Run-DMC

Happy Rare Disease Day! 5 Musicians With Odd Ailments

Like all good people, I want to kick cancer in the dick, but I will say one thing for the bastard: when you're as widespread horrible an attack on the human body as cancer is, you at least leave behind you a network of survivors, support groups, foundations and so on for people to participate in a s ... More >>

Nosaprise Opens His Book of the Dead Vol. 1

You have to hand it to Nosaprise, although you can't help but worry a little too. This month The Houston rapper/musician's grownup job as an arts teacher presented an opportunity for him to attend a lecture in Nigeria -- travel expenses paid -- and he stuck around to visit family and perform a littl ... More >>

The Great Outdoors

Your 2013 music-festival outlook, Texas edition.

Can a Rapper Make a Good Rock Album?

Recently B.o.B. commented on his upcoming rock EP to MTV, saying that he's been "holding back so much rock for so long." While B.o.B. says that "no one's really expecting anything," freeing him to do whatever he wants, I myself do have an expectation for this record: It's going to be awful. I hate ... More >>

Christmas Past: 10 Christmas Songs That Are Really About Drugs

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared October 26, 2011. Halloween is right around the corner, so you know what that means: Time to start ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday In Review: Turbonegro, De La Soul, Araab Muzik & More

The last day of Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012 was another dusty affair. I can feel about a pound of crud in my lungs, and my ears are ringing like a mother-fluffer, which means I had a great Sabbath at Auditorium Shores. SLIDESHOWS: The Girls of Fun Fun Fun Fest Turbonegro, De La Soul and Edward Sharpe: F ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday In Review: Kreayshawn, Refused, Girl Talk & More

Saturday's FFFF was a dusty affair, with merch tables making money off bandannas and other face coverings hand over fist. Where did that phrase come from, by the way? What do hands and fists have to do with making money, aside from petty crime? SLIDESHOW: PiL, Refused, A$AP Rocky: Fun Fun Fun Fest ... More >>

Last Night: Run D.M.C. at Fun Fun Fun Fest

Run D.M.C. Fun Fun Fun Fest Auditorium Shores, Austin November 2, 2012 SLIDESHOW: Run D.M.C., Bob Mould and Val Kilmer: Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012 Day 1 Ten years ago, almost to the day, Hip-Hop lost one of its most adored and influential pioneers. His passing left a void that neither his family, his ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Friday In Review: Bun B, Bob Mould, Against Me! & More

The first day of Fun Fun Fun Fest was marked by the oddball stylings of an in-character Val Kilmer terrorizing the stage with the Black Lips, and the triumphant return of rap legends Run-D.M.C. rocking the main stage to close out the night. In between there was Bob Mould, Converge, Houston's own Bun ... More >>

Rocks Off's Picks For This Weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest

First off, the entire Rocks Off team agrees unanimously that we are all excited to see Run-D.M.C. at this year's edition of Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, even though writer /photographer Marco Torres has already seen them this year at Jay-Z's Made In America Music Festival. REWIND: Fun Fun Fun Fest ... 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 >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012: A$AP Rocky, De La Soul, PiL, Santigold, X, Turbonegro, Etc.

This morning Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest, the best music festival in Texas that isn't Free Press Summer Fest, announced their full 2012 lineup after months of teasing us and leaking a handful of names at a time -- and then hip-hop legends Run-D.M.C Tuesday morning. Scheduled for November 2-4 at Audit ... More >>

Run-D.M.C. Reuniting at November's Fun Fun Fun Fest

The surviving members of the Kings of Rock, Run-D.M.C., will headline Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest November 2-4 at Auditorium Shores, the festival announced this morning. The performance will be Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels' first since DJ/producer and founding member Jam Master J ... More >>

Welcome To My World: 10 Musicians Who Deserve Their Own Reality Show

Ever since The Real World hit the MTV airwaves in the early '90s, reality television has been all the rage. However, since The Osbournes debuted in 2002, some of that reality programming has catered to music fans. Even such music artists as country artist Tanya Tucker, rapper/minister Reverend Run ... More >>

Why The Monkees Should Be In The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

The death of Davy Jones Wednesday isn't just the end of one man's life. For fans of the Monkees, it means the end of a lot of things. It means no more reunions. It means no more movie and TV cameo appearances. It means no more new music It means no performance to celebrate the Monkees' induction ... More >>

The Best LP Side Ones Ever

Spurred on by the realization that both David Bowie's commercial breakthrough Let's Dance and Queen's News of the World had solid, sturdy side ones on their vinyl releases, I then began the hunt for other great vinyl slabs with amazing side ones. Of course, the idea is that this could only include ... More >>

Looking Back at A Very Special Christmas Track by Track

In the late 1980's, music empresario Jimmy Iovine cobbled together quite a collection of pop and rock artists to record songs for a Christmas album benefitting the Special Olympics. In 1987, A Very Special Christmas was released and rapidly became an instant holiday classic thanks to the star powere ... More >>

10 Christmas Songs That Are Really About Drugs

memecenter.comMerry fuckin' Christmas, mang.​Halloween is right around the corner, so you know what that means: Time to start making a list and checking it twice. Bourbon, gin, scotch, vodka, Xanax, painkillers... Walgreen's and CVS have already stocked their shelves with wrapping paper, plas ... More >>

Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow

No Diggity

Diggy Simmons, son of Run, gets closer to his dreams.

