Lil' Wayne

The Power of Dallas: Erykah Badu Gives Tyler a Bump and Bill's Old Friend Makes the White House

This is not your everyday Billboard chart. Each week, we'll tell you which bands are selling in the fine record shops in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, where we consumers of music have impeccable taste. Tyler, The Creator features several artists on his new album, and according to CD Source owne ... More >>

Top Show Annoucements: Record Store Day, Limp Bizkit, Styx, Kid Rock, Matchbox Twenty and More

It's a little strange, but I don't know what's happening with all of the show announcements that have been pouring in this week: Limp Bizkit, Matchbox 20, Goo Goo Dolls and Kid Rock? It feels like 1999 all over again. Well, in 2013 news, Good Records just announced a kick-ass local lineup for Reco ... More >>

Local Independent Record Vendors are Rooting for the Underdogs

This is not your everyday Billboard chart. Each week, we'll tell you which bands are selling in the fine record shops in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, where we consumers of music have impeccable taste. Similarities emerged at CD Source and Good Records this week with top artists reaching high sa ... More >>

Fun Size, the Teen Comedy That's Not Bad for You

The Cool Ranchification of SXSW 2012

A Sucker For Your Marketing: A Conversation

When Observer Web Editor Nick Rallo and I shuffled down to SXSW last week, we both noticed the same thing: The somewhat icky marketing that seems to have inundated the Austin music festival, to the point where even the fans themselves were part of the brand. Here's an excerpt of a conversation we ha ... More >>

Esquire Says You Didn't Hear Sarah Jaffe's Cold War Kids Cover This Year. Well, Just in Case ...

​A couple of months back, good ol' what's-his-name noted that Sarah Jaffe's latest, The Way Sound Leaves a Room, featured her take on Cold War Kids' "Louder Than Ever." And it's a very nice take at that, as you can hear for yourself below courtesy the button below that'll launch the MySpace music ... More >>

Last Night: Zeds Dead and Bass Science Shake, Rattle and Roll Trees

Zeds Dead.​Last Night: Zeds Dead, Bass Science Trees November 15 Better than: Season 7 of Weeds Whether or not you were looking for bass Tuesday night, Trees had your back. The venue in Deep Ellum hosted two of the most nationally renowned dubstep artists for what could be a preview to just ... More >>

Symbolyc One Explains How He Came Up With Kanye West and Jay-Z's "Excellence" Joint

Symbolyc One's on fire.​In this week's paper, you'll find a heads up of sorts about what's really going on in Dallas hip-hop these days -- essentially it's no longer the rappers making waves so much as it's the producers. And that's not just fluff. As noted in the article, in the past couple of ye ... More >>

Ten Local Music Entities Ready for Reality TV

​Dallas has always been a wellspring of source material for reality show producers looking to put some squick-worthy drama on television. Along with the new Most Eligible: Dallas and Big Rich Texas shows that make up the crust on the bottom of the basic cable reality barrel, we've seen some me ... More >>

Over The Weekend: Trae tha Truth, JMack and Big Hud at Trees

Trae Tha Truth, JMack, Big HudTreesAugust 13, 2011Better than: trying to act like Dallas has a hip-hop pedigree to compete with Houston.Trae Tha Truth​ There wasn't much of a build-up to Trae The Truth's entrance at Trees on Saturday night. After a particularly high-energy set from JMack and a fun ... More >>

Q&A: DJ Royal Highnuss Talks Silent Disco's Quiet Phenomenon

You can't hear it, but these guys are playing some pretty cool music.​This year's Electric Daisy Carnival, which packed over 20,000 people into Fair Park, proved that electronic dance music hasn't waned in popularity over the years. Dallas is rife with performers who are breaking new ground in t ... More >>

Listomania: The 15 Most Unexpected, Unlikely, and Downright Awkward Collaborations of All Time

Beck​Yesterday Beck announced that he had been "recording some tracks" with country singer Dwight Yoakam. And yeah, we guess we could kind of see that, as Beck has run the gamut of styles during his career, touching on hip-hop, electronic, folk, and mariachi. But, even though it makes sense when ... More >>

Listomania: Top Ten Songs About Ingesting Cough Syrup for Leisure

​Ahh, codeine cough syrup. It started off innocently enough, as a remedy for a sore throat. However, if it can get you high, people will use it to get high. And, if it gets you high, someone will at some point write a song about it. Purple drank, sizzurp, lean -- whatever you choose to call ... More >>

Ten Songs To Get You Through International Kissing Day

​According to the people I follow on Twitter, today is International Kissing Day. How annoying is that? As if Valentine's Day wasn't bad enough, now we have International Kissing Day to annoy the pants off anyone who doesn't have someone to smooch on. Apparently, Kissing Day was dreamed up as an a ... More >>

Dirk, Diplo, Others Flocked to Rio Room on Saturday For Erykah Badu, Questlove DJ Sets

