Snoop Dogg

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 >>

Last Night: Willie Nelson at Arena Theatre

Willie Nelson Arena Theatre March 10, 2013 For some artists, even superlatives aren't enough. Willie Nelson turns 80 next month. He's been making music -- and making a living off it -- longer than my parents have been alive. And while there are other country artists of similar vintage and pedigree ... More >>

10 Music Films at SXSW That You Don't Wanna Miss

Well, it's SXSW time again, friends, and you know what that means: dashing around Austin all day, drinking until our eyebrows fall out and doing our best to stick to pre-planned schedules intended to maximize the amount of live music that we can cram into our ear canals before passing out on the flo ... More >>

The Top 10 Houston Music Stories of 2012

Looking back over the major music-related stories around Houston the past 11 and a half months, 2012 was light on the kind of headlines you'll usually see in a year-end "music scene" recap: Obituaries, arrests, venues closing down, malfeasance, bad behavior, that sort of thing. There was some of tha ... More >>

Fiona Apple Arrested In West Texas For Hash Possession (UPDATED)

Sierra Blanca, Texas -- that wonderful city in far West Texas that loves to pinch leaf-loving musicians like Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg Lion -- has claimed another trophy, arresting singer Fiona Apple Wednesday night for pot possession. According to TMZ, the singer-songwriter was arrested for po ... More >>

New Doc The Art Of Rap Spills Hip-Hop's Secrets

Rap wasn't always like Lil Jon's yelling his famous "What!?" and "Okay!", or repeating your name over and over throughout the song like Houston's own Lil Flip. Nowadays most see rap as lyrics telling a woman how to position herself or look for a man, rhymes about money and talk of toking up. But th ... More >>

Summer Fest Releases Schedule & Stage Times

Time to make some hard choices, folks. Free Press Summer Fest just released the schedule for this year's two-day event June 2 and 3 in Eleanor Tinsley Park.

Summer Fest Adds Pretty Lights, Erykah Badu, 3 Dozen Locals

After raising ticket prices Monday night, Free Press Summer Fest announced more headliners Thursday morning. What are you getting for that extra dough? How about Pretty Lights, Erykah Badu, Fitz & the Tantrums, Phantogram, R3hab, David Garza? Respectively, that's one Colorado EDM space cadet, one ... More >>

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 >>

Summer Fest Ticket Prices Go Up At 10 p.m.; More Talent "Soon-Ish"

Free Press Summer Fest is increasing ticket prices tonight, with a promise to compensate by adding more talent to the two-day music festival on the banks of Buffalo Bayou. According to FPSF's email blast this morning, the price of passes will go up at 10 p.m. tonight, and the festival will announce ... More >>

Incredible Medibles: The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook, Part 2

The one thing that The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook doesn't tell you is that making medibles is a smelly process. Measurements in the brand-new cookbook are accurate if disjointed -- going from ounces to grams to cups in one recipe, for example -- and the recipes are reliably good. Many of ... More >>

Top 9 Comments On Summer Fest 2012: Where's The Women?

As most of Houston and the surrounding area knows by now, Free Press Summer Fest announced its 2012 lineup in the wee hours this morning. By now Rocks Off has had a few more hours to reflect on the festival, entering its fourth year at Eleanor Tinsley Park June 2 and 3, and also to take a shower. O ... More >>

Baller Blockin: 7 Independent Hood Rap Movies

We have the post-holiday blues today. Part of it is because we ate too much bread pudding and drank four bottles of Andre champagne. The other part is because, for yet another Christmas, we didn't get Baller Blockin in our stocking. By now we thought we'd be curled up in bed, watching hood DVD's wit ... More >>

10 Rappers As Movie Villains

​Cunning criminals, violent geniuses, charismatic characters. Villains give us chills and keep us on the edge of our seats. With more rappers now dabbling in acting, we decided to cast some of your favorite hip-hoppers as movie villains. Here are ten rappers and their evil alter-egos.

Say My Name: Bands Named After Actual, Real People

Punk Rock Elite​This Friday would have been Z.Z. Hill's 76th birthday, but the popular Texas bluesman passed away in 1984 from a heart attack. Most people only know who the late soul crooner is through his connection to ZZ Top. The moniker of that little ol' band from where we are sitting righ ... More >>

Friday Night: The Gourds & Doyle Bramhall Sr. At Miller Outdoor Theatre

Photos courtesy of Miler Outdoor Theatre Advisory BoardDoyle Bramhall Sr.​The Gourds, Doyle Bramhall Sr. Miller Outdoor Theatre July 22, 2011 It was all Texas big beat Friday night as old-school Austin blues-rocker Doyle Bramhall Sr. and those funny, funny Gourds cut a groove in the Miller Ou ... More >>

Pop Rocks on Sting: "Rock Stars...Is There Anything They Don't Know?"

