OFWGKTA

The Five Weirdest Rap Beefs

Do you remember J-Kwon? If you don't, I'll remind you. He had a song called "Tipsy" back in 2004 that hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts. After that he dropped off the face of the earth (literally, for a while). Well, J-Kwon is back and he's having a big couple of weeks. First, Kanye West gave him a ... More >>

Jambalaya Festival at Bayou Music Center, 5/23/2013

Jambalaya Festival Bayou Music Center May 23, 2013 Ingredients: Houston, Texas A roomful of screaming, dancing teens G-Eazy, RL Grime, Big Boi, Zeds Dead, Earlwolf Instructions: 1. Open the doors of Bayou Music Center at approximately 4 p.m. Allow scores of teenage hip-hop enthusiasts t ... More >>

Miguel's Billboard Stage Dive: Hulk Hogan-Approved, But the Best Ever?

In the Internet age, you become a sucker for things that happen instantly. There's no way around it. Everything that garners a reaction, whether positive or negative, will become meme'd and turned into a .gif. I'm pretty sure the more awkward moments of my life will be displayed in some pixelated fo ... More >>

Win Tickets to Scoremore's Jambalaya Festival Right Now

Normally Rocks Off's first post of every week is our selections for the best shows happening in Houston for that given Monday through Thursday. This week we'd like to try something a little different. Houston being what it is (a city we love, of course), the weekday live-music options can be somewh ... More >>

Has Tyler, the Creator Finally Gone Too Far?

Tyler, the Creator has never been known for being a sensitive man. Quite the opposite, he's known for unambiguous lyrics about controversial and disturbing subjects such as rape, murder, homophobia, and infanticide. One of his most infamous lyrics is from the song "Tron Cat," where he promises to "r ... More >>

Radioactive Duo

Classic-rock station 93.7 The Arrow yanks controversial morning DJs Walton and Johnson off the air.

Rocks Off's 10 Biggest Musical Disappointments of 2012

Everyone's mother once told them, or should have, that life is not always going to be a puppy mill full of unicorns and rainbows. Remember why all those puppies are there. Sometimes life -- and especially pop music -- doesn't turn out like you were expecting, so now we present Rocks Off's Biggest Mu ... More >>

Last Night: Odd Future at House of Blues

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All House of Blues December 4, 2012 "We finally made it to this motherfucker..." A year ago, that wouldn't have been the lead sentence to this in-the-moment thought bubble about an Odd Future show. That's because the press machine around that time was firmly settled ... More >>

The 5 Best Shows In Houston This Week: December 3-6

Of Montreal, Wild Moccasins, French Horn Rebellion Warehouse Live, December 3 Of Montreal's sunny psych-pop brims with such starry-eyed youthful bliss that it might be a little sobering for aging hipsters to remember that Kevin Barnes' crew was once peers with Elf Power, Olivia Tremor Control and T ... More >>

Odd Future

Upcoming: Willie Nelson, Local Natives, Fun., The Manichean, Taj Mahal, etc.

Al Stewart: Fri., Nov. 16, 8:30 p.m., $58-$98. Dosey Doe, 25911 I-45 N., Spring. Alejandro Escovedo: Fri., Nov. 2, 8:30 p.m., $28. Dosey Doe Music Cafe, 463 FM Road 1488, Conroe. Alex Cuba: Fri., Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m., $15/$16. McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, Houston. Angelspit, Myparasites, C ... More >>

Odd Future Coming to Houston December 4

Hip-hop bad boys Odd Future are coming to House of Blues on December 4. The group of youthful miscreants, which was bathed in ridiculous showers of hype in 2011, has never been to Houston. REWIND: Odd Future's Roof-Jumping Antics at the Scoot Inn They were last in this part of the country last ... More >>

ACL 2012: Sunday's 10 Best & Funniest Moments at Zilker

The rains came early on Sunday morning, but by the time the ACL opened up for business before noon, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, making for an extremely warm and muddy day. The biggest acts of the day -- Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iggy & the Stooges, Crystal Castles, and the Avett Brothers -- he ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Releases Daily Schedule

This morning Fun Fun Fun Fest organizers released the daily schedule for November's three-day orgy of booze, denim, and loudness in the middle of Austin's Auditorium Shores. The color-coded stages -- black, yellow, orange, and blue -- are set up according to genre and size of the act. Last year th ... More >>

#MadeInAmerica: The Rain, Restrictions & Randomness of Day 2

Day two of the first-ever Made In America music festival felt considerably less hectic and crowded than day one. The blazing heat of the previous day was replaced with scattered showers, and the humidity that follows, making for a sticky and slippery situation on the Ben Franklin Parkway. The crowd ... More >>

Justin Bieber's Believe: Dubstep, Dick Talk, Nicki Minaj & Exactly One Good Song

I listened to the new Justin Bieber album, Believe, twice this afternoon so I could write this. I am not looking for sympathy because I took it upon myself. I did this so you wouldn't have to, though if you are cool enough to read our blog, the thought of listening to Justin Bieber's Believe wasn't ... More >>

Curated Festivals and the Changing Face of Summer Entertainment

While most Texans are spending their Friday counting down to ACL or speculating about the Fun Fun Fun Fest line up, I find myself thinking about a festival north of our fair state. We're halfway through June and that means that the 2012 Gathering of the Juggalos infomercial should be dropping any da ... More >>

What A Friend We Have In Marilyn Manson: 18 Years With The God Of (Expletive Deleted)