Via Diplo's Twitter accountDiplo and Dirk Nowitzki​Yes, it's true: Dirk Nowitzki celebrated turning 33 years old yesterday by hitting the town on Saturday night -- stopping off, even, at Rio Room to catch DJ sets from Questlove and Erykah Badu. There, as the clock struck midnight, the Mavericks fa ... More >>

Insanity Plea: 40 Songs That Will Make You Feel Like You've Chugged Seven Red Bulls

More or less the amount of Red Bull consumed at DC9 HQ on a daily basis.​Do you guys like Red Bull? Because we here at DC9 really like Red Bull. We drink Red Bull all the time. Helps us keep up with the crazy hours of the gig. Red Bull, in our humble opinion, has always been "the best." Red Bull, ... More >>

2011 NBA FINALS GAME 4 -- Mavericks 86, Heat 83: My Top 10 Observer-ations

​10. Could tell something wasn't right with Dirk Nowitzki early in the second quarter. He didn't look good on the bench. Peaked even. Towel over head. Two warm-up jackets draped over him. Gulping liquid out of two water bottles. Not involved in coach Rick Carlisle's huddle. Then at half ... More >>

The Best Double Entendre Songs Of All Time

You mean that Primus song wasn't about this guy?​Primus is a band we discovered pretty early on in life and whose sharp and innovative playing we've only grown to respect more and more as we've aged. Unfortunately, though, our first exposure to the group was to their biggest single of the '90s:&nb ... More >>

Physical CD Sales Still Thrive at Dallas' Big T Bazaar.

Big Chief Signs To Cash Money Records

Big Chief​A little more than two years has passed since we openly wondered if Big Chief, long one of Dallas' premiere underground street rappers, has what it takes to be the Next Big Thing out of the Dallas hip-hop scene. Now, though, it seems as if we're closer to our answer. The ever-prolific Ch ... More >>

Show Announcements: Chris Cornell, Lil Wayne, Unwed Sailor, Tapes N' Tapes, Mix Master Mike, Sleigh Bells, The Psychedelic Furs, Band Of Heathens, Basshunter, Danielson, Black Lips, The Strange Boys, Screeching Weasel & More!

Chris Cornell​Chris Cornell hasn't fallen off the map like most of his '90s grunge-rock counterparts -- he's actually done the opposite. His impressive work with Audioslave and recent Soundgarden reunion tours have kept him in the public eye. Hell, even his dud of an album, Scream, couldn't slow h ... More >>

Tonight, Tonight: Lucero at Curtain Club, Tab Benoit at The Granada, Framing Hanley at Trees and Slackbeat at Rubber Gloves

Tonight's docket first seemed a pretty drab one. Then we caught wind of who got booked to be the secret performer at Elm Street Tattoo's annual Christmas affair at Curtain Club tonight.

Watch: Play-N-Skillz Show Bun B Around Dallas For Trill OG's Latest Single, "Ridin Slow."

Bun B​A few weeks back, on the same weekend when Dallas-based super-producers Play-N-Skillz were hosting auditions for their in-development MTV reality show, the Brothers Salinas also welcomed a Texas hip-hop legend and long-time collaborator to town. Turns out Juan and Oscar Salinas, who produced ... More >>

Q&A: N*E*R*D's Pharrell Williams Talks Social Commentary, T.I.'s Recent Arrest and Producing The Game's New Disc.

It may not seem like it, but N*E*R*D has been around for almost 10 years now, playing their genre-defying style of urban crossover rock. Featuring Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley, the band brings its experiences from the mega-successful Neptunes and puts it into a unique rock experience ... More >>

More Local Hip-Hop News: Lil Twist Tops The 106 & Park Countdown, GS Boyz Ain't Done Yet and Treal Lee & Prince Rick Hate Everyone.

Turns out Tum Tum's hardly the only local hip-hop artist making waves this week...

The Problem With... Lil Wayne and Drake's "Right Above It"

What do you know, folks. Lil' Wayne, Young Money's Pikachu, is back on the charts with a fresh, new track. And he brought Drake, his Canadian trainee, with him.

Good Friday: The Slack, This Old House, Spooky Folk, Hendrick, Big Red Rooster, Telegraph Canyon, Menkena, Ishi, The Orbans, Gary Allan, Mike Doughty, Days of the New and Nick Oliveri

It's Friday night and the weekend's here, which means it's time to unwind, et al. Got plans? Nah? We've got your hookup right here. First up, as always, the shows we've already discussed. Kind of a slow weekend, though: A bunch of the bigger shows we've talked up are coming after the weekend. As of ... More >>

A New, Lil Wayne-Featured, Erykah Badu Track Leaked Last Night. Score.

