Evolution Revolution

Michelangelo Chavarro stood before 100,000 Colombians in Bogota at the Hip Hop Al Parque Festival. The crowd roared as he spit his verse to the song he collaborated on with Cariñito, one of the country’s biggest independent rappers. “It was the highlight of my career so far,” he says. “I’ve been working in Miami for years, and to go to another country and get that kind of recognition is a blessing.” In Miami, he and his live hip-hop band, the Cornerstoners, call themselves “the underground of the underground,” but with their inaugural edition of the Fishoutawata Music Festival, he says, “it’s like we grew legs and walked out of the pond.” With music by Telekinetic Walrus, Pages & the Out of Hand Band, Urban Rebel, Skinny Hendrix, Nag Champayons, LMS, and more, the festival aims to promote Miami’s energetic community of electronic and hip-hop fusion performers and their various pro social activities. “I grew up in a bad neighborhood doing dumb shit,” remembers Chavarro, “but my first open mic changed my life. So we’re gonna have Stand Up for Kids and Urban Youth Greenfarmers there with us alongside the Universal Zulu Nation, the Miami Film Life Center, Operation Helping Hands, and an electronics recycling bin.” His Colombian collaborator Cariñito will rock the mic too in his first U.S. performance ever. The fest happens at Tobacco Road (626 S. Miami Ave.) and is free from 3 to 7 p.m. and $10 after.
Sat., Aug. 24, 10 p.m., 2013