Rihanna

I Can’t Stand the Rain...

This Just In: “Bodysnatchers” at the Woodlands

Exclusive! Uncovered Vanity Fair Memo to Annie Leibovitz

Tonight: Shontelle at House of Blues

Top Ten Pop Songs of 2008

Pop music often gets a bad rap for being disposable or vapid, and in many cases that's true. (Katy Perry, Danity Kane and the Pussycat Dolls, step right up!) But every year, a few irresistible bits of innovative ear candy rocket up the charts and seep into our subconscious. The following ten singles ... More >>

Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demol ... More >>

Turning the Screw: OG Ron C, Bun B, "5000" Watts, DMX, The Kanye, Rihanna/Chris Brown, Big HAWK 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: "Killa Joe," Michele Thibeaux Wire To Wire Houston's OG Ron C, head honcho of the GO DJ Coali ... 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 >>

T.I.

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 >>

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

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 >>

Rihanna

Her new CD is better than expected

Turning the Screw: Dead End Alliance, Bun B, DMX, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Eminem, The Kanye, Beyonce 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: "Heart of a Hustler," Dead End Alliance feat. Lil Keke and Mike D Wire To WireHow bad-ass is Bun B that ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Bun B, Trae & Lil Keke, Rihanna, Snoop, Eminem vs. Nick Cannon, Jay-Z, T.I., E-40, South Park Mexican 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: "Grey Cassette," Trae feat Bun B and Lil Keke Wire To Wire Ummm, we're not going to link to them, but s ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Chamillionaire & Z-Ro, UGK, Slim Thug, Trae Day, Chris Brown, Meth & Red, Diddy, MCA, O.G. Style 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: Chamillionaire feat. Z-Ro, "Denzel Washington" Wire To Wire Slim Thugga cut off his braids. Not sure ho ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Killa Kyleon, Chamillionaire, Wendy Williams, 50 Best Rap Albums of the '00s, Drake, Weezy, Chris Brown, UGK, 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: Killa Kyleon, "Ego" (remix) P.S. Kyleon is one of Houston's best remixers. Remember his "A Milli" remix ... More >>

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss): Chris Brown and Other Infamous Musical Woman-Beaters

See the rest of Rihanna's 20/20 interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer here. Chris Brown brings his "Fan Appreciation Tour" to town this weekend, leading to several questions. Not the least of which are, "Who the hell is still a fan of this guy?" And, "Will his 'appreciation' of same take some form ... More >>

Is It Still Too Soon to Forgive Chris Brown?

Chris Brown - Yo (Excuse Me Miss) (Official Music Video) - Click here for more blooper videos Sweet little Chris Brown. This is how we prefer to remember him. This video came out when he was, what, 16? He's so young here, so adorable, so polite! The way he calls that girl dressed entirely inappropr ... More >>

Does Anyone Care About Super Tuesdays Anymore? Besides Us?

​Time was that Tuesdays used to be the best day of the week for your average recorded-music consumer. Since Rocks Off was just a wee music nerd, Tuesdays were his favorite days of the week because it was always the universal day for all new releases to hit the stores. It started with begging our p ... More >>

Turning The Screw: Our Five Favorite Rap Storylines of the Year

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. For the past year, every Monday we've tallied the week's most relevant happenings in rap (rappenings?) and packaged them nic ... More >>

The 11 Stupidest Events from the World of Music, 2009 Edition

Hi there, 2009. Please have a seat. Are you comfortable? Would you like some coffee, or perhaps a cigarette? No? Okay, good. Let's just cut straight to the point, then. You suck, and frankly we're sick of your bullshit. You were an awful year, filled not just with economic collapse, scary right-wi ... More >>

Rocks Off Exclusive: Things Beyonce Will Be Doing on Her Break from Music

​ On top of everything else this week, sadly the news has come out that our beloved Beyonce is taking a break from music. Just when we need her the most, right? We miss B and Ms. Fierce already, and we're already speculating what she might get up to while taking her sabbatical away from the public ... More >>

