Lauryn Hill

Future Shock: Alicia Keys, Buckethead, The Hives, and more

Pick Up Your Microphones

Blunt talk on the Smokin' Grooves Tour with the Fugees, Spearhead and A Tribe Called Quest

Safe Refuge

Fugee Wyclef Jean uses his solo album for a round-the-world adventure

Recordings

Fugee Wyclef Jean uses his solo album for a round-the-world adventure

Party Favors

KPTY finds room for novelty in the Top 40 format

Father Cube

Ice Cube re-stakes his position as a rap icon on the Family Values tour

Critical Mass

A recap of the releases that made it worthwhile to own a CD player in 1998

Letters

A recap of the releases that made it worthwhile to own a CD player in 1998

The Rise of Pompeii

Clubs like Pompeii and the Acme Roadhouse prove that there's life beyond Mill Avenue

American Idol Top 9: 3 Pianos, 1 Guitar, And a Heaping Plate of Cheesiness

No Kris, aint no sunshine when YOU'RE gone. What's up, fellow AI watchers? After a brief hiatus, I am back, here to write on a Michael Sarver, Jasmine Murray, Jorge Nunez and Alexis Grace-less Idol. We shed a single tear for them all, and sing an off-key version of "I Will Survive" in honor of all t ... More >>

Groover & Shaker

New Zealand spin doctor brings broken jazz/nu soul to Scottsdale

Royally Screwed

Sir Duke got the spotlight, Strayhorn the shadows

Method Man

Rapping up a glorious career

Super Star Search

13-year-old rapper Supa Nova Sta's got game, if the hip-hop industry's willing to play

Get Down With Dave

Chappelle returns with a raucous Party

Alicia Keys

A big tour for the little lady

Citizen Cope

He's not your father's neo-folkie

Jesus Christ Rap Superstar

Phoenix is the unlikely capital of Christian hip-hop – leading to the not-so-immortal question, Who Would Jesus Diss?

Ms. Dynamite

A Little Deeper (Interscope)

Deep Black

Listeners had to travel far beyond mainstream to find sublime black music in 2002

Floetry

Floetic (Dreamworks Records)

Alicia Keys

Her Songs in a Minor merit major notice

Miseducated No Longer?

Lauryn Hill's bitter new acoustic medicine is as exasperating as it is intriguing

Perfect Truth

Cee-Lo breaks from the Mob in a solo quest to save hip-hop

Macy Gray

The ID (Epic)

Maxwell

Now (Columbia)

Who's That Girl?

It's Eve at MTV's TRL Tour

Musiq Soulchild

Aijuswanaseing (Def Soul)

The Award for Mediocrity, Again

Yearning for civil unrest from any '99 Grammy nominee

Obsessions, Passions, Perversions

New Times music critics reveal their deepest, darkest record-buying secrets

Big in Japan

How does one tiny island nation create so much disposable pop?

Molten Wax

How does one tiny island nation create so much disposable pop?

Queen YoNasDa, Phoenix MC with Ties to Louis Farrakhan, Wu Tang Clan and Radical Native American Group, Preps Album

Our experience with Sonny Long -- and the subsequent support for his fraud by people who should know better, but maybe have more in common with him than they'd like to admit -- shows me that a lot of folks in Phoenix's small but boastful hip-hop community are full of shit. With publicity materials t ... More >>

Your Grandpa's New EP

​Right before people die, they usually say their goodbyes to the people they love. But now some British folks might have one last wish: "turn me into a record, please."For £2,000, you can ensure that your ashes will be sprinkled into the vinyl, according to Consequence of Sound. A record can be m ... More >>

Gorillaz Release 'Phoner to Arizona' Music Video

Gorillas have just dropped a music video for their new song "Phoner to Arizona," according to NME.Phoner to Arizona" is the first track on Gorillaz' new iPad album The Fall, which they wrote while on the road during their North American fall tour this year.The Fall will be released as a free downloa ... More >>

Duran Duran, The Strokes Tapped For Coachella; Official Lineup Coming Soon UPDATE

​Coachella's official lineup should be announced very, very soon -- lest anyone forget that this week is usually when the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival makes it big announcement.In lieu of the entire festival lineup, a few acts have already been confirmed for the festival's 2011 editi ... More >>

Coachella 2011 Official Lineup Announced

​In perfect Girl Talk fashion, the good people of Goldenvoice set up a surprise late night release of Coachella's overwhelmingly impressive lineup.Many of Michael Lopez's lineup predictions were spot on. The Strokes made the cut, as did Duran Duran, although on a different day than what Billboard ... More >>

Coachella 2011 Friday Recap

The Main Stage at Dusk​The 2011 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival got underway yesterday with the bad taste from 2010's fiasco still in the mouths of many -- myself included. It didn't help that Paul Tollett -- head of the festival's producer Goldenvoice -- recently admitted that he belie ... More >>

DJ Solarize Passes Away at 26

Leon Botha, who is often associated with Die Antwoord, has passed away from complications with progeria, according to Stereogum.Botha is also known as DJ Solarize. He's known for being a prominent visual artist in Cape Town, South Africa, as well. He appeared in South African hip-hop duo Die Antwoor ... More >>

Jace Everett on True Blood, Alison Mosshart, Sex, and Religion

​ BY LAUREN WISE If you've never heard of Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jace Everett, there's little doubt you've heard a song he's best known for--the theme from HBO's massively popular, supernatural-saturated television series True Blood. Everett's music is a fusion of blues, rockabilly and ... More >>

Top Five Musician Beatdowns

Last week, ​Nicki Minaj got into an altercation with a personal assistant, Safaree Samuels, according to Billboard.While the two fought in a hotel room in Dallas, Texas, Samuels allegedly shoved a suitcase full of his personal belongings in Minaj's face and hit her in the lower lip after she told ... More >>

Pauly D to Join Britney Spears on Tour

​DJ Pauly D will be spinning on Britney Spears' tour, according to the Fab Life.The Jersey Shore star will be opening for Britney for six dates during her fall tour."Britney is one of my favorite performers and certainly one of this generation's most influential artists," he said. "It's an amazing ... More >>

Lauryn Hill's Former Guitarist Sues Her For Unpaid Wages, Harrassment

​One might expect someone who demands they be addressed as "Ms." whatever-their-name-is might be a little narcissistic and perhaps have a bit of a superiority complex going on too. That seems to be the case with Ms. Lauryn Hill. Reports are surfacing that Jay Gore, a former guitarist for Laur ... More >>

August 9 In Blogs: Russell Pearce, Lisa Jacobs, Lauryn Hill, Eggs, and Warren Jeffs

​In the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries:

Groove Candy Celebrates Five Years of Neo-Soul and Hip-Hop Tonight

​Since 2006 the Valley's hip-hop scene has been bolstered by rising local MC's and one funky ass Thursday night. Groove Candy is celebrating five years of kickin' it old-school with Power 98.3 DJs M2 and Fresh 85 tonight at the Suede Lounge in Scottsdale. As always the mighty duo will be spi ... More >>

Joleen Lunzer, What Are You Listening To?

Joleen Lunzer​Joleen LunzerThe stand-up comedian headlines the Tempe Improv Thursday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? I recently found a station that plays hip hop/R&B from the 90's and early 2000's, 101. ... More >>