“I like everything except Country” is one of the most overused, ignorant phrases in the American vernacular today. For one, you can surely find at least one Country tune someone has heard and liked. Second, there are several type of subsets through the genre, and at least one you’ll take to. I made it […]
See It or Skip It: How to Spend Your Time Wisely at Coachella 2018
With over 200 acts taking the stage throughout the two weekends of Coachella 2018, there are names you won’t think twice about passing on to maximize your festival experience but those inevitable slots of uncertainty bring stress and anxiety to what should be a carefree weekend in the desert. We’ve compiled a list to ease […]
The Tanning of Coachella: Beyoncé, Blackness, and the Collision of Cultures
In 2011, music executive and advertising guru Steve Stoute, released his book The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy. Stoute analyzed how Black culture permeated mainstream America, going as far as proposing its swell helped Barack Obama get elected. Stoute and his readership may be […]
Coachella 2018 Comes Correct With the Rock, Despite What the Haters Say
Dissonant groans among music fans shriek toward a fever pitch annually, in the earliest days of the year grâce à the unveiling of Coachella’s polarizing line up. Lately though, the complaints have taken on somewhat of a theme; the festivals distance from the “Rock ’N Roll” acts that brought the desert event to prominence from […]
The Main Squeeze Tames their Three-Headed Monster of Rock, Funk, and Soul One Lick at a Time
In 2010, Corey Frye came back to his college town of Bloomington, Indiana after a stint working for Celebrity Cruise Lines. During his visit, the former Hoosier and Classical Vocal major ran into his now bandmate, keyboardist Ben “Smiley” Silverstein, spawning a relationship that’s kept the singer away from home for five years straight. Frye, […]
HB’s Yung Pinch Keeps His Cool Through the Turbulence of the Music Industry
20-year-old Huntington Beach native Yung Pinch sits placidly on a couch in a dimly lit room full of blue lights behind a pair of John Lennon shades under wild, wavy, young Ozzy Osbourne-esque locks. It’s unclear whether his cool can be credited to a kickback, coastal upbringing or to the calm brought on by the […]
Steve Aoki Builds a Kolony for Music Lovers on his Latest Outing
Orange County’s Steve Aoki lays one of the newest bricks in the foyer of American culture on his fourth studio album, Kolony — a project he refers to as an “American album.” The pioneering producer and mega DJ uses each of his latest LP’s 10 tracks to craft the next anthology in Americana, pairing his EDM […]
Tony $antana’s New Content Series Hopes to Unlatch the Door to the Hip-Hop Industry
“If somebody handed me a Sprite bottle for some money, I’m bout to open two of them muthafuckas,” Tony $antana slushes in between sips of a Rasperry Sour at Anaheim’s Packing House. The 22-year-old encourages the often jettisoned tactics of today’s flyest rappers, who build their brands and portfolios quicker than they add to their […]
The Best and Worst of ComplexCon 2017
ComplexCon Long Beach ConventionCenter 11/4-5/2017 Over the weekend, we ventured to the Long Beach Convention Center once again for the second annual ComplexCon, the two-day celebration of street wear, art and hip-hop presented created by Pharrell and Mark Ecko. Traversing the landscape of this year’s hottest styles and music made for some interesting observations, panel discussions and […]
J Balvin Collects Plenty of Praise (and Bras) From OC Fans at the Observatory
J Balvin The Observatory 10/6/2017 Watching the chart positions and hearing the songs of Latin pop cut into the mainstream these past months has been a marvel in itself. But the frenetics of fans huddling up to connect with each other and the artists behind these songs makes for one of the most electric, gripping […]
Annimeanz Wants to Be More Than The Next Big Mexican Rapper
