OFWGKTA

Video Premiere: Phony Ppl's Elbee Thrie - "Nice To Meet Me"

Elbee Thrie--the 20-year-old songwriter/producer/leader/everything-er behind the sprawling Bed-Stuy hip-hop collective Phony Ppl--just dropped the video for "Nice To Meet Me," and we've got the premiere after the jump. See also: Exclusive Premiere: Stream and Download SZA's New EP S

The Hottest Dancing Girls at Coachella, as GIFs

We've spent a lot of time this Coachella talking about the magnificent bros in attendance, but how about the fair and talented ladies? Per usual, they were everywhere, doing their thing like it wasn't a chicken wing, or something. In any case, here are the hottest dancing girls this year -- in GIF f ... More >>

These Odd Future Shirts Should Not Be Banned From Schools!

Earlier this week, a high school in Connecticut made the decision to ban Odd Future t-shirts. This is the biggest attack on civil liberties since everybody on Facebook was peer-pressured to change their profile pictures to an ugly = sign to avoid looking like a LGBT-hating asshole. Odd Future t-shir ... More >>

How Jazz Trio BadBadNotGood and Odd Future Became Unlikely Pals

The hip-hop-inspired jazz trio BadBadNotGood are in a car driving to a show in Vermont while bumping the new My Bloody Valentine album. Comprised of keys player Matthew Tavares, bass man Chester Hansen and drummer Alexander Sowinski (who likes to sport a pig mask while playing out), the Toronto-base ... More >>

Ask Fan Landers: Will My Band Always Be Broke?

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 >>

Tegan and Sara Teach Andy Samberg How To Be A "Heartthrob"

Tegan and Sara's Heartthrob is out today, and on the drum up to the release they've been doing very fun interviews on YouTube with their heartthrob friends (Cory Monteith, Skylar Astin) about how they became so very heartthrob-y. The latest installment features Andy Samberg, and a bit of a twist. In ... More >>

Graveyard - Bowery Ballroom - 1/25/13

Better Than: Frostbite. When I go to a concert, I always want to like the bands. I really do. I wouldn't show up if I didn't think I was going to enjoy myself. There are plenty of other places I could be. I approached Friday night's Bowery Ballroom show, headlined by Swedish neo-classic blues-roc ... More >>

The Growlers - Knitting Factory - 1/24/13

Pazz & Jop: Riff Raff Is Keeping It Surreal

He's believable as a hip-hop star because nothing he says is true

My Inability To Schmooze Is Killing My Music Career!

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 >>

Venues Can't Serve Alcohol To Women With No Underwear on and Other Things You Learn Talking To R.A. the Rugged Man

Tonight, one of underground rap's most notorious legends, R.A. the Rugged Man, throws his own birthday bash at Drom. Joining him for tonight's shindig are critically acclaimed West Coast MC Blu and politically charged syllable killer Diabolic. We spoke to R.A. about completing another Rugged year, r ... More >>

The Relatives Want to Save Your Psychedelic Soul

A swirl of gritty, psychedelic guitars and screaming fans with their hands raised to the heavens isn't what you typically think of when you hear gospel. But Dallas-bred group the Relatives have no concern about your or anyone else's preconceived notions of the Lord's music. They weren't concerned in ... More >>

Rap Songs That Sample Shuggie Otis

Cult funkateer Shuggie Otis plays the Highline tonight. Despite his talent as a multi-instrumentalist and savvy singer-songwriter, Otis's career never quite went mainstream back in the '70s, but his legacy has been well served thanks to a judiciously reissued back catalogue and a series of rap types ... More >>

Electronic Producers to Watch For in 2013

This promises to be a fantastic year for electronic music, as the calendar is peppered with releases from some of the most exciting names around. Here are some acts to make sure you keep an eye on throughout the year. A quick note: You can classify much of the music that follows as dubstep, a genre ... More >>

Six Ridonkulous Holy Ship!! Dance Move GIFs

The EDM cruise Holy Ship!! journeyed from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas this past weekend, and we're still recovering. Here's our complete coverage. A highlight was an afternoon spent on a pristine private island in the Bahamas for an afternoon of sun, surf, cocktails and the kind of dancing not ... More >>

Ask Fan Landers Britt Daniel of Spoon: How Do I Get A Big Name Producer For My No Name Band?

