T.I. (Rapper)

Is Killer Mike Is the Best Rapper Alive in 2013?

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 >>

East St. Louis rapper Fresco Kane is on the cusp

Meet the (Likely) Next St. Louis Hip-Hop Superstar

This week's music feature, written by Daniel Hill, is about Fresco Kane, the East St. Louis rapper formerly known as Gena who recently signed with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label. Kane (nee Greg Lawary) grew up playing any instrument he could get his hands on. He's been around the scene for some ti ... More >>

LGBT Missourians Are Less Likely to Receive Medical Care

Remember when someone asked T.I. what he thought about gay marriage and he said, "Why would you be so against it if it doesn't affect you or your lifestyle?" That was nice, and a common sentiment among gay marriage supporters. So what if denying homosexuals the right to marry not only affects the ... More >>

The 2012 RFT Music Showcase Lineup for June 2

DJ Jewel on Interviewing Techniques and Getting Hit on at a Schnuck's Parking Lot

Plies--the gold-selling Florida rapper famous for a string of hits including "Shawty," "Bust It Baby Pt 2," and "Lose My Mind"--will be at The Ambassador in North County this Saturday night, continuing a who's who list of top rap acts to play the club in recent months including Jeezy, Rick Ross, T.I ... More >>

Rapper's Sheet: Gang life inspired Yo Banga's music. Now it threatens to derail his career.

BlockNButta: The Hip-Hop Supergroup that Brings Together Rivals and Operates a Carwash

St. Louis's hip hop super group BlockNButta has been opening for the recent string of huge acts hosted at North County's The Ambassador, including T.I., 8Ball & MJG, and Bun B. This Friday, they'll be headlining Jaam Star Entertainment's Spring Jam Fest at Premier Lounge (8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., all proce ... More >>

Just Blaze

10 p.m. Saturday, April 14. Lola, 500 North 14th Street.

Bun B, 8Ball & MJG Promoter Jonathan Burns Talks About This Weekend's Show and His Past

Big time, old school hip hop headlines a weekend of top tier rap acts with 8Ball & MJG and Bun B at the Ambassador in North County this Saturday night (6 p.m., $25-$40). Yo Gotti and his I Got That Sack tour is at the Ambassador on Friday (6 p.m., $35-$75), and Yung Joc is at Posh late on Saturday ( ... More >>

Alert: SXSW Coverage Ahead

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." -- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive You don't have to spend much time at South By Southwest to know that all of the above building ... More >>

Pharrell Williams Introduces Qream -- Now w/ Photos!

UPDATED October 11 with photos of the event. You can now add Pharrell Williams into an exclusive group of hip-hop artists with their own booze brands, joining Ludacris, Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs. The award-winning producer/artist was on hand Wednesday night to promote his new brand, Qream, a 12. ... More >>

Weird Al Yankovic Coming to the Family Arena

Image via​Pop's reigning satire king Weird Al Yankovic will be making his triumphant return to the St. Louis region on June 3rd, when he'll play the Family Arena in St. Charles. That's also where he played in August of 2008. Refresh yourself on the man's theatrical brilliance by revisiting hi ... More >>

Thomas Jefferson Was Here -- Or At Least His Books Are

image viaThomas Jefferson left his mark on his copy of Opera omnia, Graece et Latin by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.​Thanks to some stellar research by the historians at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia estate, Washington University librarians have learned that a cache of 74 books that ha ... More >>

Tef Poe fights against complacency, and defies pigeonholing, with War Machine

Interview: Tef Poe on War Machine, His Fantastic New Album

courtesy of Tef Poe​Tef Poe's War Machine is a nineteen-track tour de force. The Force member's musical versatility has always been his calling card, and so it's not surprise that Machine embraces diversity and defies pigeonholing. Genre-wise, it touches on warm R&B, ominous hip-hop, celebrato ... More >>

New Release Highlights For December 21: Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole, Duran Duran and More

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) Avant's The Letter​*Avant, The Letter The Urban Music Scene review says of Avant's latest album, "The Letter is a solid effort. There may not be anything tha ... More >>

