John Legend

Just Released CDs

Speaking of Umbrellas...It's Bumbershoot Time

Sanity Claus: Separating Holiday-Music Gifts from Seasonal Disorders

Giddyup!: Full RodeoHouston Lineup Announced

Aftermath: Latin Grammys at Toyota Center, Pt. 1

Carlos Santana backstage at the Latin Grammys/ Photo by Olivia Flores Alvarez Is music really the universal language? There was no better place to test that ragged old saw than at Thursday’s Latin Grammys at Toyota Center. As one of the few (if not the only) non-Spanish-speakers in the buildi ... More >>

Latin Grammys Backstage Report

There were a couple of big winners at last night’s Latin Grammy’s ceremony, namely Juanes and Gloria Estefan. You heard their acceptance speeches, now find out what they said backstage. The night’s big winner was, of course, Juanes, who took home five awards, making him the winner of th ... More >>

Paola Mayorga's Latin Grammy Journal

[Ed. Note: Paola Mayorga is a 21-year-old Missouri City woman who won a contest sponsored by Reliant Energy for a trip to the Latin Grammys, including backstage and green carpet access and accomodations at the Four Seasons. Rocks Off asked her to write up her experience.] Paola Mayorga and her mot ... More >>

Aftermath: SXSW

[Ed. Note: Paola Mayorga is a 21-year-old Missouri City woman who won a contest sponsored by Reliant Energy for a trip to the Latin Grammys, including backstage and green carpet access and accomodations at the Four Seasons. Rocks Off asked her to write up her experience.] Paola Mayorga and her mot ... More >>

T.I.

[Ed. Note: Paola Mayorga is a 21-year-old Missouri City woman who won a contest sponsored by Reliant Energy for a trip to the Latin Grammys, including backstage and green carpet access and accomodations at the Four Seasons. Rocks Off asked her to write up her experience.] Paola Mayorga and her mot ... More >>

Estelle

[Ed. Note: Paola Mayorga is a 21-year-old Missouri City woman who won a contest sponsored by Reliant Energy for a trip to the Latin Grammys, including backstage and green carpet access and accomodations at the Four Seasons. Rocks Off asked her to write up her experience.] Paola Mayorga and her mot ... More >>

Soul Men Pays Fitting Tribute to the Late Bernie Mac

Blues Brothers

Rodney Crowell, Forever the Houston Kid

Gasoline Dreams

Al Green: Lay It Down

Gasoline Dreams

Baller's Ball

Where to party this All-Star Weekend

Odd Couples

Strange musical pairings

Through Thicke and Tim

Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake face off -- again

Hope Springs Eternal

A northern suburb tops our third installment of rating greater Houston's taste in music

Paranoia Self Destroyer

A New Birth Brass Band set at the Volcano makes Racket long for a new and improved tinfoil hat

John Legend, with De La Soul and Rahzel

Saturday, August 13, at HUSH, 15625 Katy Freeway, 713-330-HUSH.

Hot Shows

Summertime concerts that will leave you sweating

Philly Science

John Legend is the latest star to emerge from the City of Brotherly Love

Rotation

John Legend is the latest star to emerge from the City of Brotherly Love

Rick Ross Is Completely Innocent and the Greatest Rapper Alive

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.​Last year, president of Don Diva magazine Sam Ferguson played a major role ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day One: Aftermath

Photo by Mark C. AustinSchool of Seven Bells​Before we start discussing the great music we heard yesterday, we would like to take time to thank the Gods Of Rock for blessing Day One of the Austin City Limits Festival (ACL) 2009 with an amazing afternoon and evening of weather. Anyone who has ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day One: John Legend Sexes Up the Crowd

Photos by Groovehouse​Opening with Bob Marley's gorgeous "Redemption Song" from a raised podium in the middle of the crowd, John Legend immediately captured everyone's attention yesterday before launching into a set of smooth, slightly 70s, superbly sexy songs that had his adoring female fans hang ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day Two: Live Shots

Photos by Mark C. AustinMute Math​The second day of the festival was so busy (and so rainy) that we barely had time to get back to our laptops and card readers to upload photos. So - one day late - enjoy our favorite shots from Day Two of ACL, featuring Bon Iver, Citizen Cope, Grizzly Bear, Mute M ... More >>

Aftermath: John Legend (Pre-ACL) at Verizon Wireless Theater - Hey, Better Late Than Never

[Ed. Note: We temporarily interrupt our postmortem ACL coverage to bring you this review of John Legend's show at Verizon Wireless Theater last Wednesday.] Photos by Daniel Kramer​ 9:03 p.m.: So we're here at Verizon Wireless Theater for the show. Going to a concert where you're not allowed to ... More >>

The Best and Worst Christmas Specials of All Time

Every winter brings the onslaught of family tension, shopping, and that most American of pastimes, the Christmas special. They're typically half an hour, though they can be longer, and they often take characters from an already-established world and run them through the gauntlet of festivities surro ... 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 >>

Recovery Has Exorcised Lucky Luciano's Demons. This Rapper Is Clean.

In the January 5th edition of the Houston Press, you read about a small piece of Lucky Luciano's life - his addiction to drugs and alcohol and life of pimping strippers. What you didn't hear about is how he escaped death on Houston's freeways several times. You didn't hear about the time he flipped ... More >>

Z-Ro's Heroin Due Next Month... Maybe

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: "I'm Hungry," Coota Bang Wire to Wire The "Dirty South" will be honored at this year's VH1 Hip-Hop Ho ... More >>

This Is Happening

Is LCD Soundsystem's party over on its latest — and perhaps last — album?

