Too $hort

Dom Kennedy: Reluctant Businessman

The rapper built a huge fan base through Darwinian promotional methods

Rock the Bells - San Manuel Amphitheater - Sept 7 & 8, 2013

Rock the Bells Hip-Hop Festival San Manuel Amphitheater 9/7/13 - 9/8/13 This weekend was the 10th anniversary of hip-hop festival Rock the Bells. Anticipated for its reunions, game changing new artists, and ODB and Eazy-E holograms, it was two days for hip-hop fans and artists to connect. Still, we ... More >>

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

Don't forget to check our constantly-updated Los Angeles Concert Calendar Friday, September 6 Anticon 15th-Anniversary Party featuring Baths, Daedelus, Doseone, et al. ECHOPLEX Tip your hat to 15 years of Anticon greatness: The label/collective founded by Oakland's Adam "Doseone" Drucker has champ ... More >>

The Best Concerts to See In L.A. This Weekend

Don't forget to check our constantly-updated Los Angeles Concert Calendar Beyoncé STAPLES CENTER Like her fellow Texan Erykah Badu, Houston-raised Beyoncé is part of the opening-night festivities at the BET Experience. But Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter's worldview is markedly different from Bad ... More >>

Music Picks: Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg and Crazy Squeeze

Don't Laugh: The Lonely Island Are the Best Rap Group Going

By Ben Westhoff and Katie Bain Last night at Sonos Studio, The Lonely Island -- Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schafer -- talked about their music, debuted a video, and hosted a listening party for their forthcoming Wack Album, out Tuesday. Collaborators include Kendrick Lamar, Solange, Ph ... More >>

Music Picks: Rhye, Papa and Motörhead

Here's What I Listened To While I Underwent Incomprehensible Dentist Torture

"You're going to bleed, ok?" There were a lot of things said to me Monday afternoon, but that was the only thing I heard. It was said to me by Teresa, an otherwise perfectly pleasant dental assistant. Big as Barack Obama becoming the first Black President, big as Thomas Edison coming up with the ... More >>

Fairfax's Truth Studios Makes More Hip Hop Than Money

For nearly two years Truth Studios, a recording space in the Fairfax District, has been a haven for West Coast rap talent. On any given night, you might find clothing reps chattering, owner Nick Breton rolling blunts with rappers, and intoxicated laughter absorbed by the muted walls. The combination ... More >>

Too Short Had Meth During Hollywood DUI Stop, LAPD Says

Cops say rapper Too Short had meth in his possession when he was stopped behind the wheel of a vehicle at Hollywood Boulevard and North Las Palmas Avenue at 3:05 a.m. today. You know where you don't want to be when you're holding meth at 3 o'clock in the morning? Hollywood and Las Palmas, which is ... More >>

Top 10 "You Can't Tell Me Nothing" Rappers

In Macklemore's forthcoming single, "Can't Hold Us," he raps, "Nah they can't tell me nothing," thus continuing a long line of rappers to whom one can not tell nothing. It makes one wonder: Why are people always trying to tell rappers something? Why do the rappers refuse to listen? Why all the doub ... More >>

Power 106 Cali Christmas Concert - Gibson Amphitheatre - 12/14/12

Meek Mill, Rick Ross, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar Power 106 Cali Christmas Gibson Amphitheatre 12/14/12 Ah, the holiday season in L.A. -- a crisp chill is in the air, every twinkly light installment and bit of tinsel available has been vomited onto that particular property on Los Feliz Blvd. ... More >>

Katt Williams A No-Show In Seattle; Arrest Reported (VIDEO)

Updated at the bottom with the latest. Post has been edited throughout. First posted at 5:30 a.m. L.A. stand-up performer Katt Williams has been on a comedy tour, often with an locally-based entourage, that seems to be more notable for his peculiar behavior than for punchlines. Only days after he ... More >>

Music Picks: Tame Impala, Deftones, DJ Quik

Insane Clown Posse Calls the FBI's Actions "A Public Lynching of Our Name"

See also: *Insane Clown Posse Is Suing the FBI (!!!) *Our cover story on ICP from last year Oddly, Insane Clown Posse rapper Joey Utsler -- better known as Shaggy 2 Dope -- is humble. Today, on the group's bus in the parking lot of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, he speaks as if he can't believe hi ... More >>

