J. Cole debut gives hip-hop bright new future


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It’s been a long time coming for rapper Jermaine Cole from Fayetteville, North Carolina. After moving to New York City, attending St. John’s University on an academic scholarship and graduating with honors, he has released several mixtapes between 2007 and this album release, including one entitled The Warm Up, which Jay-Z got his hands on. […]

Ooh La L.A! Festival brings best of French music


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French food might often be seen as rich, but its music rarely gets the same reference or admiration as its cuisine. The Ooh La L.A! Festival, a three-day music event showcasing rising French music artists, seeks to shift the music palate of Los Angelenos toward developing a taste for French music culture. Its third annual […]

Portugal. The Man tweets its way to the top


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When Portugal. The Man found out that its trailer, van and $100,000 worth of equipment had been stolen at Chicago’s Lollapalooza early August, the four band members did what anyone would do in this modern age: They tweeted about it. The word traveled fast. Portugal. The Man became a trending topic on Twitter, and soon, […]

Gavin DeGraw sweetens image with new album


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Fans can now hop off the “Chariot” and indulge themselves in something “Sweeter,” singer and songwriter Gavin DeGraw’s newly released fourth album. DeGraw hopes to reveal a different side of himself and take his talent to a whole new stage by collaborating with other artists for the first time. Debuting Sept. 20, 2011, the feature […]

Epicenter provides both hits and misses


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Irvine, Calif., is a quiet town, the epitome of suburbia. On Saturday, however, it became the epicenter for a rock ‘n’ roll throw down. The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater hosted the third annual Epicenter music festival, sponsored by KROQ. Smells of barbecued chicken kabobs mingled with clouds of cigarette smoke and beer-stained walkways. The music was […]