Most Downloaded "Hope For Haiti" Texan? Although She Killed, Not Beyonce

Between fighting crime, reducing global warming, mending our socks and, you know, everything else Rocks Off does when we're away from the office, we caught a good bit of Friday evening's "Hope for Haiti" telethon. We didn't have much choice, because the George Clooney-organized, celebrity-packed fu ... More >>

Was Chris Brown Shopping For A Birthday Party Spot At The Galleria?

celebrityevil.com (Warning: Some NSFW content on site)​ Channel 39 recently posted a short video of Chris Brown as the embattled R&B singer visited the Galleria over the weekend. The video is about a minute of Brown, a small entourage and a phalanx of security guards leaving a shoe store and h ... More >>

The Top 10 Music-Video Riots

From Agnostic Front's "Riot, Riot Upstart"​Just like the Stones said, "Summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy." Only the best social insurrections and riots happen in the heat of the summer. It makes us wonder why Houston hasn't had more angry, heat-stoked street ... More >>

Five Musicians Who Can Help Mel Gibson Reform His Image

​Just in case you haven't heard the audio tapes of famed actor/ultra-religious headcase Mel Gibson unleashing slur-filled invective at his wife Oksana Grigorieva, you can listen to them here, but you've got to be warned, it is not even remotely safe for work unless you work in a Neo-Nazi biker ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Finally, Some Important Movie News

​Now that the dust has cleared (and the blood has been spilled, thanks to a stabbing before the...Cowboys and Aliens panel) at Comic-Con, we can finally move forward, away from the overwrought announcements about the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds is better ... More >>

Confessions Of A Sheet Music Salesman

rbcmusic.com​Readers may be surprised to learn this, but searching for YouTube videos to mock and talking about Goth bands does not exactly pay for the finer things in life. So six days a week, Rocks Off - or at least the Rocks Off writer with only one "f" in his name - sells sheet music to th ... More >>

The Top Five Saturday Night Live Musician Impressions

​In the wake of the recent news that feted comedian/actor/YouTube sensation Jay Pharoah - above, known for his spoofs of A-list bait like Drake, Chris Tucker, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Eddie Murphy, and President Obama - will join the cast of Saturday Night Live when its 36th season premieres September ... More >>

Is Chris Brown Officially Unshunned?

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: Yung Redd, Fat Tony, Thurogood Wordsmith, Kyle Hu ... More >>

Music Sales Down 2.5 Percent In 2010

​Nielsen SoundScan released its annual report on music sales Monday, and the results were less than surprising. Physical sales continued to decline, digital sales continued to rise, and crap pop continues to reign supreme both at the cash register and on the airwaves. During the period of Jan ... More >>

2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Video Recap

Justin Bieber, your All-Star MVP​Travel day today back from Phoenix, so I'm submitting the ultimate Cliffs Notes version of dominant performances during the NBA All Star weekend. (I'll be back at full blog strength tomorrow.) Here goes: - Justin Bieber was named most valuable player of the c ... More >>

Settle Down, Chris Brown: Songs To Temper A Hot Temper

Marco TorresChris Brown at House of Blues, November 2009​Have you ever heard that phrase "When I do good, no one remembers; when I do bad, no one forgets"? This is the story of candy-rapper Chris Brown's life the past few years since he beat the ever-loving shit out of ex-girlfriend Rihanna fo ... More >>

Marley's Ghost: Bob Lives In More Than Just Dorm Rooms

The Onion​Thirty years ago today, Bob Marley passed away from cancer at the young age of 36. According to one joke, it took three days to bury him because his coffin kept jammin'. Bada bum. That's not even our favorite. Earlier this year, Dan Turner, press secretary to Mississippi Governor an ... More >>

Single Jack White: 10 Women He Should Date Next

GroovehouseThe Dead Weather's Allison Mosshart at House of Blues, May 2010​Today came word that Jack White and wife Karen Elson are splitting in grand style, with a celebratory party in their hometown of Nashville this evening. Together, the two struck a sultry pose, the brooding, multifaceted ... More >>

The 2011 BET Awards, Or The Vindication Of Chris Brown

​6:58: High-five to the Houston Press for flying us out to Los Angeles to cover the BET Awards. Cool move. Thus far, it's been extra fun. We ran into Kobe and, um, saw some people filming a movie, and... uh... there were some angels or something, and... there... there was... eh, shit. We're n ... More >>

Off the Sidelines

Crashing a birthday party didn't work, but young rapper J. Cole eventually got Jay-Z's attention.