Born Villain, Marilyn Manson's first album since 2009's The High End of Low, marks his debut as a cheeky pop-culture gawker, a far cry from where he was just a decade and a half ago. I wrote about some of the best Manson myths on the occasion of his birthday back in January. He's not the snarling, ... More >>

The Knux

The Knux

Bonna-What?: How 7 U.S. Music Festivals Got Their Names

This whole week, the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, featuring the Black Keys, Radiohead, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg, Pulp, At the Drive-In, the Shins, AVICII, David Guetta and maybe one or two others, will be all anyone who follows music these days will be talking about. Then early next week, it' ... More >>

Alert: SXSW Coverage Ahead -- 50 Cent And Much More

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." -- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive You don't have to spend much time at South By Southwest to know that all of the above building ... More >>

Last Night: A$AP Rocky At Warehouse Live

A$AP Rocky Warehouse Live February 26, 2012 For more photos from Sunday, see our slideshow. Who is A$AP Rocky? The simple answer is that he's a kid from Harlem who's real name is Rakim, who proclaims himself a "pretty muthafucka," and who loves all things Houston. From the flows to the purple dran ... More >>

The Best YouTube Reactions To Odd Future's "Rella": Domo Slaps A Girl

For the first time it seems, the Odd Future gang's music videos have caught up with their lyrical content, judging by their brand-new video for "Rella," off upcoming release The Odd Future Tape Vol. 2 (due March 20). The album, minus former member Earl Sweatshirt, is the group's studio debut. The ... More >>

Counting Crows Headlining SXSW? Seriously?

Rocks Off has long since made our peace with the massive inconvenience SXSW can be. Even after our recent medical difficulties, we're even looking forward to going next month. We had a good time last year, mostly because we finally got to see OMD and Men Without Hats live. The bucket list got a litt ... More >>

Man That You Fear: The Best Marilyn Manson Myths Ever

One of the last true rock stars roaming the land - in my stilted opinion - is Marilyn Manson, who happens to turn 43 years young today. With a new album coming this year, and another book, 2012 should shape up to be a great one for the man who was once the most hated and feared man in America. It's ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest: The Dust-Covered Aftermath Featuring The Damned, Spoon, Tinariwen, And Slayer

Photo By Marc BrubakerLots of pictures from Fun Fun Fun Fest 6, including band shots and crowd shots. The dry air and dust at Auditorium Shores made the market for bandanas very lucrative, and a fashion staple was reborn. ​This year Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest moved away from Waterloo Park, the ... More >>

Five Rappers Who Should Be Actors

Acting. You're doing it wrong.​Sometimes it's fun to see some of our favorite rappers take on acting roles outside of their music videos. At other times, rappers taking on movie roles can end up being horrible idea. Not every rapper can be a convincing drug dealer like DMX is in Belly. The big ... More >>

Our Top Ten Picks For Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011

Photo By Marc BrubakerBest Coast at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010​This weekend the Rocks Off team will cover their third Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, at the festival's new home Auditorium Shores. Each year this fest seems to get bigger and better, without losing it's grimy luster. Is it the Austin City ... More >>

No Swag: Paul Wall's Rumored Young Money Deal, Falling Stages

Despite what you may have heard, swag isn't dead yet; at least not in Houston. Have any swagged-out projects or general ideas? E-mail alliswagoner@gmail.com. images.blastro.comRemember this?​Paul Wall Signs to Young Money? People have been saying that The People's Champ has decided to sign wi ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Adds Spoon, Black Lips, Cannibal Corpse

​That probably spooked you all, huh, thinking we added those three to our own BestFest, right? In addition to previously announced biggies like Slayer, The Damned, Public Enemy, the Hot Snakes reunion gig, and the Danzig Legacy project, these new three only sweeten the deal for FFFF attendees ... More >>

2 Become 1: Musical Match-Ups We'd Like To See

​Kanye "Hitler" West and Jay-Z released their (overused music writer word alert) epic Watch the Throne album this week, to mostly great reviews. This fall the first fruits from the recently announced Lou Reed/Metallica collaboration should be on the store shelves, which still sorta weirds us o ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Leaking 2011 Lineup On Turntable.fm

​After leaking artists including Okkervil River, Odd Future, X and - most people believe - Slayer, Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest has officially begun announcing its 2011 lineup via the brand-new file-sharing/social-media hybrid Turntable FM. Fun Fun Fun began streaming songs from this year's arti ... More >>

Friday Night: iceage & Balaclavas At The Mink

Photos by Allison Wagoner​iceage, Balaclavas The Backroom at the Mink July 15, 2011 A lot of folks have a dirty habit of going full-throttle on a new band with only one album and a few singles, lumping praise on them before they can really live up to it. Aftermath has done it in the past (Die ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Leaks Lineup Via Navy Signal Flags

How up to date on your nautical signaling are you? Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest leaked a few names for its Nov. 4-6 fall brawl at Auditorium Shores this morning. If you know your flags, you can figure it out all by yourself via the above video. Rocks Off will be a little busy with our own Houston Pr ... More >>

Out Today: Washed Out Wins, R.E.M.'s First Bad Day, Incubus Chills

​This week sees the return of Incubus with an original disc after a greatest-hits collection, Sublime's first round of music with new lead singer Rome, a set of re-imagined hits from Alkaline Trio, and and R.E.M. reissuing 1986's Life's Rich Pageant. Today also holds the debut LP of Washed Out ... More >>

Which Rapper(s) Should Headline Summer Fest 2012?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't the day after a gigantic local music festival, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Trae, Wreck, Roosh Wil ... More >>