
This weekend I'll be traveling with my partner in crime to Seattle for the sold out Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. Just looking at the breadth of this festival strikes fatigue in my bones.

When Gnarls Barkley broke out with the debut single "Crazy," it was as if they literally started a craze. The song was in high rotation on practically every radio station, became a standard for Las Vegas lounge performers, and sparked other strange and creative remakes.

Since her 2007 break out album Back to Black, Amy Winehouse has become a tabloid queen. The world watches with pity and fascination as she plays out a classic tale of the drug addicted songstress on a downward spiral.

So some of you may have already heard about the latest beef in hip hop. Ice T recently took a shot at Soulja Boy while making a mixed tape, accusing the the youngster of single-handedly killing hip hop. Be that as it may, Soulja Boy responded with his own video.

This week TBTMTU we take a look at Oh Word a hip hop blog for purists. Claiming that the bloggosphere is saturated with music bloggers all writing about breaking music news, so they chose to focus on hip hop roots.

Borne of a friendship minted during the Arctic Monkeys' 2005 UK tour, The Last Shadow Puppets is a side project of Alex Turner, Arctic Monkeys front man, and Miles Kane, front man for The Rascals.

Nico Vega put on a fired up show in the hot and steamy Viper Room in Hollywood, California last night. There's not much else to it than that. As curtain opened, Aja took the stage, barefoot and clad in leggings and a leotard, the audience screamed in excitement.

With the first wave of MySpace bands over and done with the novelty seems to have worn off. However, MySpace continues to be a place where otherwise overlooked artists can cultivate their talents and share them with the world independently.

When MTV was launched 27 years ago, its purpose was to play music videos. This noble concept gave way to a pop culture phenomenon, forever changing the dynamic of celebrity culture.

The stage was set with a faux boom-box, a projection screen, a table and two mics. The showroom of the Troubadour was beginning to fill up and people had already staked out the area in front and center of the stage.

While Columbus may not be the most happening town, one might be surprised to find out that it is the indie art capital of the world, a noteworthy designation as one of the highlights of the Vinemeet this weekend was a live performance by our host, a member of Floatation Walls.

At the tender age of 17 Fiona Apple made her debut in 1994 with Tidal and her breakout hit, "Criminal". With poetic lyrics sung in a deep alto and driven by Apple's passionate piano playing, most will agree that Fiona Apple is an artist.

After the relatively obscure release of their debut album in 1994, The Fugees returned two years later to critical acclaim with "The Score".

Amidst the criticism of R&B music – talk of mediocre talent and dependence on image rather than vocal ability – Corinne Bailey Rae's star shone bright with her self titled debut album.

If you know anything about Southern California, you know that we Angelenos spend a good deal of our time on the road. Just last week I spent three hours in traffic to get somewhere that is normally only 45 minutes away (yeah...).

Nine Inch Nails (NIN) is now a big time rogue band - since its contract with Interscope expired in October - with a cult following and in what some have likened to a Radiohead-esque move, have released their latest album Ghosts I-IV, on their official website only.

Much of Erykah Badu's career has been marked by Afrocetrism, higher consciousness and introspection.

Erykah Badu is known as a neo-soul pioneer and for displaying artistry in a time when such appeared lacking in R&B. The genre seemed to be on its way to becoming an extension of hip hop while simultaneously birthing pop artists and new sub-genres.

Women of distinction are woefully lacking within the scope of popular reggae music. There have been a few notable exceptions including Lady Saw, also known as the "the first lady of dancehall," and Patra, a moderately popular artist from the '90s.

The 2008 Ragga Muffins Festival was an improvement on several fronts from festivals past. The increased presence of "earthy" people combined with the decrease in the poser/wannabe crowd (Matisyahu fans…grrrrr) was refreshing.

The 27th annual Long Beach Ragga Muffins Festival in is this weekend, one of the largest reggae festivals in the US and quite possibly one of my favorite events of the year. For nearly 10 years I have been a festival regular, and this year will be no different…

The music business can be a dirty game, especially when there is sentimentality involved. One such case is the news that Yoko Ono has decided to file a lawsuit against an up and coming artist named Lennon Murphy for using…get this…her own name.

For many hip-hop purists, there is a particular sound they have grown accustomed to hearing. Outside of this small box they will not consider anything hip-hop. However, like all other forms of art, hip-hop is about expression.

Killed at the height of his fame, Tupac Shakur's most popular works were recorded once he was signed to Death Row Records, and later, others which were released after his death. What many do not know is that Tupac was very much a revolutionary at heart.