Kanye West

WITH the Grammy Awards less than a week away, Kanye West heads into the ceremony with the nation's music critics solidly behind him: His "Late Registration" album has topped the Village Voice's annual critics poll of the preceding year's best works. That makes back-to-back wins for the rapper: His "The College Dropout" came in No. 1 in last year's poll.

Kanye West might have plenty of sweet nothings he wants to whisper in Kim Kardashian's ear, but the name Beyonce isn't one of them. Since the two individually overexposed figures combined forces as a maybe-couple about two weeks ago, media outlets have run wild trying to flesh out everything from shopping sprees to romantic dinners to jaunts to Paris.  But one particular claim, that West was calling Kardashian "his Beyonce," according to...

IN a year in which so much money and attention have been spent on classic rock bands from the '60s and '70s, it felt awfully good during the opening night of Kanye West's U.S. tour here Tuesday to be listening to great music from this century. One thing, of course, that makes West's hip-hop music so rewarding is that the rapper draws freely from '60s and '70s values, especially those from R&B.

A small New York web development company pulled a fast one on the Internet this week when it pretended to launch a website associated with Kanye West's yet-to-be-unveiled startup. And as the famous West/Jay-Z song says, it got the people going. WhoDat.biz lit up Twitter on Wednesday and was reported by a couple of credible news sites, including the Washington Post . "Quick! Invest in @kanyewest's Donda Media. They just reinvented technology that has been around since the 80's," said one Twitter user, who likely hadn't yet realized the site was a hoax.

Of all the stories Donda West read to her little son at bedtime, "Pinocchio" must have been a favorite. The tale of the puppet who longed to be human obviously resonates with Kanye West. On "Pinocchio Story," the bonus live track that turns out to be the key to his audaciously introspective fourth album, he freestyles about the character, repeatedly singing, "I want to be a real boy." "808s and Heartbreak," out today on Roc-A-Fella Records and streaming on MySpace, is a meditation on realness as it's been defined by materialism and machismo in the hip-hop world and by love and sorrow in the larger one. Wrought in hushed mechanical beats, computer-altered vocals and samples so subtle they're barely noticeable, it's West's foray into confessional music.

The mother of rap star Kanye West, who died earlier this month after undergoing routine plastic surgery, likely succumbed to a heart attack, pulmonary embolism or accidental overdose of drugs prescribed to her for pain after the procedure, her surgeon said in an interview Monday. In his most detailed public comments on the case, Dr. Jan Adams told The Times that nothing went wrong Nov. 9 when he performed a breast reduction, tummy tuck and liposuction on 58-year-old Donda West.

Kanye West might have plenty of sweet nothings he wants to whisper in Kim Kardashian's ear, but the name Beyonce isn't one of them. Since the two individually overexposed figures combined forces as a maybe-couple about two weeks ago, media outlets have run wild trying to flesh out everything from shopping sprees to romantic dinners to jaunts to Paris.  But one particular claim, that West was calling Kardashian "his Beyonce," according to...

Six months after the mother of Kanye West died following liposuction and breast implant surgery, the reverberations of the tragedy continue to be felt. Now lawmakers and physicians are urging greater protections for patients undergoing cosmetic surgery. Across the country, such surgeries are increasingly done outside hospital settings in outpatient clinics, where a doctor can avoid the rigorous review that, say, a heart surgeon would face at a traditional hospital.

Kanye West earns a living as a rap impresario and moonlights in fashion with women's apparel and sneaker design collaborations. But there's a new bullet point on his résumé: celebrity DJ. On New Year's Eve in Las Vegas, West climbed into the booth to spin the grand opening of 1 OAK — the Mirage hotel and casino edition of New York City's exclusive haunt from Scott Sartiano and Richie Akiva. Under the name "Yeezyworldpeace," West played hits of his own (natch) like "Gold Digger," "Good Life" and the ubiquitous duet "… in Paris" with Jay-Z.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Monday. Kanye West gets booed after telling a festival crowd in England that people look at him as if he's Hitler. ( Denver Post ) Meanwhile, Jay-Z and West's joint album "Watch the Throne" is out. ( Los Angeles Times ) "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" had a huge box-office weekend. ( Los Angeles Times ) Robert Pattinson, Taylor Swift and a particularly loopy Ashton Kutcher picked up Teen Choice Awards on Sunday night.

It's been close to 10 years since Chicago soul/funk legend Syl Johnson played L.A. on or off camera. "I did 'Soul Train' and 'American Bandstand' out there," said the singer and guitarist, whose 1967 hit, "Different Strokes" (with its signature grunts and laughs), was a calling card of sorts for Johnson. "I used to love L.A. " After slipping into near obscurity in the 1980s, though, the seventysomething Johnson (who prefers not to give his age) came to L.A. only on rare occasions, usually to play the less-flashy blues circuit.

