On their "Watch the Throne" Tour, Kanye and Jay-Z have going crazy with their "N***** in Paris" encores. At their first show in Atlanta, they performed it three times and it only escalated from there. more ›

Nominees for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards were unveiled during the Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! Wednesday night at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. Kanye West, Adele, Bruno Mars and Foo Fighters are owning this year's nominations. more ›

In the great tradition of food-retail media tie-in takeovers, tomorrow four Fatburger locations around the nation will morph into Bob's Burgers, and they'll be handing out free burgers, according to GrubStreet LA. Find your free food at the West Hollywood location, but first download the coupon you'll need to swap for your "Thanks a Brunch Burger." Sorry, Kanye West fans, if the Fatburger franchiser is going to show up to any of the 4, it would be the one he owns...in Chicago. The WeHo Fatburger will be a Bob's Burger until January 31. more ›

Some days it just seems like every media outlet is talking about the same thing. Today, though, they're talking about the same person, but for different reasons. Based on scientific* research, we've determined that there are five things the internet wants you to know about Kanye West right now: more ›

DJ Premier owns gold and platinum records, won three Grammy awards, is the founding member of one of hip-hop's most influential duos, has worked with everyone from Jay-Z to Notorious B.I.G. to Christina Aguilera, has a massive fanbase of loyal followers and is considered by many to be one of the greatest producers of all-time. Even with all the accolades and success, the legendary producer continues to bang out hot beats and remain relevant after more than 25 years in the game. more ›

Jared and his multi-platinum band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, are bringing their Into the Wild tour to town with stops at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Friday and The Greek on Saturday. Leto, who has appeared in films like Fight Club and Requiem for a Dream, founded the band alongside his brother Shannon. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2002. The follow-up, A Beautiful Lie, earned multi-platinum status. more ›

On Sunday, "Dancing with the Stars'" Carrie Ann Inaba and "The Bachelor's" Chris Harrison will be working the Red Carpet for TV Guide Network's coverage of the Primetime Emmy Awards. Earlier this week, LAist had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with the tandem who will be interviewing the biggest stars of the small screen on “Live at the Emmy Awards with Carrie Ann and Chris” from 6:00-8:00 p.m. ET/PT. more ›

“This reads like the list of horses at the Hollywood Park Racetrack,” my friend said, flipping though my copy of the LA Shorts Fest program. He had a point -- Free Lunch, Hove (The Wind), Schrodinger's Cat -- these film short titles could easily inspire the naming of a racehorse. And after sitting in on the screenings of at least 100 of the shorts so far, I can say attending is as much fun as a day at the races and just as unpredictable. more ›

Last September, rapper and producer Kanye West was arrested at LAX when he lashed out at a photographer and smashed their camera. Today comes word that West now officially faces three misdemeanor counts stemming from the incident, reports On the Red Carpet. "According to the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, the 31-year-old hip-hop mogul is charged with one count each of vandalism, grand theft and battery." West manager, Don Crawley, faces two charges, one each of vandalism, grand theft and battery. West will be arraigned April 14th at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles. more ›

Racking up over ten million YouTube views, and signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music imprint, hip-hopper Kid Cudi is well on his way. The recent video for "Day 'n Night" features the lonely stoner meandering around Los Angeles. Can you recognize any of the locations? Comment below! more ›

The quarterly FLUX Screening Series at the Hammer Museum takes place tonight from 7-11 pm. The night will debut the World Premiere of PSST! 3, a collaborative new film project featuring shorts by a worldwide network of designers, directors, animators, and composers. PSST! founder and curator Bran Dougherty-Johnson will be in attendance to present the films. The evening will also include the premiere of two N.A.S.A. videos from its highly-anticipated new release The Spirit of Apollo; "Gifted" featuring Kayne West, Santogold and Lykke Li; and "A Volta," directed by Logan in collaboration with The Date Farmers. Check the website for the full screening schedule. A courtyard after-party will follow the film screenings. Admission is FREE, but reservations are highly suggested. Seating is first come, first served and an RSVP does not guarantee seating. (So get there early!) more ›

