MTV Video Music Awards

Drenched In Blog: The Requisite Britney Spears Post

Master P Makes the KKK Say “Ugh!”

I Watched Eight Minutes of the VMAs Just To See What Brit Would Do

They're the Queers, They're Here

Radio Daze

Howard Stern shows off his Private Parts, and they're really quite nice

Diana Ross and the Supremes

Diva Divine

Amy Winehouse, Frank

Just released in the U.S., her first album reveals a less troubled Ms. Winehouse

Chris Brown

The fleet-footed teen idol's latest

They Fought the Law

In Rap, You're Nothing Without a Sheet

That Was the Year That Was

Looking back on the local scene in '06

Fountain of Youth

The kids in Shulton's Youth have talent, ambition and a record deal. But is that enough?

O.J. All Over Again

Charm trumps evidence with accused pedophile R. Kelly

Filling the Blue-Eyed-Soul Hole

Justin Timberlake leads the charge of new melanin-challenged soul brothers

Macy Gray

Justin Timberlake leads the charge of new melanin-challenged soul brothers

New Bands from Old

Or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Ignore Audioslave"

Glamorous Youth

Sharon Osbourne put the local kids of Pure Rubbish in front of millions on MTV. Then things fell apart.

Fallon Fast

Saturday Night Live's prime player is rapidly outgrowing television's small screen

This Thing On?

Jamie Foxx brings his Ugly Wanda shtick to town

Kid Stuff

He's just a bad boy from the burbs who never learned to play well with others

Flannel File: Pearl Jam's Ten Redux

In my last Flannel File entry, I asked if there was any file more flannel-y than that of Screaming Trees. Well, embarassingly enough, that rhetorical question has an answer: yes, and that file belongs to Pearl Jam. Let's step in the time machine and go way, way back to one month ago, March 2009, whe ... More >>

Bayou Beat: Three Fantastic on NPR, Beyonce Leads MTV Noms, Rocks Off Seeking Intern, More Live Nation Deals, etc.

Mark C. Austin​ Congratulations to Houston's Three Fantastic, whose "Hot Summer Day" was chosen as NPR's "Song of the Day" Wednesday. Comparing it to "one of those half-remembered Sugar Ray hits from a decade ago," NPR's David Browne is a little taken aback by the band's idea of a "glorious summer ... More >>

All Falls Down: Kanye West's Six - Well, Seven Now - Douchiest Moments

​If you're aware of Kanye West's - whom Pollstar is reporting stops at Toyota Center with Lady GaGa January 22; good luck selling tickets for that one now, kiddo - past behavior at all, then you're probably surprised this article isn't longer. His habit of blurting out inappropriate, nonsensical n ... More >>

MTV VMA Celebrities Ask The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend Horton Heat

​Dear Full-Custom Gospel Sounds,I am a multiplatinum rap artist and producer who has won several Grammy awards. You'd think this would be enough to satisfy me, but I am unable to allow other people to enjoy their time in the spotlight - I have often interrupted acceptance speeches, ranted and rave ... More >>

Fix Your Face

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker is more hip-hop than most rappers.

Pop Rocks: I'm Shocked, Shocked To Discover Britney Spears Was Lip-Synching

​To think, I almost found myself agreeing with John Mayer.His response to the simmering Britney Spears lip-synching scandal -- mocking those who expressed outrage at the fact Spears was faking it during her concert in Perth, Australia last weekend -- would appear to be dead-on. One could even take ... More >>

For Your Entertainment? Nice Try, Adam Lambert, But These Music-Awards Moments Were Even Creepier

​The best news that Jennifer Lopez could possibly have heard this morning was that America is still more interested in clucking about public displays of gayness than in pointing and laughing when a diva falls on her ass. We imagine there's already one of those jumbo-sized Harry & David fruit b ... More >>

The Kids Are All Right: Hip-Hop Finally Comes of Age, Part 1

​While year-end, catch-all wrap-ups are common to every musical genre, in no other style of music do they turn into the hand-wringing, "state of the game" examinations that hip-hop seems to provoke. We worry because we care, of course. But at some point, like a thirty-something parent, those of us ... More >>

Happy Father's Day! Loser Kids of Rock Star Dads

We all aspire to honor our dads and hope that we've done right by them on Father's Day. Here's a list of offspring whose lives have served no useful purpose on earth other than churning out a never-ending source of disappointment for their rock star dads. ​Sean Lennon Yoko Ono is often credi ... More >>

Top 5 WTF Music Award Acceptance Speeches

Dana DonovanLittle Joe Washington and a pair of enthusiastic fans at the 2007 HPMA ceremony​As we may have mentioned once or twice, tonight Rocks Off and the Houston Press reveal the winners of this year's 2010 Houston Press Music Awards over at Warehouse Live. It's a free show, with performan ... More >>

Lady Gaga's Meat Dress: Top 10 Kinds Of Food To Wear Other Than Beef

But did she have meat heels?​Among Lady Gaga's costume changes Sunday night at the MTV Video Music Awards, which numbered three or four by our count, one was a dress made of raw beef. Not unlike the meat suit she donned for her Terry Richardson-shot cover of the Japanese Vogue, this one allowe ... More >>

Lady Gaga: Other Foods To Wear Onstage Besides Raw Meat

​Rocks Off is pretty Lady Gaga-friendly, what with our covering July's concerts at Toyota Center like she was the goddamned Pope or something. For a few weeks there we managed to invoke her name at least once a day somehow. Maybe comparing her to Little Joe Washington was a stretch. Unfortun ... More >>

FAIL: Kanye And Taylor, Lupe Fiasco, Kings Of Leon

​Taylor and Kanye Need To Move the Hell On: The MTV Video Music Awards happened this past Sunday, so you had to know there was going to be at least one sizable fail in there somewhere, and of course they didn't disappoint. Taylor Swift took the stage and sang a melodramatic tune she'd written ... More >>

Shock Therapy: Would Sinead O'Connor Still Cause An Uproar?

