Rebecca Haithcoat

As Max Bell noted in his round-up of L.A. rap earlier this month, it was a very good year for hip-hop in our city, with all corners of the varied scene -- from Open Mike Eagle's smart 4NML HSPTL to Odd Future's rambunctious The OF Tape Vol. 2 to Ty$......

Meek Mill, Rick Ross, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar Power 106 Cali Christmas Gibson Amphitheatre 12/14/12 Ah, the holiday season in L.A. -- a crisp chill is in the air, every twinkly light installment and bit of tinsel available has been vomited onto that particular property on Los Feliz......

Hunter Beard is a born hustler. By the time he was 13 in Little Rock, Arkansas, he was selling drugs. When he was sentenced to adult prison at 17 for robbery, he spent his time recording songs off the radio and rapping over them until a guard hooked him up......

Last December, Bay Area rapper Clyde Carson recorded "Slow Down." Within a couple months, a DJ named J-12 had invented a dance specifically for the song, inspiring dozens of kids to upload their own versions to YouTube. A year later, it's inescapable, with Power 106 playing it every hour on......

Singer Jhené Aiko has had more than her share of setbacks and misfortune. When she was in second grade, her family's house in South L.A. burned down. She says that as a preteen no cliques accepted her because of her mixed ethnicity -- she's a blend including Japanese, Native American,......

Captain Murphy, Pac Div The Airliner 11/28/12 Earlier this week, a local mystery rapper calling himself Captain Murphy announced that he'd be performing at Low End Theory last night. See also: More Low End Theory Oral History From Those Who Helped Build It People got excited about it, so much......

Reclining on the patio of the Rainbow Bar and Grill, producer Scoop DeVille is the picture of calm. Eyes already half-lowered, he pulls from a blunt and gently scrapes the whipped cream off his hot chocolate. He smiles lazily. Last night was a different story. "In the studio with Common,......

Midway through an interview with Greydon Square, I sneeze. "Bless you," the 31-year-old rapper born Eddie Collins says instinctively. He catches himself. "I know, an atheist that says, 'Bless you.' Habits, man." Greydon Square is the atheist rapper. In hip-hop, a genre in which where rappers thank God on albums......