LA has a diverse cast of characters. Whether it's the characters with stirring stories or interesting occupations or the people who are just simply characters, this town has them all. In an effort to get to know some of those characters a little better, we've created "Seven Questions with..." more ›

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will take place in a couple of weeks here in LA at the Staples Center, and the Recording Academy has announced another batch of artists slated to perform live as part of the show, the Daily News reports. In addition to previously named performers Kenny Chesney, Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson, Jonas Brothers, Lil Wayne, Katy Perry, and Carrie Underwood, comes word some of music's heavy-hitters will take the stage: Rock icon Paul McCartney (who will be at this year's Coachella fest), Radiohead (their first US tv performance in almost a decade), T.I. and Justin Timberlake together, and Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, T.I. and Kanye West performing "Swagga Like Us." Of course, to see all these performances live you'll have to be part of the select few with a ticket to the Feb. 8 show; as is the norm with awards show telecasts, we'll have to wait for CBS to air it 3 hours later at 8 p.m. more ›

If you've ever wanted to adopt your own entourage and get world-class A-list treatment, apparently Los Angeles International Airport is the place to go. So throw on your best pair of sweats, grab your $1000 handbag, and slip on those shades! Of course, you might want to enlist your own security detail, because yesterday "the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday decided against any new regulations to control paparazzi at [LAX]" reports the Daily News. more ›

Tonight pop star/actress Mandy Moore will be performing at the Troubadour with K.D. Lang. Tom Morello and the Nightwatchman are slated to rock out at the El Rey Theatre. And, lastly, One Trick Pony will be playing Spaceland with a slew of other great local indie acts. But we suggest heading over to the Gibson Amphitheatre for Power 106's Cali Christmas Bash. We may have hated on Kanye West's latest, but that won't stop us from experiencing the theatrics. more ›

The older models that once dominated hip hop have officially been superseded by auto-tune—a corrective action amidst a heavily saturated genre. The hyper-inflated, mechanical effects of the aforementioned tool undoubtedly help to achieve a heavy-hearted tone. And it definitely compliments the lonesome lyrical content, which West strains to convey with a puerile sense of entitlement—as though he's the only person ever to have experienced such personal anguish. But, more often than not, the picturesque pretense strewn throughout 808s & Heartbreak masks any semblance of true emotion at hand, constituting a pretty wearisome gimmick. more ›

Just like many of his peers, T.I. has a roster of nicknames as long as the chain around his neck. One of the most popular of those nicknames is "The King of the South," but on Friday night, at the Key Club T.I. was simply the King. more ›

The LA County District Attorney's Office has decided not to file charges against Kanye West after a September 11 incident in which he smashed a photographers camera at LAX Terminal 4 (video) and was arrested on charges of battery and vandalism. It is now up to the City of Los Angeles to file a misdemeanor against West, according to TMZ. more ›

Last year, Kanye West flipped out backstage at MTV's Video Music Awards and swore he'd never come back. Sunday night he was there and closed out the show, but this morning the books are open after West snapped, smashing a photographers camera at LAX Terminal 4. West was arrested just before 8 a.m. on charges of battery and vandalism and remains in custody at the airport, according to reports. TMZ has video here. more ›

Locally based burger chain Fatburger will be opening its first Chicago-area outpost next January, all thanks to Kanye West, who just put out a new puppet lovin' music video this week. West owns KW Foods LLC, which has the rights to develop 10 Fatburgers around Chicagoland. Earlier this year, Fatburger Founder Lovie Yancey died. [Via Chicagoist] more ›

With the help of this video directed by Neon, Kanye West competes in the "games". more ›

Just a mere week old on the Interwebs, this video by French DJ team Justice has already managed to cause serious controversy throughout the French media, meaning said controversy will undoubtedly cross the pond upon further exposure. The video's nascent beginnings can be traced back to Kanye West's blog, wherein he claims to be the first to have shared it on May 1st. First or not, this video is pretty cool. more ›

