Ice-T

Where Is Lil Wayne In the Lyrical Hot Water Hall of Fame?

Proving that it is almost never wise to compare the results of rough sex to Emmett Till's face, Lil Wayne was dropped from his Mountain Dew campaign last week. Emmett Till, for those of you who aren't familiar, was a 14-year-old boy who was beaten to death, shot, and dumped in the river for whistlin ... More >>

Can a Rapper Make a Good Rock Album?

Recently B.o.B. commented on his upcoming rock EP to MTV, saying that he's been "holding back so much rock for so long." While B.o.B. says that "no one's really expecting anything," freeing him to do whatever he wants, I myself do have an expectation for this record: It's going to be awful. I hate ... More >>

Your Halloween Playlist: Don't Play That, Play This

Recently Rocks Off told you how to put together a solid party playlist. We're coming up on the time of year when people start throwing Halloween parties, so now it's time to get a little more specific. Don't be content to throw on the old 30 Spookiest Halloween Hits album and walk away, because gue ... More >>

As It Was Written: The Red Tide Riseth from Sea, Kills Thousands (of Fish)

Some Biblical-type shit has struck Galveston, killing hundreds of thousands of fish and littering the beaches with their carcasses. The first dead washed ashore on Friday, and it wasn't until Monday afternoon that scientists gave this hidden killer a name: The red tide. It's composed of microscopic ... More >>

Top 10 Interesting Things From Ice-T's The Art of Rap

Friday night, Ice-T's new hip-hop documentary The Art of Rap opened in theaters nationwide. I went and watched it at the AMC Studio 30 at Westheimer and Dunvale. Here are ten things from the movie that are interesting and one thing that will be picked over: 10. Grandmaster Caz Is Ruthlessly, Seaml ... More >>

New Doc The Art Of Rap Spills Hip-Hop's Secrets

Rap wasn't always like Lil Jon's yelling his famous "What!?" and "Okay!", or repeating your name over and over throughout the song like Houston's own Lil Flip. Nowadays most see rap as lyrics telling a woman how to position herself or look for a man, rhymes about money and talk of toking up. But th ... 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 >>

Fishbone's Ska-Punk Casts A Long Shadow In New Film

Photo by Ann Summa​The documentary Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone flirts with a balance between history and character as it looks behind the scenes at a group that failed to achieve large-scale commercial success, but inspired many groups that did. Directors Lev Anderson and Chris ... More >>

The Best Summer Movie Soundtracks Of The '90s

This movie is old enough to drive.​Summer is officially here, even though it's been ball-dripping sweaty since at least early May. This is also about the time that we are already steeped in big-budget Hollywood summer would-be blockbusters, the kind of movies that have fast-food promotions and ... More >>

Everyone Loves You When You're Dead: Almost Almost Famous

​Neil Strauss Everyone Loves You When You're Dead: Journeys into Fame and Madness ItBooks, 554 pp., $16.99 While most music-journo compendiums usually collect a sonic scribe's most famous interview pieces into one book, Strauss - one of the finest currently practicing the trade - takes a whol ... More >>

Last Night: Bon Jovi At Toyota Center

Photos by Groovehouse​Bon Jovi Toyota Center May 17, 2011 Keep the faith with Bon Jovi and their hordes of Houston fans in our slideshow. It's no easy feat to emerge relatively unscathed from the ruins of the '80s metal boom. Bon Jovi's more glam-oriented contemporaries can no longer hope to ... More >>

April 29, 1992: Ten Songs About The L.A Riots

​It was 19 years ago today that the Los Angeles riots began after four white police officers, caught on videotape beating the African-American Rodney King after a drug-fueled high-speed chase, were acquitted by a Simi Valley, Calif. jury. The rest of the world watched in shock and sadness as ... More >>

Narduwar The Human Serviette's 11 Best Interviews

exclaim.caNarduwar (left) and the patron saint of 4/20​Nardwuar The Human Serviette from "Vancouver BC Canada" knows all of your favorite bands, artists, and rappers better than you, and better than they know themselves. At first glance, he kind of resembles a Canadian Matthew Lesko (the free- ... More >>

Professor Punk: Hates Singer To Be Guest Lecturer At U Of H

Brittanie SheyThe Hates at Cactus Music, December 2009​Quick. What do Ice-T and Houston's own punk-rock elder statesman Christian Arnheiter of The Hates have in common? Well, both are respected lectures at institutes of higher learning. Arnheiter will be guest lecturing from 11:30 a.m. to 12: ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Top 10 Rock Tell-All Autobiographies

