Drake (Rapper)

Toro y Moi Thaws Out: Chaz Bundick puts a New Fire Under His Cool Electronic Funk

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Lil Wayne, Drake, and Future Play Misogyny Mad Libs in "Bitches Love Me"

Occasionally, a music video comes along that plumbs the depths of absurdity to such a grand degree, we feel like we're watching an SNL parody. Or a Dave Chapelle skit. As far as we're concerned, the only person who's allowed to make unintentionally comedic music is R. Kelly. Because when he does it, ... More >>

Here Are the Songs They Play at a Middle School Dance

[Editor's note: The following post by Houston writer and ESL teacher Shea Serrano was named the best blog post of the year in the first-ever Voice Media Group music writing awards. Originally published by our sister blog at LA Weekly, It's a sidesplitting minute-by-minute account of an afternoon he ... More >>

2 Chainz Practices His 'Tru' Religion at The Warfield, 12/16/12

2 Chainz Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012 The Warfield Better than: Ratchetness at home. At one point in the middle of his second consecutive sold-out show at The Warfield, the Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz turned his set into a sermon and preached the values of the lessons he was giving on his B.O.A.T.S. Tour (sh ... More >>

2 Chainz's 10 Best Song-Stealing Guest Verses

Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz (aka Tauheed Epps, 35) is no one's sidekick. He sold out his first night as a solo artist at The Warfield on Dec. 15 (tickets are still available for the Dec. 16 show) and has a Gold-certified single ("No Lie" featuring Drake) and a Grammy nomination (Best Rap Album for Based ... More >>

2012 MTV Video Music Awards: The 10 Lost Categories

The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual occasion for thrill and intrigue. An arena for a slutty young Madonna to writhe around the ground in a wedding dress, or even for a slutty old Madonna to French kiss a couple of aging pop tartlets. A place for pyro and pasties and grand interruptions -- I'mma ... More >>

Spin Control: The Dos and Dont's of Landing a Song on KMEL

If you're a rising local artist, it's not easy to get a song played on KMEL, but it's not impossible -- and your odds are actually better than you might think if you pay attention to the opportunities the station currently offers to the local community. Having talent is essential, but it's not en ... More >>

"Ice Age: Continental Drift": A Good Concept Set Asea

Justin Bieber's Believe: A First Listen

Like my colleague Andrew Stout, I have mostly managed to avoid Justin Bieber for what I'm pretty sure are good reasons. He's a typical "innocent" white male singer trying to represent universality to nonwhites and nonmales. Then there's his musical blandness: bits that crept through my defenses of " ... More >>

His World: My Week of Listening to Justin Bieber

Bieber Fever? Beliebf? Hepatitis Bieb? Whatever folks called it a couple years ago when Justin Bieber's fame spread like a liver infection, it completely passed me by. What I remember most about that time was a colleague telling me the teen sensation was "the real deal." Having never valued authenti ... More >>

Live Review, 5/8/12: The Weeknd Shyly Seduces at the Fillmore

The Weeknd May 8, 2012 The Fillmore Better than: Cuddling up to Soundcloud. "San Francisco, I want to hear you scream!" This repeated command was one of the few things the Toronto-bred singer Abel Tesfaye, better known as the Weeknd, said to the sold-out crowd at the Fillmore last night -- that, ... More >>

How To Not Piss Off Tyga at His S.F. Show

Los Angeles rapper Tyga's March 19 concert in Omaha, Nebraska didn't end well -- after the show, there was a shootout. The rapper told XXL that a local act was mad because Tyga wouldn't let the group open up for him on the spur of the moment, and that the locals started throwing debris on the stage ... More >>

The Best of SXSW Music: Thursday 3/15/2012

If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at SXSW. To break down the bright, scintillating chaos, Village Voice Media's roving music e ... More >>

Naturally, Drake's Video for 'The Motto' Has Pissed Off Some Bay Area Rap Fans

Rap star Drake's new video for his single "The Motto" was shot largely in the Bay Area -- and has already inspired a slew of civilian reaction videos from around the world. Chief among the complaints are the sartorial choices of Drake and his guest star Lil Wayne -- namely a cheetah-print puffy jack ... More >>