​Sunday night is a special night. It's the 18th anniversary of Sinead O'Connor's infamous Pope-a-ripping on Saturday Night Live. For the extremely small number of you who somehow have the Internet but not VH1, the facts are these: O'Connor, always the most peaceable and least controversial of ... More >>

The Five Most Bogus Rapper Apologies

​It's the unwritten rule in rap: never apologize. Offering apology in hip-hop is a sign of weakness and rappers simply can't appear weak, no matter what. Sorry, that's just the way it is. Yet, every now and then we'll see a rapper apologize for stepping out of line. Earlier this week, Paul Wa ... More >>

Taylor Swift's Top Nine Future Feuds

​Still the No. 1 album in the country, Taylor Swift's Speak Now is awash in lyrics bashing her former flames, friends, lovers and Kanye West. The pop-country singer knows how to turn a bitter phrase, and we can only hope that she keeps getting better and better at it. She's not yet 21, but S ... More >>

Prince William: Who's Playing The Royal Wedding?

Now, if it were Prince Harry's wedding...​Sorry, ladies. Prince William is (almost!) officially off the market. When the future King of England officially announced his engagement to girlfriend Kate Middleton earlier today, Rocks Off instantly envisioned potential entertainers for the couple' ... More >>

10 Music Stories We Wish We'd Ignored This Year

​We in the alternative media - not necessarily the Houston Press and/or Rocks Off, not all the time - enjoy calling out our mainstream brethren. Whether it's ten books that didn't make The New York Times' "Best of 2010" list, or "10 Stories Our Print Version Accidentally Overlooked," us "under ... More >>

Top Ten Celebrities This Decade Who Overcame Controversy

The center of all things smarmy and controversial.​Celebrities have money and fame and are constantly surrounded by controversy. Many of them never make it back from a serious legal problem or a major embarrassment. Ask Mel Gibson. Others, however, find their footing and manage to right the s ... More >>

The Pomplamoose Revolution

How a band with no CDs or record deal is changing the music industry

5 Great, Utterly Absurd Moments In Diva History

​Many performers are referred to, or refer to themselves as "divas." This happens especially when the performer in question has thrown a tantrum for little or no reason. You see, "diva" is actually French for "spoiled pain in the ass." A fine recent example comes from right here in Houston: Th ... More >>

Boobylicious: Music's 20 Most Memorable Breasts (Semi-NSFW)

ztams.comWendy O. Williams, seen here with Motorhead front man Lemmy Kilmister​It may sound silly, but boobs are powerful things. Men are fascinated and entranced by them, while women constantly obsess over their size and shape. In a way, they're not unlike the ring in Lord of the Rings: Capab ... More >>

Pop Rocks: A (Not Really) Canonical List Of Wardrobe Malfunctions (NSFW)

Bad idea.​The "wardrobe malfunction" is a phenomenon I confess I wasn't really aware of until Super Bowl XXXVIII. Half of us at the party were watching the actual Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake halftime show, the other half were watching the South Park (or was it Family Guy?) episode running ... More >>

Pop Rocks: What's Your [Wardrobe] Malfunction? (NSFW)

Bad idea.​The "wardrobe malfunction" is a phenomenon I confess I wasn't really aware of until Super Bowl XXXVIII. Half of us at the party were watching the actual Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake halftime show, the other half were watching the South Park (or was it Family Guy?) episode running ... More >>

What's The Leading Cause Of Poor Record Sales?

​Last week, the music world laughed up a hiccup as Lil Wayne pranced around the VMA stage in nut-suffocating, Le Tigre-inspired jeggings. While that performance affirmed that Wayne is no fashion guru, his chart performance a week later reminded us that he's very good at something else-selling ... More >>

10 Popular Rappers' Disney Alter Egos

Watch The Throne.​Were you ever mildly attracted to Jafar in the Disney movie Aladdin? We were, probably because he reminded us so much of Prince. So, needless to say, Rocks Off is pretty stoked that Disney is bringing back some of our beloved iconic villains-like Jafar and Scar-to 3-D. We' ... More >>

Five Musical MILFs Who Rocked Pregnancy

Beyoncé's ever-changing baby bump.​In the world of prominent celebrities, it's headlining news even if that famous person sneezes. So in when Houston's own Beyoncé announced her pregnancy at the 2011 VMA's in August, the media and fans went into a frenzy of reactions. Some were elated, some ... More >>

Taylor Swift

Beyoncé's ever-changing baby bump.​In the world of prominent celebrities, it's headlining news even if that famous person sneezes. So in when Houston's own Beyoncé announced her pregnancy at the 2011 VMA's in August, the media and fans went into a frenzy of reactions. Some were elated, some ... More >>

Bedtime Stories: The Naughtiest Madonna Videos Ever (Semi-NSFW)

That old special feeling...​This weekend, the grand dame of American pop music, Madonna, will grace the halftime stage at Super Bowl XLVI. This is a major improvement from last year's more-inhuman-than-human Black Eyed Peas performance, which tested the resolve our country, and even the world. ... More >>