Mike Jones

Happy Birthday, Michael Watts: Revisiting SwishaHouse's Best Tape

Actually, that might not be totally true. It might be a falsity to call 1999's The Day Hell Broke Loose SwishaHouse's best tape. I'm sure arguments could be made for something from their Before da Kappa series or After da Kappa series. Someone who's especially sexy might even try and campaign for s ... More >>

Girls, Girls, Girls At 25: Anatomy Of A Strip-Club Classic

Mötley Crüe, those depraved kings of '80s sleaze, took a major step toward strip-club immortality 25 years ago this week when the band released its fourth album, Girls, Girls, Girls.. Glossy, debauched heavy metal ruled the charts in the summer of 1987 -- Whitesnake, Ozzy, Bon Jovi and Poison all ... More >>

The 5 Worst Musical Careers By Professional Boxers

Rocks Off is waiting for the day that our 52-year-old mother sits us down for a serious talk and says that she's ready to pursue her dream of becoming a rapper. She'll say, "Mi hijo, you know Lil Casper's mom, Brenda, on 4th Street? Her boyfriend set up a home studio for her. She's spitting that ... More >>

Circle Takes The Square: Casting The H-Town Version of Hip Hop Squares

News broke last week that MTV2, MTV's sister network nominally dedicated to actual music, is reviving the classic Hollywood Squares format as Hip Hop Squares, an over-the-top tic-tac-toe game featuring urban personalities including actor/comedian Nick Cannon; record producer DJ Khaled; rappers Fat J ... More >>

Fool's Gold Makers Dirty And Nasty Discuss... Fool's Gold

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Thi ... More >>

Hip-Hop, Interrupted: 7 Rappers That Should Be More Active

Hip-hop is a genre full of guys who put out a new album or mixtape seemingly every single month. They just can't stop, even when they're incarcerated in some cases (see: Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, and TI). It's as if rapping really is as much of a competition as they make it out to be and they're in a r ... More >>

Rap Boom Reload

In 2005, rappers put Houston on the map. Then the spotlight moved on. Some musicians are working hard to turn it back this way.

Kickass Names For MetroRail's Newest Train Stops

Metro is throwing a competition to name 20 new stations along the upcoming East End, North and Southeast lines. Quoting their press release, or at least the one they released yesterday, Metro wants "to make sure these stations accurately reflect the character, culture and history of the vibrant comm ... More >>

The Seven Most Memorable Rap Beatdowns

Wreckx-n-Effect went New Jack Swing on A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip in 1993.​When pop stars and Hollywood types need to settle a score, they take it to the courtroom. Hip-hop, however, operates by a different code: If you act up, you will get smacked up. Rocks Off was reminded of this when a m ... More >>

R.I.P.: Notable Passings Of 2010

​Editor's Pick: Dio, man. Neph Basedow: 2010 commenced on a sad note with the passing of Memphis garage rocker Jay Reatard (aka Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr.). I'd seen him play a tiny show at Chicago's Empty Bottle in 2008 and still consider it one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was definitive ... More >>

The Stories Behind Five H-Town Rap Anthems

​You know the song as soon as the beat drops. You rap them better than the artists themselves do at concerts. You'll slap your little brother for butchering the lyrics. But do you know the real life stories behind these five H-town rap anthems? Pull up a chair, grab a bag of popcorn, and a co ... More >>

Slim Thug Pranks Mike Jones In New "Still Ringin'" Video

Slim Thug: Not Tommy Tutone either.​Besides "Still Tippin'" and the word "who?" one constant that's become synonymous with Mike Jones' career is "punching bag." Trae literally punched him at the Ozone Awards a couple years back, and Slim Thug now delivers a metaphorical punch via a new parody ... More >>

What Is Houston Rap's Best Diss Song Ever?

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: Bun B, Fat Tony, Renzo, Kyle Hubbard, Brad Gilmor ... More >>

The Best Slap-Fights, Verbal Or Otherwise, In Houston Rap History

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ​Last week, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall kicked off their 20-city "In Love Wit My Money" reunion tour in d ... More >>

The H-Town Countdown, No. 1: Mike Jones' Who Is Mike Jones?