​Craig's Hlist just cracked into his copy of Life, by Keith Richards. It's the first time that the Rolling Stones guitarist and god among men has taken time to document his rock and roll journey for anyone. Sure there have been Stones oral histories from the band, but this is Richards' chance ... More >>

FAIL: Creed, Ice-T, Liam Gallagher

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Creed Doesn't Get It, Guys: You know how some people just never seem to get the message, no matter how obvious you're being? Even if that message is "I hate your guts"? Not surprisingly, Creed are those guys. You remember Creed: four tribal-tattooed pu ... More >>

Does Being An Actor Compromise Your Rap Career?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't a national holiday, Rocks Off will have some of them discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week's Panel: Paul Wall, Damien Randle, Sam Sneed Not Invited: Freekey Zeekey, for getting Dipset back together ... More >>

Inside Ozone Magazine's Sex Issue

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, albeit sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. We'll incorporate the number five in there somewhere. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ​ Ozone magazine, the preeminent name in Southern rap p ... More >>

Lil' Keke's 11 Favorite Gangster Movies

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, albeit sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. We'll incorporate the number five in there somewhere. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ​As research for an upcoming music feature, we met up w ... More >>

For St. Patrick's Day: Five Iconic (And Not At All Stereotypical) Irish Characters

It's St. Patrick's Day again, which means everyone not visibly non-white will claim Irish heritage to better justify their criminal alcohol abuse and the Celtics will -- for one day, at least -- be the most celebrated sports franchise in the land. You're probably all well acquainted with how to act ... More >>

New DVDs This Week: Good Hair by Chris Rock

This is bad hair: that ratty, tatty, tangle of hair that has been relaxed, greased and flattened to within an inch of its life sitting atop the heads of lots of African American women (and some men). Since it won't do anything even slightly Vanessa Williams-like (no bouncing curls or windswept ... More >>

A Few Chill Artists for Your Wintry Commute This Afternoon

​If there's anything that makes Houstonians freak the fuck out worse than an oncoming hurricane, it's the threat of winter weather. Rocks Off was in our local grocery store Thursday night (we simply had to have that new Rolling Stone with Taylor Lautner on the cover) and the checkout line was teem ... More >>

He Said She Said: Our Favorite Fictional Performers, Part 2

​Why is that sometimes the fictional bands in movie and television are cooler than real bands? Sadly, some of He Said's favorite bands don't even have albums or videos to speak of, because they don't even exist. The fun part is imagining how awesome their full-length records and tours would be. Th ... More >>

Inside the Rappers Studio

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

Turning the Screw: Dustin Prestige, Lupe Fiasco, Katy Perry/Travis McCoy, Dr. Dre, DJ AM, Lil' Kim, Damon Dash/Jay-Z, Talib Kweli 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: "Funny Valentine," Dustin Prestige Wire To Wire Lupe Fiasco, whom you'll remember recently announ ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Promise Pseudo, Soulja Boy, Scarface, Rick Rubin, Akon, T.I., Doug E. Fresh, the Bee Gees 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: "Sunny," Promise Pseudo Wire To Wire We disliked Soulja Boy, and then we read this Scarface inte ... More >>

Not Your Father's N-Word

Eight months after its "burial," the American language's most dangerous epithet is more popular than ever in hip-hop

The Nonstop Hustle of Houston DJ Ceeplus Bad Knives

Grinderman

Odd Couples

Strange musical pairings

Steal These Albums

The ten most dangerous and radical hip-hop records of all time

Cope With This

Finally, someone figures out how to craft an interesting rock/hip-hop blend

Murder Music in Sharpstown

Houston yawns as Jamaican homophobe Capleton blazes through town

Murs

Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition (Def Jux)

Medley Fool

DJ Jester mixes and mashes up Willie Nelson, Ice-T, the Carpenters and LL Cool J

Hayes, Dude

A fresh and brainy country alternative

Jägermeister Tour 2003, with Slayer, Hatebreed, Archenemy and E-Town Concrete

Tuesday, November 11

That's a Rap

D-Wreck crosses over to film

Rapping with TC

Tim Conway and Harvey Korman are still kicking after all these years

Heigh Ho, It's Off to Work They Go

Hughes brothers make pimpin' seem as benign as the cartoonish caricature of the profession

Big Country

Buddy and Julie Miller --

Slightly Off Kilter

Action Incorporated

Make way for Master P's low-end version of Hollywood

Weird Ways

Rotation

Rotation

Rotation

The Second-Movie Itch

Two black filmmakers try new territories, with mixed results