R. Kelly

Har Mar Superstar Brings Bye Bye 17 to Mango's Tonight

Har Mar Superstar hits Mango's on Wednesday night a week before his newest album, Bye Bye 17, hits physical and digital shelves. The collection of songs are heavily-influence by vintage soul and R&B, but still have his cheeky, lovelorn swagger going for them. He recorded the album in Austin at Pub ... More >>

Last Night: New Order at Coachella

New Order Coachella April 13,2013 While over at the main stage the bulk of the Coachella crowd was enduring Phoenix with the hope that Daft Punk would come out -- they instead got R. Kelly -- a smaller but perhaps more enthusiastic crowd got a first-rate greatest hits set from New Order Saturday n ... 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 >>

Your Ultimate Batman Batsoundtrack Batplaylist

No doubt some of you are sitting bleary and bloodshot from seeing an overnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises, and I am jealous of you. I didn't think to buy tickets early so now I will have to wait until like, next week to see it. First World Problems, dude. The ending of the Christopher Nolan ... More >>

Last Night: Santigold at House Of Blues

Santigold, Charli XCX House of Blues June 7, 2012 Watching Santigold onstage, you'd have almost no idea that the 35-year-old former punk singer had a hand in developing the careers of some of the biggest pop starlets in the last decade. That is until you break down that her costume changes, the way ... More >>

Ask A Rapper: Jack Freeman Nerds Out With R&B Hits

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? E-mail sheaserrano@gmail.com. ... More >>

Strait Bonin' Turns Our Beloved Icon Into King Of Porn Country

Of course you all know that today is George Strait's 60th birthday, and the King Of Country just announced that he is coming back to RodeoHouston next spring for a March 17th date with Martina McBride and the Randy Rogers Band. What a great end that will be to a torrid week at SXSW in Austin. This w ... 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 >>

Last Night: The-Dream At Fitzgerald's

The-Dream, Jack Freeman, Lee-Lonn March 29, 2012 Fitzgerald's "When you're fucking the wrong bitch, bad things happen." The-Dream, clad in a black T-shirt, some cheap Ray-Ban frames with a Raiders snapback and those rather extravagant "You Aren't Really Up On This" Nike MAGs shoes said that Thursd ... More >>

Fetish Fuel: 5 Musicians Who Put Their Fetish In Song Form

Ed. Note: This article is about some of the more unusual, but perfectly legal, forms of behavior some people choose to do in the boudoir. Sensitive readers might want to keep that in mind. Everyone's got a fetish. Some are kinkier than others, but everyone has something they like about their partne ... More >>

We Tell You Who Will Win Grammys So You Don't Have To Watch Them

SPOILER ALERT​The best thing about the annual Grammy nominations and awards shows is the clamor of anger that rises up when the mere mention of the event even comes up. Immediately people begin calling it a travesty, trotting out all the people who have been snubbed -- Jethro Tull beats Metall ... More >>

Golden Throats: Rock Star Health Care in 2012

Last June, current radio darling Adele was forced to cancel a large portion of her North American tour, disappointing scores of twenty-something year old easy-listeners in the process. The culprit? Laryngitis -- the age-old bugaboo of vocalists and recording artists. The diagnosis seemed relative ... More >>

Six People Who Should Have Never Tried To Rap

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 sheaserrano@gmail.com. ... More >>

Tha Centop Keeps His "Ear 2 Tha Streetz"

​In March, Rocks Off posted the first installment of the 2011 Houston Underground Rap Awards (second installment coming next month, by the way). In it, Tha Centop, a talented, forceful rapper who had never even had his name typed by Rocks Off, took home two awards. Now, similar to last week, ... More >>

Starchy Arch's Top Six Rap Songs About Sex

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 sheaserrano@gmail.com. ... More >>

Friday Night: Snoop Dogg At House Of Blues

Larami Culbertson​Snoop Dogg House of Blues March 18, 2011 11:08 p.m.: Just walked in. Snoop just stepped onstage a second ago. This place is packed. The ticket lady said that there were already over 1,400 people inside, likely with a couple hundred more to follow soon. Should be fun. 11:10 ... More >>

Saturday Night: Robin Thicke At Arena Theatre

Photos by Marco Torres​Robin Thicke Arena Theatre February 12, 2011 Is describing a show as an aural roofie politically incorrect? Because Saturday night's Robin Thicke show at the Arena Theatre seemed to put all the women in the crowd into a sexy soul-fog with a syrupy thicke-ness. We even s ... More >>

Robin Thicke

Mexican Pop Singer Fights Rape Allegations, Racism

​The latest chapter in Mexican pop singer Kalimba's life saddens us for a number of reasons, but the possibility of never hearing his music again is not one of them. If you haven't heard, while recording his latest album in El Paso, Kalimba was held by the U.S. Border Patrol on suspicion of ... More >>

Music's Top Five Hottest Trends For 2011

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Every year-end Rocks Off prognosticates the likeliest trends in music for the upcoming year. So far, we've got a 100 percent success rate, although since the FBI made us take down all of our previous predictions, we have no way to prove it. So you'll j ... More >>

The Happen-Ins

R&B-tinged rockers shun Austin's "dorky" alt-country scene.

