"Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment," wrote singer Ricky Martin on his website today, in a heartfelt missive available in Spanish and English. more ›

Ice Cube @ Ventura Theatre Kottonmouth Kings @ Queen Mary Jamie Foxx @ Gibson Ricky Martin @ Staples Jon Mayer @ SMC Type O Negative, Celtic Frost, Brand New Sin @ Avalon Trans Am, Zombi, Black Taj @ The Troubadour Miss Derringer, Mad Juana, The Cheat, Olin and the Moon @ The Roxy Xololanxinxo, Fat Hed & Selecta Fada, Human Beings, Dopestyle @ On the Rox Eleven Hundred Springs, I See Hawks in L.A.,... more ›

LAist is proud to offer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine’s most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week’s chart toppers. Behold the #1s. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts... more ›

People always ask us, "how do you always get great tickets to all those shows?" And we say, "we get them the day they come out." And they say, "how do you know?" And we say, "you mean you don't know?" Tickets go on sale Saturday morning (10am) for: The Mars Volta @ Orpheum Theatre, 4/3 The Format @ Mayan Theater, 6/14 Iggy and The Stooges @ Wiltern 4/23 John Legend @ Gibson, 4/6... more ›

LA native Josh Kun demolishes the myth of the tweed jacket wearing, Euro-centric cannon defending, Ivory Tower clinging English professor. As an intellectual jack-of-all-trades, Kun’s interest in mainstream and far-flung aspects of pop culture ensures he’ll never succumb to the latter component of the "publish or perish" maxim. In addition to his position as Associate Professor of English at UC Riverside, Kun contributes to numerous periodicals and is the author of numerous essays, such as the introduction to Papa, Play for Me: The Autobiography of Mickey Katz. Other projects include his forthcoming book, Audiotopia: Music, Race and America (due this fall from UC Press), and a post as contributing critic to "The Movie Club" with John Ridley (coming to AMC in May). His professional roster also encompasses multimedia curating, serving as a DJ and VJ, consulting on matters related to Latin music and numerous aspects of pop culture, and writing about Tijuana. more ›

Starting at 5:00 PM today, Godiva Chocolatier will open bidding on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, a series of five special dinners in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Boston. The winners of these dinners will be treated to dinner with a celebrity, cooked by a celebrity chef, with proceeds from the events donated to a different charity in each city. Further, each chef has agreed to prepare a menu focused on a specific Godiva truffle flavor. (Personally, LAist would gladly take just the truffles.) more ›