Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Props to Hip-Hop's iLLspokinn on NYC's Fastest-Growing Rap Tribute

Friday night, the Props to Hip-Hop classic rap tribute showcase plays its biggest show yet at B.B. King. For the past two years, TruStatement Entertainment's Props to Hip-Hop concert series has created an audience for a live hip-hop homage. With a full band playing the beats and some of the city' ... More >>

Golden Grrrls

Joan Soriano

25 Actors Who Turned Down Amazing Roles

Julia Roberts could have done Blind Side, but opted for Valentine's Day instead. Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Michael Corleone, but felt it was an offer he could refuse. Michelle Pfeiffer didn't want to be Clarice Starling, and Jeremy Irons pooh poohed the part of Hannibal Lecter, both t ... More >>

The Best Jazz Shows in NYC This Month (Jazz Appreciation Month Edition)

These are the 10 best jazz shows in New York this month. (Here for more on Jazz Appreciation Month.)

The Best Metal Shows in NYC This Month (A/K/A Extended Saint Vitus Listings)

These are the best metal shows in NYC in April.\m/

The Five Best NYC Rap Albums That Never Happened

This week, while we've taken a loving look back at the finest album-length offerings that the home of hip-hop has contributed to the genre, we're also reminded of the empty spaces in our record collections where masterpieces should sit. It's heartbreaking enough that rap in an album form didn't catc ... More >>

The Top 20 NYC Rap Albums of All Time: The Complete List

Any list of the Greatest New York Rap Albums of All Time is, essentially, a list of simply the Greatest Rap Albums of All Time. The genre was invented here, after all, and over the years -- from early days to Golden Age and onward-- the city's hip-hop history has been an embarrassment of riches. Fas ... More >>

Lil Wayne: Human After All

Friends. Romans. Martians. I stand before you not to bury Lil Wayne and I Am Not A Human Being II, nor do I intend to praise it. Instead, I implore you to marvel at this album's sheer existence, because yet again, Lil Wayne has managed to accomplish something only great artists can: he's made someth ... More >>

Spring Arts Guide: The Once and Future Ratking

The trio have been hailed as the saviors of New York rap, but they've set their sights higher

The Top 20 NYC Rap Albums of All Time: 10 - 1

Any list of the Greatest New York Rap Albums of All Time is, essentially, a list of simply the Greatest Rap Albums of All Time. The genre was invented here, after all, and over the years -- from early days to Golden Age and onward-- the city's hip-hop history has been an embarrassment of riches. Fas ... More >>

The Return of John Sayles and Other Observations from SXSW

THE FUTURE

Join Mykki Blanco's militia

VIDEO KILLED 
THE RADIO STAR

A historical look at 
the art of music videos

The Top 20 NYC Rap Albums of All Time: 20 - 11

Any list of the Greatest New York Rap Albums of All Time is, essentially, a list of simply the Greatest Rap Albums of All Time. The genre was invented here, after all, and over the years -- from early days to Golden Age and onward-- the city's hip-hop history has been an embarrassment of riches. Fas ... More >>

Michael Pollan Launches $10K Food Journalism Fellowships at UC Berkeley

Excellent news for food journalism: UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism is now offering five $10,000 fellowships a year, for early and mid-career journalists to travel and report longform stories on a range of food subjects, from nutritional policy and food science, to technology, culture, a ... More >>

Count All the Hilarious Ways Bernard Goldberg Contradicts Himself in Just One O'Reilly Factor Segment

Yesterday, rather than discuss the Supreme Court hearing that demonstrates just how out of touch conservatives are from the rest of America, the gang at Bill O'Reilly's Retirement-Home Fist-Shaking Hour took up the news that mattered most to their audience: the hurt feelings of denim enthusiast and ... More >>

The Best Dipset Songs Ever

Time flies especially when one of your aliases is "The Fly Boys." It's been 10 years since the Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and the rest of that "hooligan gang" the Diplomats (a collective of Harlem hustlers and goons) released their double disc effort, Diplomatic Immunity. Since then they've g ... More >>

The 20 Best Arena Rock Songs of All Time

Ex-Foreigner singer Lou Gramm has survived a lot -- a rare brain tumor, all the usual rock 'n' roll excesses, a feud with ex-bandmate Mick Jones, his old band continuing to tour with a karaoke singer that's replaced him -- and lives to play another day. And that day is today, when the 62-year-old dr ... More >>

Lisa Loeb on What It's Like To "Stay" Lisa Loeb (Hint: "It's Awesome!")

Last night, Lisa Loeb stepped out of a cab in front of Highline Ballroom with an orange guitar case slung across her shoulder, her hair pulled into a low ponytail, and her eyes hidden behind her iconic black-framed glasses. She is petite with a somewhat soft voice, and speaks thoughtfully and intell ... More >>

Nearly All the Big Acts Playing Lollapalooza 2013 Have Played Lollapalooza Before

Thanks to Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, Lollapalooza's headliners have been revealed, and it appears that Perry Farrell & Co. are dipping into the past few years of the Chicago-based festival's lineup history for a little inspiration. Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, and the Killers have ... More >>

Rakim's Most Random and Confounding Appearances

This Thursday night, the man who set the standard for greatness in rap, Rakim, takes the stage for a show with Wu-Tang member Raekwon at Stage 48. It's a rare event that fans get to see Rakim as, even in this era of 24/7 social media, he's remained one of the few artists in hip-hop to maintain an au ... More >>

Saga: On Thin Ice

Wakka Wakka’s puppets deal with Iceland’s banking crisis

Ashley Monroe and Kacey Musgraves: A New Crop of Country Divas Have a Need for Weed