Michael Jackson's Posthumous Michael and R. Kelly's Long-Awaited Love Letter: New Releases Highlights for December 14

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) Ryan Adams and the Cardinals' III / IV​*Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Cardinals III/IV The Consequence of Sound review of III / IV sang its praises: "This year ... More >>

New Release Highlights For November 16: Local Boy Nelly Returns With 5.0

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) Cassidy's C.A.S.H.​*Cassidy, C.A.S.H. The once gold-certified rapper returns with a new studio album. Stream the C.A.S.H. in full here. *Crushed Stars, Con ... More >>

And Now for a Friendly Game of Slap That Rapper ...

This unknown freestyler got served on the streets of St. Louis by a similarly unknown j-hole in a baseball cap. Guess the slapper had a problem with the rhymes? The video first appeared on World Star Hip Hop on Sunday and has already garnered 660,000 views, which is considerably higher than most ... More >>

New Album Release Highlights: Tuesday, June 29

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) blogs.westword.com3OH!3's Streets of Gold​*3OH!3, Streets Of Gold Ke$ha joins the neon-pop group on its latest release. Stream that track and the rest of the ... More >>

New Album Release Highlights: Tuesday, June 15

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below.) amazon.comCowboy Junkies' latest release, Renmin Park, is part one of a three-part series. ​*Cowboy Junkies, The Nomad Series Volume 1: Renmin Park In the ... More >>

2010 Music Showcase: 1 night, 50+ bands, 5 bucks this Saturday on Wash. Ave.

This Weekend in Hip-Hop: Nelly at the Pageant and The Derrty DJ's Midwest Summit

www.zazzle.comIt's a concert ten years in the making: Nelly is headlining a show at the Pageant on Sunday. He's performed a few times over the past year (making cameos when various St. Lunatics opened for Lil' Wayne and T.I. at separate gigs at Chaifetz Arena) but this is the first time in a lo ... More >>

Show Review: Ludacris, T.I., Unladylike, Murphy Lee, Shorty Da Kid, et al at Chaifetz Arena, Thursday, February 19

(Review by Kristy Wendt)A small decked-out crowd stood in the frigid air outside the Chaifetz Arena for the T.I. and Ludacris concert last night, but the line moved fast, and shortly after we found our seats, Eastside emcees Tee and Gunna of Unladylike were frenetically pacing the stage, singing "Ba ... More >>

Open Comment Thread: The 2009 Grammy Awards

Because I'm on vacation, I'm writing this FROM THE PAST (ooh, spooky), and there won't be any live-blogging about Sunday's Grammy Awards broadcast from me this year. However, consider this post an open commenting thread for the show. According to Grammy.com, the list of performers is crazytown:Curre ... More >>

Unreal takes back the Big Red, talks to a Steeler, and dances the inaugural night away

We made you a mixtape! 2008: The year in music.

The Year in Music: 2008's Top Ten Pop Songs

In the RFT that's coming out later this week, our music writers will weigh in on what they liked -- and didn't like -- about music in the year 2008. Various writers from around the Village Voice Media chain also weighed in on their jams, lists we'll be rolling out over the next week or so. Here's a ... More >>

Summer Concert Calendar: Hit all the high notes this summer with our expanded concert listings

Lock 'Em Down, Lock 'Em Up

Did Lock 'Em Down Records exec Dewanzel Singleton lead a well-choreographed double life, or did the DEA finger an innocent man?

Career (Remix)

The trials and tribulations of R. Kelly.

Face the Nation

We find out what rocked across the country in 2007.

Keyshia Cole

Just Like You
(Geffen)

T.I.

T.I. vs. T.I.P. (Atlantic)

Battle of the Beats

A culture war is rocking within St. Louis’ underground hip-hop scene.

Screamfest '07

7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 11. Scottrade Center, South 14th Street and Clark Avenue

Bye Bye Bye

Justin Timberlake kisses his pop roots adios

Destiny's Child

Destiny Fulfilled (Columbia)