Remedial Ed

Davis Guggenheim ignores too many inconvenient truths in Waiting for "Superman."

Teflon Don

Rick Ross writes rhymes for gangsta lifestyle

The Rally To Restore Sanity: Did It Succeed?

Preaching to the choir?​What's the point?It was a question I asked myself more than once in the last month: while I was booking the hotel room, then sitting on the flight from Houston to Washington, DC, and finally walking with tens of thousands of others down Pennsylvania Avenue to attend the Ral ... More >>

Sane - and Afraid

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C., leaves our correspondent hoping for true activism from the alleged silent majority.

Keyboardist Seeks Arabic Players To Explore Local Scene

​Rocks Off combs through Craigslist's postings hoping to find the genesis of some great musical endeavor. So when we saw a posting looking for Arabic singers, we were intrigued. After all, this is a time of mosque burnings and our upstairs neighbors passing anti-Sharia laws. It must take a he ... More >>

Kanye's Best My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Lyrics

​It doesn't hit the streets, legally, until Monday, but Kanye West's long-gestating My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy leaked a few weeks back. Since then, Rocks Off has been spinning our preview copy quite a bit at the office. It's not the completely finished version about to hit stores and ... More >>

Chanel Dizzle: Much More Than Just A "Barre Baby"

Chanel's Facebook fan page​Rocks Off was pretty much blown away by that video of angelic-looking YouTube user ChanelDizzle singing the dirty hits of members of the Screwed Up Click, which we posted about last week. So we decided to get in touch with her and find out if she had dreams of becomi ... More >>

“The Black List Project, Volumes 2 and 3, Portraits by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders”

Chanel's Facebook fan page​Rocks Off was pretty much blown away by that video of angelic-looking YouTube user ChanelDizzle singing the dirty hits of members of the Screwed Up Click, which we posted about last week. So we decided to get in touch with her and find out if she had dreams of becomi ... More >>

Saturday Night: Robin Thicke At Arena Theatre

Photos by Marco Torres​Robin Thicke Arena Theatre February 12, 2011 Is describing a show as an aural roofie politically incorrect? Because Saturday night's Robin Thicke show at the Arena Theatre seemed to put all the women in the crowd into a sexy soul-fog with a syrupy thicke-ness. We even s ... More >>

Upcoming: 311, Britney Spears, Sade, Widespread Panic, Etc.

UPDATE (1 p.m.): Britney Spears will be back in July at Toyota Center; the GO-Go's the month after that. ​311, Sublime With Rome: Fri., Aug. 12. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. "B L A C K I E In 3D": Thu., April 7. Warehouse Live. "The Bamboozle Roadshow" With Chiddy Bang, Dev, Ninjasonik ... More >>

Last Night: Fitz & The Tantrums At House Of Blues

Photos by Jason Wolter​Fitz & the Tantrums House of Blues Bronze Peacock Room April 18, 2011 Soul music is about power, yoking that gospel id to the pursuit of more worldly affairs, but it's also about subtlety. Grunt all you want, but smooth and steady wins the race (and wins over the ladies ... More >>

Saturday Night: Sade & John Legend At Toyota Center

Photos by Groovehouse​Sade, John Legend Toyota Center July 23, 2011 See more smooth operation from Sade & John Legend in our slideshow. As word of Amy Winehouse's death spread across the Internet Saturday, another British soul singer was preparing to perform in Houston for the first time in ... More >>

Kanye West Vs. Adolf Hitler: Tale Of The Tape

Photo illustrations by Monica FuentesActual line from Watch the Throne's "Who Gon' Stop Me": "This is something like the Holocaust/ Millions of our people lost"​Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies, formulated by humorist and writer Mike Godwin, states that eventually, any heated discussion (especi ... More >>

Adele Cancels U.S. Tour Due To Bad Vocal Chords (UPDATED)

UPDATE (6:56 p.m.): According to Live Nation, the show will "most likely" be rescheduled, so you may not want to cash in on those refunds just yet. Stay tuned. ​Chart-topping, world-beating British neo-soul singer Adele has canceled her upcoming U.S. tour, including a stop at the Cynthia Wood ... More >>

2012 RodeoHouston Lineup Features ZZ Top, Train, Kid Rock, John Legend, Enrique Iglesias

Photo By Jim BrickerZZ Top onstage in 2010.​The Houston Livestock And Rodeo continues it's march it's non-country waters with today's musical announcement, with Houston's own ZZ Top (March 8), Train (March 16), Kid Rock (February 29), John Legend (March 2), and Enrique Iglesias (March 6) toppi ... More >>

Rap Round Table: What Are We To Think Of Rick Ross's New Mixtape, Rich Forever?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Each week Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Bun B, Slim Thug, Z-Ro, Killa Kyleon, A.D.D., Roderickvonn, Onehunnidt, Kyle Hubbar ... More >>

Fairview Tuesdays: Neo-Soul and Cheap Booze

The bar on a quieter night. ​There was a fog advisory in effect Tuesday, but no amount of weather could hide the fact that I'm not black or a lesbian. The black thing is pretty clear, and although I have been mistaken for a woman in the line of duty, it was by a man who was hanging out on Fann ... More >>