Vinyl is mothafunkin’ back, baby! And soon, the Miami sounds of soul, funk, and disco, as globalized by the late great Henry Stone, will be coming to a store near you. Joe Stone has just inked a deal with U.K.-based Above Board Distribution to manufacture and distribute the entire TK…
Sweat Records was founded in 2005 by Lauren “Lolo” Reskin, along with Sara Yousuf, who had been a DJ on the University of Miami’s WVUM. They set up shop on NE Second Avenue near 24th Street. This was back when crack was still a hotter product on the streets of…
Rene Lecour and Amigo Skate Cuba have sent over 1,000 skateboard wheels rolling through Havana, and now they’re going back to donate more. Born five years ago when Kaya Lecour convinced his dad to take a skate trip to Cuba, Amigo Skate and its crew’s mission has grown into a…
The men of Napalm Death are never too busy decrying human slavery to take a Caribbean vacation. But as soon as the 7000 Tons of Metal music cruise returns to shore, they will march, sunburned and rested, from the Port of Miami to downtown’s Grand Central, where they will rip…
True hip-hop will never die. But if the people want to rescue real rap music, they’re gonna have to fight. That’s what Miramar producer Hazardis Soundz is doing with his latest mixtape, Save the Culture, which is a battle cry of lethal verses, head-cracking beats, and OG rappers from the…
Torche is a kickass rock band. These guys riff, shred, and open portals of feedback into annihilating dimensions of brutality. But they do so while maintaining a welcoming, accessible tone that’s drawn legions of fans and won over critics, all around the world. Their new album, Restarter, is slated to…
When King Sporty died, Rihanna cried. The man who wrote “Buffalo Soldier” with Bob Marley in a smoke-filled studio in Hialeah flew to the other side on Monday, January 5 in a Miami hospital at the age of 71. With roots in Jamaica’s Trenchtown music scene that wholly informed hip-hop,…
Darren “DJ Spin” Rudnick produced “Scarred,” “It’s Your Birthday,” and “Raise the Roof.” And he was just 12 years old when he first saw 2 Live Crew in concert at the Miami Baseball Stadium. He’d known the group’s music since age 11, when a buddy from school showed him the…
Ever since I got arrested for stealing monster trucks in ’98, I’ve been locked up inside these four prison walls, dreaming of Grave Digger. See, Daddy was a racecar driver, and Mama was a checkered-flag girl. I grew up in pit stops at illegal mud races all over the South…
There once was an old man named Jiggalo, who regularly spent his days at the Rollexx strip club in North Miami. He used to tell anybody listening that he had 99 problems but a bitch wasn’t one. Well, most of the patrons took his saying for granted, but a young…
The streets of Wynwood are one of the 7 great wonders of the art world. With over 1,000 new pieces spray painted each year, it has quickly become one of the most densely muralized neighborhoods in the world. And while life goes on in the urban core, these paintings bear…
Miami’s DJ EFN, Garcia, and the Crazy Hood Film Academy are blazing a trail of hip-hop statesmanship across the world. Their first film, Coming Home: Cuba, won awards at several film festivals and locked in a TV deal with Diddy’s broadcast network, Revolt. Now the guys are prepping a new…
Brownsville rapper D-Mac has a message for all racist cops and his peers in music — and he put it in a music video called “The Code.” Using Black Panther imagery, sampling a Fred Hampton speech, and staging his scenes in the shadows of skyscrapers and on the front porch…
Dear New York, Shut up already. You’re a whiney bunch of nameless, aimless, gameless hacks. You couldn’t beat a cardboard cutout in a boxing match. You couldn’t beat a bearded lady in a shaving contest. You couldn’t break a record if you dropped a crate of vinyl off the Empire…
Cleveland was twice voted by people who currently live there as the worst city in America. Clevelanders hate Cleveland so much that their every cheer, hoot, and holler inversely reflects tears they’ve shed over their own shattered dreams. Cleveland is so sad that the city mascot is a tissue box,…
Down in Florida City, Rasta Rick used to live in an air conditioned tree house, serve bricks of good outdoor ganja, and jam reggae tapes all day. Dade County is both a downtrodden Babylon, and a Rasta’s paradise. And many of the world’s greatest reggae artists, bands, and performers can…
Is this the end of the Cuban embargo, or just another imperialist conspiracy to infect the world with capitalism? The masses are fervently anticipating what Obama’s new deal with the Castro regime really means. So before you go popping bottles of Havana Club and lighting up Cohibas, stop and think…
Duke Ellington nicknamed Charles “China” Valles the “Maharaja,” a Sanskrit word denoting greatness and royalty. And from his throne behind the microphone and his place at the helm of the Sunshine Jazz Organization, he was indeed a mighty man in American jazz, soul, blues, and R&B. China was a preeminent…
Dear New York: Shut up already. You’re a whiny bunch of nameless, aimless, gameless hacks. You couldn’t beat a cardboard cutout in a boxing match. You couldn’t best a bearded lady in a shaving contest. You couldn’t break a record if you dropped a crate of vinyl off the Empire…
The last time the Miami Heat played the Washington Wizards, Miami lost 86-107 and I nearly went to the big sleep in concrete shoes at the bottom of Biscayne Bay. It began like any other day, with a hard-boiled egg, whiskey, and RC Cola. I lit a blunt roach and…
If you like songs about cocaine, marijuana, liquor stores, tropical diseases, and booty shaking, then Last Testament: Book of Guinnesses by Mr. Entertainment and the Pookiesmackers is the rock album for you. Making fun of life and politics since 1999, these South Florida miscreants are louder than ever, with a…
In the great traditions of DJ Uncle Al, Disco Dave, and Milton “Butterball” Smith, DJ Roliboy is a Miami street DJ known for dropping tremendo bass. He was posted at the Graffé Cafe in Wynwood during Art Basel Miami Beach throwing his “Rollin Balls 7.8: Booty Monster” mix straight onto…
