. The Cantina was lined in retro video games: Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Gau ... More >>

Where Have All of Diddy's Bad Boys Gone? (To Prison, Mostly)

At a concert in New York this past weekend, Bad Boy Records presented its recent signee King Los. Other members of the crew, including MGK, are currently getting some shine as well. But what about the Bad Boys of yesteryear? What are they up to these days? Glad you asked! Here's a rundown.

Who's the All-Time Champion of Rap Beef on Twitter?

Twenty years ago, rap animosity was expressed via diss songs. Like, if someone pissed you off you went home, thought about it, went to a recording studio, pressed up your album, and sent it around. The object of your diss might not find out until six months later. More recently the rise of the mix ... More >>

YouTube Stars Fight Back

Machinima and Maker Studios, two of YouTube's most high-profile networks, have come under fire from their own talent

Death Grips - Echoplex - December 6, 2012

Death Grips The Echoplex 12/6/12 Better Than...a quick, aggressive fuck in a public bathroom See also: Why Death Grips Sold Drama, Instead of Their New Album It's been a turbulent year for noise-rap duo Death Grips, whose label Epic Records were poised to release their debut album The Money Stor ... More >>

Why Folks Are Complaining About Lil Wayne Breaking Elvis' Record - And Why They're Wrong

Last week, rapper Lil Wayne added to his already-quite-substantial legacy by breaking Elvis Presley's record for most songs on the Hot 100 charts by a solo artist. Immediately, however, many began squawking that this record deserved an asterisks, a la Roger Maris' 61 home runs. See also: *My Broth ... More >>

The Original Original Gangsta

Ice-T talks about his star-studded directorial debut, his famous affiliates and his life with Coco in New York

James Rosemond, Who Once Managed Rapper The Game, Convicted For New York-to-L.A. Cocaine Ring

James Rosemond, the rap manager one L.A. journalist says was behind an attack that sparked the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop wars of the 1990s, was convicted today in a case that accused him of running a New York-to-L.A. cocaine ring, a courtroom observer told the Weekly. Rosemond, who goes by the ... More >>

Chuck Philips, L.A. Journo Who Said James Rosemond Was Behind Tupac Attack, Removed From 'Henchman' Drug Trial

L.A. journalist Chuck Philips was kicked out of court yesterday as he covered the New York trial of alleged drug dealer and longtime rap industry manager James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond. Rosemond, was indicted on federal drug charges in what authorities alleged was a New York-to-L.A. cocaine ring w ... More >>

Music Picks: The Dickies, Rufus Wainwright, Jack DeJohnette

Also, Calle 13, Andre Nickatina

Guy Gerber Is an Israeli DJ Who Made a Surprisingly Good Album With Diddy

Guy Gerber is an electronic music artist who can frustrate the short-attention-span masses used to the nonstop aural pop shots of top festival DJs such as David Guetta, Afrojack and Deadmau5. His sound is ethereal and groovy, sublime and cinematic, optimistic and airy. The Israeli artist's work has ... More >>

Music Picks: Amanda Palmer & Jason Webley, Tinariwen, Mastodon

Also: Wadada Leo Smith's Ten Freedom Summers, Danzig and others

Kreayshawn Has a Video Game, In Which She Shoots Down "Basic Bitches"

Beth Maher​See also: Van Halen Assteroidz Is Back! She ain't no Princess Peach, but Kreayshawn now has her very own video game. Kreayshawn: The Game bowed earlier this month, courtesy of Toronto-based illustrator-cum-game-designer Beth Maher. The 8-bit creation places the L.A. rapper alongsid ... More >>

Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G. Murders and ex-LA Times Reporter Chuck Philips: A Timeline

Chuck Philips, award-winning LA Times journalist, is out of a job.​Chuck Philips, once a top reporter for the Los Angeles Times, spent over a decade investigating the murders of West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur and his East Coast rival, the Notorious B.I.G. But in 2008, when it was revealed tha ... More >>

The 10 Worst Songs About California That Aren't "California" By Datarock

Their latest single is terrible.​We used to like Datarock a lot. Our working theory is that in 2007, while we slept, we were taken over by a hipster succubus that abused cocaine and drank too much Pedialyte--plausible explanation for how our critical functions were deactivated. Fortunately, D ... More >>

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 >>

Top 8 Twitter Tools: Threatening Thugs, Homophobic Hip Hoppers and Musical Idiots Who Are Worse Than Courtney Love

8 Threatening Thugs, Homophobic Hip Hoppers and Twitter Idiots Worse Than Courtney Love

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

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

Digital Music Pioneers Topspin Throw Parking Lot Party with Kogi BBQ, Pre-Viper Room Performance by Get Busy Committee

Erin BroadleyGet Busy Committee​Hip-hop group Get Busy Committee has no shortage of back-up these days. At yesterday's pre-party to hype tonight's May 12 Viper Room gig, the trio had major support from digital music pioneers Topspin Media, original game-changers MySpace Music, big man on camp ... 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