You rotten flexible bastard.​ Sting. He's the artist we love to hate: Sting, everyone's favorite somnambulant acoustic pop star, has developed a somewhat checkered experience in Central Asia. In 2009, Gulnara Karimova--herself a fledgling pop singer under the name GooGooSha and daughter of ... More >>

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap: Music Fans Love Their A-Holes

You rotten flexible bastard.​Sting. He's the artist we love to hate. From The Atlantic: Sting, everyone's favorite somnambulant acoustic pop star, has developed a somewhat checkered experience in Central Asia. In 2009, Gulnara Karimova - herself a fledgling pop singer under the name GooGooSha ... More >>

Shot In The Dark: The Ones Who Got Away (So Far)

UPDATE (3:23 p.m.): Promotional video by Monica Fuentes added after the jump. Jay LeeLittle Joe Washington at the Continental Club's 10th anniversary, July 2010​Slowly but surely, Rocks Off has been getting ready for our "Shot In the Dark" photo exhibition at Warehouse Live's Studio next Thur ... More >>

For The Final Four: 9 Musicians Who Love College Sports

​After weeks of anticipation and preemptory hand-wringing over where we're going to park on Washington Ave. this weekend, the Final Four is Finally here. As with any other time a marquee sporting event comes to Houston, you can count on some familiar themes in media coverage: Where to party, w ... More >>

SXSW: Fat Tony Stops By Headhunters For A Quick Day Set

Marco Torres​Houston's own Fat Tony hooked it up at Headhunters this afternoon for a quick day set ahead of his showcase show tonight at Karma Lounge at 10:15 p.m. He just opened up for Snoop Dogg last night at the House Of Blues in Houston. Someone is having the best weekend ever.

Ten Movies You Won't Get Into at Sundance

​The Sundance Film Festival kicks off this week in Park City, Utah. The venerable fest enters its 33rd year with many once again questioning the organizers' commitment to independent film. Recent incarnations have debuted underground fare from art houses like Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures ... 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 >>

Katy Perry's "California Gurls," As Done By Really Old Men

​Rocks Off hates Katy Perry with the white-hot burning intensity of a thousand suns. Her songs sound like Pink with a lobotomy, and she looks like Zooey Deschanel playing a really low-cost prostitute. When the video for "California Gurls" came out, we saw something that we never thought we'd s ... More >>

True Blood: Beautifully Broken With Shelby Lynne

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. Season 3, Episode 2: "Beautifully Broken" Max Crace via WikipediaS ... More >>

"Rap Song Or Murder Ballad" Revealed

​ Rocks Off is really enjoying these little quizzes we've concocted, because it gives us a chance to revisit some of our favorite rap tunes and bask in the comforting knowledge that, whatever their time, place and circumstance of origin, songs about killing are pretty much all the same. We only wi ... More >>

Cypress Hill's Hazy Tuesday At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marco Torres​ For more photos from the show, see our slideshow here. If Aftermath never sets foot inside another rock concert for the rest of our life, we will still more than likely not pass a drug test until our grandson's freshmen year of college thanks to the giddily oppressive conta ... More >>

Turning the Screw: K-Rino, Bun B, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, Lil' Kim, Flavor Flav, Guccie Mane, Mike Jones, 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: "Phony," K-Rino Wire To Wire Always good to read something from Bun B. K-Rino had an album release part ... More >>

Turning the Screw: J-Dawg, DMX, Birdman/Weezy, Kelis/Nas, Weezy/Obama, Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J, Geto Boys 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: J-Dawg, "Never" Wire To Wire Did you know that it costs $240,000 to impersonate an FBI agent? DMX does. ... More >>

UGK: UGK 4 Life

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 >>

Houston, Texas, America, Meet Huntzville...and Watch the Eff Out

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since gangsta rap went overground with N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton. Through Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg to Tupac and Eminem, it launched most of hip-hop's biggest stars for a good decade, but these days even artists like T.I. and Lil Wayne have sacrificed serious st ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Von Won, Lil O, Ludacris, Flo Rida, the Roots, Suge Knight, Too $hort, The Kanye, Ghostface Killah 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.       (Churchy) Single of the Week:  "I Love You," Von Won     Wire To Wire     ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Hollywood F.L.O.S.S., LL Cool J, The Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, Russell Crowe (!?), MF Doom, Beyonce and More

Stageside Blogging: Karina Nistal Gets Ambitious, Our Hosts Win an Award and Kam Guest-Blogs

The Gourds

concert preview

Lost in Rotation

Rounding Up Recordings by HPMA Nominees

David Allan Coe

Friday, September 2, at Texas Tumbleweeds, 13101 Kuykendahl, 281-872-7829.

Playbill

Merry Christmas, Beeyotch!

Forget caroling. Here are a few hip-hop jammy-jams to warm your yule log.

So You Wanna Be an Actor?

Here's a chance for your big break

Aged Peppers

Flea and company prove they can keep it together

Barnyard Boogie

Former Houstonian Kev Russell talks about Snoop Dogg and Cow Fish Fowl or Pig

Tha Liks

Saturday, February 2

Action Incorporated

Make way for Master P's low-end version of Hollywood

Rotation

Sound Check

Rotation

The Year of Living Anxiously

Are We Having Fun Yet? Or is it just the jangly buzz of advanced urban stress syndrome?