KRS-One

Different Tongues: 10 Foreign Language Songs That Rule the World

A couple of caveats to this list: first, it actually includes more than ten songs. Since one is sung primarily in English and another isn't technically a "foreign" language, they're considered halfsies, making up one whole. Also, no songs sung in Spanish are on this list. I'm not saying Spanish is ... More >>

Last Night: Sublime With Rome at The Woodlands

Rewind: Friday: Sublime with Rome at Discovery Green (April 1, 2011) Friday Night: 311 & Sublime with Rome at The Woodlands (August 12, 2011) Sublime with Rome Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion August 14, 2012 Fifteen minutes into their set Tuesday night at the Woodlands Pavilion, Sublime with Rome ... 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 >>

10 Great Instances Of Rappers Honoring Other Rappers

​People often forget that hip-hoppers are humans, too. They breathe, sleep, eat, and salivate at the sight of buttermilk donuts just like us. And, every now and then, they'll geek over other rappers, just like us. It would have been so much easier to compile a list of rappers dissing other ra ... More >>

UGK's Top Five Most Underrated Songs

​UGK has churned out tons of hits over the last couple of decades, with more promised. Still, there's a bunch of notable songs that never gained the recognition they deserved. In the second installment of our Southern Way celebration, behold UGK's most underappreciated cuts. We decided to kee ... More >>

Das Racist: Deconstructing The Rappers' References

​Over the past two years, Das Racist has been a Pitchfork favorite and highly revered for their witty, perhaps smarmy delivery of mostly historical and pop-culture references. The duo - trio if you include their hypeman, Dap, and quartet if you include their hypeman's hypeman, Lakutis - is com ... More >>

New Local Rap From A Madman, A Menace And A Monster

"No Hard Feelings" from Roosh Williams & friends.​Back around the time the first Ask A Rapper column was running (June 2009), Rocks Off had a conversation with an out-of-town publicist who was trying to get her out-of-town act an interview for the spot. When told that AAR was reserved for Hous ... More >>

Homecoming

Gang Starr's DJ Premier still mourns partner Guru.

I Hate My Album: Five Artists Who Dissed Their Own Work

​Albums are to artists what children are to parents: You never want your favorite kids to move out, but you can't wait to send the other ones off to college. (Rocks Off should know; we were one of those favorites.) Here, we salute five artists who were brave enough to distance themselves from ... More >>

Which Rappers Would You Fight?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't a national holiday Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week's Panel: Fat Tony, Yung Redd, Candi Redd, Preemo, Ram of Optimo Radio Not Invited: Ganksta NIP, becaus ... More >>

Why Would Anyone Ever Set Out To Be A Rapper?

Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday (that isn't a national holiday) Rocks Off will have some of them hear discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week's Panel: Fat Tony, Yung Redd, Thurogood Wordsmith and K ... More >>

Summerfest Short Cuts: Mix Master Mike, Kid Sister, Miniature Tigers, Etc.

Marc BrubakerSpain Colored Orange​Spain Colored Orange: Although technical difficulties with one ticket scanner caused an enormous line of hot and restless festival-goers outside one gate, Spain Colored Orange started its set at 2:05 p.m. on the dot - before the gates had even opened. SCO informed ... More >>

Coming Memorial Day: The Rap Round Table

Wait... which one is Z-Ro again?​ There are a bunch of reasons why writing about rap is a good job to have. First, obviously, is the [something]. Whenever we're out covering a rap show and we see an attractive woman, we're always like, "Yo, what up? We write for the Houston Press." Then the girl w ... More >>

Justin Bieber For BET's "Best New Artist"? Recognize.

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: "Rain Drops," Yung Redd feat. T.C. This is a leak from the soon-to-be-released Eviction Notice 4. You ... More >>

Justin Bieber Chopped & Screwed

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. H.I.S.D. "Lando" Music Video (PeaceUvMine.com) from PeaceUvMine on Vimeo. Single of the Week: "Lando," HISD Wire to Wire Sc ... More >>

Aftermath: Hour After Hour at the Sprite Step Off With Lupe Fiasco, Brooke Valentine, Letoya Luckett, Trae and Sheila Jackson Lee

Photos by Marco Torres/ See our slideshow here​ 8:20 p.m.: Somehow, without checking in as media or anything, we've found our way backstage. That was a bit too easy; like, "Make You Feel A Little Uncomfortable About The Security Level At This Event" uneasy. 8:24: Yipes. Congresswoman Sheila Jackso ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Slim Thug, KRS-One, Robin Thicke, B.o.B., The Renaldo The Ensemble, Joe Budden, Slaughterhouse, Mary J., Scarface & Tupac, etc.

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: "Thug," Slim Thug Wire To Wire KRS-One is going to be helping out the homeless on Thanksgiving. What's ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Paul Wall, Pink, The Kanye, Jay-Z, Eminem, Necro, Bow Wow, Black Eyed Peas, Big Moe 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: "Bizzy Body," Paul Wall feat. Webbie Wire To Wire Pink is upset at The Kanye because of his appreciatio ... 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: Mic Skills, Foxy Brown, KRS-One, Eve, Do or Die, The Kanye, Erykah Badu, 5th Ward Boyz 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. Anthony RathbunSingle of the Week: "Criminal," Mic Skills Wire To Wire Foxy Brown, recently an indirect victi ... More >>

KRS-One

Scarface: Emeritus

Top 10 Most Hated Rappers

Who made the shit list

Mouth of the South

The South Park Coalition Turns 20

Dance Hall Days

Fitzgerald's Hits the Dirty 30

Rap Not So Macho

Gay-Unit

Twisted G is most definitely not trapped in the closet

Feelings, Nothing But Feelings

The New York Times misses the point in its attack on "rockism"

Dead Prez

RBG: Revolutionary But Gangsta (Sony/Columbia)

The Class of '03

Grab your gift certificates and trade in your white elephants -- here's what you really wanted for Christmas

Spoken Like a Champion

Saul Williams -- poetry's only rock star -- aims for the lizard brain

Baby Blak

Once You Go Blak (Rapster/BBE)

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Compton's (Back) N the House

Four discs trace the development of the original gangstas

On the Outs with Indigos

Plus: Paving Lunatics, Statue of Limitations, Batty over News

No Deposit, No Return

A broom-brandishing KRS-One sweeps away the future of hip-hop at Fitzgerald's

Rap Avengers

Dälek may destroy hip-hop in order to save it from commercialism

Ugly Kid Slug

Atmosphere MC Sean Daley saves the world by saving his circle of friends

Grupo Fantasma

Thursday, December 27

Rotation

Rotation

Rotation

Letters

Rap Gets Puffy

Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs fathers a return to hip-hop pop

Talking Revolution

Michael Franti and Spearhead are into change, if not the Internet

Rapumentary

Static

Been Caught Stealing