"You smart. You loyal. Matter fact, you a genius." Those words, immortalized forever in the music video for DJ Khaled's "Hold You Down," helped propel the former 99 Jamz DJ to far greater heights of cultural relevancy than anyone could have predicted. It's easy to imagine that video's director when he ordered the whole production team off the set so he could get the shot without anyone laughing. Gil Green knows how to handle Khaled and make him look his meme-worthy best. Green has been working with the affable producer since 2007's "We Takin' Over." But Green's resumé goes much deeper than working with America's favorite cocoa butter enthusiast. He's also the man behind many of Miami's most iconic music clips, from Rick Ross' "Aston Martin Music" to Ace Hood's "Bugatti." He's proudest of his videos with a message, in particular Lupe Fiasco's "Bitch Bad," but he sure knows how to film a party scene. Just check Lil Jon's "What You Gon Do." Green won an MTV Award for Lil Wayne's "Lollipop," and he most recently killed it with the colorful, super-'80s, super-Miami images for Pitbull's "F.U.N.," featuring Chris Brown. You might have also seen his work at the American Airlines Arena, because he's the official director of all of those Miami Heat intro and promo clips. It suffices to say that Green keeps this city at the heart of everything he does, and the way he makes our city shine onscreen has us all feeling like we just listened to a Khaled inspirational speech on repeat.

Karaoke is like a sex joke dropped in a stuffy business meeting — it'll either be a raging, knee-slapping riot or a horrible, cringe-worthy embarrassment. For 12 years running, Seven Seas Bar has hosted a karaoke night that consistently hits the highs and avoids the awkward lows. Host Bernie holds the scene together three days a week, offering thousands of jams ranging from all genres and styles for silly crooners to attempt — for better or worse. The nautical-themed bar provides a laid-back atmosphere devoid of pretentiousness, a place where everyone is welcome and no judgments are cast. The drinks flow cold and crisp, ready to lower your inhibitions and loosen up those belting muscles. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, the mike is open from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., and while Saturday is usually the busiest and Tuesday is often more of a locals affair, Bernie says every week is different. A karaoke night doesn't thrive in Miami for 12 years without bringing something special to the table.

Readers' choice: Ball & Chain

In Miami, one of the most important parts of your night out is usually in the hands of someone else: the DJ. Sometimes, this can be good. But sometimes, you're forced to listen to Pitbull and the Black Eyed Peas until your ears shrivel up like raisins. This is not good. But there are still a few joints in Miami that adhere to a more democratic approach, musically speaking. We're talking about the jukebox. Our forefathers would have been proud. It's the most American way to compose a soundtrack, because everyone gets a say (assuming they have some extra cash — just like in the real democratic system). Any chump who can scrounge up a few quarters can subject the entire bar to any musical adventure, from Journey to Rick Ross. And few places do this better than Lost Weekend. While live music thrives next door at Kill Your Idol, Lost Weekend — a comfortable haven of flat-screen TV sets, pool tables, and foosball — offers its patrons a chance to control their own sonic fate at jukeboxes stocked with plenty of classics, '90s rock, hip-hop, and anything else you'd want to jam to while sinking an eight ball. Other venues in South Beach need to take note. Can you imagine if LIV let its customers pick each song? If nothing else, it'd be more entertaining than watching Calvin Harris pick his nose for 45 minutes.

With seven distinct areas sprawled across two floors, Twist feels like the world's largest gay board game. Roll the dice, and advance three spaces to the patio bar to get yourself a nice, strong vodka cran (at an affordable, for South Beach anyway, price). Roll again, get a one, and move up to the pop-diva-themed bar upstairs (you know, the one with framed pictures of Beyoncé, Britney, and Madonna). Whoops, you ran into the guy you went on a date with a few weeks ago but never texted back. You get sent back to the Latin bar downstairs. Refill on a margarita, and let the dice-roll lead you up to the main upstairs dance floor. Take your chance flirting with the guy in the gray tank top, only to get rejected and find yourself back downstairs in the gogo-boy room. Stuff a couple of dollar bills in some muscular Colombian's tiny briefs to revive your confidence stats. Roll again, and find yourself in the front bar near the doorway. Congratulations, you've won! Here's your prize. His name is Cameron. He's dreamy and everything you've ever wanted, but unfortunately he's visiting from Chicago for a medical supplier convention. Oh, well, that's just how board games go. Even when you win, you end up rolling your dice again at next week's game. Playing is half the fun anyway.

Readers' choice: Twist

When you first watch John Waters' cult classic Pink Flamingos, you're bombarded with so much gross goodness that you're left wondering why exactly Divine ate that dog shit but also loving him intensely for doing it. It's easy to conclude that maybe you just had to be there in that unique time and place to really get it. But then you see the fantastically trashy Miami drag duo Juleisy y Karla in person, and you realize this is that time and that place again, the perfect moment to shock with raw humanity and wildness. You see that the beauty in the truly raunchy is again revealed and updated for a new generation. Every second Monday of the month, Juleisy, also known as Gio Profera, hosts a particularly notable gay party with cohost Pin Tits at Basement Miami at the Miami Beach Edition. Called Gio's Total Split Show, the bash gathers the gays to vogue and party to musical acts such as Otto Von Schirach at the bowling lanes at this downstairs club. The anything-goes attitude is what makes this party and its hosts so special. And the fact that it keeps Miami Beach gay and weird amid ever-slicker commercialization warms the heart of any nostalgic old queen. But the crowd is hot, mixed, young, and old. Whatever your bag, you're guaranteed to be delightfully horrified and refreshed by the end of a long, sweaty, colorful night.

