This week, we’re celebrating the life of the late, great Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., who died fifteen years ago this week. One of hip-hop’s most important teachers, Biggie Smalls, as he was affectionately known, empowered corner boys everywhere to tell the story of their struggle through eloquently violent…
The last time they were in town, the little hip-hop hellions known as Odd Future had people jumping from second-floor balconies and raising Cain long before they took the stage. Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats and the rest of the crew still don’t give a fuck, and their gore rhymes…
SNOOP DOGG @ THE FILLMORE | 3/2/12Snoop Dogg is the coolest motherfucker on the planet. As last night’s packed house at the Fillmore was roused by DJ Battlecat’s operatic introduction of the giant, the Doggfather walked onto the stage flanked by three gorgeous dancers in Adidas jumpsuits. “Life of the…
Fresh on the heels of being named as a member XXL Magazine’s prestigious Freshman 2012 Class earlier this week, alongside Macklemore, Machine Gun Kelly and Hopsin, among others, the Los Angeles-based rapper known as Kid Ink comes back to Denver tonight for a show at the Ogden Theatre with DJ…
You wanna party? Oh yes you do. It’s Friday and you don’t have anything better to do! It’s the third day of the Greatest Show on Turf celebrating DJ Ktone’s birthday, the Analog Space crew is getting down at Meadowlark, there are tons of reggae parties tomorrow, as well as…
DJ Ktone’s fifth annual Greatest Show on Turf begins this evening at Sutra Night Club with Denver Got Next, a showcase of the hottest up and coming hip-hop talent coming out of the town. On the fifth edition of his annual week-long birthday celebration, Ktone is out to make this…
Black History Month 2012 has been a doozy. Beginning with the tragic and shocking death of Don Cornelius to dealing with equally troubling news of Whitney Houston’s passing as the month wore on. Most interesting about this time is the ways in which the music healed us. When Whitney died,…
Everyone loves Stevie Wonder. If you haven’t been at a basement party singing along to “I Just Called to Say I Love You” in punch-drunk love and harmony, you haven’t lived. Born Stevland Hardaway Morris in 1950, Stevie Wonder was a child prodigy who has been blind since birth. His…
If Mitt Romney wins tonight in the primaries, he’ll be one step closer to earning the Republican nomination to run against incumbent president Barack Obama. Romney has a ton of money, an impeccable head of hair and a hustler’s spirit. While everybody’s all worried about the economy this and recession…
Mane Rok gives his take on love with a perfect balance of sweet and sour on the entirely Mr. Bostic-produced Saul Amore: A Modern Day Massacre. On “Addicted,” the EP’s opener and one of its best tracks, Mane comes in with a surprisingly controlled, low-toned flow. The cut is impressive…
Snoop Dogg is one of the very few performers in hip-hop who can say he’s watched the genre grow old with grace. From his tumultuous times at Death Row Records to a questionable signing with the No Limit label, Snoop has soldiered on through the years to become one of…
Born Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. in 1939 in Washington, D.C., the singer also known as the Prince of Soul was the original panty-dropper. But while Gaye had a smooth, controlled voice that combined with an inherent sexiness for a swoon factor that was simply off the charts, he was far…
Tina Turner is the Queen of Rock and Roll, the baddest in the land with the most supreme pair of legs to ever walk a stage. Her voice contains a sandpaper grit that helped smoothed the edges of black culture and her own very rough life. Born in unincorporated Nut…
There’s tons of fresh goodness for you to get into this weekend, including a dance performance at Dikeou, reggae galore, an As Nasty As They Wanna Be party at Beauty Bar hosted by Spencer Foreman of Cobraconda and the continuation of #TheSolution5 parties with Art of Records, a super dope…
Mary J. Blige has the same pain and grit in her voice of having lived a very full life as artists like Billie Holliday, Etta James and others. For a burgeoning hip-hop generation, Blige’s voice and signature style of taking a hip-hop beat and adding her soulful vibe to it…
Heavily inspired by mob movies and king-fu cinema, Wu-tang Clan began in Staten Island, the brainchild of the brilliantly sharp RZA, who brought his brothers and their talents together to form a hip-hop conglomerate whose rhymes are as much based on the science of everything in life as they are…
The day has come for us to celebrate the Purple One. Prince Rogers Nelson is as provocative as he is talented. A startlingly prolific songwriter and a virtuosic musician, Prince has written a slew of mesmerizing songs over the course of his career, both for himself and for other artists…
Whether you hate him or love him for it, T-Pain is the man most responsible for popularizing the use of Auto-Tune. Using the pitch-correction software to further melodize his lyrics, the Tallahassee native emerged onto the scene with hits like “I’m Sprung,” “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper),” and later…
The most interesting thing about Turner Jackson’s Star Destroyer is that Jackson appears to be doing everything he can here not to self-destruct. He exhibits a notable level of control in his delivery, in contrast to his typically flamboyant flow; there’s a steady ebb and flow to his usually frenetically…
OutKast is easily one of the most noted and respected hip-hop groups in the game. Big Boi and Andre 3000 met in the East Point section of Atlanta when they were sixteen. The outfit combined funk, soul, jazz and blues influences with hip-hop lyrics on its 1994 debut, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, on…
Nina Simone was a classically trained pianist and learned to hone the depths of her voice after taking up a gig where the restaurant owner wanted her to sing as well as play. Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina in 1933, Simone was raised in the church, and…
This weekend is ready to grab you by the hand and whirl you around on a dance floor or three. The party lineup is looking gloriously funky and melodic, from DJ Mu$a’s celebration of black music tonight at Euphoria to the one-year anniversary of the Massive Reggae party at Funky…