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 >>

Holy Ship!! Wrap-Up: It Was the Best of Times....

There were a lot of grim faces on Monday morning as the electro-loving masses emerged off the MSC Poesia -- a.k.a. the EDM party boat Holy Ship!! -- and did a slow zombie shuffle through U.S. customs and back into the real world (a.k.a. Fort Lauderdale). Here in the industrial port, the sky was over ... More >>

The Five Best Concerts in New York This Weekend, 1/4/13

Here are the best concerts to check out around the city this weekend, in no particular order.

The Ten Best Concerts in New York This Weekend, 12/21/12

Here are the ten best concerts to check out around the city this weekend, in no particular order.

Rolling Stone's Top 50 Rap Songs of All Time: Six Alternative Number One Picks

Rolling Stone recently published a run-down of the top 50 hip-hop songs of all time. After consulting with a panel of 33 journalists, industry figures and artists (including professional rap encyclopedia ?uestlove and the remaining members of the Beastie Boys), the numbers were crunched and Grandmas ... More >>

The Best Reissues of 2012

As I sit and watch the year end lists of best reissues virtually pile up on the laptop, I can't help but be reminded of something my Uncle Lech once said to me many X-Masses ago when we were down in his basement jamming some Bobby Vinton. As his light up speakers twinkled and pulsed in my periphera ... More >>

The Ten Best New York City Rap Albums of 2012

There's been a repetition about year-end New York rap round-ups for a while now. They usually involve noting how the city isn't the commercial powerhouse of hip-hop it once was (shocker!), and then speculating on whether a few artists might be somehow bringing it back (from precisely which era is ne ... More >>

Immortal Technique, Pharoahe Monch, Jean Grae, and Others Play a Sandy Benefit Tuesday Night

A week after the 12-12-12 Concert raised tens of millions of dollars for Hurricane Sandy relief while causing aging white baby-boomers across the country to spontaneously come in their pants, now comes a Sandy relief benefit for a different musical demographic. Tuesday night, politically-oriented h ... More >>

I Signed to a Tiny Label Before My Album Blew Up--Should I Stay?

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 >>

Dear Fan Landers: Desperately Seeking a Booking Agent and Un-flakey Bandmates

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 >>

Your Handy En Vogue Refresher

This Friday, one of the '90s most prominent r & b groups, En Vogue, returns to B.B. King Blues Club for a night of some of this generation's most satisfying soul music. While it was originally scheduled to be a 20th anniversary reunion tour, disputes this year within the group have left En Vogue as ... More >>

CLIQUE, CLIQUE, CLIQUE

Trash Talk and Mellowhype rep Odd Future

Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, Miguel: Who Will Be the Token Black Guy on Year-End Best of Lists?

There's an intense race going on right now. A race not a lot of you may know about. A race that even the people involved may not know they're a part of. But it's a race, and it's happening: the race to see which r & b singer will end up on most critics' top-ten lists at the end of the year. It's a ... More >>

Fan Landers: My Excellent Band Knows Jack About Marketing. Help!

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 >>

Live: Corrosion of Conformity's Show Stolen By Royal Thunder

Better Than: Witch Mountain. One of the greatest delights of concert-going is being blown away by a band who's not the headliner. This is exactly what happened to us at Saint Vitus on Friday when Royal Thunder, from Atlanta, played second in a lineup of four bands and made all who performed afterwa ... More >>

Win Tickets To See Henry Rollins At Joe's Pub!

Some ridiculous dipshit* somewhere, we don't know who**, once said "There are no second acts in American lives." Really now? Try telling that to cop killer Ice T next time he's drinking wine with a smitten Kathie Lee and Hoda on the fourth hour of the Today show like he did yesterday. Or Arnold Schw ... More >>

Freelance Whales - Webster Hall - 11/7/12

Better Than: Being outside in all that snow. Ironic is the only way to describe a situation where a band whose most recent album is named Diluvia has a show postponed while the city began its own post-diluvia recovery efforts. Freelance Whales, however, more than made up for the canceled date from ... More >>

The Top 3.66 Hip-Hop Songs Of The Week

Hip-hop is at its best when artists collaborate, challenging one another to create their best work, and this week's best hip-hop tracks are highlighted by a collection of odd couples. DJ Khaled, of incessant yelling and inexplicably giving Ace Hood work, managed to put Nas, Scarface and DJ Premier o ... More >>