Busted! 20 Musician Mugshots

​ Getting arrested and booked isn't the end of the world, by any means. Well unless you just killed a shit-ton of people at a bowling alley or something, it really is. But if you are a rocker or a celebrity who committed a minor offense, it's just a funny footnote in your public life you can look ... More >>

Sam Sneed: Christian Rappers Are Not Gangstas

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. ​You remember Sam Sneed, right ... More >>

"Rubberz" At The Ready For R&B-Ish Dude Marcel Francoeur

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. ​A snap judgment is the best. ... More >>

Spermy Night In Georgia: Sexed-Up Songs To Set The Mood For Blowfly

Let's get one thing perfectly clear: Blowfly is the original dirty rapper. Before anyone in 2 Live Crew was old enough to set foot into a peepshow stall or buy a pack of cigarettes, Clarence "Blowfly" Reid was spewing forth raucous raps like "Spermy Night In Georgia" and "What a Difference a Lay Mak ... More >>

Turning The Screw: New Hollywood F.L.O.S.S. Track, Mixtapes Galore, Kid Cudi, LeBron, Diddy, Weezy, Sade, Pink 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: "She Said...," Hollywood F.L.O.S.S. Wire To Wire Slim Thug released that Welcome 2 Texas mixtape. Do ... More >>

Turning The Screw: Chamillionaire, Bun, Trae, Mystikal, Swizz Beats, The Game, Tila Tequila, Maury Povich, Jay Electronica 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: "Creepin'," Chamillionaire feat. Ludacris Wire To Wire Cham's Major Pain tape is supposed to be release ... More >>

He Said She Said: "Fuck You Owl City" and the other Worst Songs of the Decade

Sweet Jeebus, this decade had some awful pop music. You would think the Lord would spare us a little in light of all the terrorist attacks and hurricanes we got this past period. Where the past ten year cycles had disco, new wave, and classic West Coast hip-hop to sate the aural thirsts of Top 40 li ... More >>

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 >>

Program Notes: Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, 1809-1847​Here at Rocks Off, we enjoy album covers with turds on them and making fun of R. Kelly as much as the next guy. And just wait until Chris Brown gets here next weekend. But there's a lot more to music than that. In a possibly fruitless effort to c ... More >>

Cleanse Your Dirty, Dirty Soul With the Blind Boys of Alabama at House of Blues

Ladies and gentlemen, Rocks Off doesn't mind telling you he feels a little dirty after editing that last Britney Spears post. We swear, we ourselves have never, ever rubbed one out to the cover art of Oops... I Did It Again - we just wish we knew why we always have such a hard time getting the damn ... More >>

MP3 of the Day: You(genious)'s Sticky-Sweet "Sex on a Spoon"

You(genious) (left) and DJ Good Grief​ Hello, ladies. Come on in. Allow Rocks Off to take your coats. What's that? It's August? You don't have any coats? No matter. Would you care for a glass of wine? Perhaps some Hennessy? Help yourself to this plate of fine cheeses, please. Half off at Spec's, y ... More >>

Turning the Screw: G.R.I.T Boys, Coolio, Nas, Eminem, Tupac, Lil' Kim, Chris Brown, R. Kelly, Snoop Dogg, Scarface 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 "I'm Fresh," G.R.I.T. Boys ft. Trae and Tum Tum Wire to Wire Brooklyn's Uncle Murda was convicted o ... More >>

Reverberations: Born Liars, Ugly Beats and Fleshtones at Rudyard’s

Raheem DeVaughn

Love Behind the Melody

The-Dream

Love Hate

Last Night: The Gourds at Warehouse Live

T.I., Yung Joc, Ciara, T-Pain, Lloyd

Screamfest hollas 8 p.m. Saturday, August 4, at Toyota Center, 1510 Polk. 713-627-9622.

Odd Couples

Strange musical pairings

Verizon Drops Stefani

Wait a minute ...

Get Your Spankin'

They Did What?

The top WTF moments of 2005

Our top DVD picks for the week of November 1

Downtown Cubs

Tilman's tigers are on the prowl

A Fan's Notes

Ideas that were forgotten but not gone in 2003

The Spirit of the Scabs

Houstonians the Handsomes get the booties shaking Austin-style

Bacharach Meets Isley

Here I Am (DreamWorks)

Superflies

R&B royalty roll out for Budweiser Superfest

Sound Check