Mos Def

Yasiin Bey AKA Mos Def, Celebrity Theatre, 3/21/13

Mos Def/Yasiin Bey @ Celebrity Theatre|3/21/13It's clear that Yasiin Bey A.K.A. Mos Def is one of the most likeable guys in hip-hop history. The 39-year-old rapper is most known for his critically acclaimed album Black on Both Sides, as well as his work with fellow New York emcee Talib Kweli, as the ... More >>

Yasiin Bey/Mos Def @ Celebrity Theatre

Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Week

It's Monday, and that means that the rotting corpse of the weekend has been trampled on and desecrated by another dadgum work week. But never fear -- the resistance is growing. You can recreate the carefree feelings of the weekend every night this week by attending our Top Five Must-See Shows This W ... More >>

Yo Gabba Gabba! Is Proof That Kids Like Awesome Music

Can you imagine how you would have turned out if The Flaming Lips -- the same Christmas on Mars/crazy/insane Flaming Lips you're thinking of -- had appeared on Sesame Street? It's a question we'll soon be able to answer. The Lips have appeared on Yo Gabba Gabba!, arguably the hippest children's sh ... More >>

Lifted Aims for Timeless Pop, Like His Boss Kanye West

Top Five Must-See Shows This Week

Curious about what's going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions as to how to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don't fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend.

Talib Kweli @ Club Red

RE:GENERATION Documentary: Finally Skrillex Teams Up with The Doors

Photo by Brian Nevins​If the Grammy's taught us anything, it's that despite Dave Grohl's apparent objections, electronic dance music, or EDM, has stepped boldly into the spotlight, with artists like Skrillex and Deadmau5 leading the charge toward the mainstream. Director Amir Bar Lev's RE:GENER ... More >>

Tucson MC Savant Doesn't Create Standard Hip-Hop

Das Racist Are Just Joking (But They're Not Joking)

This Has Been a Good Week For Black Star Fans

​It's been a really great week for Black Star fans -- and I'm one of them. Black Star, the 1998 collaboration between Mos Def and Talib Kweli is one of my favorite hip-hop albums. The duo performed "Fix Up," produced by the nearly always awesome Madlib, on The Colbert Report, on Wednesday, October ... More >>

Talib Kweli

Multiple Benefit Concerts Being Organized to Support Queensland Flood Relief

​Flooding in Queensland, Australia is bringing about plenty of benefit concerts, according to Spinner.While artists like Keith Urban and Mos Def are shuffling around some tour dates to work around the flood, other artists and promoters are putting a more positive spin on the disaster by organizing ... More >>

Mos Def Joins The Sound Strike Boycott

Mos Def: White people love this guy.​Mos Def, the Hollywood actor who you may remember was once a respected rapper, has joined Zack de la Rocha's Sound Strike.Yes, #69 on the official list of Stuff White People Like, will not be bringing his enlightened rhymes to Arizona because of SB 1070, a stup ... More >>

Are the Newly Serious Gorillaz Any Less Fun? Naw

Are the Newly Serious Gorillaz Any Less Fun? Naw

Talib Kweli Promotes May 29 Anti-SB1070 March, Art Show in New Video

Kweli promotes the big May 29 march in this YouTube shortBrooklyn emcee Talib Kweli, one of the most respected names in hip-hop, known for his collaborations with fellow master of the mic Mos Def in Black Star, has done a video for AltoArizona.com endorsing the massive march to the state Capitol com ... More >>

Talib Kweli

Blitzen Trapper: Ever Wonder What the Hell That Means, Exactly?

Blitzen Trapper.​Have you ever really liked a band, but wondered, "How the hell did they come up with their name? What exactly does that mean?"Truth is, most professional music journalists would be waaaay too embarrassed to ask such a question of anyone other than the winner of a local Battle of t ... More >>

Slash's Solo Album Stream: Hear It Before Its May Release

Slash has a new record out...with the help of loads of famous friends.​When you used to be in a band with a guy that made arguably the most anticipated album of the last two decades, which turned out to be Axl Rose's epic failure Chinese Democracy, it's kinda hard to top the hype yourself. But ala ... More >>

