Nas (Rapper)

Tyler, The Creator Earl Sweatshirt - Fox Theater - May 22, 2013

Tyler, The Creator Earl Sweatshirt Fox Theater 5/22/13 Tyler, The Creator shows are known to get a little too rowdy and out of hand, but last night in Pomona Tyler let loose and got silly instead of psycho. Sharing the stage with his Odd Future brother, Earl Sweatshirt, the California bred rappe ... More >>

Schoolboy Q - The Observatory - May 3, 2013

By Patrick Montes Since the release of Kendrick Lamar's universally acclaimed album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, the Top Dawg Entertainment/Black Hippy crew has been dominating every wave of communication revolving around hip-hop. Whether it's a Kendrick Lamar single being played on Power 106 or an Ab-S ... More >>

Five Hip-Hop Trends We Hope Will End in 2013

2013 is surprisingly already off to a strong start. While years past have brought us a January where most artists recoup and regroup for the next 11 months, we've already had plenty of singles, videos and announcements looking to set the tone for 2013. We at the Weekly would like to get in on the ac ... More >>

Raised in a City full of Churches, Fashawn's Gritty Rhymes Inspire True Belief

Using the world "destiny" to describe Fashawn's trajectory toward a hip-hop career might be a bit much. He'd prefer to think of it as more of a calling. At 3 years old, Santiago Leyva wanted to be a preacher, having been raised in a trailer behind a church, which apparently isn't that extraordinary ... More >>

Rock the Bells Day 2 - NOS Events Center - 8/19/12

See Also: *Rock the Bells Day 1 - NOS Events Center -8/19/12*Top Five Acts You Can't Miss at Rock the Bells*Juicy J, Smoke DZA, Joey Badass, Fat Trel - The Observatory - 8/4/12Rock the Bells Day 2NOS Events Center8/19/12Rock the Bells 2012 has come and gone, and with sunken, swollen eyes and sleep-d ... More >>

Slaine Opens Up About New La Coka Nostra Record, Friendship w/ DJ Premier and La Coka Nostra Without Everlast

Drugs and booze for years kept Boston-based rapper Slaine from shedding his reputation as a mixtape legend and taking his place among hardcore hip-hop royalty. The 34-year-old rapper admits he came late to the game, but he has redeemed the time, with a solo album hailed as one of the best true-schoo ... More >>

Five Quite Good K-Hop Albums

By: Paul T. BradleySee also: *K-Pop to invade Honda Center Tonight; 5 Songs to Prepare This just in: The best South Korean music to get international play is not K-pop. Sorry. Much like J-pop, and their American cousins, y'know, girl bands and boy bands, K-pop is mostly sickly sweet, overproduced R ... More >>

Fashawn's Divine Inspiration

Raised in a city full of churches, the Fresno rapper's gritty rhymes inspire true belief

The Worst Moments from SXSW 2012

The last few days, Village Voice Media's indefatigable music staff has been regaling you with stories of the best from SXSW 2012. In the midst of these discoveries, we've been culling another list: the worst shit. The acts that ranged from huge bore-fests to downright lame. Below, you'll find our cr ... More >>

The Best of SXSW Music: Saturday 3/17/2012

So, we come to it: the end of all things. Four days of madness, Doritos, Skrillex and finally, St. Patrick's Day. Before we bid SXSW 2012 farewell, allow us to share our favorite moments from SXSW day four. Later, we'll let you know which shows weren't so hot. Find our favorites below, and if there ... More >>

Alert: SXSW Coverage Ahead

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." -- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive You don't have to spend much time at South By Southwest to know that all of the above building ... More >>

Wu-Tang Clan Last Night at the Grove

​Wu-Tang Clan City National Grove of Anaheim Jan. 18, 2012Even without Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, Wu-Tang Clan at the City National Grove of Anaheim last night was nothing short of spectacular. The C.R.E.A.M. Team showed Orange County what real east coast hip hop looks and sounds like, with the ... More >>

Lil Wayne Rips Apart Kreayshawn's 'Gucci Gucci' on His New Mixtape

​When our sister publication LA Weekly reported that Lil Wayne finally dropped his mixtape Sorry 4 the Wait and freestyled over white chick rapper du jour Kreayshawn's Gucci Gucci in a track by "Lil Tunechi," I got a little, well, nervous.Haters may diss Kreayshawn's one-hit wonder of a song as a ... More >>

Rock the Bells 2011: Lauryn Hill, Nas, Cypress Hill and Black Star Performing Whole Albums

​This year's hip-hop festival Rock the Bells pushes something Pitchfork and ATP has tried before to the hilt: Nine of its headlining acts will perform their groundbreaking albums in full. The one everyone will be frothing at the mouth to hear? The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Ms. Lauryn herself. ... More >>

OFWGKTA's Frank Ocean Arrested, Released and Working With Nas

​Odd Future's R&B crooner Frank Ocean unleashed some angry tweets in the direction of LAPD after an apparent arrest on April 28. Read Ocean's early-morning tweets, which have since been removed from his Twitter page, after the jump.

Coachella Day Three: I'm Going to Miss Seeing Half-Naked People Everywhere

Memories...​The day is only half over and I'm already nostalgic for Coachella 2011: Getting all choked up about the balloon rain at Arcade Fire and swapping celebrity sightings from Danny DeVito to Rihanna.

