Since his early twenties, Garth Trinidad has been DJing Chocolate City on KCRW for over 10 years now. He sits on the Grammy Awards R&B board in support of the new ‘best urban alternative performance’ category, created as a direct result of his continued approach to music programming. He is a much sought after music commenter, supervisor and expert in his field. To catch his show, tune in Saturday nights on KCRW from 6:00-9:00... more ›

Rawkus Records more ›

LA’s Stones Throw Records are quickly becoming the most important purveyors of independent hip-hop in the new millennium, much like East Coast indie stalwarts Rawkus were in the late 1990s. There is, however, one particularly notable difference between the two. While both labels are known for their independent spirit and bohemian rosters of hip-hop artists (Stones Throw with Madlib and his many aliases, MF Doom, J Dilla, et al and Rawkus was with Mos Def & Talib Kweli, Common, Pharaohe Monch, et al), Stones Throw has also become ground zero for the “Indie Soul” movement. "Indie Soul" is a throwback to Chicago soul and jazz mixed with modern beats and arrangements, and best represented by artists like Georgia Anne Muldrow and the versatile Aloe Blacc. more ›

As the month of February rolls around, I can’t help but think of all the crazy things that have happened during the overly optimistic January. Late nights and early mornings, cheap concerts, and drinking all New Year’s Resolutions away with a bottle of Jack, ah, everything 2007 is meant be. So I welcome February, the month of love and Black history, to devote oh-so-much fun and laughs to a few more amusing hip hop heroes. May February make January hail its praise! more ›

With the start of a new year, it only makes sense for us to reflect on the events of the past year. Last year marked the deaths of two legendary hip hop figures, J Dilla and DJ Dusk, and the proclamation that hip hop, too, is dead. In 2007 we need to ask ourselves, is Nas just starting a controversy, or is hip hop really dead? Well, I can’t answer that for you. I can, however, list four of my hip hop heroes for January 2007. Not that these are actual heroes, but just a few people that will surely make me smile throughout the coming month: more ›

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Babydaddy, Jake Shears, Ana Matronic and the rest of the Abba-esque Brit dance group Scissor Sisters are finding just as much success here in the states as they did early last month in the UK where they debuted at #1. The follow-up to 2004's eponymous freshman offerring did extremely well here in LA last week due to several factors: they headlined a sold-out show at the Shrine last Thursday, they appeared on Indie on... more ›

These guys have one for you! The Visionaries are adding yet another trophy to their collection by dropping We Are The Ones (we’ve been waiting for), out October 3rd. Not that these guys need any help, but the genius of producers like J-Rocc, Madlib, and the late J Dilla have added their special touch to album. more ›

There are so many good cds coming out this week, it's sorta like Christmas in August. We will be reviewing some of these cds over the next few weeks, but in the meantime we put our faves in bold. more ›

We've listened to his J Dilla tribute mix at least 10 times since James Yancey died in February and now we have to say goodbye to him as well? We're not ready to let go of an integral part of The Root Down and one of our favorite turntablists at Fusicology events. Tarek Captan aka DJ Dusk was killed Saturday night by a drunk driver. He was 31. more ›