Guardian Music — When they get it right, rappers can rival stadium rock acts. But a mere gust of wind can expose how few MCs can hack festivalsIt's all about bass and beats. Nothing tops the feeling of a heavy, booming bass line reverberating through the soil and up ... more info

ContactMusic — Bush, veteran rockers Uriah Heep and rap supergroup Public Enemy have been added to the bill for this summer's (11) Sunset Strip Music Festival, which will honour Motley Crue. The three-day music marathon, which will take place at the Strip's fabled ... more info

L.A. Times - Pop & Hiss — Mötley Crüe will celebrate its 30th anniversary by headlining the three-day festival that has created a "renaissance" for the legendary strip and shuts part of Sunset Boulevard. Mötley Crüe, Matt & Kim, Public Enemy, a reunited Bush and Cobra Sta... more info

Guardian Music — 21 January 1991: Number 36 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of indie musicWith lines like "I laughed when Lennon got shot", Manic Street Preachers' first single for Heavenly, Motown Junk, was a shot across the bows, a kamikaze manife... more info

Guardian Music — 1984: Number 8 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of R&B and hip-hop musicThe Def Jam label holds an almost mythical status within hip-hop. How come? After all, it was far from the first to put out rap music and, though it released num... more info

Guardian Music — 3 March 1989: Number 22 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of R&B and hip-hop music"Yet our best-trained, best-educated, best-equipped, best-prepared troops refuse to fight. Matter of fact, it's safe to say that they would rather switc... more info

Guardian Music — May 1992: Number 29 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of hip-hop"If black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?" The question may have sounded rhetorical, but rapper Sister Souljah's inflammato... more info

Guardian Music — 4 July 1986: Number 40 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of rock musicEver wondered why Limp Bizkit exist? Blame the day that Walk This Way, a collaborative cover version of a 1975 Aerosmith single by Run-DMC and Aerosmith's Steve Tyl... more info

ContactMusic — Rapper Flavor Flav is hoping to make his mark in the movies with a new horror film about a vampire pimp. The colourful Public Enemy star is developing a project called MACkula. He says, "He's a pimped-out vampire. . . (The film is) a cross between th... more info

ContactMusic — Hip-hop veteran Flavor Flav spent thousands of dollars on drugs a day - for six years. The Public Enemy star and reality TV regular details the extent of his battle for sobriety in his new memoir Flavor Flav Icon, admitting he'd never be able to live... more info