Dr. Dre

Did Rapper Tim Dog Fake His Own Death? Arrest Warrant Says "Yes"

As long as there have been celebrity deaths, there have been celebrity death sightings. A quick Internet search will turn up allegations from of people spotting Elvis Presley in the steamy Memphis heat, or Jim Morrison in a Parisian cafe. There are those who would swear on a stack of polygraph mac ... More >>

University City: Delmar Boulevard, from Big Bend to 170

St. Louis' neighborhoods are gems in their own right: full of history, great people and, as far as Gut Check is concerned, fantastic food. Each week we'll take you into a specific neighborhood and point you in the direction of the best places to grab some bites. View West Delmar in a larger map The ... More >>

Kendrick Lamar Brings the House Down at the Chaifetz Arena 4/17/13: Review and Setlist

Compton's new "King of West Coast Hip-Hop" (so dubbed by the likes of Dr. Dre, the Game and Snoop Dogg) made a stop in St. Louis last night to a packed Chaifetz Arena. The prodigious, fan-favorite rapper was welcomed by a rabidly excited crowd, and performed with the confidence of a veteran, rather ... More >>

Out Every Night: The Best Shows in St. Louis from April 15 to 21

Record Store Day approacheth! I won't say much this week. I have to reserve as much energy as possible with these vinyl-skimming digits, after all. Outside of all the events and after parties revolving around dear RSD, there's plenty to get out and see all week. Click ahead for our recommendations, ... More >>

Quick Questions: Tef Poe Talks to the Creative Minds Behind Hitmakers Basement Beats

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

Timmy Stallone is the St. Louis Rap Rookie of the Year

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

The Power of Time and Truth

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

Lessons I Learned From Nelly

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

What Makes a Hip-Hop Classic?

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

Out Every Night: The Best Shows From May 21 to May 27

We'll start this post off by recognizing the fact that yes, Red Hot Chili Peppers is playing in town on Friday (Scottrade Center); as is Local H (Firebird), but Friday is already well-represented below with another what-is-this-1996 artist, Snoop Dogg, playing at Pop's and roots-reggae pioneer Might ... More >>

Tupac Shakur is Still Alive

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

Coachella 4/20: Let's Talk About Weed

Yesterday was 4/20. It was also Coachella. And so, the percentage of festival-goers who were stoned rose from a paltry 75 percent to a full 98 percent. (These estimates come courtesy of our editor, Ben Westhoff, who did a small survey with a margin of error of plus or minus 45 percent.) Believe it ... More >>

"The Sweet Escape" Showcased Akon's Cooperative Mentality

Akon hasn't been perfect throughout his career, but it's hard to accuse him of being selfish. The St. Louis native developed a propensity to share the spotlight with other artists, even if it means his presence isn't always noticed. That cooperative mentality allowed Akon's behind-the-scenes career ... More >>

The Best of SXSW Music: Saturday 3/17/2012

So, we come to it: the end of all things. Four days of madness, Doritos, Skrillex and finally, St. Patrick's Day. Before we bid SXSW 2012 farewell, allow us to share our favorite moments from SXSW day four. Later, we'll let you know which shows weren't so hot. Find our favorites below, and if there ... More >>

Kanye West's Snub and the Proud History of Grammy Incompetence

Homer Simpson proudly displays his Grammy Award for Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word or Barbershop Album.​Adele could soon become a Grammy paper champion. Oh sure. 21 is a worthy entrant for the coveted Grammy for Album of the Year. "Rolling in the Deep," after all, topped the 2011 Pazz and Jop P ... More >>

Kanye West Runs A Suitor Over On His Bike In Throwback "Mama's Boyfriend"

​Before My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy fused the two sides of Kanye West into a paranoid (beautiful, dark, twisted) mess of triumphalism and (twisted) Chris Rock-aided introspection there were two West figures in evidence on his albums--the massively confident rapper and the confused, angry ... More >>

