LA Weekly On a Friday night in May, a smattering of people hangs around outside the Moon Pad, a peach-colored house-turned-hostel in Boyle Heights. I have been invited to a party here by Derrick Knight, the Moon Pad's 28-year-old founder and manager. He promised a...
Compton rapper Problem reps all of California (and the L.A. Rams) in his music. LA Weekly “One of my friends called me one day and was like, ‘We’re gonna call you Chachi,’” Compton rapper Problem tells me. He’s talking about Chachi Arcola, Scott Baio’s character in...
LA Weekly At Time for a Cut Barber Shop in Inglewood, Lonnie Kimble, known to rap fans as Skeme, sits slouched in a faux leather chair, his dreads pulled back in a ponytail and his knees peeking out of holes in his distressed Yves St. Laurent jeans. A bootlegged...
LA Weekly If you want to hear rap and hip-hop on a weekend night in the City of Angels, your options are limited. If you’re willing to dress up, pay a cover and order bottle service, you can head to the clubs in Hollywood. If you’d prefer something more laid-back, you...
LA Weekly It’s Friday night, a little after 10:30, and I’m hoofing it through Hollywood to a spot called Las Palmas where Lil Debbie is premiering her new EP, Home Grown. There are stragglers hanging out front and they’re all young, definitely not over the age...
LA Weekly It’s easy to make friends when you wear pasties at EDC. I would know. I did it last night. I didn’t plan for this to happen. When I packed for the festival, I chose regular clothes—shorts, tank tops, a sundress. You see, I’m not a raver and I’d never been to...
LA Weekly It’s a little past 11 o’clock on Friday and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is pulsing with sound, lights and bodies. Polyester jellyfish and gigantic LED mushrooms hover above the crowd; the smell of funnel cakes and body odor wafts through the 100-degree air...
LA Weekly Most of the time, when people talk about Sawtelle Boulevard, they mention the Japanophile stretch near Olympic, known as Little Osaka, where you can buy authentic red bean mochi, Sanrio knickknacks and mouthwatering ramen. (The general area around the...
LA Weekly The KBUU-FM radio studio is in a ranch-style tract house, on a cul de sac on one of Malibu's few suburban-style streets. In what used to be Emily Laetz's bedroom, the detritus of a recently moved-out kid is everywhere. Puka shell necklaces hang near the door...