Lil' Wayne

Pride in Concert: Kelly Rowland

Chuuwee on Watching the Throne, his Soundset approach

By Mike MaddenRelated:Bambu on the L.A. riots' 20th anniversary, his Soundset debutTraveling from his native Sacramento to take over Shakopee, Chuuwee might be the best bet among this year's Soundset freshmen to blow up by the time May 2013 rolls around. Not long removed from his excellent Wa ... More >>

Curren$y

SXSW 2012's six worst moments, brought to you by #DEWeezy

​The last few days, Village Voice Media's indefatigable music staff has been regaling you with stories of the best from SXSW 2012. In the midst of these discoveries, we've been culling another list: the worst shit. The acts that ranged from huge bore-fests to downright lame. Below, you'll find our ... 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 >>

Up in the air: How Minneapolis became a flyover city for major rap artists

​It was 1998, the Smokin Grooves Tour was in its second year, and a group of friends and I were geeked out about going to the show. Public Enemy, Gang Starr, Wyclef Jean, Cypress Hill and others were booked, but everyone was waiting and most excited for Busta Rhymes, known for his killer live show ... More >>

Violent melee caught on tape at Mall of America [VIDEO]

​Multiple fights broke out yesterday afternoon in different parts of the Mall of America, some of it captured on shoppers' cell phone cameras. Various estimates put the size of the brawling crowds between 50 and 200 youths, who fist-fought and threw chairs as shoppers caught in the middle darted ... More >>

Nicki Minaj will paint your fingernails to chaos

​When you think of rapper/singer/walking-psychologist's-desk-reference Nicki Minaj, the notion of getting your nails did probably doesn't spring to mind. Now you don't have much choice, because in January the Cash Money/Young Money queen is partnering with OPI to release six nail polishes named af ... More >>

City Pages Halloween Soundtrack, Vol. 1

B FRESH PhotographyPrepare your party guests for a roller ghoster of a night​It's that time again: finalizing plans for your Halloween party, and getting your scares in a row. City Pages has saved you the trouble of putting together a spooky mixtape, as we present our Halloween Soundtrack Vol. 1.& ... More >>

5ingles

Top 11 most popular Gimme Noise posts of the summer

​When it comes to deciding what to cover, our web traffic isn't everything, but it does give us a unique insight into what our readers like to read about the most. It turns out that our Gimme Noise readers love block party announcements (duh); Prince facts; that incessant Foster the People song th ... More >>

R. Kelly's top 5 most ridiculous lyrics

​If somehow you're not familiar with R&B superstar R. Kelly, here's the basic rundown: 1) He has one of the most beautiful tenors in all of pop music, and 2) He's a sex addict. Probably. At the very least, Kelly has an unabashed fascination with erotic encounters of the freakiest variety, and ... More >>

Nicolas Cage, What's On Your iPod?

​Have you ever seen Leaving Las Vegas? If you have an alcoholism problem, Leaving Las Vegas will either cure that problem or encourage you to seek counseling. In the movie, Nicolas Cage plays a man whose life is falling apart because he can't stay away from the sauce. He's drinking everywhere: in ... More >>

Nicki Minaj to join Britney Spears at Xcel Center show

​After some waffling by Enrique Iglesias (note to publicists: might be a good idea to check with the artist before announcing that they will be joining your tour on national TV), the Spanish pop star has dropped off the Britney Spears tour and has been replaced by buzzy new hip-hop artist Nicki Mi ... More >>

Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Show

A Whitman's Sampler of iffy Valentines' Day gift-tunes

​I'm not much on romance, so for me Valentine's Day isn't a huge undertaking: a gift or two, some flowers, a card, done. I don't go in for the mushy mixtapes or complicated surprises or getaway weekends, in part because I'm always broke. But I'm more than happy to offer unsolicited suggestions on ... More >>

The Week That Was: Mixtapes galore, Lil Wayne's in a tizzy, and Elton John's a daddy

​I know, I know: I missed a couple weeks there, didn't I? Settling into a new year is always an awkward proposition for me - the date change, transitioning into a whole new set of releases, the January blahs. I'm over all that shit now, though, so let's kick off 2011 with a (belated) bang, shall w ... More >>

13 most fascinating hip-hop album covers of all time

Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Riccardo Tesci's art for their freshly announced single "H.A.M." seems a love-it-or-hate-it type situation. Rotts, nautical stars (remember high school, when the seniors started to get tattoos?), scopa crowns, and platinum does not a consensus make, apparently. All up in that ... More >>

The Week That Was: Wyclef v. Bieber, Talib Kweli returns, N.E.R.D.'s self-canonization

​Last week, you hurried to begin Christmas shopping, finish buying Thanksgiving trimmings, and scrounge enough spare change to buy yourself a copy of Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday. And while you weren't paying much or any attention - and who could blame you? - all of this stuff happened.

