Pastor Ayu pledges 365 original songs in 365 days

Washington D.C. has been thrust full-throttle into the front lines of the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping the nation and rightly so, considering that is where country leaders reside! This fight is long overdue to be resolved and fed up citizens are taking to the streets to voice their anguish for the atrocious death of […]

#BlackLivesMatter playlist on Top Shelf Spotify

Contentious clashes between police and protestors have intensified over the past weekend, as people of all colors and creeds speak out on the inhumane and incorrigible death of George Floyd. Following Floyd’s death, there has been a litany of marches around the United States — all justified, most ending in violence. Some police officers join […]

Shrub lays it all out in ‘Back To Earth’ album

Guess what, guys? Shrub is back! For those unaware or for those that need a brush-up on early reggae rock names, Shrub is an Ohio-based hip hop-meets-reggae effort led by frontman Jay Shawberry. You might recognize the old guitarist, Blaine Dillinger, as he is the current lead guitarist for HIRIE. Now solo, Shawberry used to […]

NwRootz podcast welcomes Top Shelf Editor-in-Chief Kristy Rose

Nwrootz, a podcast out of the Pacific Northwest, welcomes Top Shelf Music Editor-in-Chief Kristy Rose to the microphone for their 12th episode! Chatting about the history of the brand all the way to personal music preferences, hosts Kris and Joanna get to know our commanding Editor through this enlightening podcast. “…get to know our commanding Editor through […]

Top Shelf Music News: Episode 5

Top Shelf Music News is back with Episode 5, or should we say, Quarantine Edition #2: Electric Boogaloo. Host Matt Cook streams from his living room while Kristy Rose… well, she’s somewhere the COVID can’t reach. With no live concerts or fests going on until further notice, the two comment on new music releases, current […]

TSM Artist #HotList: May 11th, 2020

Welcome to another episode of the Top Shelf Music Artist #HotList, with your host Alexia Johnson — May 11th, 2020 Edition. Follow Alexia as she outlines hot new music from up-and-coming bands! This week, our lineup features Delanlia with her hot new single, “The Philosopher”. Also on the list is a new track by Lucid […]

The Dirtnaps drop eerie “Shadow” single

Rising hip hop-reggae artist The Dirtnaps out of Detroit is taking the quarantine scare up a notch in the latest single “Shadow”. The name might be plural, but The Dirtnaps is actually the brainchild of one-man-band Richard Ensley — writing, performing and producing it all on his own! After signing to Eyecon America, Ensley has […]

How Cali Roots wins Earth Day, every day

Memorial Day Weekend simply will not be the same this year in Monterey. For the past decade, one festival has grown to be synonymous with the three-day weekend at the Monterey Fairgrounds, the same setting of the historic Monterey Pop Festival — you know, where Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire in between Janis, […]

Top Shelf Music News: Episode 4

Your Top Shelf Music News hosts Matt Cook and Kristy Rose are back for Episode 4… although their sanity is questionable, at best. Under the current COVID-19 circumstances, the music industry has all but ground to a halt, yet these two dedicated news reporters aren’t giving up, assembling what few bits and pieces of music […]

Top Shelf Music has a Patreon

Top Shelf Music is proud to announce the official launch of the Top Shelf Music Patreon page! Patreon — a growing trend in entrepreneurship, especially in creative industries — is a subscription-based crowdfunding approach to the entities you support, whether that be bands, artists, independent labels or up-and-coming brands. Top Shelf Music, as a brand, […]

Griselda takes over The Novo in Los Angeles

March 6th in Los Angeles marked a week before COVID-19 hit the west coast hard, allowing a handful of last live performances to take place before the mandated city shutdown. One such performance was Griselda — a gangster rap group made up of members Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher — all […]

TSM #HotList: March 29th, 2020

We’re proud to present Top Shelf Music Artist #Hotlist with your host Alexia Johnson, March 29th Edition! This time, our lineup features Blarre Bianchi & Iam Christarz, DJ Greenguy and Reime Schemes, Fantan Mojah and Rome (of Sublime With Rome) with Duddy B (of Dirty Heads)! With so much going on in the world right […]

Thundercat sells out Observatory Santa Ana

A Los Angeles native brought funky, electronic vibes down to Orange County, resulting in a sold out show at The Observatory in Santa Ana. Stephen Bruner (also known as Thundercat), his pretty pink six-string bass and his angelic voice set a mellow type of mood in the venue. For the majority of Thundercat’s set, the […]

Top Shelf Music News: Episode 3

Welcome to Top Shelf Music News Episode Three, with your hosts Matt Cook & Kristy Rose. Also making an appearance is field reporters Alexia Johnson, Danny Brophy, a basketball and at least a half dozen Coronas. The current pandemonium with the spreading Coronavirus has led the music industry to be disrupted when it comes to […]