Max Bell

If you frequent rap shows in Los Angeles, you’ve probably seen Verbs. He’s the stocky, gregarious guy sporting a Zissou-red beanie and a vest checkered with enough flair to earn him a managerial position at Chotchkie’s. If you missed him, chances are you weren’t looking hard enough. He’s the Where’s......

Last year, Los Angeles’ biennial homeless census revealed that the county’s homeless population had risen 12 percent since 2013. Asad Ill spent innumerable nights curled up in abandoned cars, but friends, family and co-workers had no idea he was part of that percentage for an entire year. He concealed every......

Low End Theory has often played the role of L.A.'s sole hip-hop night, but beats there generally take precedence over lyrics. Recently, Bananas has emerged as L.A.'s best unadulterated rap night. Hosted by venerated L.A. indie rapper VerBS and rapper-producer K. Solar, Bananas is held on the third Tuesday of......

Illusions disintegrate when lead projectiles scorch skin and shred flesh. Hugh Augustine knows. In 2011, the 23-year-old rapper was the victim of another man’s gang initiation, shot three times (twice in one leg, once in the other) while walking in Long Beach with a large group of friends and family,......

Low End Theory is arguably the best weekly party in L.A., if not the entire the U.S. A veritable Valhalla for the beat scene’s elite producers and DJs, a seemingly inexhaustible breeding ground for emerging L.A. musicians (electronic, rap, jazz, etc.), and a retreat for decorated visitors — the sub-harmonic......

Masta Killa once said, “The dumb are mostly intrigued by the drum.” He lambasted those listening to rap solely for the beats, but he also foresaw a time when bass-driven electronic music would become the dominant genre for an entire generation. The time the Wu-Tang rapper prophesied is now. The......

Hailing from Santa Monica and Venice, locally grown rappers Ray Wright, Manu Li and Serk Spliff have spent the last four years garnering a devoted local following as Warm Brew. Rejecting the outdated but still practiced tradition of hawking of CDs on the Venice boardwalk, they released several promising projects......

For independent record labels, exposure leads to expansion. An originally tight-knit community gradually comes untethered. Artists leave for the promise of bigger budgets and bigger hits elsewhere. Risk is jettisoned for the safe bet. L.A.-based electronic-music label Friends of Friends (FoF) isn't the exception to the narrative, but it's close......

Reggae will always be relevant. For evidence, see the Bob Marley posters perennially tacked to the dorm room walls of stoned college students across the country. However, few move beyond the genre’s most popular practitioner. If you listen to Peter Tosh, you’re probably one spliff away from being your residence......

The legacy of legendary DJ/producer Afrika Bambaataa is indisputable. Without him, hip-hop music and activism would not be what it is today. To honor Bambaataa and expose hip-hop listeners new and old to the records that laid the foundation for the genre, renowned DJs Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow have......