The Ten Best Moments of the 2011 Grammy Awards

​Miss the Grammys telecast? Couldn't care less about the awards? Either way, A to Z watched the entire show - and even some of the pre-show -- so you didn't have to. Here are ten highlights from the night. Mavis Staples winning her first Grammy If you weren't watching the pre-show telecast, y ... More >>

Review: Devin the Dude, The FuFops, CKDK and Bren Suarez at Pop's, Friday, September 17

​Given his underground status and relatively low profile (especially for a rapper), I wasn't expecting much of a crowd at last night's Devin the Dude concert. I was pleased - and frankly, a little surprised - to see that Devin pulled in a much larger audience than Bizzy Bone had managed to at ... More >>

Hip-hop jack-of-all-trades Black Spade is the force behind local rap collective the Force

Show Review Setlist: Ben Folds and a Piano Triumphs Despite a Distracted Crowd

​ Ben Folds and his piano rocked the Chaifetz Arena last night, despite the less-than-intimate venue and somewhat-inattentive crowd. The personable popstar didn't chat as much between songs, possibly because it's hard to unite a crowd in an oversized venue like the Chaifetz. For such an intim ... More >>

Busted Rhymes: The Top 10 Most Preposterous Rap Songs of 2008

By Ben Westhoff Hip-hop A-listers including Rick Ross, Akon and Plies were caught grossly exaggerating their gangster credentials this year. (Turns out they were painfully law-abiding. The horror!) But even if your favorite rapper wasn't caught in a lie, you can bet he or she put out a hilariously ... More >>

Forever Changes: Chick Corea's Return To Forever reunites and shows neo-jazz fusion groups how it's done

The Ween Abides

Ten reasons Ween's better than your favorite band.

2007 MTV VMAs Wrap-Up: Stream-of-Conscious about Britney, Timberlake and more

Young Emcee

Kids don't listen to what teacher's putting down? Gabe Moskoff, a.k.a. DJ Trackstar, wants to reach them through rap.

B-Money in the Bank

St. Louis native B-Money is hanging with rap's heavy hitters.

Living on Channel Z

B-Sides asks a cadre of local musicians to reminisce about Chuck Berry as he turns 80, while Dr. Zhivegas get down with their debut disc.

Bloodsuckahz

They get off on vampires and horror movies and brutal deaths. It's all part of the hell-hop scene.

He's Only the Piano Player

Ben Folds wants you to floss

Behold the Forty

A paean to the big bad bottle

Eminem

Encore (Aftermath)

213

The Hard Way (TVT)

Making Traks

Sham Daugherty and Alonzo Lee Jr., the Trak Starz, aim to make St. Louis the center of the hip-hop universe

G Unit

Beg for Mercy (Interscope)

Fade to Black

Jay-Z signs off with The Black Album

Can't We All Just Get Along?

The Flo Fanatics meld gangsta lyrics and noise-rock productions

The St. Lunatics Fringe

Producer Jason "Jay E" Epperson crafts the beats that make Nelly fans swoon. So how come you've never heard of him?

Power Play

Tech N9ne makes a major move that should push him past (Kansas) city limits

Eminem

The Eminem Show (Aftermath Records)

Lunatic Fringe

News from St. Louis' favorite rappers

Heavy Hitter

After what's-his-name, Ali is the first Lunatic to go solo. With Heavy Starch, he's just trying to represent himself.

Fighting the Power

Rapper Nas steps back into the ring, fists flying

Crunk and Disorderly

Timbaland and Organized Noize are making the music go bang, and rap radio's never sounded so good

Film Openings

Week of November 14, 2001

Bad Cop, Bad Cop

Protected by a badge, Denzel (finally!) swaggers through L.A.'s mean streets

Married, with Music

Husband-and-wife team Puerto Muerto produce a strange and beautiful brainchild

Music: Response

He produced Madonna's Music, but Mirwais has been around for 20 years and has influenced a legion of French DJs

Goin' Back to Cali

The re-emergence of Del tha Funkee Homosapien heralds a renaissance for Bay-area hip-hop

Henry's Dream

The Whole Truth