A historic tour rolls into town this Wednesday, as Jay-Z and Mary J Blige bring their Heart of the City co-venture to the ACC. Since 1996, Jigga has released ten studio albums, two collaborations with R. Kelly, a mash-up album with Linkin Park, and an MTV Unplugged with The Roots. He also managed to squeeze in a three-year retirement, during which he served as Def Jam president. When no major labels would sign him, he......

Two giants in the New York rap scene will be spinning sets at CiRCA this Friday as part of Sneaker Pimps. Although G-Unit DJ DJ Whoo Kid has been dominating the East coast mix tape game these past few years, this night belongs to legendary producer DJ Premier. In addition to his work as one half of Gangstarr, Primo shaped the sound of 1990s New York gangsta rap by lacing tracks for Nas, Biggie, and......

When Larry LeBlanc of Billboard sent us a letter written by Canadian music megaproducer Bob Ezrin, we were intrigued. With the possible exception of new superpower Steve Jobs, the music industry has been circling the drain in recent years, temporarily jamming the flow with the barely-explored careers of too many worthy artists. Bob Ezrin has been there and seen it all, and he's got something to say about it. Behind the console since the 1970s,......

Let's look back at a week in which no site in the -ist network adopted anyone from Africa... -Austinist reveled in the dumb antics of some U.T. law students and posted some great audio from former New Orleans natives who've decided to stay in Austin. But the best news for Austinist? They were voted Best Local Entertainment Web Site by the local Austin alt-weekly. Congrats, Austinist. -DCist gloried in being told their musical tastes made......

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. LAist's sex advice column on......

Why is Jay Z's grill all up in your grill, all up over our website? There's no reasonable explanation. It's true Mr Z is in Toronto this weekend for his MuchMusic gig tonight (with Kanye the Jesus freak), and at the cheese bar Montana's on Saturday night (Montana's is not actually a bar that serves cheese, rather a cheezey hangout for cheeseball people), but it's not as if any Torontoist readers or cohorts will be......

Who can promote a irresponsible multinational corporation? Sprinkle it in dew? Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? - Dalton's buddies lift energy alert. But that doesn't mean you can leave the microwave on all night. - Buy all the booze you can, right now. - Dear Summer, Jay Z is en route to Much Music. Rick the Temp is going to be grilling him, although VJ Hannah might have made a better......

When Adrian the Adorable Sports Writer shouts out the words, "I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one," he isn't only singing along to Jay-Z's recent hit "99 Problems" but also assessing his own Valentine's day fortunes. The guy is a lover, not a hater. Similarly, when Paige Six microwaves her underwear before going a formal, she isn't bemoaning her own romantic luck as much as looking for dry under garments. Like cleanliness, she......

When a cell phone goes off in the middle of a play, the logical person to hiss at is the miscreant who forgot to turn off his or her phone, of course. At the same time, however, we must recognize that to err is human. Even Torontoist has had something of ours beep at an inappropriate time once or twice. (It was a funeral. Yeeks.) Less understandable are theatre companies that still do not have......