Feb
26

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Week Day 1: LA Times-Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Live Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63kRUCWstCo Maybe there was a trace of hyberbole when I kicked off my Times piece by declaring that Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is the most underrated group in rap history. Then again, I’m willing to ride this point out. Of course, other possible answers may include Organized Konfusion, Ultramagnetic, Camp Lo and others. And no, UGK no… Continue reading »

Jan
21

The Cool Kids’ Hipster-Hop

Granted, there’s something undeniably unctuous about watching hipsters dance to hip-hop. And yes, there were least four moments during the opening acts on Saturday night when you could hear me yelling loudly to anyone who would listen that “white people killed hip-hop.” (Let’s just say there should be some sort of taxing entrance exam to… Continue reading »

Jan
14

No One Wants to Smoke a Blunt With Lupe Fiasco

My article in this issue of the LA Weekly attempts to parse how Lupe Fiasco has sold nearly 250,000 copies of The Cool despite a weak sales climate and his stunning ability to alienate the entire Internet. It also analyzes the question of why hip-hop fans want to get high with their favorite rappers. There… Continue reading »

Dec
10

Christmas in California: A Statistical Impossibility

I wish I had the time to fully explain the weirdness that was the Power 106 Cali Christmas concert. But I don’t. I’m working on a piece on the Ghostface and Wu albums for the LA Weekly and my brain is absolutely fried. However, I did write a 400-word piece for the Times that ran… Continue reading »

Nov
18

Free At Last: Mediocre At Best

I only received a few hundred words in the Times to review Free at Last, mainly because I couldn’t tell my editor in good faith that the record deserved more. I get why people have been buzzing on it. The first two leaked singles (“It’s Over”) and the Jay-Z collabo were nice. And sure, the… Continue reading »

Nov
12

Romancing the Stones Throw

I know I haven’t written about my week in New York yet. Tomorrow, I promise. In the meantime, I wrote a show review for the LA Times about a Stones Throw label showcase that turned into an impromptu tribute to J Dilla. Considering I’d arrived in LA just two hours prior to the show’s start… Continue reading »

Oct
22

Mansion Parties for All-Star Weekend in My LA Crib

So I uh…interviewed Ghostface last week. It was weird. Weird in a good way, as though it was perfectly normal that the two of us were having a conversation about The Big Dough Rehab, his gripes with the Wu hierarchy and whether or not he ever played as himself in Wu Tang: Shaolin Stylue. I’d… Continue reading »

Oct
07

Snuze-Rave

Photo by Mark Mauer I had a good time and all at yesterday’s LA Weekly Detour Festival but honestly guys, if you’re going to advertise $5 Dewar’s all-day, you better be serving $5 Dewar’s all day. None of this running out at 7 p.m. bullshit. How else is anyone supposed to enjoy Justice if they… Continue reading »

Sep
17

Wolves, Parades, & Links

I caught Wolf Parade at the El Rey last Thursday night. It’d been nearly a year since they last came to town and I’ll admit I’d been worried that the songs from their forthcoming record might not live up to the enormous expectations I had for them. But after watching the band absolutely kill it,… Continue reading »

Jun
21

Back In Business/11 Conclusions From 11 Days on the Road

11 days, 4,000 miles later and 6,732 people who told me that “it might be cheaper to fly,” I’m finally back in Los Angeles, a little older and a little Weisser (and yet, clearly still not wise enough to stop making bad puns). I suppose the standard question everyone wants to know is how was… Continue reading »

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