It’s not every day that a band makes it out of South Florida. This is for many reasons other than the obvious: It takes a good ten hours just to drive out of the state. Two months after May 21, when the Heatseekers won the Miami regional competition for Little…
The artists collectively known as the Native Tongues are noted in history as the primary purveyors of “conscious rap” during the Nineties, but New Jersey’s Brand Nubian was also on the frontlines. Brand Nubian, however, despite its ability to make people think as well as move, wasn’t as well received…
After brushing off The Pretty Toney Album, his big huff Def Jam debut that moved an underwhelming 60,000 units in first-week sales last April, Ghostface Killah took a cue from fellow Clansters RZA and Masta Killa and crept out into the indie brush to introduce his second-generation posse Theodore Unit…
The Young Jazz Giants is proof positive that community outreach programs do, in fact, pay funky dividends. Mentored by the legendary jazz drummer Billy Higgins at the World Stage in South Central L.A., the band has released its first effort, a delicate platter of mid-Sixties-style jazz tempered by hip-hop energy…
Martina Topley-Bird is the female vocalist who was the focal point of Tricky’s groundbreaking first three albums. Back then, the two switched traditional roles, with Topley-Bird playing the male to Tricky’s female side with sexy naughtiness. Five years after the duo’s split and four years in the making, Topley-Bird released…
“I use speech to bust rhymes through a concrete wall,” raps Boston MC/producer Insight on “Evolve,” the first single from The Blast Radius. Insight’s music is meant to hit like shrapnel, dousing the ears in horn stabs, rumbling bass, and careening effects. It bears a remarkable similarity to DJ Premier’s…
It’s not every day you can listen to more than twenty live bands and DJs, watch visual artists at work, drink beer, and register to vote, all in the same place. This weekend, Rock vs. Art III, a two-day music, art, and political activism event, comes to Churchill’s Pub in…
There was a time when Coconut Grove was my hangout of choice. Back then, I worshipped Kurt Cobain, wore ripped corduroys, and shoplifted at every opportunity. I’d get dropped off in front of CocoWalk by my mom. The only parts of my anatomy that I used for sexual encounters were…
With a few exceptions (Arrested Development, anyone?), politically aware lyrical activists usually aren’t peace and loving hippies, but fire and brimstone warriors who advocate a violent overthrow of the system, despite the human cost. Seth P. Brundel, best known as one-half of the group Algorithm, is no different; his debut…
Ludwig Clarke, a.k.a. Luddy, is a local DJ/singer who laces his dancehall and reggae jams with stream-of-consciousness-style raps about revelry, chicks, and hardships. His new single, “Home Tonight,” features acclaimed producer Timbaland and is supported by a swanky video, courtesy of Luddy’s label Dangazone Records. The track is currently in…
With a concert festival named Projekt Revolution, there is an implied guarantee that madness will ensue at said event. Why? Only the truly mad would switch out the letter c for the letter k in the word “Project.” Consider this the illegitimate child conceived when Lollapalooza, Warped, and Ozzfest had…
Since it was first held as a tribute to Albert “Uncle Al” Moss, the influential DJ, producer, and mainstay of the Miami hip-hop scene before his tragic murder in 2001, the Peace in the Hood Festival has become an annual tradition, an all-too-necessary celebration of the power of music in…
The latest riddim from South Rakkas Crew, one of Miami’s premier production outfits, is an infectious, whistle-blowing, booty-shaking romp called Red Alert, and it’s already one of 2004’s most popular dancehall beats, thanks to Capleton’s blazing single “Real Hot.” But no matter how appealing a particular riddim may be, there…
The door to Our Place Lounge & Liquors swung open just as I was about to enter. Out came former Miami Heat player and current assistant coach Keith Askins. “Keith! Wassup buddy? We’re gonna house it up with Shaq. Are you going to suit up for practice?” I shouted. Askins…
Among South Beach’s heavyweight, brand-name hip-hop jocks, Tom Laroc is probably the most underrated. His cutting skills are as nimble as LS One’s, and, like DJ Khaled, he brings a formidable collection of white labels to each set. At least celebrities recognize: Laroc is known for spinning at private and…
Danny Dominguez loves to talk. As we have drinks at the Tides Hotel, the man behind Counterflow Recordings is chatting freely about his latest project, Plant Life. Since the L.A.-based group released its debut twelve-inch single “The Last Song,” it has created a huge buzz in Europe and begun to…
Bebel Gilberto bursts through the door of her suite at the Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort on Sunny Isles Beach. For a moment, her petite frame commands a larger-than-life presence, then recedes into the foyer like a wave gliding back to sea, welcoming a visitor who lightly tapped on the…
Robert Smith shuffled to the distant left of the stage at the Sound Advice Amphitheatre, pulling at a cuff on his long-sleeved black shirt and widening his egg-white eyes at the well-mannered West Palm Beach audience. For virgins to the Cure’s live spectacle, the 44-year-old Smith’s perfected miming of euphoric…
Every Thursday night, the Factory, that bastion of all things spandex and neon, hosts a Rock en Español showcase. Not quite sure what the revolución is all about? Take some metal, punk, or good ol’ rock and roll, then add some Latin flavors such as salsa, merengue, and rumba. Mix…
Those who know Colombian band Aterciopelados will understand that singer Andrea Echeverri’s solo project is also part of their evolution. The ten-year-old pop-rock band that emerged in the mid-Nineties as one of MTV Latin America’s favorite acts with pan-regional appeal is now on hiatus, and most of the members’ energy…
Is the real hip-hop over here? The combination of the legendary KRS-One, the chameleonic rap musician Cex, and staunch indie-rockers Make Believe would seem to make for an irreverent night of fireworks and awkward glances. Alas, one of the greatest rappers of all time will be appearing at an early…
Every summer, a handful of events emerges to capture the (fleeting) hearts of downtown hipsters and Kendall kids. Last year it was Vice and P.E.; this year it looks like Ladyballs may be the queen of the prom. A self-described “chick’s night” for women of all orientations and their male…
