I support

Local

Community

Journalism

Support the independent voice of Denver and help keep the future of Westword free.

Ben Westhoff

email Ben Westhoff

Find Stories by Ben Westhoff

Browse by:

Category:

Year:

Latest Articles

The Reviews Are Bullshit: All Eyez on Me Is an Incredible Achievement

By Ben Westhoff
Jun 21, 2017

Everything you know about Tupac is likely wrong. Casual fans think of him as a loyal left coast soldier in hip-hop’s East Coast/West Coast war, but he actually had tremendous love and admiration for New York, where he was born and largely raised. Others cite his 1994 Manhattan shooting as...
On 20th Anniversary of Tupac's Death, Author Explores His Role as Social Activist

By Ben Westhoff
Sep 13, 2016

Editor's note: Twenty years ago today, influential hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur died in Las Vegas after being shot six days earlier. In his new book, Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap (out today with Hachette Books), former music...
Filming Straight Outta Compton Got a Lot More Real Than Anyone Intended

By Ben Westhoff
Aug 14, 2015

Back in September, on the set of the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton, cameras rolled in the parking lot of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium as actors playing prudish protesters hoisted signs ("Crap Rap N.W.A") and ran over a pile of the group's records with a steamroller. A little later,...
The Best (and Worst) of Electric Forest 2015

By Ben Westhoff
Jun 29, 2015

According to organizers, some 45,000 people converged in Michigan this past weekend for the jam-bands-meets-ravers annual festival known as Electric Forest. The weather was perfect, the denizens were impossibly friendly, but the logistics and other quirks sometimes wrecked the vibe. The Worst Getting in Big festivals are often a logistical...
Ravers and Hippies at Electric Forest: A Culture Clash Waiting to Happen?

By Ben Westhoff
Jun 29, 2015

Since its founding in 2008, Electric Forest has split the difference between jam bands and EDM. On Friday night Skrillex, playing a guitar, joined String Cheese for a medley of Doors' songs “Break on Through (To the Other Side)” and “L.A. Woman.” It wasn’t as bad as it sounds! Though...

More Articles by Ben Westhoff »