Cunning Linguists: Five Recent Rap Songs About Going Down

With a few exceptions -- Lil Wayne, call us -- male rappers historically have come off as very ungenerous lovers. It's always been, "Hey, eat/suck/gobble/choke on my dick!" with the only promise of reciprocation being, occasionally, the dopey 69 position. (Seriously, if you're doing that, you must ... More >>

The Cranberries' "Zombie": Why This Song Sucks

[Editor's note: Why This Song Sucks determines why particular tracks blow using science. It appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.] Song: The Cranberries, "Zombie" History: "Zombie" came out in 1994. It was on No Need To Argue, the second album from the Irish rock band that everyone spent a ... More >>

Music Picks: Too $hort, Best Coast, Brad Mehldau Trio

Also, Lee Fields & the Expressions, Simon Stokes, Sonnymoon, and others

Rock the Bells 2012 Lineup Announced

See also: Our review of Rock the Bells 2011 Last night Guerilla Union announced this year's Rock the Bells 2012 dates, headliners and lineup. Beginning in 2010, the hip-hop festival's headliners -- famous acts whose first few albums often outshine their later work -- have performed their classic ... More >>

Khia's "My Neck, My Back": Why This Song Sucks

[Editor's note: Why This Song Sucks determines why particular tracks blow using science. It appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.] Song: Khia's "My Neck, My Back (Lick It)" History: "My Neck, My Back" was recorded in 2002. It's still mostly memorable for two lines: (1) "All you ladies pop t ... More >>

White Fence's Tim Presley Moves Retro Rock Forward

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] See also: Top 5 L.A. Garage Rock Bands Not everything needs to sound like the future. Not everyone wants to dwell in the present. In fact, some aim to a ... More >>

Music Picks: Skrillex, Diplo, Wu-Tang Clan, The Health Club

Also, Art Lande, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Gilad Hekselman, The Stitches, The Villains and others

Snoop Dogg's Player's Ball 2011 - Marbella - December 17, 2011

Andrea Domanick Bishop Don "Magic" Juan​Snoop Dogg's Player's Ball 2011 A Benefit For Bishop Don "Magic" Juan Marbella December 17, 2011 Let's just get this out of the way: It is hard out here for a pimp. That is, if you're Bishop Don "Magic" Juan anyway, a reformed Chicago pimp who became a ... More >>

Having A Dollar Sign In Your Name Is Awe$ome

On his blog Stuff White People Like, author Christian Lander did not include musicians with dollar signs in their names. Why? Because white people hate them! Take Ke$ha. Now, there's a lot to dislike about the rather-coarse poplet, who seems to be encouraging seven-year-old girls to drink a handl ... More >>

Wiz Khalifa - Nokia Theater - 10/18/11

Daniel Kohn​Wiz Khalifa Nokia Theater 10/18/11 Better than...taking bong hits alone. For a couple years or so now, the mainstream hip-hop world has been engulfed with what seems to be a never-ending wave of stoner rap. Over the course of his abridged 75-minute set -- due to the venue's stric ... More >>

Nocando Kicks Off RePlay LA Tomorrow at the Hard Rock; Talks Quik and Swagnosticism

​James "Nocando" McCall titled one of his first solo releases, "Nocando is a Virus." And like any virus, he's innately aware of the importance of mutation. By 25, the Leimert Park-raised rapper had toured the country with Project Blowed avatar, Aceyalone, won Scribble Jam, dropped a pair of al ... More >>

Music Picks: Stiff Little Fingers, CunninLynguists, The Nubians, System of a Down

Houses, Aloe Blacc, Krautrock Nite, The Radio Dept. and others

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 >>

Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Snoop Dogg's New Album "Doggumentary"

​Just a few days after being mourner-of-honor at the funeral of former associate Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg hogged the hip-hop limelight once again by releasing all the tracks of his much-awaited album Doggumentary two days before the official release via moribund social network oddity MySpace. 10 ... More >>

Grammy Party Report #3: Relentless Rhythms at Roots Jam and The Black Keys on Deck at Hemingways

