Rebecca Haithcoat

Rapper/producer Jonwayne prefers his artists enigmatic. "It's like people feel the need to know the emcee as a person in order to get into the music, on some soap opera shit. Not saying it's good or bad, but it's almost as if having a baby would boost your sales more......

See also: *V-Nasty as She Wants to Be: Kreayshawn's Controversial Associate Tells Her Side *V-Nasty on Jail, Being Pregnant At 15, and Why Oakland Is Not Where It's At *Kreayshawn's Worst Day Ever *BAYTL: V-Nasty's Funniest, Most Inexplicable Lines From The Mixtape, Including "Leave a bitch broke/Like my tooth" On......

(See also "Pop Bottles: Glasses Malone's Debut Album Finally Drops") Glasses Malone just released Beach Cruiser on Cash Money Records, which is having itself quite a week, what with Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV hitting stores. Next time around the Watts-native Malone sees himself making "gangster soul" instead of gangsta......

Lots of side-eyed glances and hip-hop blog grousing followed the announcement last spring that L.A.-via-Gary, Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs had signed with Atlanta trap star Young Jeezy's label, CTE. But was Gangsta Gibbs signing his death sentence? Not so much. In fact, it may well have been a savvy move,......

Glasses Malone's Beach Cruiser finally comes out today. But the Watts gangsta rapper was offered a deal more than four years ago by Cash Money Records co-founder Birdman on the strength of the single "Certified," and Beach Cruiser was originally slotted for release in early 2007. Not just anyone snags......

Kreayshawn The Roxy 8/27/11 Better than ... basic bitches. In May, L.A.-by-way-of-the-Bay video director/rapper Kreayshawn released "Gucci Gucci," a bubblegum-sticky track that's racked up 13 million views on YouTube and become the song of the summer. Bloggers immediately fired off questions that set the Internet ablaze: Can she rap? Does......

When Bilal takes the stage at the El Rey Theatre tomorrow night, only those sexing during the height of the Soulquarian days will remember the groovy, dreaded crooner sighing in the ears of a bevy of naked ebony beauties in the 2001 "Soul Sista" video. Gone are the dreads, and......

It's over. Rock the Bells 2011, which started its tour in San Bernardino Saturday, always seems to be the beginning of summer's end. Launching the festival in SoCal only makes sense--its roots are here, plus the weather, women, and weed send it off into the rest of the country high......

Rock the Bells San Manuel Amphitheater 8/20/11 Better than ... your CD collection. Earlier this week, rap's resident genius weirdo/"wackest rapper alive" Lil B performed at Hollywood's Freak City. Depending on who you ask, the venue/store either got swagged the fuck out, or earned its name. Fair bet most Rock......

Re:Play LA is our concert series with local indie acts covering classic albums. The final installment -- tonight, Aug. 17 at the Hard Rock Café on Hollywood Boulevard -- will feature genre-unclassifiable duo J*DaVeY. But unlike the other artists in the series, J*DaVeY weren't immediately sure what they wanted to......