Earlier this month, A-Trak (MySpace) and Kid Sister (MySpace) performed as the co-headliners of First Fridays (MySpace) at the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park. more ›

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on LAist. more ›

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• An investigation by the Daily News found that, as the DWP has increased rates they continue to issue cars to more than 100 employees who are free to take them home. Proponents of the program say the cost of the vehicles is offset by the tax breaks the department receives from the hybrids they drive. Other people say, You're shitting me, right? Stop wasting my money.
• The LA Times had their own investigation party too. The paper found that about 33,000 state inmates served longer than they should have because they were not given all the time off they earned for good behavior and for working in prison. Hey, those license plates don't make themselves.
• In a scene straight out of "Ferris Beuler's Day Off," a valet crashed a Corvette during a joy ride Friday night in Van Nuys. Uh, what country do you think this is?
• A dead body was found on the 10 freeway this morning. Authorities say the body was already dead when they arrived and there is no truth to the rumor that it was Hillary Clinton's campaign.
• Pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training last week and position players are due to arrive at camp soon. Let the season of sports writing begin. Tony Jackson shows you why you shouldn't mind the fact that the Dodgers don't have Don Mattingly as their hitting coach and Bill Plaschke writes lovingly of Matt Kemp: "He gets a plate full of catfish nuggets. I get a side dish of insight." How many days of this crap will we be forced to endure?
• Tomorrow is Presidents' Day. How will you celebrate? It won't be at these places, which will be closed tomorrow.
• Also closing tomorrow is the Kanye contest on LAist. Enter to win tix to what could be the second best show of the year (Radiohead is reportedly coming to L.A. in August).

• Happy 5th Birthday Gothamist!!
• A "possible" security breach at the Department of Water and Power Monday may result in more than 8,300 employees wondering, why are there two me's? The lifted information included stats on active DWP employee's names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth and could result in a massive case of stolen identity.
• The gig is up for all you stingy, free-loading kids who like to use their school's gym for league sports. "Soccer leagues, volleyball clubs and basketball groups that have had gratis access to LAUSD facilities from the Harbor Area to Carson will need to pony up beginning March 1 to defray usage costs and raise revenue," the Daily Breeze said. And it's about time. I'm sick of hearing the joyful laughter of kids who should be out getting a real job or doing drugs. Thankfully, they now might have to turn some tricks to pay for what was once free.
• Yahoo is planning to lay off nearly 500 employees in the next couple of months, including 111 in Burbank and 52 in Santa Monica. Yah-poo is more like it for the jobless.
• The LA Times offers a scathing editorial of the state assembly's efforts to cut down the $14.5 billion deficit. Wait, that's not an editorial at all. That's a news story with sentences like, "their move would not actually reduce spending" and "lawmakers' measures would put taxpayers on the hook for more debt." Most (not all) of the stuff is attributed, but I can find ten people right now to tell me I look great though I have a bag over my head.
• In an effort to clean our smoggy image, Los Angeles officials are proposing tighter green building standards that would require large, privately built commercial and residential projects to use environmentally sound practices. This is a great step, but you know what would actually reduce smog? Less driving! And more public transportation!
• Do you love Los Angeles? Do you want everyone to know how much you love this city? Monopoly is giving you the opportunity as it prepares to unveil its first global board where you can vote for the city (ahem, Los Angeles) of your choice to appear on the coveted square. Right now, Montreal is first, followed by Istanbul and L.A. is sitting not so pretty in the 43rd spot. Vote here.
• One smart bastard from Long Beach turned his collection of 301 rare pennies into a $10.7 million pay day. Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auction Galleries, which held the sale in Long Beach Friday night says that coin and a 1794 cent with tiny stars added to prevent counterfeiters each raised $632,500. People make fun of me for picking up pennies, but this seals it: I am never throwing away anything ever again.
• Hey Momma, you have two more days to enter the Kanye contest on LAist. Who loves you? We do.

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