Rap Producer Kasseem Dean Bought Riley Holloway’s Art

Riley Holloway assumed someone was pulling his leg. Early this year, he began receiving attention from an Instagram account that appeared to belong to rap producer Kasseem Dean, better known as Swizz Beatz. “I was like, ‘Swizz Beatz?’ Yeah, right,” the Dallas-based painter tells the Observer. But Holloway isn’t skeptical…

Dallas Rapper Bobby Sessions Signs with Def Jam

Dallas hip-hop artist Bobby Sessions announced today that he has signed with Def Jam. The announcement comes almost three years to the day since Sessions quit his day job to pursue music full time. In a 2015 interview with the Observer, Sessions said that he only had $50 in his…

2018 Fortress Fest Lineup Announced

In its inaugural year, attendance for Fort Worth’s Fortress Festival was so-so, despite a killer lineup. It drew the largest numbers for hip-hop headliner Run the Jewels, so it makes sense that for its second lineup, revealed today, the festival is doubling down on the genre. Nostalgic ’90s hip-hop acts…

Slayer Announces Farewell Tour with June Stop in Dallas

Heavy metal stalwart Slayer is ready for a nap. In the band’s 37-year career, it has released 12 studio albums, played thousands of concerts and won two Grammys for best metal performance (in ’07 and ’08). This week, the band called it a job well done and announced that its next…

‘There Was No Break-In,’ Erykah Badu Says

We’re not even a week into 2018, and Erykah Badu has already been at the center of two weird, and likely related, stories. On New Year’s Eve, the neo-soul songstress and Dallas native posted an Instagram video during a supposed traffic stop by Dallas police officers who “just wanted to…

Dallas’ 10 Most Fascinating People 2017

It takes all kinds, and if we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that Dallas has them. The Observer published a lot of profiles in 2017, and in them you’ll meet everyone from mermaids to sheriffs to movie producers. Here are 10 of the most interesting people we talked to. The Cowboys…