Slug of Atmosphere performs at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Aug. 19, 2021. Karen Goldman/STAFF. BERKELEY — On “The Best Day,” rapper Slug (Sean Daley) of duo Atmosphere laments a bad day—nay, year—he’s having. The 2010 single, which came in the second half of the group’s show at…

Neil Young (& Promise of the Real) perform at BottleRock Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo on May 25, 2019. Photos: Shawn Robbins, staff and courtesy. NAPA — BottleRock Napa Valley’s Saturday headlining slots covered the generational and cultural spectrum. On one corner of the grounds, you’d find a…

Visionary West Coast hip-hop group Cypress Hill has returned from an eight-year recording hiatus with an impressive album that more than makes up for their prolonged silence. Elephants on Acid Cypress Hill Sept. 28 Cypress Hill makes no compromises on Elephants on Acid, its ninth album. From the musical style to the…

Rage Against the Machine broke up on October 18, 2000, just 20 days before George W. Bush won the Presidency. It’s safe to say the nation has slid away from their vision since then. But despite all that’s transpired in the last 17 years, aside from a brief tour in 2007 and…

When Public Enemy’s hip hop icon Chuck D and bandmate DJ Lord joined forces with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk, and Cypress Hill MC B-Real to form the Prophets of Rage, the supergroup had only one goal: To play the…

Chuck D (right) and Public Enemy, courtesy. Hip-hop icons Public Enemy and their cohorts on the Art of Rap tour—mastermind Ice-T, Naughty By Nature, Grandmaster Melle Mell and Scorpio, among others—have found themselves accidentally swirling in controversy this week. While Public Enemy frontman Chuck D and his supergroup Prophets…