I support

Local

Community

Journalism

Support the independent voice of South Florida and help keep the future of New Times free.

Ben Westhoff

email Ben Westhoff

Find Stories by Ben Westhoff

Browse by:

Category:

Year:

Latest Articles

Straight Outta Compton: Burgers, Brawls and Hollywood

By Ben Westhoff
Aug 17, 2015

This piece originally ran in New Times sister paper LA Weekly. Search local showings of Straight Outta Compton. Back in September, on the set of the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton, cameras rolled in the parking lot of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium as actors playing prudish protesters hoisted signs...
Becoming Riff Raff: How a Quiet, White Suburban Kid Morphed Into Today's Most Enigmatic Rapper

By Ben Westhoff
Sep 26, 2013

As a prepubescent boy in the early '90s, Horst Simco was enamored of South Florida resident Vanilla Ice. Like millions of other kids, Horst fell for the white Palm Beach County rapper's slick dance moves and outrageous style — Evel Knievel-style jumpsuits; blow-dried, gravity-defying hair; slits cut into his eyebrows...
Ten Most Awkward Dance Moves at Coachella

By Ben Westhoff
Apr 16, 2012

See also: *"What My Spirit Hood Means To Me": Coachella-Goers Explain *Coachella: The Black Lips' Cole Alexander Goes Full Monty, Plays Guitar With His Ding-Dong - Ben WesthoffAt Coachella, folks come from all over the world to lose themselves in the music. They'll employ almost anything in this quest -- but mostly drugs...
In Defense of T-Pain: An Excerpt From Ben Westhoff's new book, "Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, and the Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop"

By Ben Westhoff
Jun 23, 2011

For years now, T-Pain has been something of a hip-hop punching bag. Among other things, he's been accused of homogenizing music with Auto-Tune, dumbing it down, and destroying its humanity. It made sense to many, then, when a video clip showing him with his arm around Sean Hannity surfaced last...
The More Rick Ross Lies, the More We Love Him

By Ben Westhoff
Feb 3, 2011

When Rick Ross lumbered onto the national stage in 2006, he was something of a blank slate. Though he was a protégé of EPMD's Erick Sermon who had signed to venerable Southern labels Suave House and Slip-N-Slide, his story was largely unknown. His debut, Port of Miami, didn't fill in...

More Articles by Ben Westhoff »