Ru Johnson

Keyboard Feminism

Weekend's best dance and party bets: Guerilla Garden, Choose High On Life, Octave and more

Happy 4/20! Whether you partake in the green festivities or not, this entire weekend will be greener than Kermit. With a slew of album release parties to choose from, enough reggae to keep the bodies winding on the dance floor through clouds of smoke, and more, this weekend is shaping up to be a doo ... More >>

Weekend's best dance and party bets: Dieselboy, Beufie, A Very Superstitious Friday the 13th party, Sleazy Killer, Dance Lab and more

Feel like cutting loose this weekend? Good news, you will lack for nothing when comes to things to do, whether you feel like losing your inhibitions and partying like a rock star or losing your mind to some killer dance music. Our own Ru Johnson will be at Milk Bar tonight for A Very Superstitious F ... More >>

SnowBall Music Festival 2012: Day 2 travelogue

SNOWBALL MUSIC FESTIVAL @ VAIL VALLEY | 3/3/12 (DAY 2) Having survived the frigid first night, the sunshine and above-freezing temps of the second day are a treat. Feeling a little wear and tear from the night before, I was hoping to make it back to the festival grounds in time to catch Sauna play ... More >>

Weekend's best party bets: Lady Wu-tang, Common afterparty and more

Kate LevyLady Wu-tang enforces the Wu World Order tomorrow night at City Hall.​If it's going down in the streets, we've got you covered party style. Everything from weekly reggae parties, queer-centric open mike nights, an all female Wu-tang cover band and more. This week has already been a do ... More >>

The best national music releases of 2011

Denver's best music releases of 2011

Relive the '90s with a hip-hop house party at Tooeys on Colfax and more this weekend

​The weekend is here! The weekend is here! If you're like us, you're looking for the drop on the dopest parties to shake off the week. We've got you covered top to bottom. From reggae and world beats to drum and bass, there's something for everyone to get into as we ease into the weekend.

What's the first music you bought with your own money?

Can you guess which member of Team Backbeat bought this record?​Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? Of course you do! It's like the first person you kissed or the first one who broke your heart -- it's a monumental, life-changing moment in your life that's unforgett ... More >>

2011 Westword Music Showcase: Backbeat scribes' travelogues

Every year, we enlist our Backbeat writers to host various stages at the Westword Music Showcase, and in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty and write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Click through to read travelogues from Thorin Klosowski, Ru John ... More >>

Adele cancels remainder of tour due to laryngitis

Photo by Aaron Thackeray​Count yourself lucky if you had a chance to catch Adele's breathtaking performance last weekend. We just heard that she canceled all of the remaining dates on her current tour due to the problems she was having with her voice, problems she mentioned at the onset of her ... More >>

Ladies’ Night

2011 Westword Music Showcase Ballot

​Seventeen years! It's hard to believe we've been doing the Westword Music Showcase for that long. I can still remember being at the first one in LoDo nearly two decades ago. And when I think back, it seems like that cold, rainy Sunday night was just a few years ago.

DJ Vajra wins Red Bull Thre3Style competition in Boulder

Photo: Ru JohnsonDJ Vajra in Boulder last night.​ RED BULL THR3STYLE TOURNAMENT 04.07.11 | Boulder Theater Last night at the Boulder Theater, the Red Bull Thre3Style tournament was live and absolutely direct. Beyond the blazing marquis outside and the multi-Mini Coopers with the gigantic Red B ... More >>

Photos: Method Man and Redman last night at the Fox Theater, 4/7/11

Photo: Ru JohnsonMethod Man and Redman doing their rockstar thing last night the Fox Theater in Boulder.​Last night, after kicking it at the Red Bull Thre3Style competition at the Boulder Theater, (which DJ Vajra won, by the way) we decided to kill two birds with one Boulder, if you will, and ... More >>

Letters: Hick is in, misogyny is out

Hip-Hop Covers: The Wu-Tang Clan tribute at the Walnut Room

You're familiar with the Wu Tang Clan, we presume? Yeah? Meet the Ru Tang clan. Okay, that's not the name these ladies are going by, but it seems like a fitting enough handle seeing as how our own Ru Johnson is helping put together this very special show at the Walnut Room this Saturday, January 2 ... More >>

Our 55 favorite musical releases of 2010

Moovers and Shakers: Our favorite Denver music releases of 2010

Gypsy House the site of some true breaking news

Gypsy House Cafe, 1279 Marion Street.​Lori Midson's post on the Yelp review of Lou's -- written more than a month before Lou's scheduled opening -- prompted this comment from frequent critic Carly: Westword's Cafe Society is on the cutting edge of BREAKING NEWS once again!!! Because this bl ... More >>

Aloe Blacc, Harry Nilsson, Kid Cudi fill our playlists this week

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" Whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a list of al ... More >>

Pretty Lights, Ween and Jay-Z filled our playlists this week

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" Whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a list of al ... More >>

The National, Bassnectar, Sleigh Bells, the Slits filled our playlists this past week

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" Whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a list of al ... More >>

Red Bull Thre3Style: magMANimous from Denver takes home bronze

​ RED BULL THRE3STYLE 10.09.10 | Beta, Denver, CO Red Bull has been steadily establishing a reputation for championing the artistic expressions of up and coming artists, and this evening was no different. At Beta this past Saturday night, the Red Bull Thre3Style brought ten DJs from across t ... More >>