Kanye West earns a living as a rap impresario and moonlights in fashion with women's apparel and sneaker design collaborations. But there's a new bullet point on his résumé: celebrity DJ. On New Year's Eve in Las Vegas, West climbed into the booth to spin the grand opening of 1 OAK — the Mirage hotel and casino edition of New York City's exclusive haunt from Scott Sartiano and Richie Akiva. Under the name "Yeezyworldpeace," West played hits of his own (natch) like "Gold Digger," "Good Life" and the ubiquitous duet "… in Paris" with Jay-Z.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday. Kanye West took to Twitter for hours last night to tell people about his future in design. His company Donda will "pick up where Steve Jobs left off. " ( MSNBC ) The chief executive of the SAG Producers Pension and Health Plans has stepped down while a federal investigation of the organization's financial activities continues. ( Los Angeles Times ) The Village Voice's longtime film critic J. Hoberman has been let go. ( Los Angeles Times )

The following are the Top 10 North American concert tours of 2011. Figures expressed in millions. U2 $156.0 Taylor Swift $97.7 Kenny Chesney $84.6 Lady Gaga $63.7 Bon Jovi $57.1 Elton John $51.8 Sade $48.6 Kanye West / Jay-Z $48.3 Lil Wayne $44.4 Celine Dion $41.2 Source: Pollstar

DJ BLOWOUT DJ Spinna and J.Rocc Echoplex, 1154 Glendale Blvd. Fri., 9 p.m.-2:30 a.m., $11-$15 attheecho.com XMAS SHOW 6th Aimee Mann Xmas Wiltern, 3790 Wilshire Blvd. Sat., 8 p.m., $33.50-$62.50 livenation.com HOLIDAY MARKET Wirtshaus Restaurant 345 N. La Brea Ave. Sun., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. wirtshausLA.com WATCH THE THRONE Jay-Z, Kanye West Staples, 1111 S. Figueroa St. Sun.-Tues., $109.50-$250 staplescenter.com PETS AND BOOZE Wine and Whiskers benefit 55 Degree Wine, 3111 Glendale Blvd.

The long-gestating project from Jay-Z and Kanye West, "Watch the Throne" combines the strengths of two of the most acclaimed rappers of the last two decades, who have worked together often but never on a collaborative full-length album. It couples them with some of today's most respected producers, including RZA, DJ Premier, the Neptunes, the Jugganauts, Swizz Beats and Q-Tip. The result is a cocksure, fiery and smart, if problematic, collaboration that showcases the pair's distinct lyrical skills, their way around a metaphor and an ability to execute a grand narrative and the details that turn it into truth.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday. Katy Perry and Adele lead MTV's 2011 Video Music Awards nominations. And perhaps Kanye West has been forgiven for that little snafu with Taylor Swift at the 2009 show, as he's leading the male nominees with seven nods from the network. ( The Envelope ) The official trailer of "The Amazing Spider-Man" starring a brooding Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone has hit the Web just a day after it unofficially leaked online. ( Washington Post )

Call it another case of being too fast on the Twitter. The perils of dashing off observations on the micro-blogging site were brought into sharp relief Monday when several overeager ABC News employees -- including "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran -- rushed to tweet that President Obama had called Kanye West a "jackass" for interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. The problem: Obama made the comment during off-the-record chatter as he prepared to do an interview with John Harwood, CNBC's chief Washington correspondent.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday. Kanye West and Adele lead the pack for Grammy nominations. ( Los Angeles Times ) "The Book of Mormon" picked up a Grammy nod for musical theater cast album, but the question on most minds is if a movie will be next. ( Los Angeles Times ) The Golden Globes trial is set to begin Jan. 24. Who will control TV rights to the awards? ( THR ) Harry Potter is coming to Universal Studios Hollywood. But where exactly is the ride going to sit?

A list of upcoming concerts across the Southland, with on-sale dates in parentheses. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Roger Waters, May 19 (Fri.) Staples Center Jay-Z and Kanye West, Dec. 11 (Fri.) The Forum Guns N' Roses, Dec. 21 (Mon.) Gibson Amphitheatre KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas with Blink-182, Dec. 10 (Wed.); Big Time Rush, Feb. 18 (Sat.) Honda Center Rammstein, May 17 (Sat.) The Satellite Just an Animal, Nov. 22; New York Night Train Soul Clap and Dance Off, Dec. 6; Lost Lander, Dec. 8 (now)