Pharrell Williams

Five Disco Songs That Make Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" Blush

Hey 2013. We need to talk. You've already produced a number of good albums, some even by new bands. But I've got a bone to pick with you, and it's about this new song by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams. It's called "Get Lucky" and it's making waves with its disco revival sound that I'm guessin ... More >>

From House Party to House Music: A Wild Friday Night In Houston

With a perfect combination of sun, clouds, and breeze, It felt as if Houston was making love to me as I escaped the treacherous, life-sucking fluorescent lighting of my Westchase office and moon-walked my way towards a Friday night full of booze, buds, and Budweiser. (I'm more of a Saint Arnold's dr ... More >>

The Worst Things at Coachella This Year, Weekend Two

Ed. Note: Brought to you by our tired, dusty and very tolerant friends at LA Weekly and OC Weekly. Here's everything that bothered us about Coachella's second weekend. Hey, at least there was no dust storm! Native American Headdresses These have still not gone away. In fact, one particularly irrit ... More >>

Daft Punk Rumors Abound at Coachella

Ed. Note: This one comes to us from our friends at LA Weekly's West Coast Sound. No, Seriously, Is Daft Punk Playing Coachella? This is, so far, the burning question of this festival, being asked everywhere from the campsites to the press tent. Even though the French dance-punk duo officially squa ... More >>

The Best Hip-Hop at SXSW 2013

I remember going to SXSW a few years ago without a place to sleep, less than $100 to spend, no agenda, badge, wristband, or RSVP. I bar-hopped up and down Red River, made friends, snuck into Stubb's, ate cheese pizza and drank Lone Star. After years of busting my ass as a music photographer and wri ... More >>

Old Gold: The Explosion of Vintage Jewelry In Hip-Hop

In the past year, the hip-hop scene has traded in a great deal of its diamond-encrusted Jesus pieces and record-label logo necklaces for items with a bit more "vintage designer" style. From coast to coast, we are now seeing entertainers and tastemakers flash their vintage Chanel and antique Versace ... More >>

T.I. Unveils Trouble Man at Houston's Wire Road Studios

T.I. is no Marvin Gaye. Or is he? Both men were blessed with supreme talent as musicians and songwriters. Both men exhibit an overflowing charisma and a flair for the dramatic. Both men chose acting as a supplementary alternative expression of their talents. Both men were also cursed with an unfor ... More >>

Inside The Niceguys' Dark, Earth-Shattering James Kelley Listening Party

Rewind: The 2012 Houston Press Music Award Winners Meet the Niceguys Monday night in front of a small gathering of hand-picked compatriots and friends, The Niceguys allowed their recording home of Wire Road Studios to turn into an open house. The multi-million dollar recording palace rolled out it ... More >>

Happy Birthday, Mr. T.! A Foolish Playlist For You To Pity

I have a hard time explaining the 1980s to my daughter. Mostly because she's, you know, two years old. Still, I imagine that even when she reaches an age where she's more willing to endure a conversation that doesn't involve strawberries and Dora the Explorer I won't be able to convey the strangene ... More >>

Tips For A Successful NYE from David Anderson, Houston's Party King

Remember that one awesome party, the invite-only one with the open bar that was sponsored by a liquor company, where everyone was beautiful and hip, and you got to mingle with Big Boi or Pharrell Williams or Bun B? Either you do remember, because you wish that every party you attended was half as am ... More >>

Y'all Musta Forgot: Le$'s Luminescent Settle 4 Le$ Vol. 2

"I gotta stay paid 'cause I like fly shit." -- Le$, "Gangsta" There was this time where, on Twitter, Le$ remarked that someone -- a street tough, presumably- had told him that his shoes were ugly. He Instagramed the right one. It was an Ice Cream sneaker, an explosion of colors and ideas from prod ... More >>

DJ EQUE: "Bad Azz Red Gurl" Etches Her Name In Wax

Photo by Marco TorresDJ EQUE at the launch party for Pharrell's Qreme liqueur, Las Vilas, September 23, 2011​DJ EQUE has been making her mark in the industry for more than 10 years, but it was never something that came easy for her. The Houston-bred beauty had a lot to prove before she was tak ... More >>

The X Factor: Rain Delay and Judges' Houses

Photo by FOXJust wait until the "Judges' moms' houses" round!​First, this recap was delayed because the Wednesday night baseball playoff game was rain delayed, canceling that night's X Factor episode--yet another reason for me to hate baseball. Second, naming the latest round of competition "t ... More >>

Top 6 Most Underappreciated Hip-Hop Albums, By Le$

This Week's Rapper: Le$ (pronounced "Less," though it's way more fun to call him L-E-dollar sign) This Week's Topic: Underappreciated albums, mixtapes, songs, etc. Last year, Le$ released a very good mixtape called The Beautiful Struggle. It was almost entirely overlooked. So, we asked L-E-dollar ... More >>

