Subject: T.I. (Rapper)

• Turning The Screw: Jay'Ton, Bushwick, Nas, Akon, Dre, Diddy, DJ Hero, Grandmaster Flash, The Kanye, T.I., Three 6 Mafia, Bubba Sparxxx, 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: "We Here," Jay'Ton feat. Trae and Yung Quis Wire To Wire: Nas is not a fan of Canada. Akon, who has been quite the spokesman as of late, speaks out about Anti-Gun Violence. I wonder why he never spoke out about throwing kids off stages. Oh, yeah, that's right, probably because of this.

  June 1, 2009

• Guilty Pleasures, Part II

  More music figures confess their deep, dark secrets

  January 6, 2005

• Turning the Screw: G.R.I.T. Boys, Scarface, Lil Wayne, The Kanye, Jay-Z, Shawty Lo, Superhead, Serius Jones 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: G.R.I.T. Boys, "One Night Stand" Wire To Wire Scarface's latest - and, apparently, last - album, Emeritus, is out tomorrow. Buy it, and buy it hard. Weezy just announced that he'll be in town December 18 at Toyota Center, with Keyshia Cole, Gym Class Heroes and Keri Hilson. If you haven't

  December 1, 2008

• Five Spot: The FBI Gets at DMX

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. ] As we reported in Monday's Turning the Screw, yet another arrest warrant was issued for star-crossed hardcore rapper DMX. It took all of four days before the FBI, which apparently has nothing better to do, got a hold of him. Such is life, we suppose: the sun rises and sets, Tuesday comes after Monday a

  December 12, 2008

• 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 saturated the Top 40 -- or what passes for hit-oriented radio in this topsy-turvy musical climate -- while proving that accessibility doesn't necessarily preclude creativity.

  December 29, 2008

• Turning the Screw: Promise Pseudo, Soulja Boy, Scarface, Rick Rubin, Akon, T.I., Doug E. Fresh, the Bee Gees 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: "Sunny," Promise Pseudo Wire To Wire We disliked Soulja Boy, and then we read this Scarface interview where 'Face said he respected him, so now we respect him too. We're sheep. Oh, and for those of you all who know who she is, scroll down to about halfway through the article where he's asked abo

  December 22, 2008

• 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 street knowledge for bizarre metaphysical narratives and crossover-friendly celebrations of the high life (both kinds). Which makes sense. People just aren't as easy to shock as they were in 1989.

  December 23, 2008

• Turning the Screw: Soulbrotha, Slim Thug, Will Smith, Lil Wayne/Michael Phelps, Jodeci, DMX, MC Hammer, Yungstar 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: "Viva La Revolucion," Soulbrotha Wire To Wire Slim Thug says March will be highlighted by the release of Boss of All Bosses. Scarface is on there, which is great. Paul Wall is on there too, which makes us want to run through a wall.  Will Smith, the greatest actor of all time, would like to po

  January 19, 2009

• Charges Against Wayna Dismissed; T.I. Off To Jail

  It's good news today for two performers, even if one of them is going to jail. Don't look so confused; we'll explain in just a bit. But first we have to congratulate Grammy-nominated R&B singer Wayna, who got picked up last year at Bush Intercontinental Airport right here in Houston for carrying a weapon. It's not as bad as it sounds; she accidentally stowed a collapsible police baton she uses in her stage act with her take-on luggage, and was arrested despite attempts to explain her status as a

  March 27, 2009

• T.I.

  March 12, 2009

• Huntzville's School-Shooting Song Raises an Even More Disturbing Issue

  January 8, 2009

• T.I.: Paper Trail

  November 27, 2008

• What Do Shepard Smith and Soulja Boy have in common?