​Last night, the OkayPlayer-hosted blog 2DopeBoyz posted this item, which, for all intents and purposes, sure sounds like a new Erykah Badu track--as heard, quite possibly, in a label or press get-together where Badu played the track for a room to get a response and to relay her release strategy ( ... More >>

Good Friday: Brent Best, Bridges & Blinking Lights, Days of the New, Babyface, Pitbull, Doug Burr, All That Remains, Binary Sunrise, Rhett Miller, RTB2, Saboteur, The Sounds, Shinedown

​The weekend's here, which is good news for anyone hoping to catch up on sleep and boost their immune systems so they don't catch that darn H1N1 virus going around. And good news for music fans, too, as there's enough rock going on to melt both your face and all potential germs it might be keeping ... More >>

Good Friday: Lions, Dustin Cavazos, Faster Pussycat, Daniel Folmer, Dove Hunter, Leon Russell

​Feels like this week has flown by, but maybe that's because I'm back in the saddle again here at DC9. Which means, yep, it's on me again to put together your weekend show list. So, without further ado, here it is. First, the show's we've already brought to your attention--and there were a bunch o ... More >>

The Five Most Interesting Things You Didn't Know About Soulja Boy

De La Soul

Friday, July 31, at the House of Blues

Download: DJ A Bay Bay -- "I Stay (feat. Dorrough, Fat Pimp, Trai'D and Tum Tum)"

​ KKDA 104.5-FM afternoon drive-time jock DJ A Bay Bay is a pretty big deal--and not just locally, but, y'know, nationally. The former Shreveport DJ is, after all, the namesake behind the Shreveport rapper Hurricane Chris' 2007 massive 2007 single "A Bay Bay". So, there's that.Since moving to the ... More >>

Giveaway: One Pair of Tickets To The Fray PLUS HOT DOGS AND DRINKS

As part of Live Nation's continuing No Service Fee Wednesday (now going by the initials NSFW, which caused me to open the press release quite a bit quicker than I might have otherwise, I'll have to admit), Live Nation is once again offering tickets for select shows at an "all-in" ticket price of $29 ... More >>

Today In Music News: Eminem and Flea Head To Hall Of Fame, 50 and Weezy Are Fueding and Jane's Addiction Offers Up Free Reznor-Produced Tracks

Your daily dose of national music news for Monday, March 23, 2009...Eminem and Flea are among the presenters for this years Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Em will induct Run-DMC; Flea will induct Metallica.It's funny how 50 Cent likes to take jabs at easy targets like Rick Ross, but, when it ... More >>

Lily Allen

It's Not Me (It's You Capitol)

It's "Dallas Week" Over At MTV.com...

Looks like the fruits of MTV's labor from a few weeks back, when the network followed D-Town production wunderkinds Play-N-Skillz around town for a party at plush and a dance instruction deal at Big T Bazaar are gonna be unraveling over on MTV.com all week--if the above promo, which features non-Da ... More >>

Play-N-Skillz Check Their Fresh, Comment On Their Grammy Win

Given the amount of hoopla surrounding the red-hot local production duo of Play-N-Skillz lately--the abundant MTV coverage, the Grammys pre-party, etc.--the brothers Salinas (Juan and Oscar) had plenty of confidence heading into Sunday night's Grammy Awards--maybe too much, considering how, last we ... More >>

Last Night: Play-N-Skillz Grammy Party At Plush

Play-N-Skillz, Big Tuck, Slim Thug, Pitbull, Paul Wall, Too $hort, morePlushWednesday, February 4, 2009Better than: Parking a filthy, body-damaged Scion Xb in a metered spot and walking two blocks to avoid using the valet service, all the while contemplating how out of place you are anywhere near a ... More >>

BREAKING NEWS: Pacman Jones Still Thinks He's a Dallas Cowboy

Dude, there's no looking back. Is there?You know those pigs that were raised by dogs so when they grew up they thought they were, well, dogs? Pacman Jones is a pig. I've been promised visual photographic evidence by my Sportatorium spies at some point, but for now we'll go ... More >>

The End Of The End Of Year Lists: Pete Freedman's Favorite Albums And Singles Of 2008

Sure, 2008 may be done, but the list-making still continues... This year, five contributors to the Dallas Observer's music section were asked to participate in the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll, which compiles the lists of hundreds of music critics across the country into one m ... More >>

Growth Potential

Artists take on the concept via different themes

Devin the Dude, Coughee Brothaz, Bavu Blakes

Thursday, October 16, at Granada Theater

The Rap Up: Rage Almighty's Force For Change

Am I Supposed To Treat The Jonas Brothers Like They're Locals Now? Well, For This One Post... OK, I'll Bite.

Weekend Roundup: Soul Asylum, Summer Jam, Peter Murphy, Disney Channel Tween Idols

Play-N-Skillz Get Some Love From The Source

Chamillionaire

Ultimate Victory (Chamillitary/Universal Motown)

Destiny's Child

Destiny Fulfilled (Columbia)