The Pharcyde

MTV's Best Year: The Top 5 Videos of 1992

In 1992, the recording industry was riding high. The compact disc had become a major success, with music lovers purchasing new albums and old releases in astonishing numbers despite the format's comparatively steep price tags. And the music-video juggernaut known as MTV was helping major labels to b ... More >>

Meet the 2012 HPMA Showcase Nominees: Electric Attitude

Rocks Off reached out to the artists playing this year's Houston Press Music Awards showcase Sunday, August 5, and asked them to introduce themselves. Here's what they sent back. Catch up with the other showcase nominees and see our the rest of our HPMA coverage Rocks Off: When and where was your ... More >>

Spike Jonze's Top 9 Music Videos

There's no doubt that Spike Jonze is an enigma of a director and artist. He's worked in all types of mediums: he filmed bullriders at the Astrodome, changed the world of skateboard videography, and visually recreated the brilliance of Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. Plus, he's made us al ... More >>

Top 10 Interesting Things From Ice-T's The Art of Rap

Friday night, Ice-T's new hip-hop documentary The Art of Rap opened in theaters nationwide. I went and watched it at the AMC Studio 30 at Westheimer and Dunvale. Here are ten things from the movie that are interesting and one thing that will be picked over: 10. Grandmaster Caz Is Ruthlessly, Seaml ... More >>

Upcoming: Jane's Addiction, Ted Nugent, Yanni, Spoon, David Allan Coe, Doobie Brothers, Garbage

Adelaine, Kameron, The Blackout Heist: Mon., April 2. Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Anders Osborne: Wed., May 9. Dosey Doe Coffee Company, 25911 I-45 N., Spring. Another Run, The Suffers, Mantis, Tax The Wolf: Sat., March 31. Fitzgerald's Band of Skulls, Balam Acab, Superhumanoids: Fri., ... More >>

Tori, Tool, TLC And The Other Musical Debuts Of 1992

1992 was a pretty heady year for music in general, with the masses gobbling up all the gangsta rap, grunge, and pop-country they could. That year would see the release of not only R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People, Peter Gabriel's Us, Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power, but also what is arguably The ... More >>

The Top 25 Comedy Rap Songs Of All Time: Nos. 10-6

​Welcome to the top 10 greatest comedy rap songs. Some real winners have gone before (see 25-21 here, 20-16 here, and 15-11 here), but now we're getting to the tunes that are absolutely necessary to have. Get ready for some sharks, clowns, prime disses, and most of all a sorely missed comedy l ... More >>

Top 10 Most Underrated Music Video Artists

The Material Girl. The King of Pop (and his sister). The Chili Peppers. Mr. West. Very few artists have become the musical equivalent of the two-sport athlete: Making memorable music and monumental videos. When those people had a new video to premiere, it wasn't a just a video, it was an event. I ... More >>

Rappers And R&B Stars Who Would Make Great Tween Authors

Beanie Sigel will NOT be asked to illustrate 50's book.​So did you hear the one where 50 Cent writes a young-adult book about bullying called Playground? No, this one is not a joke. Apparently, 50 wants to explores his inner tween and examine the negative effects of bullying on young people be ... More >>

Instant Crunk: All The Local Music News You Can Handle

​It's that time again! We've slogged through Twitter streams and RSS feeds just to bring everyone up to speed on Houston's prolific music scene. So let's get down to the business of getting down, starting with our soundtrack for the week: a 49-minute mix from DJ Sun, performing at The Flat. I ... More >>

Upcoming: Avett Brothers, David Allan Coe, Moody Blues, Etc.

