Ice Cube (Rapper)

Friday Night: Fabolous, Meek Mill And A Brawl At Warehouse Live

Fabolous, Meek Mill Warehouse Live February 15, 2013 Rap is probably my favorite genre of music, though I could never really put into words why that is. Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe it's because I grew up on Houston hip-hop and eventually found myself listening to the likes of Biggie, Ice Cube and ... More >>

Texans-Titans: The Best Rapper Tweets

UPDATED: Memorable Houston Concerts of 1992

UPDATE (2:03 p.m.): Alice In Chains was advertised but dropped out, and was replaced with Australia's Baby Animals. The year 1992 was an important one for me as far as Houston concerts are concerned: It's the first time I went to a concert within the Houston city limits, the "Outside Broadcast" leg ... More >>

When The Beach Boys Went To The Movies

The Beach Boys have embarked on a 50th-anniversary reunion tour this year, kicking off the media blitz with a Grammy performance featuring everybody from Maroon 5 to Foster the People. As one of the pioneering rock bands of their era, the Beach Boys made a return to the spotlight that was met with ... More >>

You Got Served: The Top 10 Legal Battles In Rock History

Ten years ago last week, one of the most vicious legal battles in rock history took another ugly turn. Ex-Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl found themselves in King County Superior Court over a dispute with Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, over the band's considerable royalti ... More >>

Cornbreadd Goes To Washington: Maurice Duhon Talks U.S. House Campaign

Cornbreadd - make that Maurice Duhon Jr. - is, to use a term of the trade, good copy. He's articulate, opinionated and effervescent, a tireless self-promoter with a genuine concern for and interest in the welfare of others - first his fans as the rapping front man of Houston Press Music Award winne ... More >>

"And A S.W.A.T Team in a Pear Tree": Hip Hop Christmas songs

​Have you grown tired of hearing the same played out Christmas songs on 99.1 yet? Of course you have. Even if you avoid the radio, you hear the music at the grocery store, company holiday parties, even at bars you escape to in order to avoid holiday overcheer. It's almost depressing. Christmas ... More >>

And, Uh, Um, OOPS: The Third Members Of Great Musical Trios You Probably Can't Name

​Last night we all watched as Governor Rick Perry blanked on the third department he would do away with if he was elected president. It was one of those moments - a la Scanners - when we all tensely waited for his head to explode, figuratively. Of course we love the guy and he's too precious t ... More >>

Father Figures: 100 Famous Musicians' Paternal Professions

If you're a Texan of a certain age, this week you've probably spent some time mourning the death of Jerry Haynes, the children's TV host better known as Mr. Peppermint. Haynes' show on WFAA-TV in Dallas, Peppermint Place, ran from the '60s to the '90s and was widely syndicated across the state, incl ... More >>

Top 5 Songs About Being Dead Broke

​Rocks Off caught a little of the coverage of the Obama adminstration and Congress' deadlock over the country's impending default on its debt this morning. We could barely make heads or tails of it, but the underlying message was fairly clear: Holy shit, are we ever fucked. We are already abo ... More >>

Four Artists Who Died Before Playing Houston

theindependent.co.uk​When Amy Winehouse died Saturday, almost everyone noted how the troubled British soul singer had joined the "27 Club," the list of legendary musicians who passed away at that age that also includes Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, ... More >>

The Five Best - And Two Worst - Rapper Actors

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 introducingliston@gmai ... More >>

Five Rappers You Didn't Know Had College Degrees

​Myth: The ability to string rhymes together automatically kills brain cells, thereby making it impossible for said stringer of rhymes to obtain a college degree. Fact: Many of your favorite hip-hoppers are college graduates with funny-sounding honorary titles. Myth: Street education is a pr ... More >>

Ballistics On Preemo's Magic Bullet Come Back Remarkable

Larami Serrano​On January 20 of last year, Rocks Off first discovered an unsigned Houston artist by the name of Preemo. When we stumbled upon him on MySpace, he was an unknown. Amazing what a year will do. For all intents and purposes, Houston's Preemo had seen his better years as a rapper, ... More >>

The Seven Most Memorable Rap Beatdowns

Wreckx-n-Effect went New Jack Swing on A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip in 1993.​When pop stars and Hollywood types need to settle a score, they take it to the courtroom. Hip-hop, however, operates by a different code: If you act up, you will get smacked up. Rocks Off was reminded of this when a m ... More >>

SXSW: Local Band Makes Good, A Wild Flag, DJ Quik & A Witch

Photos this page by Marc BrubakerBuxton​Marc Brubaker: For Rocks Off, sometimes SXSW isn't about seeing new bands or drinking until Sixth Street becomes a blurry swath of humanity. It's nice to check in with our hometown boys and see how they are received by the ears and arms of the masses in ... More >>

Upcoming: Blue Oyster Cult, Foals, Ice Cube, Etc.

​10 Years, Digital Summer, A Cry Farewell: Mon., Feb. 28. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Al Staehely: Fri., Feb. 11. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. Blue Oyster Cult, Marshall Tucker Band: Fri., March 18. Arena Theatre. Cults, Small Black, Sun Airway: Tue., March 15. Fitzgerald's. Destruction, Destroye ... More >>

Top Five Hip-Hop Foes Turned Friends

Marco Torres​Some rivalries are beyond repair. You'll never catch Kobe and Shaq trading smiles at a joint family picnic. 50 Cent and The Game will still be mugging at each other at the 2021 VH1 Hip-Hop Honors. Batman will always despise that sonamabitch The Joker. Truth be told, hip-hop is a ... More >>

1991: Best Music Year Ever?