Watch: Drake Drives Through San Francisco and Oakland in 'The Motto'

Young MoneyDrake pals around with E-40 and Mistah F.A.B. in "The Motto."​Canadian rapper/pop star Drake just dropped the video for his single "The Motto," featuring labelmates Lil Wayne and Tyga. It's the third single from Drake's second album, Take Care, which debuted at No. 1 last month with ... More >>

Music Links: Drake and Weezy in the Bay, Loud Talkers at Concerts, and More

Drake hangin' with Mistah FAB on the set of his video shoot in Oakland. Photo via SoulCulture.​ So, Drake and Lil Wayne were in the Bay Area last weekend, shooting a video for "The Motto." [East Bay Express] A worthy screed about awful loud talkers during a Weakerthans show at the Independent ... More >>

Signal to Noise: A Look at Five New Tracks You Will Be Hearing on SF Dancefloors

Joy Orbison is one happy dude.​ Ever found yourself at a club without a clue as to what the DJ is playing? Signal to Noise is a brand new column that looks at the music that's currently being played (or that will be played) in San Francisco's many dance halls. For this week's inaugural edition ... More >>

Drake's Take Care: A First Listen

​ Funny thing about Drake: I'm forced to care. This goes beyond my duties as a music writer; rap now is in a state where someone like Drake or Rick Ross becomes the sun and everyone surrounding becomes an orbiting satellite. I'm a huge fan of co-Money Youngins Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj, and I ... More >>

Friday: Lil Wayne Apologizes for the Swearing at Shoreline

Lil Wayne's family-friendly fun.​Lil Wayne Friday, September 2, 2011 @Shoreline Amphitheatre Better than: Rap shows without fireworks and fake gunshots "I apologize to the parents who brought their kids because of the cussing," said Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. at the end of a nearly two-hour ... More >>

The Game's The R.E.D. Album: A First Listen

​ The Game needs no introduction. The man who was kicked out of G-Unit and made a whole album about whinily stalking ex-benefactor Dr. Dre has most recently performed two actions: 1) Releasing a diss track called "Uncle Otis," whose targets include Tyler, the Creator; and 2) releasing a collab ... More >>

Insurgent Hip-Hop: Kreayshawn, Lil B, and Bay Area Rappers Throw Out the Rules

The 2011 Grammys, A Timeline: Lady Gaga's Boob Armor, Who Is Lady Antebellum, and What the Hell is Cee-Lo Wearing?

In which we sit through three and a half hours of Grammys twaddle, so you don't have to: 8:01 p.m.: Show opens with an Aretha Franklin montage. Okay... 8:03 p.m.: Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Florence Welch, Yolanda Adams, and Martina McBride perform "Natural Woman" together, then take i ... More >>

Friday Night: L.A. Fave Low End Theory Comes to S.F., Gives the City Exactly What it Needs

​Low End Theory S.F., with Daedelus, Baths, Gaslamp Killer and moreJanuary 21, 2011@ 103 Harriet Better than: Suffering through a pack of smelly trustafarians to hear some heavy bass. Let me waste no time getting to the point: Low End Theory SF is everything I've wanted a hip-hop/dubst ... More >>

Music Links: Drake Thinks SJ is LA, Local Xmas Tunes, Devo Spotted on Bart

www.octobersveryown.netHe don't know L.A. from S.J.​Canadian rapper Drake calls a San Jose audience "L.A.", audience boos. [The Mercury News]A thorough rounding-up of new local and non-local Christmas songs. [The Bay Bridged]

Trey Songz: Show Preview

KMEL's Summer Jam breaks hot local artists

Oakland Faders' DJ Platurn on Why Song Requests Suck and the Rise of Bottle Service Hip-Hop

www.sfstation.com​Have you ever wondered just how much it pisses off a DJ when you request your favorite guilty pleasures all night? What actually happened to the hyphy movement? What sets Drake out from all the rest? DJ Platurn of the Oakland Faders gave us his candid thoughts on these topics and ... More >>

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