ben-westhoff
Bad bromance: what's going on with Jay-Z and Kanye?
Business disagreements, traded insults and on-stage meltdowns have left the former bosom buddies recast as hip-hop’s best-known frenemies
Ben Westhoff
07, Jul, 2017 @9:00 AM
Straight Outta Hollywood: how hip-hop saved the biopic
The film biography has a chequered past, but a rash of dramas based on the lives of 90s rap stars such as Tupac and NWA has juiced the genre
Ben Westhoff
06, Jul, 2017 @4:46 PM
Can this man clean up EDM? 'They find all kinds of things in those pills'
Gary Richards was instrumental in the rise of electronic dance music in the US. Now his challenge is grappling with the surging number of drug-related deaths on the scene – including at his Hard Summer festivals
Ben Westhoff
19, Apr, 2017 @12:00 PM
Rock'n'roll Ambitionz: Tupac's election to hall of fame a sign of rap's acceptance
The rapper’s election is only the sixth time a figure from hip-hop has made it into the hall, and those who say they don’t belong will have to get used to it
Ben Westhoff
21, Dec, 2016 @8:00 AM
St Louis rap: a would-be thriving scene struggles amid pervasive violence
The city’s insular scene is full of aspiring talent, but a string of murders involving high-profile stars has led to rappers relocating for their own safety
Ben Westhoff
07, Dec, 2016 @7:32 PM
The new NWA movie depicts Michel'le's abuse by Dr Dre – but is it true?
The Lifetime biopic Surviving Compton fills in the gaps left by the other NWA movie – and reveals that women in the rap stars’ orbit were callously abused
Ben Westhoff
17, Oct, 2016 @7:56 PM
Backstabbing, Moogs and the funky worm: how gangsta rap was born
In an edited excerpt from his book Original Gangsta, Ben Westhoff recalls how one of music’s most controversial genres began and who truly invented it
Ben Westhoff
13, Sep, 2016 @9:00 AM
Johnny Depp's Tupac and Notorious BIG thriller has the wrong main source
The theories of former LAPD detective Russell Poole have been called into question by more in-depth research, so why is his story being adapted?
Ben Westhoff
08, Sep, 2016 @3:25 PM
Fetty Wap: ‘I didn’t even get to use no bed – I was lucky to have a carpet’
Just over three years ago the New Jersey rapper was dealing drugs and practically homeless. In 2015, his track Trap Queen was the year’s biggest sleeper hit. So how is this ‘hip-hop Evel Knievel’ coping with the fame?
Ben Westhoff
19, May, 2016 @4:39 PM
Universal Hip-Hop Museum is finally open to visitors – at least virtually
The museum was announced with fanfare two years ago, but while it seeks a location in the Bronx – where hip-hop began – it’s accessible as a virtual space
Ben Westhoff
18, Feb, 2016 @11:00 AM
New film reveals detective's findings in murders of Tupac and Notorious BIG
Murder Rap examines the killings of the two revered rappers within six months of each other in 1996-97, one of the most tangled mysteries in music
Ben Westhoff
27, Jan, 2016 @5:27 PM
Rick Ross: ‘I ain’t trying to keep up with the trends’
Marijuana arrests, kidnapping charges, label tensions: Rick Ross’s life is a rollercoaster. With the release of his new album Black Market, he talks about losing weight, ‘feeding the fans’ and staying at the top of the rap charts for 10 years
Ben Westhoff
31, Dec, 2015 @4:00 PM
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