  Wack's here to tell you: more than you might expect

  June 12, 2008

• Billion Dollar Babies

  Rappers and their ten-figure dreams

  January 31, 2008

• 2007 Music Year in Review

  December 13, 2007

• Sayonara , Matt Sonzala

  Talking SXSW and rap's current malaise with a soon-to-be ex-Houstonian

  December 6, 2007

• Keyshia Cole

  November 29, 2007

• Mouth of the South

  The South Park Coalition Turns 20

  September 13, 2007

• Bun B

  Trill

  November 10, 2005

• Thug Life

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

  July 14, 2005

• Where's the Beef? Right here in H-town

  T.I. and Lil' Flip rumble in Cloverland, bringing one of the great rap feuds of recent years to a head

  April 7, 2005

• This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

  March 31, 2005

• Destiny's Child

  Destiny Fulfilled (Columbia)

  November 18, 2004

• Ludacris

  Chicken & Beer (Def Jam South)

  October 23, 2003

• Dirty South Mix Tape Tour

  Sunday, August 24

  August 21, 2003

• 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 he can endorse a book called The Year of Magical Thinking and not get killed by snarky music blogs? Jesus must really, really love us: DMX to appear on VH-1's Celebrity Rehab. Then again, maybe n

  April 27, 2009

• Five Spot: Chamillionaire, Consistent as Oatmeal

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.For some reason, there was this kid that we went to middle school with who, despite only having said about four words to him ever, we never forgot. He was a burly, hard-looking kid named Detective Torres. Actually, his name was Jesse Torres, but everyone called him Detective To

  May 1, 2009

• 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 should you be curious to see some pictures of Rihanna sans clothes, you presumably know how Google works. (And, wow.) All is not well in the house that Run built: Jo-Jo arrested. Snoop Dogg does not ha

  May 11, 2009

• Olga Tañón

  May 14, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Flatline & Trae, Eminem, T.I., Jay-Z, Nas & Kelis, The Kanye, Danger Mouse, Devin the Dude 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: Flatline feat. Trae, "Fuckin' With Texas" Wire To Wire Eminem says he's the reason for the Chinese Democracy-ness of Dr. Dre's long-awaited Detox. Slaughterhouse, an MC group made up of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce Da' 5'9", will release its album soon. One possible title: Three Guys Wh

  May 26, 2009

• Straight From the Sole: Thoughts on Michael Jackson's Death

  You know Soledad. He's the vocalist from controversial Houston rap-metal act Daylight Coma. He's got a lot to say. Sometimes it's insightful, sometimes less so, but it's almost always said with conviction. This week, we asked him about the King of Pop's death. You're welcome to express your disdain with his opinions in the comment section. We're fairly certain he'll respond to you personally. He may even call you something unflattering. Fingers crossed. Rocks Off: Well, we suppose Michael seems

  July 2, 2009

• Five Spot: Houston R&B Collaboration King Billy Cook

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.This weekend, Bun B and Mya are shooting the video for "Show Me Something," the electro-wispy "Upgrade You"-ish single from her forthcoming album. We used to be a fan of Mya back in the late '90s. We listened to "Movin' On" for a good three hours straight when it first came out

  July 17, 2009

• Aftermath: Trae Day (Pre-Shooting) at TSU Stadium

  [Note: These are the notes from Trae Day prior to that whole pesky "six people getting shot" thing. For more info on that, check out our reports here and here.]Photos by Henry Rizoh/ Click here for a slideshow  Aftermath and hip-hop blogger Rizoh from The Rap Up arrived nearly two hours after Trae Day was supposed to start, and we're still too early. There are maybe 200 people here. On the bright side, at least it's really hot. There are two ambulances parked near the entrance of the parkin

  July 23, 2009

• 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 how we feel about that just yet. Check back with us next week. Been listening to UGK's Ridin' Dirty a lot lately. What Bun B does on "One Day," "Murder" and "Pinky Ring" might be the best three-song set

  July 28, 2009

• Five Spot: We Are Totally In the Tank for T-Pain

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.​As indicated in that italicized synopsis above, this is usually an area where we find some news that we can funnel into an opportunity for us to talk about whichever Houston rapper we happen to be jamming at the time. However, we hit up the T-Pain show last night (full revie

  August 28, 2009

• Fix Your Face

  September 24, 2009