Saturday Night: Rihanna At Toyota Center

Photos by Groovehouse​Rihanna Toyota Center July 9, 2011 Don't stop the music photos in our slideshow. It may be cutting against the grain to say this, but Rihanna may be the most transgressive pop star out there right now. She can do spectacle just fine - can she ever - but she doesn't need ... More >>

Shawn Asil Jordan: Masturbating in Jail Adds to His Problems

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.​When you're sitting in jail on an aggravated robbery charge, time passes slowly. Thoughts drift to happier times. If those happier times involve sex -- even if it's just a fantasy "happier time" of you, say, banging Rihanna like she's never been banged ... More >>

35 Bands You Should Never, Ever Search On Google Images

dedica.laOnce unprintable in "family" newspapers, today the Butthole Surfers barely even rate on our list. You'll see why.​Here at Rocks Off, we take our blog ideas where we can get them - even from mistakes. Allow us to explain. About a month ago, we went to Rihanna at Toyota Center, and aft ... More >>

When Gravity Attacks: 13 Memorable Onstage Stumbles

Lady Gaga kept a poker face after her Montreal fall.​Concert performances and award shows can sometimes really put the pressure on artists, who often get so nervous or excited that they may just faceplant the stage. We've complied you tube clips of some of the best mid-performance stumbles. So ... More >>

Rihanna's Top 5 Most Controversial Videos

​Rihanna recently released yet another controversial video for "We Found Love," the first single from her forthcoming Def Jam album Talk That Talk. The Grammy-winning singer seems to love pissing off parents and anti-violence organizations with her musical visuals. But she's surely not the fir ... More >>

Grammys Wrap Nominations, Performances Into Live Show Tonight

​In this week's edition of "no one cares so do whatever you want," the Grammy's will be announcing nominations tonight for their annual awards presented in February. Normally, a simple press conference would suffice, but NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) thinks it would b ... More >>

Taking Apart Yesterday's Facebook Music Screed

​Yesterday, about a half-dozen of my Facebook friends forwarded a gloom-and-doom listicle from a site called Buzzfeed entitled "12 Extremely Disappointing Facts About Popular Music." Now up to over one million hits, the doom-and-gloom piece is subtitled "This is the saddest thing you'll read a ... More >>

On the Rocks: Cocktails Named After Musicians for New Year's Eve

Have a G.G. Allin and bring in the New Year indecently!​Everything is more exciting, sometimes even redeeming, when it has a cool name: Sexual acts, alcoholic beverages, movies, albums, etc. OK, maybe just sexual acts and drinks. Since there are thousands of sites that have the former covere ... More >>

Heavy Fuel: How to Drink Like a Rock Star

Kinda like this but not at all.​If you want to be a real rock star, you can go ahead and forget about those Red Bull and vodkas you're so fond of. Legit rockers are fueled by bigger, harder and flat-out weirder doses of alcohol than the mere mortals hitting on the bartender at your local wate ... More >>

How To: Drink Like a Rock Star

Kinda like this but not at all.​Sure, most rock stars are probably happy with any bottle that happens to be within reach. Some rock stars, however, prefer to refine and perfect their booze intake, settling on a signature cocktail that suits their outsized personalities and consequence-free li ... More >>

Ten Cruises We'd Rather Take Than the KISS Kruise

​Imagine a vacation where made-up members of your favorite glam rock band wander the decks of a cruise ship. Does that sound like heaven on earth? Well, glam boy, you're in luck as the second annual (yes, they've done one before this) KISS Kruise sets sail this October featuring that cuddly '7 ... More >>

Predicting Your Future Half Time Show Performers

Photo By Marco Torres​All of the Super Bowl talk this week has given me a chance to ponder one of my favorite pop culture questions: how big do you have to be to perform at the Super Bowl half time show? When you consider the acts that have performed since the 2005 move to one act performances ... 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 >>