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. Mike Jones Who Is Mike Jones? (Asylum, 2005) ​Before you fire off some ... More >>

Poison Pen Reading Series

The Gulf Coast Magazine editors offer some quick reads

Five Spot: Inside E.S.G.'s Everyday Street Gangsta

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. ​After you interview somebody in preparation for writing something about th ... More >>

Turning the Screw: K-Rino, Bun B, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, Lil' Kim, Flavor Flav, Guccie Mane, Mike Jones, 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: "Phony," K-Rino Wire To Wire Always good to read something from Bun B. K-Rino had an album release part ... More >>

Ask a Rapper: Karina Nistal Loves Common, Mike Jones Not So Much

The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducinglisto ... More >>

The H-Town Countdown, No. 15: Chamillionaire's Original Mixtape Messiah, or 20-Plus Ways to Dis Mike Jones

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. "You drop one track, he's still alive." - Chamillionaire, on why he ai ... More >>

Mr. Boomtown, On Directing Slim Thug And Mike Jones

​Most people in the world of music videos may not recognize the name Nahala Johnson, but lately, they've recognized his nom de film: Mr. Boomtown. The Port Arthur native (he now splits his time between Houston and Dallas) is a nominee for the BET Hip Hop Awards' Director of the Year. The ... More >>

Chatting With "Mr. Boomtown" About Directing Mike Jones, Slim Thug and More

​Most people in the world of music videos may not recognize the name Nahala Johnson, but lately, they've recognized his nom de film: Mr. Boomtown. The Port Arthur native (he now splits his time between Houston and Dallas) is a nominee for the BET Hip Hop Awards' Director of the Year. The ... More >>

The H-Town Countdown: Setting the Table

Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. For the next six months, we'll be counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com.​For the last few weeks we have pored over ... More >>

Catfish Reef: The Rise of Swishahouse

[Note: this is the second in a series on the origins of Houston rap, to go along with this week's feature on wayward star Mike Jones.]Mike Giglio​As a local hip-hop writer and radio host, Matt Sonzala (also a former Houston Press Music Listings Editor) did what he could to promote Houston rap to a ... More >>

Mike Jones! Who?

The story of a Houston rapper who got bigger and bigger until he shrank back down to earth

Mike Jones: The Voice

Local Self-Described Rap Supergroup Admires... Nickelback?

Photo by Paul Knight Young Problemz, a self-described "supergroup" of local rap talent, joined Mike Jones Monday evening at the Arena Theatre, and the group's "Boi" was one of the high points, if not the high point of the night. The five Houston-bred performers - Chyco, Just-O, JM, J Yung and Star S ... More >>

Local Album of the Week: Mike Jones' The Voice

Mike Jones The Voice www.whomikejones.comHere's the thing about The Voice, Mike Jones' follow-up to double-platinum debut Who Is Mike Jones?: People automatically want to hate it. Perhaps even more interesting, though, is that Jones knows this. The Voice's most meaningful song is a cathartic track a ... More >>

Brick House Tavern & Tap

Mike Jones Wants to Get "Next to You"

Asylum RecordsWho is Mike Jones? Well, not long ago, he was Trae's punching bag at the Ozone Awards, which at least reminded people he was still alive. Well, Jones has a new single, "Next to You," from his forthcoming album The Voice (due April 14), and it's probably not going to enhance ... More >>

A New Class of Rappers Finally Bucked Houston's Syrupy Stereotype This Year

It Is What It Is

Los Magnificos: Like a Live H-Town Mixtape

Los Magnificos 2008 bounces into Reliant Center Sunday. Bun B Whip, ride, slab, some bit of street slang Rocks Off won't even hear for another eight months - cars are as essential to hip-hop as crossfaders and lyrics that rhyme. But no city's rappers place their wheels on a higher pedestal tha ... More >>

Five Spot: Five Reasons Not to Mess With Trae

This Just In: Drama at the Ozone Awards

2007 Turkeys of the Year

Priscilla Slade is the biggest gobbler of them all

Last Night: The Straight to DVD Movie Premiere of Mike Jones’s The American Dream

Houston's Ten Worst Songs

…and we're still not as bad as Dallas

Sean Kingston, Lil Scrappy, Slim Thug, Paul Wall

Houston Rap: Kicked to the Curb?

Dropping Today

Houston Hip-Hop

Mike Watts and his stable of northside rappers take a southside legend's style to the masses

Hip-hop as She Is Rapped

Translating the German Wikipedia entries of Houston's top MCs

Spank Rock

Yoyoyoyoyo

Fat Beats

The real reason Houston stays near the top of the chunkiest-city charts

Farewell to the Twenty Nickel

Looking back on the '05 and dreaming in the '06

Hip-hop, Year Two AJ

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

Who Is Mike Jones?

The smash single "Still Tippin'" and his major-label debut have answered that question for the nation

Where's the Beef? Right here in H-town

T.I. and Lil' Flip rumble in Cloverland, bringing one of the great rap feuds of recent years to a head

¡Viva H-town!

Latinos come to the fore in this year's music awards

Defending the Dirty Thirty

And coping with Yankee slander