Live: The Internet Shows Off Its "Weird-Ass Music" At Bowery Ballroom

The Interet w/Kilo Kish, Phony Ppl Bowery Ballroom Sunday, August 5 Better than: Staying home to wait for Drake's posthumous Aaliyah collaboration. The MTA and its agenda of mediocrity made me late for last night's Kilo Kish/The Internet show at Bowery Ballroom, but as I walked into the main space ... More >>

SWEET LIFE

Frank Ocean sets Terminal 5 
to Channel Orange

ON THE ROAD

Busdriver pulls into Santos Party House

Kilo Kish, Smooth Operator

The rapper's laid-back flow makes waves in the hip-hop world

Q&A: Joey Bada$$ On Singing Biggie At Two, Tumblr Stalkers, And Finishing High School

Joey Bada$$ is perched over a Pac-Man tabletop arcade machine at a neighborhood bar in Flatbush. With a glass of Sprite resting on the video game's screen, he confesses that he's never played Pac-Man before, gives a laugh, and says, "I probably suck at this." Bada$$'s lack of experience at early-'8 ... More >>

Underwhelmed And Overstimulated, Part IV: The Joys Of Nicola Roberts And The Problem With Odd Future

Nicola Roberts, having herself a lucky day with the Village Voice.​Sound of the City's year-end roundtable, with contributions from Tom Ewing, Eric Harvey, Maura Johnston, Nick Murray, and Katherine St. Asaph, continues. Follow along here. Hey all. Again, thanks to Maura for putting this ... More >>

Mobb Deep

Introducing The Trollgaze Index With An Analysis Of The Internet's "Cocaine" Video

Don't get spun out—eat spun sugar instead! ​2011 has been the year of "trollgaze," a media-agnostic genre name for those pieces of pop culture as designed for maximum Internet attention as they are pieces of art that can stand (or at least wobble) on their own. The ways to get inducted i ... More >>

FRANK, THE CREATOR

Frank Ocean numbs the pain at Bowery Ballroom

Frank Ocean Will Be At The Bowery Ballroom Next Month

​The Odd Future associate/Jay and Kanye co-signed R&B singer is bringing his emo and blues to the Bowery Ballroom on November 6. Tickets are on sale now although they might not be for much longer now that word's out, so, if this is your thing, get clicking. UPDATE (5:42 p.m.): All gone! But do ... More >>

TASTY DELIGHT

Action Bronson spices things up

GANGSTA CHIC

Main Attrakionz play—wait for it!— New Museum

Live: Gang Gang Dance And Lunice Work Up A Sweat At P.S. 1

​ Gang Gang Dance (DJ Set) w/ Lunice, Miracles Club, Laurel Halo P.S. 1 Saturday, July 23 Better than: Your average art-museum function. Most show reviews you've been reading over the last week have probably begun with, or at least nodded towards, the extreme heat we've been working through ... More >>

Which Musical Genre Was South Park Spoofing With "Tween Wave"?

​Last night's South Park was in large part about the fad/scourge of Tween Wave, a new genre that horrified parents and mobilized kids all across the country. Dubbed as such because it would be the Next Big Thing from 2009 through 2012, it made the phrase "this sounds like shit" quite literal; ... More >>

Beyond Kreayshawn: The Women In Hip-Hop Who The Internet Should Freak Out About Next

Last week, the birth of rap's newest star-to-be happened suddenly. Kreayshawn, a California rapper with Amy Winehouse's tattooes and piercings, Queen Latifah's earrings, and a modified version of Michelle Williams' pixie bob, dropped her video for "Gucci Gucci," and every person who was tweeting abo ... More >>

Common Goes To The White House: In Which Okayplayer Hater Sarah Palin Gets A-Moralizing

​In case you haven't been paying attention to Sarah Palin's antics lately (in which case: good for you), she recently got mad on the Facebook and the Twitters about noted rapper Common Sense performing at a White House poetry event. Like everything Palin says, this is gross and wrong. She appa ... More >>

Rock-Critic Pop Quiz: How Many Members Of Odd Future Do You Know?

​ Our panel of music experts has proven themselves less-than-expert on any number of legendary subjects--Metallica, The Clash, Boyz II Men, pretty much anything that doesn't have a Lindsey Buckingham guitar solo in it. So we thought we'd test their knowledge about current events. You can't cli ... More >>