Annimeanz is the Rodney Dangerfield of hip-hop. The Latino rapper has completed two projects this year —with a third on the way— and counts over 100,000 YouTube views of his content since January but the Cudahy, California artist still can’t seem to get no respect. “Right now, my biggest concern, truthfully, is that as a […]
Day N Night Is a Hit With Hip-Hop Heads at Angel’s Stadium
Day N Night Angels Stadium Parking Lot 9/8-10/2017 Friday, Sep. 8 12:20 p.m. Just realized I forgot my debit card somewhere. Wonder what my durag is worth in cash… (Nick Nuk’em) 12:42 I’m just assuming every 5’0 white kid is Matt Ox. I’ve seen 684 of them already. (NN) 1:25 Leven Kali having technical difficulties […]
Day N Night Un-Rapped: 7 Non-Rap Acts You Can’t Miss
This weekend’s Day N Night Festival promises three days of hyper-foaming bass from a trap heavy roster featuring the likes of Lil Pump, Travis Scott, Famous Dex, and several other ruckus-loving rappers. Surpluses of circle pits certify fatigue and unsightly sweat-patches but Day N Night shines a light on another side of contemporary tunes—a smoother […]
Cry Because the Old Grieves Was Trapped, Smile Because the New Grieves is Running Wild
Seattle rapper Grieves just dropped his fifth LP Running Wild, the happiest-sounding album of his career following a decade of releases that often found the artist, well, grieving. But on the fifth time ‘round, Grieves, born Benjamin Laub, lurched into a closetful of new pockets to procure a hemmed version of himself, a different look […]
Pecks Defeats Obstacles of Street Life and Evolves Into an All-City Kid
“I’m tryna block out the possibility of being dead or going to prison anytime soon. Now it’s time to focus,” Pecks says scrunching his eyebrows to size up slabs of wood before him. Josh Spetzman aka Pecks is standing in an Anaheim alley splashing his first strokes of paint on the rectangular piece of scrap […]
Rapper Day Grinds Hard So His Music Can Shine
On a Saturday in OC’s legendary Chain Reaction parking lot, 20 year-old Daylin Patton aka Day stands outside of his manager’s car shuffling between taking swigs of New Amsterdam and fulfilling last minute ticket requests for his first $10 show. “You wanna eat it when I eat?” he snarks at a member of his entourage […]
Was Joy Villa’s Grammy Trump Dress A Symptom of Her Alleged OC Roots?
As they are every year, last Sunday’s Grammys were full of surprises, letdowns, and simple WTF moments. Such moments spanned from James Hetfield’s mic malfunction to the blunder bringing you here today; Joy Villa’s arrival on the red carpet. In a move that was tawdry on levels expected of Hemet or Menifee residents, the 25 […]
2016: The Year of the Dolla $ign
Young California, the statewide DJ collective, celebrated their 5th anniversary late into a November evening at Santa Ana’s Observatory planning on capping the show with a Tyga performance to send the alacritous crowd home on a high note. Forty miles away, the American Music Awards wrapped as the year’s most popular artists exited the Microsoft […]
Rae Sremmurd Turns the Observatory into a SremmLife Sauna
Rae Sremmurd The Observatory 11/16/2016 Rae Sremmurd is sitting on top of the world as you read this. Less than 48 hours ago, the Mississippi duo assumed legendary status as their latest hit “Black Beatles” hit #1 on the Billboard charts. Like virtually every success though, their accolade was met with hate from an inconsequential […]
Post Malone Rides Into the Observatory on a Cloud of Stoney Hype
Post Malone The Observatory 11/7/2016 On the evening following ComplexCon’s esteemed conclusion, Post Malone stopped back in OC for the second to last stop on his Hollywood Dreams Tour. Along with Saint Jhn, Larry June, and Jazz Cartier, Post played host to a venue full of young fans who came short of the streetwear snobbery […]
The Best and Worst of ComplexCon
ComplexCon Long Beach Convention Center 11/5-6/2016 The first annual two-day expo ComplexCon rolled into the Long Beach Convention Center over the weekend, allowing hip-hop heads the opportunity to geek out on the sights and sounds of everything that crowds their Instagram feeds on a daily basis. Whether it was live performances from blog rap darlings […]