[ UPDATED With Artest Appearance Info] Lakers' Ron Artest's New Mixtape 'BALL'N' is Dope, So Stop Hatin'!

​ UPDATE, 2:30 P.M., FEB. 18: Ron Artest will make a guest appearance in Sherman Oaks to sign autographs. Find out more information after the jump.ORIGINAL ITEM, 12 P.M., FEB. 18: Was it really so long ago that the confetti fell from the top of Staples Center as the Los Angeles Lakers defeate ... More >>

Top 5 Break-Up Albums for Valentine's Day

Myspace.comThe Cure​​Not that you care, but last week, my girlfriend of 11 years and I broke up, which I guess makes me somewhat of an expert on the subject of really good records to listen to if you're feeling the loss of someone today. Like anyone who was with another person for a long enough ... More >>

Obama Tells Rolling Stone What's In His iPod: Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones, Natch! (Plus Some Jay-Z, Nas and Lil Wayne)

Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly​Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner got to sit down and interview President Obama; they talked about the war, the Tea Party, Afghanistan and other important, state-of-the-nation things, but the most interesting part of the interview was when RS asked what Mr. Preside ... More >>

Oh, Say Can You Hear: 10 Songs That Should Be Our New National Anthem

20th Century Fox​"The Star-Spangled Banner" has an image problem. That is, no one likes it.Oh sure, everyone respects and reveres what it stands for, what it evokes in us as nation and as a people. But no one really admires it on its merits as song, and singers and sports fans have long detested t ... More >>

Thavius Beck: Hip-Hop Classic

The producer/MC's eclectic tastes encompass punk rock and classical music

OC/LBC Bands Representing at SXSW

Local acts aim to create buzz in Austin

[Sound Guy] Michael Jackson Was Schrödinger's King of Pop

[CD Review] Rick Ross, 'Deeper Than Rap' (Maybach Music Group/Poe Boy/Def Jam)

Kurupt Young Gotti

Kurupt, a solo rapper and one half of Tha Dogg Pound, released an iTunes-only mix yesterday. It's called Tha Penagon, Vol. 1 and based on the track list, it's sounds very promising.Guests include B-Real (from Cypress Hill), Gail Gotti, Killah Priest, Roscoe, A Dub, Gillie Da Kid, Teknizzle, Nas and ... More >>

Abstract Workshop brings Large Professor to the stage, Feb. 27

Most hip hop heads in the area have probably known about this for a minute but to all the wayward fans of Abstract Workshop I must advise that you DO NOT SLEEP on Feb. 27. Besides the fact that it's a Friday and you should be out on the prowl anyway, NYC rap legend Large Professor and J. Rocc are c ... More >>

On-Sale Saturday: Bloc Party, Donavon Frankenreiter, More

Some good shows announced this week, highlighted by, as pictured, Bloc Party and OC's own Donavon Frankenreiter! Woop woop!

[Aural Reports] Long Beach's Erick Coomes Lives High on the Low End

Will Rappers Cost Obama the Election?

Please, Plies, come out in support of Sarah Palin Young Jeezy's brief flirtation with John McCain on the set of Saturday Night Live aside, it's clear rappers favor Barack Obama by a wide margin in this election. (Check out this survey, for starters.) Though emcee after emcee has supported Obama wit ... More >>

Rappers or Republicans?

In May, we posited that southern hip hop and Fox News share much in common. Possessing both an anti-intellectual streak and a populist one, they’re beloved by red-staters and hated on by the coastal elites, be they liberals, hipsters, Ghostface or Nas. The piece concluded: If you're still not conv ... More >>

Why Southern Hip-Hop Is the Same as FOX News

Eight Months After Its 'Burial,' Explosive Epithet 'Nigger' Is Still Rampant Among Rappers

Career Killah

Is Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface as Dumb as He Sometimes Acts?

Hova-rated

Jay-Z’s American Gangster Proves He Ain’t All That—and Never Was

Locals Only

"We're Here, We're Brown, Get Down": The Hardcore Punks Behind Brown Town DJs Flaunt Their Hip-hop Credentials

The Conservative Pundit's Nightmare

Shock! Rapper Common links public and private issues with thoughtfulness!

Cream of Elite

Sporting perhaps the greatest hip-hop bill ever, Rock the Bells enshrines rap's history—and foreshadows its future

Fo' Sizzle!

Summer concerts/festivals to heat the beat

Letters

'How DARE you call the film phony. This is a war against the Vietnamese community. We will organize a major protest against OC Weekly'

Snap to It

WEB EXCLUSIVE!: Comeback kids, rhymin Limeys and songs about partying defined Hip-Hop Nation in 2006

I Got Kinda Lost

Eight greats that never made it

Swamp and Overflow

Nightlife and more:
Sept. 29 - Oct. 6

Bo$$ Dogg

Is Snoop selling out or just selling?

Funky Iran Contra

This week in nightlife and more

Stacks the Vinyl Authority

Hip! Hop! Shop!

Black Guys Imitating White Guys Imitating Black Guys: The strange end of the hip-hop revolution