Max Bell

It's Monday night, and rapper Kid Ink is recording in a West Hollywood studio. He's a walking Rorschach test with hardly an inch of virgin skin, and the impetus for his sobriquet is obvious. Dressed in gray - from his extra long t-shirt and designer sweats to his Nikes -......

2 Chainz w/Pusha T Hollywood Palladium 2/21/13 At Friday night's 2 Chainz show at Hollywood Palladium, the lines outside came to a standstill early. The Atlanta rapper has fans of every race, creed, and color, but the majority seemed to be women in pants so stuffed full that they seemed......

Standouts in the local indie-electronic-label-with-a-devoted-following category include L.A. beat scene stalwarts Alpha Pup, Friends of Friends and WeDidIt. The latest to rise out of the internet is Soulection, a label whose artists are producing some of the most engaging and soulful electronic music in the scene. Co-founded by Joe Kay......

Action Bronson Echoplex 2/6/14 The legend of Action Bronson - Queens, NY chef turned critically acclaimed rapper - grows with each verse and performance. The former depict a man made in the image of Michelangelo's David; one capable of acrobatic exits from luxury vehicles, catching octopi barehanded, and fixing major......

Darkside, with High Water The Fonda Theatre January 25, 2014 With every release, virtuosic 24-year-old producer and DJ Nicolas Jaar breaks new ground. His fusion of experimental, down tempo dance music - incorporating everything from Chilean techno to Ethiopian - defies easy categorization. If space is only noise that you can see,......

RL Grime & Salva El Rey Theatre 1/23/14 The divide between electronic music and rap has been shrinking. Many electronic artists are producing rap influenced beats (see the recent work of DJ Rashad) and rappers are showing off their verbal dexterity over electronic production (see Danny Brown). Last night at......

Seven Davis Jr.'s music blurs the lines between funk, house, R&B, and other genres. The strange thing about him? He's an artist who values his privacy.   Recently drawing interest from important industry players and on the verge of breaking through, the 32-year-old Davis records at his in-house Glendale studio, and......

Open Mike Eagle & Special Guests The Mint 1/11/14 Art rap auteur Open Mike Eagle has a new show that's a mix of comedy, rap and improv. The inaugural performance was Saturday night at The Mint. At the scheduled start time, several tables near the front of the stage at...

Hip-hop has been on the upswing in the last two years, artistically expanding in both a lyrical and sonic sense. But though there are a number of gifted teenagers making excellent work, the old guard reigned supreme in 2013. This list, the top ten rap albums of 2013 -- from......