Kanye West

Christmas Past: Top 5 Christmas Rap Songs

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared December 20, 2010. Show us one hip-hop head who isn't obsessed with corny Christmas sing-alongs an ... More >>

Meet Travis $cott, The Biggest Houston Rapper You've Never Heard Of

Asking your typical Houston rap nerd about artists on the verge or in the national spotlight usually circles the same cliched wagon. Normally they'd list off your usual suspects, sprinkle off a couple indie darlings who hang in different sects of the city, all while being very political and not want ... More >>

Say No to Cee Lo: 5 Musicians Who Should Get Sitcoms Instead

This past week, it was announced that Cee Lo Green and NBC are working together to develop a new autobiographical sitcom based on and starring the soul singer. This is, of course, a terrible idea. Sure, Cee Lo is a great singer and he's done some acting, but would his life really make a great sitcom ... More >>

The 10 Silliest Headlines In Rap News This Week

You are a human and you have eyeballs and you also have the Internet, so you've likely read some things. That's sort of what this is, except sort of not too. We went through a ton of headlines of hip-hop "stories" from the past week, picked out the ten most egregious one, pasted them below, then ad ... More >>

Ten Cruises We'd Rather Take Than the KISS Kruise

​Imagine a vacation where made-up members of your favorite glam rock band wander the decks of a cruise ship. Does that sound like heaven on earth? Well, glam boy, you're in luck as the second annual (yes, they've done one before this) KISS Kruise sets sail this October featuring that cuddly '7 ... More >>

Travi$, Our New Favorite Artist, Crawls Around Inside His Own Brain, Finds Bloody Fingers

World, meet Travi$. Do not dismiss him because he used a dollar sign instead of an "S" in his name. Give him a chance. It'll take four minutes (though we're suspecting if you let the video play for more than 0:30 and it doesn't push you into a seizure, you'll be sucked in for the totality of it). ... More >>

Beyonce's Baby Shower: Celebrity Gift Suggestions

With every gossip site on the planet reporting that Beyonce has given birth to Blue Ivy Carter just yesterday, Rocks Off suddenly realized that we haven't gotten her a thing! While we make a quick Target run, we thought it might be fun to ponder what sort of gifts Beyonce and Jay's rich celebrity p ... More >>

On the Rocks: Cocktails Named After Musicians for New Year's Eve

Have a G.G. Allin and bring in the New Year indecently!​Everything is more exciting, sometimes even redeeming, when it has a cool name: Sexual acts, alcoholic beverages, movies, albums, etc. OK, maybe just sexual acts and drinks. Since there are thousands of sites that have the former covere ... More >>

Rocks Off Lists Our Favorite Downloads of 2011

It's getting to be that time of year, when the temperature drops and the lists start rolling in. Read any blog, magazine or newspaper and you're bound to run across at least a handfull of year-end lists, particularly when it comes to music. We all like to talk about the stuff we like. It's just what ... More >>

7 Musician Exes (Or Daughters) Who Should Write Tell-All Books

7. Dita Von Teese (Marilyn Manson): Famed burlesque performer Dita Von Teese (above) met Marilyn Manson in 2001. He proposed in 2004, and the couple wed a year later. Von Teese filed for divorce when she couldn't deal with Manson's alcohol abuse and his extramarital affair with actress Evan Rachel W ... More >>

Tumblrin' Dice: Kanye West Does Like White People

West with Kelly Osbourne, white daughter of noted white musician Ozzy Osbourne.​This morning in our daily Tumblr stroll for skull and Katy Perry pics, we found Kanye West With White People, a site dedicated to pictures of Der Fuhrer West with various white folks who are in natural poses, even ... More >>

Five '60s Soul Stars Jay-Z & Kanye West Should Hit Next

thelocal478.comWelcome back to Billboard, Otis.​Say what you will about Watch the Throne - and people, including several members of Team Rocks Off, have said a lot - but it's all anyone in music seems to be talking about these days. Which makes sense; it's not every day that two megastars (the ... More >>

Rise Of Lil B And Odd Future Both A Gift And A Curse

​So you've written the greatest song the world has never heard. You spent a good two-and-half hours on those brain-melting metaphors, and another three laying them on wax. Every bar requires repeated listening to fully digest. Your ad-libs are on point like Chris Paul. The beat knocks harder ... More >>

Five Musicians Who Would Make Kick-Ass Parade Balloons

howstuffworks.tlc.com​Rocks Off does not go to actual parades because we'll be damned if we'll waste clean pants on something that doesn't involve booze or Harry Potter, but we always make sure to catch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the teletube. We are, however, getting a little sick ... More >>

Is Chris Brown Officially Unshunned?