​Adema: Wed., Jan. 12. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Against Me!, Cheap Girls, Fences: Tue., Jan. 25. Warehouse Live. Andy Bell (DJ Set): Sat., Jan. 15. Numbers. Avett Brothers: Thu., April 14. Verizon Wireless Theater. Big Freedia: Fri., Feb. 11. Fitzgerald's. Brent Nettles & The Texas Tea Part ... More >>

Last Night: Gorillaz At Toyota Center

Photos by Jim Bricker​ Gorillaz Toyota Center October 19, 2010 For more photos from the show, see our slideshow here. Gorillaz may have overspent on their first-ever extended tour. True, the entire concept is that the group is officially made up of four cartoon characters, so there kind of ... More >>

Phranchyze Crowned Houston's Freestyle King At Red Bull EmSee Contest

Photos by RizohThursday's unanimous winner Phranchyze advances to the national Red Bull EmSee finals in Detroit.​Outside on Westheimer, a small crowd of young music lovers has gathered in front of Numbers. Before Rocks Off even makes our way into the building, we're immediately greeted by soul ... More >>

"Summertime" From Beyond The Grave

​Today marks the 44th anniversary of Janis Joplin's first gig with Big Brother and the Holding Company. One of rock's most staggering vocalists, Joplin became another star who left us too soon on October 4, 1970, when she overdosed on heroin while recording Pearl. George Gershwin's "Summertime" wa ... More >>

Dave Wrangler Is Under The Influence... Before Our Washington Shore Party

Album art by Wyatt LittleRocks Off mentioned this right after Houston's main man on the mash-ups, Dave Wrangler, agreed to DJ tonight's Washington Shore party (8 p.m., rain or shine) at the Washington Avenue Drinkery, but it's worth repeating. Wrangler's got a new 18-track collection of mix-n-match ... More >>

Start the Guessing Now: Which Fun Fun Fun Fest Artists Will Also Play the Next Block Party?

​ Fun Fun Fun Fest, the scuzzier, noisier cousin to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, announced its lineup this afternoon. Held November 7 and 8 in Austin's Waterloo Park, FFFF is up to 91 artists this year, everyone from rappers the GZA, the Pharcyde and the Cool Kids to electronic/dance act ... More >>

MP3 Monday: Music from Dominique, Fiskadoro, Chocolate Crucifix and Dave Wrangler

Welcome back to MP3 Monday. We've been away for a bit due to SXSW, but we're back now and dedicated to bringing you tantalizing tidbits of local music from all over the spectrum. If you think you've got what it takes, email your MP3s to chris.gray@houstonpress.com or hprocksoff@gmail.com. We'll ... More >>

MP3 Monday: Music From Teenage Kicks, LSPS, Hash Brown & Fat Tony, OSIRUS and Dave Wrangler

[A while back, Rocks Off sent out a call for Houston bands and musicians to send him MP3s of their recent work. It took a little bit, but here are the fruits of that planting...] Courtesy Teenage Kicks  Here's some snappy punk from Houston trio Teenage Kicks... ...and some STP-e ... More >>

A New Class of Rappers Finally Bucked Houston's Syrupy Stereotype This Year

It Is What It Is

The Top 10 Reissues of 2008

[Note: This is the first in a series of articles that constitute Village Voice Media's year-end music package. The others - pop, indie-rock, dance mixes, Latin, country, alt-country/Americana, metal, rap/hip-hop and special graphics breaking down the year in charts and 2008's worst lyrics - will be ... More >>

J Dilla and Lupus

Power-walking tracks to remember the beatsmith by

Three Nights Ago: Hometown Showdown at Warehouse Live

Fatlip

The Loneliest Punk

Git'r Spun!

Countrified DJ Jester the Filipino Fist is the stand-up comedian of scratchers

I Want My Old-School Hip-hop

How come there's no Pharcyde or De La Soul on the dial?

Over Their Heads

Nobody understands the Politics of the Business like Prince Paul. In fact, almost nobody understands it at all.

Motor City Mellow Men

Slum Village plays catch-up to the White Stripes and Eminem

Control Freaks

Being John Malkovich pulls all the right strings

Kontroversy

Korn ignores critics of its heavy metal attitude

Battle Scars

Cypress Hill's B Real looks to the future, but can't forget his past

Rotation

Rotations

Short People

The lowdown on 2-Low and kid rap