Rico Nasty gets St. Louis crowd locked in… & a bit ratchet

Rico Nasty brought one of the more chaotic crowds I’ve seen in a while to Red Flag on August 30th to kick off her RX Tour, which is running concurrently with Rico’s gig opening for Hayley Williams. The night started with a long wait outside; the line moved slowly and, by the time people finally […]

Super Girl Surf Festival 2026: Day Three

The 20th anniversary Super Girl Surf Festival wrapped up on August 23rd, 2026 at the Oceanside Pier in Oceanside, California. The SMKFLWR Stage in the Junior Seau Pier Amphitheatre was rocking all afternoon, with a wide variety of genres represented, capped off by rapper B.o.B and electronic duo Hippie Sabotage. The World Surf League competitions […]

A night of 90s hip hop with Nas, The Roots, & De La Soul in San Diego

A blood moon shined over San Diego’s Gallagher Square at Petco Park as three of rap’s legends presented A Great Night in Hip Hop. Long Island’s De La Soul, New York City’s Nas, and Philadelphia’s The Roots joined forces to celebrate the best of the 1990s East Coast scene. A large video screen behind the […]

Jack Harlow brings Monica Tour to Minneapolis fans

On Friday night, August 7th, Jack Harlow’s Monica Tour rolled through The Fillmore Minneapolis. As the second night of the tour following a four-year break, it was hard to imagine what Harlow had up his sleeve for the night. The release of Monica in March 2026 marked a clear shift in sound for Harlow and […]

Kota The Friend & friends pack Orange County’s Garden AMP

Garden AMP in Orange County brought in fans for an evening of independent hip hop as Kota The Friend showed up for his Just Happy To Be Here Tour, presented by Out Da House Productions. The show wasn’t just about Kota; it also highlighted several up-and-coming artists from Los Angeles and Orange County, giving local […]

GZA celebrates 30 years of ‘Liquid Swords’ in Garden Grove

The grittiest hip hop came to the Garden AMP in Garden Grove, California, as Wu-Tang Clan legend GZA celebrated his classic 1995 album Liquid Swords by performing the record in its entirety backed by the funky, soul-influenced instrumentation of Phunky Nomads. Long-time hip hop heads all over LA and OC came into the venue wearing […]

Tech N9ne + E-40 = 30+ years of hits in St. Louis

Even though I love hip hop music, especially underground and independent hip hop, I rarely ever actually go to a hip hop show. Nothing against it — it just isn’t really something I do. But when some of the most successful independent hip hop artists of all time come to my town, you know I’m […]

Tech N9ne & E-40 travel through 3+ decades of hits in Nashville

If I am being honest, I had pretty low expectations this past Tuesday for Tech N9ne’s show at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, TN. It wasn’t that I thought the music would be bad; I certainly know Tech N9ne is amazing. I think it was more a combination of life burnout and the fact that […]

Ashnikko astounds fans new & old in Nashville

I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t walk into Marathon Music Works on May 1st as an Ashnikko fan. I’d heard a couple of tracks floating around, enough to recognize the name, but I was there primarily as a photographer. I’d seen images of her online: the electric blue hair, the theatrical costuming, the almost […]

High & Outside with Cypress Hill, Bone Thugs, & Tech N9ne

There are nights of hip hop. Then there are nights of hip hop legends. Stacking three industry-changing names on a bill together is unprecedented — and a show you simply can’t miss. I knew this when I saw that Cypress Hill was bringing the High & Outside – Above the Zone Tour to San Diego’s […]

Ashnikko smothers Phoenix with *Smoochies*

Ashnikko, the pickle connoisseur, once said in regard to her second studio album, Smoochies:
“Smoochies is the tiny door you find in the club bathroom that you crawl through on your hands and knees to a technicolor parallel dimension ruled by rat princesses.”  This, combined with Tamagotchis, trinkets, Harajuku, and viewing the world through a kaleidoscope, describes […]

Atmosphere’s Winter Carnival covers sweeps through Los Angeles

The Novo became a party for devoted hip hop heads as Atmosphere brought their Winter Carnival Tour to a completely sold-out Los Angeles crowd. There has always been an unspoken understanding at hip hop shows: attendees are there to live and breathe lyricism, craft over clout. This show felt personal for those who grew up […]

Make way for Bonnaroo 2026, the most massive year yet

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is excited to confirm the return of its internationally celebrated camping festival, taking place this June 11th through the 14th, on the 700-acre Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee — just 60 miles southeast of Nashville. Bonnaroo 2026 will once again deliver nonstop entertainment with a full roster of world-class performers […]

NF returns full of ‘FEAR’ & forgiveness in new EP

Nathan Feuerstein, better known as NF, has been quiet for the past two years — a common thing for artists after releasing an album or finishing a tour. Yet, on November 14th, NF came back hard with his EP release, FEAR. The album surprised me and destroyed me in different ways. Let me explain exactly […]

Duckwrth turns Pomona, California into All American Freak Show

On a poppin’ Saturday evening at The Glass House in Pomona, California, the stage lit up for Duckwrth’s All American Freak Show Tour. The lineup was stacked and every artist delivered. Kicking off the night was The Last Slice, a relatively new act fused as a hard rock/hip hop powerhouse. The Los Angeles-based band, assembled […]