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. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Yung Redd, Fat Tony, Thurogood Wordsmith, Kyle Hu ... More >>

Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Best Rap Album Of The Year

​Big Boi has never been a particularly imposing rapper. He just hasn't been. Now wait a second, fuckers. Before you get all "No, he's phenomenal!" just out of sheer contrarian instinct, think on it for a second. When have you ever heard his name mentioned in any Greatest Rapper Ever discussio ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Dear John...Mayer

​I'm sorry, but this isn't working out.I think I speak for bloggers everywhere when I say: we had a great thing going. Every so often you'd tweet something borderline repulsive about farts or Miley Cyrus, and we'd dutifully respond. Usually with some sort of mock indignation about "TMI" and then b ... More >>

The 11 Stupidest Events from the World of Music, 2009 Edition

Hi there, 2009. Please have a seat. Are you comfortable? Would you like some coffee, or perhaps a cigarette? No? Okay, good. Let's just cut straight to the point, then. You suck, and frankly we're sick of your bullshit. You were an awful year, filled not just with economic collapse, scary right-wi ... 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 >>

It Was What It Was

Amid a wash of national phooey, plucking Houston rap's pivotal 2009 moment is easy.

Turning the Screw: Dead End Alliance, Bun B, DMX, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Eminem, The Kanye, Beyonce 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: "Heart of a Hustler," Dead End Alliance feat. Lil Keke and Mike D Wire To WireHow bad-ass is Bun B that ... More >>

Idol Beat: The Final 13 Results

Ray Mickshaw/ Fox Nunez out: Don't let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you, Jorge (middle).A new wrinkle in the elimination curve! The return of a prodigal Idol winner! A performance from a self-important pop-rap blowhard! Two more contestants falling under the proverbial sword! Th ... More >>

Common: Universal Mind Control

Top Ten Hip-Hop Albums Of 2008

A couple of weeks ago, an expert on the Harry Potter series told an audience of high school kids how lucky they were to have this Big Shared Experience--these seven books and 41,000 words in common. What does Harry Potter have to do with hip-hop in 2008? In an age when many year-end lists should ... More >>

The Kanye Is a "Sharp Dressed Man"

Rocks Off would like to thank Dallas Observer Music Editor Pete Freedman for hipping him to this little nugget: the White Folks Get Crunk blog has chosen DJ Shade's splice job welding Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" and ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" as one of 2008's top five mashups (it's No. 4). ... More >>

Don’t Fight It! featuring Dave Wrangler, Piss Heavy and Young $quaddy

Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak

Don’t Fight It! featuring Dave Wrangler, Piss Heavy and Young $quaddy

Midtowners meet the Montrose on the dance floor

Artist of the Week: Debbie Forrest

Turning The Screw: Crew54, DJ AM & Travis Barker, G- Unit, Pharrell, Eminem, Nate Dogg, Kanye, Wu-Tang vs. UFC and More

Five Spot: Kanye Arrested? Get. Out!

Klever, Fashen, The Knux

Nothing says back-to-school like a little corporate-sponsored rump shaking.

Kanye, Jay-Z, Mary J. and Rihanna Clamor for Diva Status

Top 10 Most Hated Rappers

Who made the shit list

Drenched in Blog: Top Five Videos of 2007

2007 Music Year in Review

Drenched In Blog: Kanye and Momma Donda Singing Together

Kanye West, Graduation

CD Review

Stir the Coughee

Blinded by the bling of the event-rappers? Pick up a cup o' Devin's joe

Drenched In Blog: Kanye vs. Fiddy vs. Black Lips

Common

Finding Forever

Get Down with Dave

Chappelle returns with a raucous Block Party

Hip-hop, Year Two AJ

Still no Jigga, but Kanye, some lovable limeys and a great Beyoncé substitute held it down

Reform School

The College Dropout rethinks his stance on education in the year 2010

Kanyemania

Does Late Registration live up to the hype? Musically, yes. Lyrically, no.

Philly Science

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

Kanye West

College Dropout (Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella)

Rotation