Grinderman, RJD2 and Dismemberment Plan fill our playlists this week

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" So whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a list of ... More >>

Meet GirlGrabbers, a progressive, in-demand local beat making duo

​GirlGrabbers is the cross-pollination of music personalities, Qknox (aka Jerod Sarlo) and DJ GypdaHip (aka Anwar Woody). Together the two are determined to highlight the essence of beat making in its purist form. The duo's first two beat tapes, GirlGrabbers and Good Time With a Bad Girl, se ... More >>

American Tomahawk, Chromeo, Black Milk fill our playlists this week

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" So whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a list of ... More >>

Cee Lo Green's inescapably charming (and shamelessly profane) kiss off tops our playlists

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most persistent question we encounter is: "What are you listening to right now?" So whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a lis ... More >>

Mr. Midas on Son of the Crack Era, hip-hop unity and the downfall of King Midas

Chris Eng When the crack epidemic hit the streets in the '80s, it changed the social constructs of a generation. Not only did it birth a legion of children with addicted parents, but from Jay-Z to Rick Ross, it also served as thematic fodder for some of rap's biggest names. Like hip-hop, crack comp ... More >>

Spoke In Wordz on his new album and mixtape and the lack of respect for hip-hop legends

​ Spoke In Wordz is a rapper with a background rooted in the structure of poetry. His flow is notably diverse. Like one of his major inspirations, Guru, Spoke uses a velvety voice to deliver his lyrics, but he also spits in Spanish, lightning-fast, with a tone used to provoke thought on such ... More >>

Nofrendo on being funkier than a mosquito's tweeter and taking listeners on a journey through sound

​ Nofrendo (aka Joseph Meezy) is the beat making equivalent of Nina Simone. Built on his love for soul and all things raw and gritty, his production style begets welcoming anachronistic melodies. Quite different from the sped up soul sample moves of many producers, he takes the properties of ... More >>

SP Double released from Digital Dollar, back in Denver with a new plan and completed album

​ When SP Double signed with Digital Dollar, a record label run by Brian Hutcheson out of Orlando, Florida, it appeared as though he was gone for good. SP moved his whole operation out to the Sunshine State, and got right to work, perfecting tracks for his new album, Loyalty, Honor, Respect, ... More >>

Freeway and Jake One at the Bluebird

Rachel Romero​ Freeway & Jake One • Mane Rok 07.22.10 | Bluebird Theater The evening began with a soulful performance by longtime LIFE Crew ambassadors, Mane Rok and DJ Tense, who performed tracks off of Mane's first solo effort, The Ugly Truth, as well as a few throwback tracks from his e ... More >>

Big Boi, the Roots, Rick Ross, FOE & Whygee dominate our playlists this week

Jason StoffBig Boi, shown here at this past weekend's Pitchfork Festival, dominated our playlists.​ As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" So whether you're looking for recommendations, ... More >>

DJ Cavem Moetivation on greening the 'hood as hip-hop's organic gardener

Jay Esposito​ DJ Cavem Moetavation (aka Ietef Vita) is out to green the 'hood, one hip-hop element at a time. Activist, b-boy, DJ, MC, graffiti artist, beat-boxer, film maker and journalist, Cavem plays many roles, all geared toward empowering the 'hood with tools that facilitate evolution of ... More >>

Xperiment on boom bap, hearing melodies in every day sound and making music versus creating it

​ Xperiment (aka Courtland Urbano) is an out of this world supersonic architect of sound. His beats are a perfect synthesis between a test to discover or prove the unknown and the balance of validating tried and true methods, threading analog sounds through digital components. Xperiment's bea ... More >>

DJ Ktone on the difference between just playing records and breaking them

​ Navigating the turgid, contentious waters of hip-hop in Colorado as a DJ isn't easy. Discussions involving radio play and "breaking records" plague conversations daily. Whether real or perceived, there is a fear that the DJ's role has all but disappeared into ringtone oblivion. The days of ... More >>

Graffiti Black on his muses, inspiration and the four categories of Colorado hip-hop

​Hailing from Montbello, Graffiti Black is a 23-year-old producer, writer and graphic designer known for creating sharp and distinct sounds that are both vibrant and accessible. He flips familiar elements and samples with flair and an experienced ear. Artists such as Innerstate Ike, Mr. Midas, ... More >>

Erykah Badu, Brian Eno on our playlists this week

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" So whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a list of ... More >>

Presenting the 2010 Westword Music Showcase Ballot

​ This past February, when we started putting together the 2010 Westword Music Showcase, we posted an item asking you how we could improve our annual music festival, this year set for Saturday, June 19, in the Golden Triangle (if you haven't already purchased your tickets, you can still buy d ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of February 8, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of February 1, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. ... More >>

Q&A: Meet Bianca Mikahn of Paradox

Which came first, the poet or the MC? Broaching the philosophical debate implies the two are not one in the same. History shows us otherwise, whether the funky notes of blues rattled off the tongue of greats like Billie Holiday, or, more recently, the appearance of the Last Poets on Nas's [Untitled] ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of January 11, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. F ... More >>