Ghostface Killah

The Five Best Songs That Sample the Beatles

Pop and R&B superstar Frank Ocean has recently opened up to MTV News that he's been on a Beatles and Beach Boys binge when seeking inspiration for his upcoming second full-length record. While it's not exactly surprising to hear of a young artist gorging himself on Beatles classics for ideas, it is ... More >>

The Best Hip-Hop at SXSW 2013

I remember going to SXSW a few years ago without a place to sleep, less than $100 to spend, no agenda, badge, wristband, or RSVP. I bar-hopped up and down Red River, made friends, snuck into Stubb's, ate cheese pizza and drank Lone Star. After years of busting my ass as a music photographer and wri ... More >>

The Art of Storytelling Gone Wrong: The 5 Worst Hip-Hop Concept Albums

Hip-hop is a genre based around storytelling skills. Some people can't form a coherent story and it sometimes still works for them, but the absolute best are the ones who can keep you hanging off their heavy wordplay and take you through the twists and turns of a good story. Ghostface Killah and MF ... More >>

Saturday Night: Action Bronson at Numbers

Action Bronson Numbers September 22, 2012 After working hundreds of concerts over the last three years, most of them being rap and hip-hop shows, I feel like if I've seen one rap show, I've seen them all. The rapper arrives late, takes the stage past midnight, gives respect to Pimp C and DJ Screw, ... More >>

Rock Arcade: 6 Musicians Featured In Video Games

Recently Green Day have been trying to promote their latest album by infiltrating all forms of mainstream media and somebody in the band must have realized that Angry Birds is a thing so why should it be left out? That is, presumably, how the world came to see Green Day members immortalized as gree ... More >>

5 Weird Music Figurines To Spruce Up Your Home or Office

For those looking to bring a bit of personality to their cubicle or to add character to a boring bookshelf there is a whole world of music collectables out there to choose from. From statues to bobbleheads to dolls these figures, no matter what you call them, are yet another revenue stream for the e ... More >>

Happy Birthday RZA!: 5 More Creative Outlets For the Wu-Tang Abbot

The Wu-Tang Clan is full of big personalities we know and love. And while Method Man may have had the most success away from the group, Ghostface Killah is the most fun to parody online, and Ol' Dirty Bastard is the most beloved, in terms of influence on hip hop as a whole the most important member ... More >>

Walking Through The Five Stages Of Grief With Ghostface Killah

This weekend, my father and I had a falling-out. The specifics of the exchange will not advance the narrative in any meaningful way. You just need to know that he felt one way about something and I felt another way about that same thing, and we let each other know that neither agreed with the othe ... More >>

Occam's Razor: A Drinking Game

Spare me your opinion on the accuracy of the attribution, or the exact translation of "entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity," and indulge me in my slightly unwarranted perversion of the spirit of the statement, but, when you get right down to it, Occam's Razor is essentially the Reinheit ... More >>

Brew Blog: Twisted Pine Ghost Face Killah

I know, I know. I just went on a rant about gimmicky beers, and here I go drinking a beer that seems like it was designed for YouTube reaction videos. I don't know if this makes it better or worse, but it was actually a case of mistaken identity. When I picked this one up, I wasn't really paying eno ... More >>

Circle Takes The Square: Casting The H-Town Version of Hip Hop Squares

News broke last week that MTV2, MTV's sister network nominally dedicated to actual music, is reviving the classic Hollywood Squares format as Hip Hop Squares, an over-the-top tic-tac-toe game featuring urban personalities including actor/comedian Nick Cannon; record producer DJ Khaled; rappers Fat J ... More >>

Last Night: Wu-Tang Clan at House of Blues

It's probably not bad advice to say that if you're planning to catch a Wu-Tang show, you better be ready to lose control. Method Man, for one, hates lazybones. His twin requirements for an ideal concert: weed and energy. "The energy that you give to us, we gonna give back to y'all," Meth proclaims, ... More >>

Ask A Rapper: Picking Wu-Tang Tracks With DeVille

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to sheaserrano@gmail. ... More >>

Saturday Night: Ghostface, Raekwon & Mobb Deep At House Of Blues

Photos by Marco TorresRaekwon (left) and Ghostface Killah​Rock the Bells Tour feat. Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Mobb Deep, Cappadonna, Supernatural & Fat Tony House of Blues August 12, 2011 Near the end of Ghostface and Raekwon's hourlong set Saturday night, Ghost stood near the stage like he ... More >>

Das Racist

Nate Dogg's Seven Best Hooks Besides "Regulate"

​Hip-hop lost a genius late Tuesday, when Nate Dogg passed away from causes unknown in Long Beach, Calif. Maybe the man upstairs needed this OG, who was 41 and had suffered strokes in 2007 and '08, to sing hooks in the choir. Meanwhile, Nate's work here on Earth will live on in hip-hop histor ... More >>

