Dr. Dre

LES 735 on Conquering the Competition at the DMC Phoenix DJ Battle

So what didja wind up doing last weekend? Get drunk and act the fool at a club, perhaps? Or did it involve sacking out in front of the latest episode of Game of Thrones or Mad Men? We're willing to bet it was nowhere near as pimp as how Valley resident Les Sias spent his off hours. Last Saturday, ... More >>

Kendrick Lamar @ Celebrity Theatre

Top Five Must-See Shows This Week

Yeah, yeah, yeah...we get it. Mondays suck (we've read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest, our top five must-see shows this week.

The Best of Coachella: Sunday, April 15

See also: *The Best Of Coachella: Saturday, April 14 *Top Ten Awkward Coachella Dance Move GIFs Wow, that was fast! In a whirlwind of top-notch performances from legends and buzz bands alike, pool parties, and rain, Coachella's first weekend is over. Here are our scribes' favorite moments from Sund ... 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 >>

10 National Releases to Look Forward to in 2012

​Looks like 2012 is going to be a big one. Quite a few giant records are dropping this year.Some of them are timely followups, while others have been a long time coming (hello No Doubt). Some have release dates, and the dates of others have yet to be announced. We're pretty stoked about them eithe ... More >>

Five Major Musicians Who Left Us in 2011

​Each year, we regretfully feel obligated to make this list. Musicians that touch our hearts and change our lives come and go. Some of these musicians had long, fruitful careers, while others seemed like they were just getting started. Gil Scott-Heron Poet-musician Gil Scott-Heron left a lasti ... More >>

The Hip-Hop/Comic Book Connection by Ed Piskor

Ed Piskor​American comic book artist Ed Piskor has a keen eye pop culture. His 2009 collaboration with Harvey "American Splendor" Pekar, The Beats: A Graphic History, turned its eye to the Beat poets, and his Brain Rot series for Boing Boing touched on vintage Nintendo Entertainment Systems, ... More >>

Mergence at Crescent Ballroom, 11/11/11

​The 11.11.11 show featuring Mergence, Kongos, The Technicolors, and Huckleberry was long anticipated. And you could feel that excitement all throughout the night at the Crescent Ballroom. Arriving around 9:45 pm, the patio was packed, the lounge was packed with diners and hipsters, and a s ... More >>

Our Favorite Non-Metal Horror Soundtracks

Don't mess with Huey Lewis fans...​In recent years, horror flicks and metal have enjoyed a loving relationship. Metalheads love horror, and the feeling is mutual. (Where did we put that copy of The Blair Witch 2 soundtrack?) Obviously many metal musicians truly enjoy sci-fi, monster and horror ... More >>

Five Weird Collabortions That Rival Jack White and ICP Song

When the news broke last Wednesday that modern rock 'n' roll icon Jack White was pairing with the sticky, Faygo-coated Insane Clown Posse (ICP) for a "Mozart cover" called "Lech Mich Im Arsch," a simultaneous "wutttt?" was uttered by music fans across the globe. Surely Jack White is the type of dud ... More >>

Ben Folds Is No Misogynist

Everlast and Everything You Need To Know About White Rappers Explained

DJ Rolemodel Talks Roy Orbison, Pussycat Lounge, Kanye West, Little Boots, and More

DJ Rolemodel​Name: Randell Carlton Green AKA: DJ Rolemodel Current club nights: Tuesdays at ACME, Fridays at Smashboxx, Saturdays at American Junkie. Genres spun: You name it and I have it. Origin story: Started off as a radio DJ while in college. I was actually fired for playing "Rape Me" by ... More >>

Rap Songs Fit for a Tea Party: Hip-Hop Songs with a Right Wing Bent

​Maybe you've heard: Today is election day.This year's election is a little different than the 2008 one, though. It seems not everyone is happy with the progress the Kenyan/Indonesian/Martian guy who usurped the presidency has been making toward converting our economy to socialism. Crazy, right? S ... More >>

Snoop Dogg at Arizona State Fair Last Night

Snoop Dogg Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fair Friday, October 29, 2010 Snoop Dogg gave the audience at Veterans Memorial Coliseum everything they wanted to hear (and then some) during his Arizona State Fair performance on Friday evening. Tha Doggfather busted out with all of h ... More >>

Game

Game

Eazy-E: What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse?

​This is the final installment in The Posse Project, a 12-day series in which www.PHXmusic.com caught up with all 12 guys pictured on the cover of N.W.A's first album, N.W.A. and the Posse. Today's post is on Eric "Eazy E" Wright, who passed away 15 years ago today. To read the other installments ... More >>

Eazy E: Rap Hasn't Been the Same Since AIDS Killed the Greatest Gangsta

Sir Jinx: What Happened After N.W.A. and the Posse?

​This is an installment in The Posse Project, a 12-day series where www.PHXmusic.com catches up with all 12 guys pictured on the cover of N.W.A's first album, N.W.A. and the Posse. Today we continue with Sir Jinx, a producer who went on to create the beats for some of the hardest hitting diss trac ... More >>

Fresh

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic

The Soul of John Black

Just you and them and the music

Why Darrell Ankarlo's an idiot, reason #137: The Gangsta Rap Coloring Book

Ben Folds

Supersunnyspeedgraphic: The LP
(Sony)

Martini Rocks

The PHX's Ultraviolet and her 300-pound Man Friday hit Martini Ranch to figure out why She Wants Revenge

Hip-Hop's Trends in 2005

A genre as big as Texas

Boxin' the '90s

Collections set it up

Rainbow Eminem

Maybe it's a concept album

BEST HIGH-CONCEPT RESTAURANT

Cheba Hut Toasted Subs

Obie Trice

Emerging rapper raises Cheers

Freddie Foxxx/Bumpy Knuckles

Konexion (BBE Music)

A Dethroned Prince

Prince Paul's latest concept record attacks lame commercial hip-hop by co-opting it

Fabolous

Street Dreams (Elektra)

50 Cent

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)

Raising the Stakes

Pokafase risks taking Phoenix hip-hop on the road

Snoop Dogg

Paid tha Cost to Be da Bo$$ (Priority/Doggy Style)

Westside Rising

Ice Cube and his Westside Connection pals semi-reunite -- and give hope to gangsta rap fans

Hop Online

Is Russell Simmons' 360HipHop.com the best hope to bring hip-hop culture onto the Internet?

Get a Grip!

Star-struck Hollywood hopefuls fight to make the scene in Phoenix's filmland fringe.

Jucifer

Calling All Cars on the Vegas Strip
(Capricorn)

A Dogg's Life

Rapper Snoop Dogg comes to terms with his violent past and pleads for peace in his autobiography

Molten Wax

Is It Time To Pull The Thug?

Gang style blasts through popular culture. Can the media be used to fight back?

Who's the Man?

With Suge Knight in prison, onetime receptionist Norris Anderson is now the big man on Death Row

Reeling and Dealing

"Suge" Knight is behind bars, Tha Doggfather is on the shelves, and the future of Death Row Records hangs in the balance

Preacher Man

TUNES OF '93 IN TEN EASY STEPS SIR CHARLES, BARRY GOLDWATER AND DAVE FROM CIRCLE K WEIGH IN WITH THEIR FAVES

BOXING YOUR EARS

IF YOU'VE GOT CASH IN YOUR WALLET AND TIME ON YOUR HANDS, BOXED SETS ARE FOR YOU