The Week That Was: Wild Flag kicks off tour, P!nk is Preggers, Fiery Furnaces to Own 2011

​Another week down, fam! 2011 is that much closer. Trust.

The Week That Was: Jacko posthumous, Girl Talk is back, spectre of Cher somehow inescapable

​We adjusted the clocks. We became a little leerier about dropping by UPS and Fed-Ex locations. We got a little more excited about Jay-Z's Decoded. We got all indignant about Wal-Mart playing "Little Drummer Boy" over the PA system. We bundled up, shivered. This is the first week of November, as r ... More >>

Lil Wayne to record whenever "logistically possible" upon release from prison

​Yesterday, Rolling Stone reported that upon his release from Rikers Prison this Thursday, Lil Wayne will record on the private plane flying him home. After that story hit the wires, undisclosed sources filled Gimme Noise in on some of the other transient locations - all of which are presentl ... More >>

Sound Unseen announces its 11th season

​The Sound Unseen festival, which celebrates independent films about music, will celebrate its 11th season with a dozen films at three separate locations October 6-10. This season, the festival will show a selection of films at the Southern Theater on the West Bank in addition to hosting events at ... More >>

5ingles

Bethel president apologizes after Lil Wayne blackface uproar

No imitations, please​Bethel University President Jay Barnes has issued a formal apology in the wake of outrage over a student's recent blackface-and-dreadlocks impersonation of Lil Wayne during a campus fundraising event. "The incident of racial insensitivity at the Mr. BU event violated Bet ... More >>

Bassnectar blows up the Varsity

​There's no doubt heads are still throbbing from last night's show at the Varsity Theater, when Bassnectar and DJ Vadim took over the place and bombed it with their bass-heavy sets of dubstep, DNB and grimy hip-hop.  Upon entrance to the sold-out venue lined with smiling fans down the block i ... More >>

The Songs We Can't Escape

Drake unveils "Over," has barely even begun

It's an apt acknowledgment of the proverbial elephant in the VIP room: the dizzying speed with which this unlikely future-of-rap candidate (and former TV star) has improbably become the anointed future of rap.

The Songs We Can't Escape

"We Are The World" remake cast is beyond random

You go to war with the military you have, I guess.

Get Cryphy celebrates two years of getting buck wild at First Avenue

DJs Jimmy2Times and Plain Ole Bill: "We just like really rowdy party music"

"We Are The World" to be remade. Really?

There's such a deficit of collective songwriting talent and ability out there that we've absolutely gotta re-make "We Are The World" as a Haiti benefit event single?

Beleagured Universal Health Care Legislation, What's On Your iPod?

Our first guess? A song by HEALTH, naturally.

The Songs We Can't Escape

25 Hip Hop Classics of the Decade

For a genre that's been declared dead a dozen times over, hip hop had a pretty good (if splintered) decade.

Gimme News Weekly Wrap-Up: Nov. 9-13

Lifter Puller & Cloud Cult announce reissues, Mayda to release new EP & Felt drop first track from "Felt 3."

Rick Ross

The Songs We Can't Escape

September 3, 2009: No Bird Sing & Lil Wayne

New music from M.anifest and Brother Ali, No Bird Sing interviewed & audio from Chris Koza State Fair performance.

The smartest writer at the Star Tribune

Jan. 22, 2009: Gay Witch Abortion, Annuals, St. Paul Slim & 10,000 Lakes Festival

Minnesota Mixtape 2008

Every year I make mix CDs of my favorite tracks, with one song per artist per disc. Here's the '08 edition, local and national. It's all from 2008 unless otherwise specified, but there are a few oldies. At the bottom are my year-end lists, because I know you needed more of those. Happy holidays! MN ... More >>

Bun B

Instant Mash: Could Girl Talk do it this well?

Making Music: Brother Ali

The Songs We Can't Escape

Letters to the Editor

Breakfast of Champions: 12/19

No Hurries

A look at the year's most popular slow songs, so far

Single Life