Top Five Worst Rapper-Athlete Collaborations

​Ever since Shaq flung the doors wide for athletes to satisfy their microphone dreams, many have tried to follow in his steps. The athlete-rapper experiment usually works, as long as the athlete leaves all the rapping to the rapper. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with these five songs. I ... More >>

Promoter Mike Kelley: "Numbers Is Houston's CBGB"

Marco TorresWu-Tang Clan's GZA and Ghostface Killah at Numbers, December 2010​Numbers' credentials as a concert venue are undeniable - everyone from Siouxsie and the Banshees to Green Day to Type O Negative has played there. It's hard to argue, though, that the past decade hasn't been a rough ... More >>

Last Night: Wu-Tang Clan At Numbers

Photos by Marco TorresMethod Man presses the flesh. See a slideshow of the Killer Bees (and several of H-Town's finest, who opened) here.​Wu-Tang Clan Numbers December 12, 2010 Sunday night's Wu-Tang Clan show ended around 2:30 this morning, after five or six openers and more than five hours ... More >>

Wu-Tang Clan's Best Pop-Culture References

​Rocks Off can't rightfully remember the last time the whole Wu-Tang Clan was ever in Houston, if they ever have been. For some reason, we keep wanting to think they came once with Rage Against The Machine around 1997. In 2007, they came to Dallas on the Rock The Bells summer tour with Nas, Ta ... More >>

Wu-Tang Clan

Budweiser Superfest

Before the Flood

West Texan Ned Sublette reflects on pre-Katrina New Orleans in a new memoir.

Some New Stuff From Our "Washington Shore" DJ Dave Wrangler

Rocks Off is pleased as punch to announce that Houston mash-up maestro Dave Wrangler will be providing the tunes for our douche-tastic "Washington Shore" party at the Washington Avenue Drinkery on February 11. Wrangler also agreed to craft some custom Washington Shore mash-ups we'll be bringing you ... More >>

In the Mix: DJ and Dance Music for the New Malaise, Part 2

​5. MSTRKRFT, Fist of God (Downtown) Canadian duo MSTRKRFT gave the cool kids what they want - grinding, "keytar" synths, a punk-rock attitude and plenty of pop references (John Legend, N.O.R.E., and Ghostface Killah make appearances). Despite the pair's hockey-mask appearance and heavy-metal-danc ... More >>

Ask A Rapper: Jett I Masstyr, or hasHBrown, or What's His Name, on Rap Nomenclature and Phonetics

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducinglisto ... More >>

He Said She Said: Songs Guaranteed to Offend the Opposite Sex

Chicks, man. Can't live with them, can't play music that objectifies them while in the car on the first date. What's up with that? You play one song with the queen mother c-word in it and she leaves the car before we get our complimentary paper crowns. We compiled a list of songs guaranteed to offe ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Avant, Brad Paisley, Fear, King Sunny Ade, Ra Ra Riot and More

Avant, Mateo:  Thu., Aug. 13. House of Blues. Babyface, Frankie Beverly & Maze: Sat., Nov. 7. Reliant Arena. Brad Paisley: Fri., Sept. 11. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Candlebox, Earshot: Mon., July 6. House of Blues. Celtic Thunder: Tue., Nov. 17. Verizon Wireless Theater. Datarock: T ... More >>

The Distillery: N.A.S.A.'s The Spirit of Apollo

Truth be told, we envy N.A.S.A.'s bumptuous production acumen almost as much as we envy principal astronauts Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon the depths of their Rolodexes - even if, somehow, they couldn't rope Lil Wayne into their genre-mashup free-for-all. Seriously - as you'll see below - N.A.S. ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Von Won, Lil O, Ludacris, Flo Rida, the Roots, Suge Knight, Too $hort, The Kanye, Ghostface Killah and More

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.       (Churchy) Single of the Week:  "I Love You," Von Won     Wire To Wire     ... More >>

What Do Shepard Smith and Soulja Boy have in common?

Wack's here to tell you: more than you might expect

Wu-Tang Clan

8 Diagrams

Ghostface Killah

Is Ghostface as dumb as he wants you to think he is?

Geekology 101

Judd Apatow explains himself.

Redman

Red Gone Wild

In with the New

Despite doom-and-gloom predictions, 2006 wasn't at all bad

Don't Fear the Reaper

The annual return of the Greil Marcus Rock Death Meter

Mama Mia

Our blushing Nightfly takes his Catholic mom to see R. Kelly

Mark Ronson

Here Comes the Fuzz (Elektra)

Shelf Life

Long after Britney Oops her way to obscurity, these releases will continue to sing