1986: Best Musical Year Ever?

​For almost two weeks now, Rocks Off has been obsessed with the year exactly 25 flips of the calendar backward from this one. It started when Steve Earle did one of his "Time Machine" shows, where the singer-songwriter who plays House of Blues Wednesday spotlights a dozen or so of his favorite ... More >>

The Best Fourth Songs On History's Greatest Albums

Sorry, Manowar, maybe next year...​As we come up on the July 4th weekend, Rocks Off considered a myriad of blog ideas to commemorate the holiday. Most patriotic songs, album covers, artists? Sorry, Lee Greenwood, Richard Pryor, and Ted Nugent, but it's all been covered. On this weekend of inde ... More >>

Top Five Christmas Rap Songs

​Show us one hip-hop head who isn't obsessed with corny Christmas sing-alongs and we'll show you a liar. Nothing says "hip-hop" like cheery holiday tunes about sharing and caring. In the spirit of holiday music, Rocks Off compiled a list of five Christmas rap songs guaranteed to make you the f ... More >>

Yo Gabba Gabba!'s Greatest Hits

​A year ago, in honor of Sesame Street's 40th birthday, Rocks Off brought you a list of the beloved television program's 10 Best Musical Appearances. But 41 years ago, Nickelodeon didn't exist. Now the network is known for its retro-cool vibe, thanks to bringing back shows from the golden age ... More >>

Bon Jovi, Rock & Roll Hall Of Famers? It Could Happen...

Stay classy, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame...​This morning the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced this year's ballot of nominees, with the winners to be announced in December and inducted next March in New York. Fifteen names are on this year's ballot, ranging from hip-hoppers, proto-metal icons, ... More >>

Accessories Houston Rappers Don't Leave Home Without

fashionbombdaily.comSlick Rick: The ruler's back at Reliant Arena, November 6​Rappers have always been obsessed with accessories. It's mandated in rap contracts, right next to girl songs and Bun B collaborations. The tradition dates back to hip-hop's early days. Before Kanye popularized shutte ... More >>

Top 10 Anti-Drug Rap Songs

​A kabillion rap songs out there celebrate ganja and booger sugar - case in point: Young Jeezy at the Arena Theatre this weekend - but anti-drug rap songs are insanely rare. You have a better chance of finding a mastered copy of Detox. Luckily for you, Rocks Off went digging and found 10 great ... More >>

Party Like A Rock Star at House of Dereon

Brittanie SheyKaty Perry look-alike​The Hoff was there, chatting with Katy Perry. Lindsay Lohan was there too, in her sexy orange jumpsuit. Ziggy Stardust danced with members of Run DMC.As predicted, there were multiple Elvii (Costello and Presley) and a whole lot of people dressed like Bret Micha ... 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 >>

Atmosphere

H-Town Blues Festival, with Clarence Carter

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson

Yesterday marked a tremendous day for rappers and thrashers across the world: Metallica and Run-DMC were announced as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's newest inductees, along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack, two members of Elvis Presley's backing band ... More >>

The 12 Greatest Christmas Songs of All Time, Part 2

"Christmas in Hollis" As promised yesterday, on with the countdown... 6. "Frosty the Snowman," the El Orbits. If you have kids, they'll love the Dazzling Pete Gray's Jimmy Durante impersonation. 5. "Christmas in Hollis," Run-DMC. The boisterous spirit of Queens's most illustrious (and cold illin') ... More >>

Retro Active: The Five Worst '80s Christmas Songs

OK, sure, the truly worst '80s Christmas songs are doubtlessly "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" and Band Aid's (above) "Do They Know It's Christmas?" But everyone knows this. However, there were many other holiday songs released during the '80s that nearly reached such heights of crapulence ... More >>

Retro Active: The Five Best '80s Christmas Songs

Christmas seems to activate a latent part of all musicians' brains that inspires them to spread their holiday cheer all over a perfectly good season. (The scientific term for this part of the brain is called "My Accountant.") Musicians in the '80s were certainly not exempt from this need to whi ... More >>

What's Not To Like About Hanukkah? Lots

Christmas is approaching, which means it's time for gentiles the country over to condescendingly recognize the existence of one of the least significant Jewish holidays - the frustratingly spelled Hanukkah.While it's certainly nice to wish others well during their respective holidays, Hair Balls bel ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Fela Kuti, Jay-Z, Left Eye, Lil Wayne, Ed McMahon, Ciara, DMX and More

Run's Playground

O Christmas Song, O Christmas Song

Slay Bells

An X-mas mixtape from hell

Polysics, with Alex Atchley, Los Abandoned and the Gaskets

Wednesday, March 15, at Super Happy Fun Land, 2610 Ashland, 713-880-2100

From Autumn to Ashes, with Poison the Well, All That Remains and Throwdown

Sunday, July 17, at the Meridian, 1503 Chartres, 713-225-1717.

Cope With This

Finally, someone figures out how to craft an interesting rock/hip-hop blend

Deck the Halls

Danseparc and Robert Tatum spin a hipster holiday party

Computer Error

When it comes to local facts, don't rely on Allmusic.com

Damn, That DJ Made My Day

Jam Master Jay, 1965-2002

Fat Joe

Tuesday, June 18

Rap Space

Will hip-hop ever find a home in Houston?

A Uniquely Pervis Perspective