Pharrell Launches New Qream Liqueur At Exclusive Event

Photos by Marco Torres​Pharrell Williams wears many hats. He's a Grammy-Award winning producer, singer, songwriter, rapper, and successful clothing designer. Amongst those things, Williams has picked up one more project to juggle. Friday night, Williams dropped into Houston for the launch of ... More >>

Narduwar The Human Serviette's 11 Best Interviews

exclaim.caNarduwar (left) and the patron saint of 4/20​Nardwuar The Human Serviette from "Vancouver BC Canada" knows all of your favorite bands, artists, and rappers better than you, and better than they know themselves. At first glance, he kind of resembles a Canadian Matthew Lesko (the free- ... More >>

Remember Slim Thug's Boss of all Bosses?

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or un, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. ​Slim Thug Boss of All Bosses (Koch, 2009) Boss of all Bosses is Slim Thug's official sophomore ... More >>

Last Night: Gorillaz At Toyota Center

Photos by Jim Bricker​ Gorillaz Toyota Center October 19, 2010 For more photos from the show, see our slideshow here. Gorillaz may have overspent on their first-ever extended tour. True, the entire concept is that the group is officially made up of four cartoon characters, so there kind of ... More >>

Top 10 Rap Covers By Non-Rap Artists

​Artists have many ways of expressing admiration for their peers. Name-dropping those who inspire them in liner notes and offering them groupies on the tour bus are just a couple of ways of showing respect. Covering one of their popular songs? Now that's the ultimate tip of the hat. That's an ... More >>

Bama Boyz On Producing Beyonce's "Why Don't You Love Me"

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 introducingliston@ ... More >>

Y'all Musta Forgot: Slim Thug's Already Platinum

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Slim Thug Already Platinum (Geffen, 2005) ​Already Platinum was Slim's official debut album, but mor ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Slim Thug & Friends, Bun B & Friends, 50 Cent & Susan Boyle(!), Kid Cudi, Chris Brown, OutKast, Kidz In the Hall, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Sade, 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: Juicy J & Project Pat feat. Slim Thug & New Genesis, "Ike Turner Pimpin'" "I'm a motherfuckin' ... More >>

Idol Beat, Part 1: More Hollywood Week

Photos courtesy FoxYou thought the funeral was over? You thought all those tears were dried up? You were wrong, my friends - so very, very wrong. Aye, verily, the bloodletting continued unabated as Hollywood Week wound down. Hey, Ryan Seacrest warned us at the outset: "The stakes are as high ... More >>

Common: Universal Mind Control

Aftermath: Madonna at Minute Maid Park

Photos by Daniel Kramer “Did you cry?” Aftermath asked a new friend during the mass exodus from Minute Maid Park after Madonna’s first Houston show since she opened 1990’s Blonde Ambition tour at the Summit. “Yes,” she said, and from what Aftermath could gather from an informal stra ... More >>

Turning the Screw: K-Otix, T-Pain, Bun B & Face?, Jay-Z & Coldplay, Master P, The Game, The Kanye, MF Doom and More

Against Me! at ACL Fest

Aftermath: Common and N.E.R.D. at Verizon Wireless Theater

Superproducer Pharrell Williams is at Home in N.E.R.D.

The Nose Knows

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

Rap's Rapidly Vanishing Female MC

The Why Chromosome

Billion Dollar Babies

Rappers and their ten-figure dreams

Britney Spears, Blackout

Blackout

Royal Treatment

The King of beats holds court

Jamie Cullum

Monday, May 15, at Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, 713-629-3700

Eva's My All-Star

Thug Life

Slim Thug has paid the cost to be the Dirty South boss

Monsters of Hip

Five bands' worth of Urban Outfitters employees grace Cardi's stage with shopworn licks and attire

On the Down-Low

Shovel away all that Usher, Prince and Lil Jon you've been jamming, and dig this year's buried black-music treasures

On the Down-Low

Shovel away all that Usher, Prince and Lil Jon you've been jamming and dig this year's buried black-music treasures

Rotation

Handsome Boy Modeling School, Molotov and Rufus Wainwright

How Long, Oh, Lord, How Long

Another outpost of crap plops onto the Houston dial, as this open letter reveals

N.E.R.D.

Fly or Die (Virgin)

Cee-Lo

Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine (Arista)

Kelis

Tasty (StarTrak/Arista)

The Neptunes

Clones (Star Trak/Arista)

Spymob, with N.E.R.D., the Roots and Kelis

Wednesday, August 27

Invisible Man

Kenna doesn't care if you see him. He just wants you to hear him.

Black Gold

A gusher lay beneath the surface, but you had to drill deep

Clipse

Lord Willin' (Star Trak/Arista)