Miami's best albums, EPs, and, mixtapes of 2010

Dino Felipe: My Vomit Is a Crystal Ball (Triangle Earth)

Released a little over a month ago, Dino's latest album confirms there's more to the man than his gloriously depraved stage show. Live, Felipe is Miami's G.G. Allin. There's a sense he could injure a member of the crowd, or himself, at any moment. But this record is far removed from that onstage persona. Despite its awesome and aggressive title, the album isn't harsh or intimidating. The opening track, "Life Swap," is surprisingly somber, featuring vocals that seem as if they're floating in deep space alongside crisp Purple Rain-era Linn drums. It kind of sounds like Iggy Pop, Prince, and Joy Division fighting their way out of Space Mountain. Jose Flores

Is there ever a year when Weezy isn't Number One?

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• Lazaro Casanova
• Rick Ross
• Mentored Oscar
• Hip-Hop and Rap
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Lil Wayne: I Am Not a Human Being (Young Money/Cash Money)

In the weeks preceding his eight-month bid on Rikers Island, Lil Wayne zipped around in a total frenzy like a dreadlocked bat on speed. He shot a whole series of music videos. He popped up onstage with Jay-Z. And he recorded verses for records by Nicki Minaj, Jeezy, and Drake — not to mention for his own street slab, I Am Not a Human Being. Finally released on Weezy's b-day (AKA September 27) while he was still in lockdown, the album is the total opposite of his other (perhaps underrated) 2010 release, Rebirth — namely raw, dope shit that slips his fans a tiny taste of what they'll get when he finally drops Tha Carter IV. S. Pajot

Lazaro Casanova: Soul Food EP (petFood)

In the early '90s, Oscar G and Murk Records single-handedly put MIA on the house music-map with their sultry four-on-the-floor funk. With the Soul Food EP, a delectable slice of soulful, jacking house, Murk may have found its rightful heir: DJ-producer Lazaro Casanova and his label petFood. Mentored by Oscar G, Casanova made a notable leap in the maturity and songcraft of his productions earlier this year, graduating from the percussive minimalism of his earlier efforts to elaborate, song-oriented vocal forays. Get some Soul Food and keep listening to Lazaro in 2011. Sean Levisman