Rocks Off Sr.'s choice for 1991's best album.​1991 was one of the biggest years in modern music. It was when metal went pop, radio country ruled, grunge went mainstream, and rap began its climb to chart dominance, even if it was spearheaded by a white candy rapper from Dallas. There were man ... More >>

Remember Propain's #Departure?

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or un, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. ​Propain #Departure (Self-released, 2010) Propain is one of the (if not the) most devastating f ... More >>

Can Rap Be Blamed For Teen Prostitution?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday (or thereabouts) that isn't a national holiday, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo Illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Roderick Thornton, Preemo, Kyle ... More >>

Top Five Musician Twitter Feuds So Far

​The times they are a-changin'. Gone are the days of musicians airing bad blood toward one another behind a lyrical veil a la Neil Young vs. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dandy Warhols vs. Brian Jonestown Massacre, Ice Cube vs. N.W.A. In our brave new world, Rocks Off has succumbed to the instant-gratific ... More >>

Homecoming

Gang Starr's DJ Premier still mourns partner Guru.

Rappers Vs. Uncle Sam: N.W.A., Eminem, Kanye...

​Mike Myers will probably go down in history as the most uncomfortable white guy next to a black guy in TV history, thanks to Kanye West's unscripted outburst during that infamous Hurricane Katrina telethon. It began with Myers reading his part of the script verbatim. Two-thirds into the PSA, ... More >>

Raekwon The Chef Can't Cook Up A Delicious Performance

Photos by Marco Torres​Rap is a cultural celebration of telling, through music, what it is real today, right now; not what was real two years ago as happened on June 19, 1865 when word finally reached Galveston that President Lincoln had freed the slaves... two years previous. At midnight on ... More >>

SUMMER GUIDE: (100) Days of Summer Movies

Enjoy the great indoors!

Today's DVDs: The Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of Valentine's Day

Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Who else was Clint gonna call?​Director Clint Eastwood, actors Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. That powerhouse trio could have chosen to tell just about any story they wanted and made it into an Academy Award worthy film. They chose Invictus, the real-life story o ... More >>

Nightfly: Hip Movement

Dance reigns supreme at salsa institution Club Tropicana.

"Weird" and Proud, Preemo Understands the Meaning of "Hustle Town"

​ We think "Weird Al" Yankovic screwed it up for everybody. There aren't lots of times you can use the word "weird" in a good way. That's one of those words we need to take back, on the real, because when you put "weird" into the right context it can be a positive thing - a differentiator from th ... More >>

Inside the Rappers Studio

Are you an aging hip-hop performer? Then the Rap Institute of Acting is for you!

Pink Floyd, Dr. Dre, Velvet Underground and Other Artists We're Glad Discovered Drugs

It was 45 years ago this past Friday... that Bob Dylan met the Beatles for the first time and, more importantly for Rocks Off's purposes, introduced them to marijuana. While this meeting of musical titans would never lead to any actual musical collaboration or "Monsters of Hippie Rock" series of co ... More >>

Are You Ready for That Great Atomic Power? Songs That Go Nuclear

This past week marks the 64th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S., on August 6 and 9, respectively, bringing an end to World War II. The subsequent decades have brought us a Cold War, explosive proliferation, and largely fruitless attempts to ... More >>

Turning the Screw: UGK, DMX, Common, The Kanye, T.I., Ice Cube, Trick Daddy, Lil Keke 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. Single of the Week: Hollywood F.L.O.S.S., "Attack of Hollywood" Wire To Wire The new UGK is really good. Buy it ... More >>

Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 9

[Note: This is the final installment of Aftermath's survey of memorable 2008 concerts - the ones he attended and reviewed (mostly, but not always, by him) anyway; kudos to Valient Thorr, Ice Cube, Dr. Dog, Son Volt, Journey/Heart, Wilderness, the HPMA showcase and many other ... More >>

Houston, Texas, America, Meet Huntzville...and Watch the Eff Out

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since gangsta rap went overground with N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton. Through Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg to Tupac and Eminem, it launched most of hip-hop's biggest stars for a good decade, but these days even artists like T.I. and Lil Wayne have sacrificed serious st ... More >>

Turning the Screw: H.I.S.D., Trae, Lupe Fiasco, Prodigy, Soulja Boy, Roy Jones Jr., Ice Cube and More

Turning the Screw: D. Rose, Rap City, Beastie Boys, Marilyn Manson, Paris, Lil Kim, Ice Cube and More

Weekend Music: Allen Oldies Band, True Colors Tour, Tom Waits and a Really Strange Japanese Guy

Give Us a Hand

Low Ride, Take It Easy

A trip to the Los Magnificos Car Show sets us to pondering why there can’t be a local rock equivalent

Manning the Booths

Why is the DJ scene almost completely devoid of women?

Boobs Versus Prudes

Only Prince can walk the tightrope between sensuality and artistry

Torque Out

Motorcycle sound and fury signify nothing -- but do kinda rock

Various

DJ Drank's Greatest Malt Liquor Hits (Hip Hop History)

Rhythm Room Boom

Chicks who rock and Tourbaby take the Washington Avenue stage

Rave On

Impressive Human Traffic isn't always pretty, much like the scene it covers

Rappies

The age of rapping movies in Houston is now

Desert Gold

An imaginative Three Kings skewers the combat genre

B.S. 101

John Singleton's Higher Learning fails to make the grade

Prodigal Ambitions

Houston's newest film production company shoots for the video moon