Album Stream: Gorillaz -- Plastic Beach

The latest Gorillaz album isn't released until next Tuesday, but you can stream it in its entirety at NPR​If you've been dying to listen to Plastic Beach, the latest offering from Gorillaz, since hearing the single "Stylo," then please wait no longer. NPR's Exclusive First Listen has made the enti ... More >>

Mos Def Becomes First Artist To Take Dumb "Music Tee" Idea Seriously

"Yo kids, this is Mos Def. Please buy my $39 album art t-shirt. In LA and NY, where the people who dreamed this up live, it's not a totally stupid idea to charge $60 for a t-shirt. Maybe where you live it isn't either."When I first got a press release about The Original Music Tee (not to be confu ... More >>

New Vampire Weekend, Crystal Antlers at Ruby Room, Blur Reunion Video, Touch and Go Book

Electric Mustache: Photos: Crystal Antlers at The Ryhthm Room 6/8/2009 Spin: Vampire Weekend's New Record: "Higher, Lower, Faster! Spin: Blur post rehearsal footage online - video Rolling Stone: U2's Bono and the Edge Talk "Spider-Man" Musical Pitchfork: The Smashing Pumpkins Hire a 19-Year-Old ... More >>

Other People's Blogs: Grammys ditch polka, Black Keys Work With Mos Def, MGMT Hating on Headbands

Spin: Jay-Z's 'Blueprint 3' Out This SeptemberRolling Stone: The Biggest, Oddest (and Most Unique) Sound in New YorkPitchfork: Santigold's Label Attempts to Block Santigold MixtapeNME: Grammys ditch polka category for 2010 AwardsSpin: Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman Perform Together in NYCPitchfork: Bla ... More >>

Madlib, Blatz, Deerhunter, and Crystal Stilts are Part of What's Selling at East Side Records in Tempe

Otis Jackson Jr. (a.k.a. Madlib) wins the award for the coolest bedroom ever.With apologies to Russell Simmons, Madlib's arguably the hardest working cat in hip-hop.Besides creating his own jams and flows under a few different noms de guerre (Quasimoto, Sound Directions, Yesterday's New Quintet), t ... More >>

Q-Tip's Do-Over Kills Momentum at Marquee

By Martin Cizmar Q-Tip is a perfectionist. Or so he said Monday night as he derailed his show one song in, taking a five-minute interlude to adjust the sound. “Any of ya’ll bloggers out there? Any bloggers?” he asked. “So when you blog about this, just be a little gracious. ... More >>

Be Kind Rewind attempts to celebrate DIY filmmaking, but comes up short, stale, and flat

Top 10 selling CDs at Hoodlums, in the ASU Memorial Union building in Tempe

Chart-busters for the week

Phoenix Becomes Hip-Hop Central (for a weekend)

Top 10 selling CDs at Hoodlums Music in the ASU Memorial Union building in Tempe

Chart-busters for the week

The Top 10 selling CDs at Circles, 800 North Central Avenue

Chart-busters for the week

Snap To It

Comeback kids, rhymin' Limeys and songs about partying defined Hip-Hop Nation in 2006

Aloe Blacc

Shine Through
(Stones Throw)

Get Down With Dave

Chappelle returns with a raucous Party

Hard Ride

Stuck in traffic with Bruce Willis? Walk

Bum Rap

50 Cent wants to be an actor . . . but he's not

El Pus

Don't fence them in

Mixing It Up

Variety is the spice of Coachella

Mos Def

The New Danger
(Geffen)

What's Selling

Top 10 selling CDs at Zia Record Exchange (1940 W. Chandler Boulevard in Chandler) for October 18 through 24

D12

D12 World (Shady/Interscope)

Lifesavas

Spirit in Stone (Quannum)

Safe, Cracked

The Italian Job, a remake better than the original, is a steal

A Def Ear

Poet posse in for a shout-out

The X-ecutioners

Built From Scratch (Loud Records)

Standards and Practices

A guided tour of the best releases across the musical spectrum

Open to All

Black Eyed Peas hope they're luckier in 2001 than they were last year

Black Stars

Talib Kweli offers his reflections on the state of hip-hop, Levi's, and the role of MCs in the African-American community

Welsh-Hop

Former '80s synth-poppers return from decadelong exile with a funky makeover

Shirt Happens

Budding urban-wear mogul takes Phoenix's MosDef label to the streets