Lina LecaroRoots' Capt. Kirk Douglas and Jimmy Fallon- less talkin,' more rockin.'​ You never know who might pop up on stage at the Roots Jam, which was, with the exception of Clive Davis' A(ss)-list kiss/croon-a-thon, the most buzzed about bash Saturday night. It was wishful thinking of cour ... More >>

Music to Pick Up/Download

Holy Sh*t! Top 10 Uses of Profanity in Music in 2010

​Cuss words can be a lazy lyricist's exclamation points but, in the right hands, profanity affords a landscape of creativity and rhyme schemes that breathe new life into descriptions of coitus, anger, and self-reflection. There may not be enough amazing uses of "fuck," "ass," and "shit" in roc ... More >>

MUSIC PICKS: Ruben Guevara, Buika, Bill Frisell's Beautiful Dreamers

Also, Combichrist, Papercranes, Simone White and others

Vinyl of the Week: Captain Ahab's Grotesque Opus, 'The End of Irony' [MP3]

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community, believing that good music deserves much more than a handfu ... More >>

Music Picks: Neil Innes, Korean Music Festival 8, Avi Buffalo, Lupe Fiasco, Coheed and Cambria

Also, No Age, Sheila E & the Escovedo Family, Greg Laswell and others

Death By Auto-Tune: AmpLive Kills His Robot Son, Gary

Look! Something new from Oakland's AmpLive, the producer who made a name for himself by getting Too $hort to rap about pimping hos over a remix of Radiohead's "Nude"! (He also performed at The Echo on Wednesday night.) Considering West Coast Sound's extensive excavation of an earlier AutoTune-inspir ... More >>

Last Night: Celeb Packed DJ AM Benefit at Avalon, Rockin' til the Early Hours

By Pamela Chelin It was a packed house at Avalon last night in Hollywood with a line extending down the street. DJ AM, who survived a plane crash (along with Travis Barker) in South Carolina recently, threw a party to raise funds for the families of the victims who were tragically killed in the cra ... More >>

The B-Sides: Blu Interview

Contrary to popular belief, Blu did not take his name from the Eiffel 65 song popular in the late 90s. Q: So where exactly in LA did you grow up? A: I was born at St. Andrews and 54th, at my grandparent’s crib, that’s where I was living last year and it’s the first place I ever stayed. But ... More >>

Has the L.A. Hip-Hop Plague Finally Passed?

Four on the floor

The 10 Rules of Pimpology According to the Video for Do or Die's "Po' Pimp"

10. The ability to acquire flaming pennies (these were also reportedly Shaquille O' Neal's last words upon leaving Orlando). Such magic coins will give their owners the ability to turn homeless people into suave and dapper, ladies men and thus realize their dreams of using P.I.M.P.O.L.O.G.Y. to lo ... More >>

Rock Picks: Ray Davies, Beth Orton, Justice

Plus other March 27-April 3 shows

G-Funk Week Concluded: 10 Qualities Highly Sought After in a Regulator As Gleaned From Warren G & Nate Dogg's "Regulate"

1. Not being just any geek off the streets How To Avoid Being A "Geek Off the Streets: Learn how to how be to handy with the steel and earn your keep. Best Models to Emulate: Gay steel workers, Andrew Carnegie, Iron Man 2. Not Tweaking When You See a Car Full of Girls How To Avoid Tweaking ... More >>

N.W.A: Compton's Most Vaunted a Hard Act to Follow

Two decades later, Straight Outta Compton is as vital — and brutal — as ever

Pimp C Dies in L.A.

According to this TMZ report, Pimp C was found dead in his bed in a Sunset Strip hotel room this morning. The rapper, born Chad Butler, had just performed with Too Short at the LA House of Blues last Saturday. Houston's music blog, Houstoned Rocks is following the story. Click here to check out t ... More >>

N.W.A: A Hard Act to Follow

Hip-hop and hype from the streets of Compton (reprint of May 5, 1989, Weekly cover story)

Bang a Bong

Dilated Peoples: L.A. b-boys hit the NBA

Where’s the Funny?

The year hip-hop forgot its dick can fly

The Undeath of West Coast Flow

U Don’t Know