hip-hop
Is Snoop Dogg the Best We Can Do for a Weed Icon?
Rich Juzwiak · 06/11/13 05:49PMThe most recent issue of Rolling Stone — the one with the This Is The End guys on the cover and the accompanying story all about how James Franco farts a lot, and how Jonah Hill won't discuss farts, and how Danny McBride's underwear becomes unwearably dirty after just a day — has a special "The New Stoned Age" section all about weed. In all but two of this section's big stories, Snoop Dogg is name-dropped. This happens casually in pieces that he has no formal link to, such as "Weed City, USA," which is about the booming growing business in Denver:
Erykah Badu Loves You: A Conversation With the Artist
Rich Juzwiak · 06/10/13 03:09PMErykah Badu has mastered the modern art of giving interview. A mixture of wit and earnestness, of insight and leftfield references, hers is the kind of rare personality that should earn an open invitation to the talk-show circuit regardless of promo and just 'cuz, a la Amy Sedaris on Letterman. Badu is cool to death, she makes music that is cerebral, challenging and sometimes extra-terrestrial. But make no mistake, this woman is a star's star.
Woman Credits Waka Flocka Flame for the End of Her Unhappy Marriage
Rich Juzwiak · 06/04/13 02:40PMNicki Minaj Hands DJ His Ass, Calmly Talks the Chip on Her Shoulder
Rich Juzwiak · 05/28/13 02:45PMNicki Minaj and Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg. Together. At last. If this means nothing to you, fair enough: the story has been over for almost a year. Last June the morning-show host rather rudely dissed Minaj's pop tendencies at Summer Jam just hours before she was supposed to perform at the Hot 97-sponsored festival. She ended up pulling out of the show and discussing the whole thing with Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex.
Hamilton Nolan · 05/17/13 03:23PM
Republican Congressman Loves 'Conservative Message' of Public Enemy
Hamilton Nolan · 05/16/13 12:35PMHamilton Nolan · 05/13/13 07:35AM
Here's Riff Raff Impersonating James Franco on One Life to Live
Rich Juzwiak · 05/07/13 12:22PMThe hardest working assclown in showbiz, rapper Riff Raff, appears on today's episode of the soap opera One Life to Live (now brought to you by Hulu) as a “art dealer, multimillionaire” named Jamie Franko. It is a predictably unsubtle jab at James Franco, whose Spring Breakers character Alien was clearly inspired by Riff Raff. As detailed in Amos Barshad's excellent Grantland piece "The Curious Case of Riff Raff vs. Spring Breakers," director Harmony Korine initially invited Riff Raff to appear in the film, but that eventually changed. Franco gave more credit to Florida rapper Dangeruss as "a main source of inspiration" for the role in an essay he wrote for MTV. Dangeruss does appear in the film.
Was Danny Brown Sexually Assaulted When a Woman Blew Him Onstage?
Rich Juzwiak · 05/02/13 02:50PMIn case you missed it: Just-left-of-mainstream rapper Danny Brown received oral sex onstage at his show on Friday at Minneapolis's West Bank. This has scandalized social media for most of the week. An early account of the incident on Reddit, titled "I just saw Danny brown get his dick sucked on stage mpls" went like this:
Here's DMX Repeatedly Freaking Out and Getting His Ass Handed to Him
Rich Juzwiak · 04/14/13 11:55AMDMX, the Lindsay Lohan of hip-hop whose messiness has far superseded his art in terms of the current attention he courts, brought his erratic brand of emotional splattering to a 90-minute episode of the OWN series Iyanla Fix My Life last night. Though he spoke as if he had mainlined coke into his larynx, he denied being high to self-help guru Iyanla Vanzant. Her main objective was to reunite him with his son Xavier, to whom he had not spoken in a year and a half. Over the course of their discussion about DMX's infidelity and substance abuse, X repeatedly lashed out at Vanzant, referring to her as "lady" and "bitch." He apologized only to freak out at her again, and her reciprocal smackdown was, in a word, cathartic.
The Most Important Word in Tyler, the Creator’s Vocabulary Is Exactly What You Think It Is
Rich Juzwiak · 04/02/13 04:50PMIt's hard to imagine a purportedly heterosexual artist who has a more intimate relationship with the word "faggot" than the rapper Tyler, the Creator. His frequent use of word has defined his career to many (especially those who haven't taken the time to listen to his music or are generally hip-hop avoidant), its legend reaching exaggerated proportions – an oft-quoted, erroneous post on NME says he uttered the word and variations of it like "fag" 213 times on his 2011 sophomore album Goblin. Fader, in a more measured post of various Goblin stats, counted only nine.
Lil Wayne Writes Best Review of the New Lil Wayne Album: "Uh, It Sucks. I Hate It."
Rich Juzwiak · 03/29/13 02:05PMProving that even at his worst, he is among the best, impish rapper Lil Wayne appeared on L.A.'s Power 106 to discuss his new album, I Am Not a Human Being II, and not dying. Wayne added his voice to the chorus disappointed by his new set of songs — Human Being II has received mixed reviews and is one of the most tepidly received releases in the critical darling's oeuvre.
Rich Juzwiak · 03/26/13 10:10AM
Beyoncé Releases a New Song Commanding Her Adoring Public To 'Bow Down'
Rich Juzwiak · 03/18/13 10:51AMBeyoncé is so cute when she gets angry: If the art accompanying her new song(s) "Bow Down / I Been On" is any indication, she looks like her prepubescent pageant-girl self Photoshopped onto a picture of her old living room/trophy display area. That's only the first indication the weirdness of the release, which came via Beyoncé's Tumblr yesterday. The song amassed over a million streams on Soundcloud in less than 24 hours, which must be some sort of record.
Self-Appointed Privilege Police Officer Denounces Macklemore’s Pro-Equality Anthem
Rich Juzwiak · 03/07/13 05:11PMRacialicious has a piece today about the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis song "Same Love" (featuring Mary Lambert), and people seem to care about it. The gist of "Race + Hip-Hop + LGBT Equality: On Macklemore's White Straight Privilege" by Hel Gebreamlak is that because Macklemore, a white indie rapper based in Seattle, did not say something the way Hel Gebreamlak would have said it, Macklemore is wrong. How internet of Gebreamlak.
Don't Make That Rap Video: SUNY Edition
Hamilton Nolan · 03/01/13 09:24AMKid Rapper's Adult-Themed Music Videos Alarm Child Services
Neetzan Zimmerman · 02/26/13 02:29PMKanye West's New Song Goes, 'WAAAA WAAAAAAAAAAAAA'
Rich Juzwiak · 02/25/13 01:30PMKanye West concluded his Sunday concert at London's Hammersmith Apollo by repeatedly howling, so you know it was a great show. He was performing 2006's formerly breezy single "Touch the Sky" when he unleashed and then threw down his mic. Apparently, this made as little sense within context as it does without. Says GQ UK: