Dallas Hip-Hop Producer Sikwitit Teams Up With Airbit

Dallas-based hip-hop producer Sikwitit has hit his stride over the last five years. He’s won numerous beat battle tournaments, produced the lion’s share of Bobby Sessions’ RVLTN (Chapter 1) and crafted tracks for Snow Tha Product, Dave East and 21 Savage, to name a few. It’s arguable his most impressive achievement…

Good Records Is Leaving Lower Greenville

Last week, there was vagueness circulating via social media surrounding future in-stores at Good Records. Jeff Tweedy’s performance on Saturday would be one of the last “Live from the Astroturf” events, which seemed a little odd to hear at first. But now it makes a lot of sense, because we…

In Bed With Mike Brooks

Concert photographer Mike Brooks has come to be regarded as a Dallas institution. Known for his wide-angled, dynamic and dramatic visual storytelling, when he shows up to an event, its stock rises. Every night after shooting, he drives for over an hour to get to his house in the country…

Exclusive: Lorelei K and Paul Slavens Team Up for Three-Track EP

This weekend will see the debut live performance in Dallas and the release of a three-track improvised-experimental EP collaboration between Denton-based Dahlia Knowles and Paul Slavens as Lorelei K x Kill the World. The Lorelei K x Kill the World EP marks the first recorded collaboration between Knowles, an up-and-coming…

Dallas Observer Mixtape with Jeremy Word

Jeremy Word has been a trailblazer among Dallas dance music promoters. He’s been a behind-the-scenes player responsible for countless electronic acts coming through Dallas and the infamous Meltdown Festival, which was the city’s premier electronic music festival for most of the ’00s. On top of all that, he remained a…

Erykah Badu Tells a Chicago Audience She’s Praying for R. Kelly

While performing at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on Saturday night, Dallas R&B and neo-soul legend Erykah Badu made some controversial remarks regarding the widespread allegations of sexual assault against R. Kelly. “I don’t know how everybody else feel about it, but I’m putting up a prayer right now for…

Helium Queens Is the Band From the Future Dallas Needs

Poppy Xander had $100 in her bank account when she quit her job as a music teacher. Armed with a dream and all the neon she could find from her neighborhood Michael’s, Xander, a pianist, locked herself in her closet and made her first transmission from the moon. “It was a…

Is One of These Dallas Kids the Next Big Superstar?

Linda Septien knows a thing or two about talent. As the founder of Septien Entertainment Group, Septien has coached and developed Texas superstars Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and many more. She’s earned her title as the Kingpin of Pop Talent, yet she shows no signs of slowing down. SEG boasts a loaded…

Dallas Observer Mixtape: The Year in Dallas Dance Music 2018

Dance music has always had a contentious relationship with mainstream Dallas culture. Going out in the city’s nightlife hot spots like Deep Ellum and Uptown, you might think this is the land of trap, top 40 and hip-hop with not much room for anything else. But underneath the surface, local…