"This is my favorite weekly gay party, and it's not just because I'm at the door," says Miami Beach gay-scene veteran Tommy Strangie, better known to the LGBTQ scene and its allies as the brash and ballsy drag broad Shelley Novak. Every year, she hands out Shelleys, her version of the Oscars, for outstanding gay figures, venues, parties, and pals. If anyone knows SoBe's gay scene, it's her. So we'll let Novak tell you why the Lab at Score is the place to be. "I get to see all my friends and fellow drag queens," she says. "No matter what is going on or what other party is happening, you always end up at the Lab at Score. Score the nightclub has been around forever, and this night always has a great crowd thanks to Athena Dion and a cast of hungry drag queens who will do anything for fame, a great DJ Rob Sky, hot male strippers who have not yet learned English so they only feel semi-exploited, and cheap drinks served by smoking-hot bartenders whom I refuse to let wear shirts. Basically, everyone knows everybody. It's like a private club for the cool kids that lets in a few tourists now and then so we can bang them!" Doors open at 10 p.m. and stay open until 5 a.m. Cocktails are complimentary from 11:30 p.m. to midnight. Check the website for specials, and if you're a Florida resident, there's no cover.

Few things have been as enduringly cool as the game we call pool — or, if you're fancy, billiards. How cool is pool? Pool is so cool that, if you're really good at it, people call you a shark. And sharks are cool because they have a whole lot of teeth and are able to kill anything they want, including Samuel L. Jackson in the movie Deep Blue Sea. Pool is so cool that whenever a movie reaches a point where it needs to make its main character appear awesome, it either (1) shows that main character winning easily at a game of pool or (2) shows that main character snapping a pool cue over his or her knee and beating up an entire bar in a karate brawl. Luckily, the latter scene won't play out at Peg's Pocket, a beloved neighborhood joint where there are some seriously good deals for those looking to hit the felt. Monday through Friday, you can pay $8.50 for unlimited playing time from noon to 8 p.m. Or you can pay $6.50 per hour and enjoy free draft beers all day and night Tuesday and Thursday. But can you really put a price on being cool? You can't. Unless you're selling air conditioners.

Readers' choice: Lost Weekend

Like a stellar musical score, architect Frank Gehry's masterful New World Center is full of hidden strokes of genius that aren't evident upon first glance. Sure, right off the bat you'll notice the soaring glass atrium and the striking blank wall where hi-def projections of concerts draw huge outdoor crowds. But it takes a connoisseur's eye to spot a more subtle touch of Gehry's design beauty. Ascend in an elevator to the symphony's rooftop and you'll find jaw-dropping, 360-degree views of South Beach. Just to the east, the art deco spires of the Delano and National hotels pierce the sparkling-blue Atlantic horizon; to the west, sailboats dot Biscayne Bay with a Miami skyline backdrop. And you don't have to stand on unfinished tar shingles while you gaze — New World Symphony's top deck is graced with a stunning garden designed by Raymond Jungles.

Sure, there's the thumping nightlife and gleaming beaches, but a big draw of Miami Beach will always be its history. And among celebrities who've made Miami Beach their playground over the past 100 years, there are few cooler than Ol' Blue Eyes. And among Frank Sinatra's favored beach haunts was the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. He could often be found singing at the hotel's La Ronde nightclub or shooting films in the lobby — home to other iconic silver-screen moments such as James Bond's Goldfinger. Fair enough, these days you can't find eye candy on par with the leader of the Rat Pack or even '60s-era Sean Connery, but grab a seat at the Bleau Bar — the tricked out, glowing blue hot spot in that famed lobby — and you're still guaranteed to witness some entertaining and sexy Miami Beach gentry. Grab a stiff cocktail (because you can probably afford only one in this spot) and a seat in the open space and you'll feel like you've crashed an haute-trend commercial. During the day, the pretty people arrive to sip tea, while at night they crowd in and wait for the clubs to open. Stay long enough and you may just end up spotting your very own Sultan of Swoon.

Readers' choice:

It began, as all good things in Miami do, with a pissed-off, naked porn star jumping atop a white Porsche after a domestic spat. Law student and wannabe energy drink mogul Mario Melton couldn't have known it, but that angry, nude model was about to tip off police to one of South Florida's largest molly rings. Melton, the son of lobbyist and former Miami Herald reporter Eston "Dusty" Melton, had been using his family's shipping business to help import at least 40 kilos of the synthetic drug from China. Arrested along with a dozen others, he was the only one to reject plea offers, opting to take his chances at trial. It almost worked — jurors in Melton's first trial were deadlocked, causing a mistrial. But Melton was convicted of conspiring to import the drug at a second federal trial this past March, during which lawyers from both sides squabbled over the meaning of a crucially timed poop emoji sent to Melton from a codefendant, which prosecutors said meant the two knew the jig was up. Thought to be a flight risk, Melton will be held in custody until his May sentencing, where he faces more than ten years in federal prison.