Our Favorite Happy Hours

50 deal-driven places to get you and your wallet feeling a whole lot better

Justin Timberlake, Brandy, the Game, Others Join Timbaland at House of Blues

View more photos in Timothy Norris' "Timbaland @ House of Blues" slideshow. "Do you all like my beats?," a deep voice wondered over the packed House of Blues din. "I SAID, do you all like my beats?" Climbing a banister was the only way to glimpse the wizard of Oz emerging from behind a huge, bright ... More >>

Best of the Fan Conventions 2009

Photographer Shannon Cottrell and I started off 2009 with Anime L.A. and then proceeded to hit up every convention and non-con fandom event we could attend. Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind year of panels, cosplay, ball-jointed dolls and "Hare Hare Yukai" dance-offs. We decided to end the year ... More >>

The Continuing Education of Freddie Gibbs: A Follow-Up To This Week's Cover Story

​ Thursday's cover story on Gary, Indiana-raised rapper Freddie Gibbs, engendered a substantial response within the hip-hop blogosphere, with prominent sites Rap Radar, Nah Right, Fake Shore Drive, and The Smoking Section, all taking note. Even Wale twittered a congratulations message. Cons ... More >>

Busted Rhymes: The Top 10 Most Preposterous Rap Songs of 2008

By Ben Westhoff Hip-hop A-listers including Rick Ross, Akon and Plies were caught grossly exaggerating their gangster credentials this year. (Turns out they were painfully law-abiding. The horror!) But even if your favorite rapper wasn't caught in a lie, you can bet he or she put out a hilariously ... More >>

Weiss' 25 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2008

25. Prafit-"Nice Weather" The nice weather is long gone--the ostensibly immutable Los Angeles sun blotted by kidney colored clouds and cold rain. So Prafit's ode to the sizzle of July feels like an antique postcard documenting endless light, chicken breasts smothered in BBQ sauce, and basement ... More >>

Van Morrison's Astral Weeks at the Hollywood Bowl, Night One: Set List for a Stunning Evening

photo by Kevin Scanlon Sell the rest of your portfolio. Forgo fancy dinners for the rest of November. Break your lame date and call your soul mate. Do what you have to do, I swear, to get a ticket to tonight's Van Morrison show at the Hollywood Bowl. If you at all have ever been moved by a Morriso ... More >>

The Many Moods of Rock the Bells

Hip-hop's been in a lull. Meet the new torchbearers

G-Funk Week: 10 Questions Raised By “Game Don’t Wait” Upon Re-Examination In the Year 2008

In honor of Nate Dogg (who's currently recuperating in a rest home after somehow having a stroke at 38)) and because I really just want to watch old G-Funk videos for the rest of the week, the next couple days will be dedicated to excavating random Nate Dogg songs. Happy New Year. 1. Let it be sa ... More >>

The 25 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2007 Pt. 2 (#19-15)

This list has very little to do with Back to the Future II. However, I am writing it from the inside of a Delorean. 19. Pete Rock ft. Styles P & Sheek Louch-"914" Released by Nature Sounds in January as the single from Pete Rock' s still shelved New York's Finest record, "914" has inevitably bec ... More >>

Bishop Lamont-The Next Great West Coast Hope?

I...listened to all that Death Row stuff....and Lords Of The Underground, Busta Rhymes, Redman and Keith Murray, where your takes had to be so clean and ill to get off the phonetics that you were dropping. Your lines had to be crisp. Other cats don’t come from that school. It took me studying R ... More >>

Movie Reviews: Berkeley, The Heartbreak Kid, Lust, Caution

Also this week's pick, Colma: The Musical

Decision 2007: Kanye West vs. 50 Cent

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

The Brand New Grind

Choc Nitty�s All-Star Ghetto Mixtape Tour... starring Six Reasons, DJ Ayah, Fleshless, Jay Rock, Jay Ridah, Fatso Fasano, Grown Mo and many more

Rock PIcks

For the week of Nov. 24 - 30

Sweatin' Safari

Young / Gifted / Beautiful / Black

L.A.�s Murs just wants to be your favorite rapper. Is that so wrong?

Film Reviews

The Streets, Actually

The U.K.�s notorious grime boy on his tour mate Lady Sov, doing crack with a pop star, and his cocky new LP

Blue Moon

After 20 years, Bobby Bare emerges with the year�s most beautiful album

Live in LA

The Ego Has Landed

Compton Rises Again

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

Every Now and Then He Falls Apart

Seeing Bright Eyes in the big picture

The Real Black Realness

The Misfits

Four killer producers on the cutting edge of independent film

The Artful Codger

Director Robert Altman

How It Could Be

Soul rebels Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek

Endorsements

Master of the Game

Kool Keith of the no-rule school