Jeff Weiss

In the pantheon of great self-explanatory names, Awesome Tapes From Africa ranks with Ol’ Dirty Bastard or André the Giant. Its mission can be encapsulated in a few words. The stories behind the blog-turned–record label are more labyrinthine. It starts with ATFA founder Brian Shimkovitz spending a year in Ghana......

Who is KR? It’s the question embedded in the 19-year-old rapper’s Twitter handle and at the core of his music. He’s practically un-Googleable, and he hasn’t done any interviews until now. Despite this elusiveness — or perhaps partially fueled by it — KR has become the biggest under-the-radar rap phenom......

Hanni El Khatib’s natural setting is night. The tattoos covering his arms are darkly inked. His black hair is greased back like a knife-fight winner’s. His wardrobe color scheme is fit for the hero of a Johnny Cash song. Even his new album is called Moonlight. His career mission statement......

Outside of obsessive sports radio callers from Temecula, you won’t find more diehard Lakers fans than Lil Wayne. Since Kobe Bryant entered the league, the Louisiana rapper has repped the Lake Show in times of good and bad. He even made a tribute song to the Black Mamba, which somehow......

You might not immediately recognize Paul Stewart’s name, but you’re aware of his contributions. His résumé reads like a chapter from a West Coast rap history book. The Pharcyde? He became their first manager, brokered their first record deal and personally commissioned their iconic roller-coaster album cover. Coolio, House of......

The tears are 10 years dry. The emotional abrasions have long faded. But a decade after Edward Ma’s debut as edIT, his first song collection retains a melancholic timelessness. Released on British imprint Planet Mu in the spring of 2004, Crying Over Pros for No Reason materialized and vanished with......

You don’t meet someone named Captain Supernova every day. In fact, until this afternoon, the cosmic synth wizard had never revealed the man behind the radiation-proof curtain. But here he is, sitting at an Eastside cafe on a rainy afternoon, wearing a gray Dodgers cap pulled low and a navy......

Only four years ago, Open Mike Eagle eulogized his music career. He was in his late 20s, the father of a year-old son, recently laid off from his job as a special education teacher in South Central. The country was mired in financial crisis and the market for subversive art......

Year-end lists are inherently absurd. Ranking the best albums implies impossible objectivity and obsessive devotion. The most dedicated listeners can’t hear everything. The best ears are susceptible to overhype. All tastes are biased. All canons are personal. It ultimately boils down to what YG asked earlier this year: Who do......