Chaz Kangas

Erik Jensen is Lester Bangs in How to Be a Rock Critic; Credit: Craig Schwartz

Rock Critic Lester Bangs Lives On in New One-Man Show

Chaz Kangas
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius once famously quipped, “A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.” While that may be true, a beloved critical voice is about to get his artistic due on stage. How to Be a Rock Critic, a one-man show about legendary and highly influential......
Pigeon John; Credit: Pigeonjohn.com

Pigeon John Helps Our Vets, Sells Pizza Hut and Taco Bell

Chaz Kangas
This Friday, June 12, Los Angeles MC and best friend to rap fans everywhere Pigeon John plays Operation: Heal the Heroes, a benefit for Wounded Heroes of America at DiPiazza's in Long Beach. Also featuring Sen Dog, Left Alone, DJ Hydroe and more, it’s another big moment in what’s fast......
Tyler

Is This the End for Odd Future?

Chaz Kangas
Last night, a somewhat cryptic tweet from Tyler, the Creator appeared to signify the end of Los Angeles rap collective Odd Future. After posting a series of somber, sentimental tweets reflecting on what the members were up to five years ago, Tyler tweeted, “although its no more, those 7 letters......
Larry "Bud" Melman

Why David Letterman Sidekick Larry "Bud" Melman Was a Hip-Hop Icon

Chaz Kangas
As we prepare to bid farewell to Late Show with David Letterman, let's take a moment to appreciate one of the show's most underrated contributions to popular culture, and unlikeliest of hip-hop icons, the much-missed Letterman sidekick Calvert DeForest, better known to fans as Larry "Bud" Melman. Wait... hip-hop icon? Yes. Allow......
Kelly Clarkson: just one of at least 10 reasons why we'll miss American Idol; Credit: Photo by Harper Smith

American Idol's Top 10 Contributions to Pop Culture

Chaz Kangas
Yesterday came the surprising news that, after 15 seasons, Fox's mega-hit American Idol would be coming to an end. Premiering in 2002, Idol not only re-popularized the televised talent contest format, but introduced us to such cultural touchstones as curmudgeonly judge Simon Cowell, unforgettable names like Sanjaya and Bo Bice, and......
The gaze of the man who made The Room; Credit: Rifftrax

The World's Most Ridiculed Filmmaker Just Keeps Going

Chaz Kangas
If you or your friends have recently spent the length of a movie yelling at the screen while throwing plastic spoons, chances are you went to see The Room. The only “midnight movie” whose interactive cult classic status rivals '70s standard The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tommy Wiseau’s entirely self-produced/directed/written......
Tyler

Every Odd Future Album, Ranked

Chaz Kangas
Believe it or not, we're already a half-decade into the Odd Future era. While their first mixtape dropped in late 2008, it wasn't until the 2010 one-two punch of Earl Sweatshirt's "Earl" and Tyler, the Creator's "French" videos that a viral phenomenon was born. But unlike most hip-hop blog darlings,......