By Kelly Dearmore This week -- yesterday, in fact -- the Golden, Texas native Kacey Musgraves finally releases her eagerly-awaited debut album, Same Trailer, Different Park. Indeed, it's fitting that she's from a town named Golden, as the new album is but the most recent example of some serious Sol ... More >>

The Hazards of Being a Musician Without Health Insurance

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

DJ Whoo Kid Thinks Snoop Dogg Should Have Been the New Pope

Editor's note: In Tweets is Watching, Phillip Mlynar asks local artists questions based solely on the contents of their Twitter timeline. Last week DJ Whoo Kid helped launch the video for A$AP Ferg's new track "40 Below," which also appears on his SXSW Social mixtape. When not granting assists to t ... More >>

Papoose Turned Down Kanye West Beats To Release The Nacirema Dream

Just under a decade ago, Papoose was going to save New York City hip-hop. Or at least that's how rap folklore likes to parse it, with Bed-Stuy's mixtape phenomenon Pap and upstate NY rapper Saigon being the hometown figures who were going to stop the Southern ascent and bring back virtuous street-co ... More >>

Don't Compare 16-Year-Old Bishop Nehru To Joey Bada$$

Hailing from upstate New York, 16-year-old rap tyke Bishop Nehru released his impressive Nehruvia mixtape last week (which you can stream below). Over 12 tracks, the project features Bishop (who named himself after 'Pac's character in Juice) dropping his buttery flow over instrumentals by MF Doom, M ... More >>

A Scan of Ann

As Texas governor Ann Richards, Holland Taylor rules

Mariachi Gringo Discovers a Mexico Simpler and Warmer Than Kansas

Jenny Owen Youngs

Ten Unlikely Musicians Whose Best Songs Are Slow Jams

Over time, rock and roll lost touch with its "Love Me Tender" and "Peggy Sue" beginnings and became kind of a closet Quiet Storm listener sometime around the time Ozzy Osbourne entered the collective consciousness. Except even hair metal was dominated by lighter-wavers. Basically, no one can resist ... More >>

In Real Life: Perverse Pleasure and A Motown Tribute to Nickelback's Live Debut in NYC

On Friday night, a once-viral YouTube clip beamed down from cyberspace, materializing as a musical band of living, breathing humans who graced New York with an entire hour of genre-warped Nickelback singles. In theory, "A Motown Tribute to Nickelback" seems like the most heinous sacrilege, muddling ... More >>

Big Daddy Kane Returns With a Full Band at the Blue Note Tonight

For almost three decades, Brooklyn MC Big Daddy Kane has remained a fixture of "Greatest Rapper of All Time" conversations. From his iconic singles like "Raw" and "Ain't No Half Steppin'" to a live show that ranks -- even today -- among the most revered in the genre, his influence can be heard in t ... More >>

The Movie With The Most Ex-TV Stars

The way to make it in music these days is to play cruise ships and theme parks, but if you want to be a movie star, break out on TV first. Oz The Great and Powerful--opening today--features no fewer than four major film folk who started on the small screen.

The Five Worst Cover Songs Of All Time

Taking a classic song that's perfectly fine as is and exhuming it for financial gain is awful enough, but when the result comes out sounding excremental, you want to cover the new artist with a blanket and make them stop. Here are my 10 least favorite cover tunes: (1) Britney Spears, "(I Can't Ge ... More >>

Liz Magic Laser Assumes the (Poll) Position

Mad as hell, and shilling brilliantly for the Armory art fair

Jeremih's Late Nights: Like The Weeknd Without the Druggy and Pretentious Horseshit

There's no way I should tell you to be on the lookout for Jeremih. Dude made "Birthday Sex." His last hit had 50 Cent on it, and that dude has eardrums made out of tin. Again, he made "Birthday Sex." That's one way of looking at it, at least. See also: Live: Jeremih Headlines Ladies Night At Webste ... More >>

Victor Calderone

KINGS OF DANCEHALL

Toss back a gross drink with Beenie Man and Mr. Vegas

BLANK GENERATION

Sex, drugs, and Richard Hell

Talib Kweli

THE MAN INSIDE HIM

David Cross discusses Arrested Development’s return with Michael Cera

FIRST IMPRESSION

Before the Sartorialist, 
there was Monet

Sign the Petition to Change the National Anthem to R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)"

Have you been feeling that the National Anthem is getting a bit tired? Feel like you need to spice up your sense of patriotism? Well, then thank God for the internet and R. Kelly. See also: What's So Funny About A Little Bump N' Grind? R. Kelly, Frank Ocean, And The "Right" Kind Of R&B

The Best Metal Concerts in New York This Month

These are the best metal shows in NYC this month. See also: The Ten Best Metal Albums of 2012

Jason Aldean Stops in NYC: One Hip-Hop Fan's Terrifying First Country Show

I had no idea who Jason Aldean was when I was asked to cover his sold-out Night Train tour. I'm a hip-hop head and aside from seeing Taylor Swift one time live -- she was awesome, by the way -- country is probably my least favorite genre right behind Gregorian chanting and Broadway show tunes. So of ... More >>

White House Words with Woodward More Proof of Obama Tyranny, Say Rightbloggers

Last week we learned that a White House official got into an argument with Bob Woodward. Woodward is the biggest name in Washington journalism; he has survived seven Administrations (counting the one he helped take down with his Watergate reporting), and will probably continue to publish bestsellers ... More >>

FULL PALETTE

Artists, collectors, and buyers invade the city

The Lying Lesson