DJ Laz Returns to Miami Radio on Hits 97.3

The Pimp With the Limp is back. It’s been a rough few years for booty bass pioneer and radio host DJ Laz. In 2012, the Miami legend suddenly and shockingly split with Power 96, ending a 22-year tenure. At the time, he planned “to take the boat out for a…

Miami’s Top Ten Jazz Musicians

We’ve been having some fun lately with these “Best of All Time” lists. But today, we will refrain from saying these jazz musicians were/are the best of all time. No, they are jazz musicians of note who made Miami their home. A best-of-all-time list would be way too long, and…

Down by the Bay Festival Isn’t Real

OMG, you guys! Someone posted this flier to Facebook, and it looks like the Chemical Brothers, Pheonix, Justice, A Tribe Called Quest, OFWKGTA, and about 70 other headliners are coming to Bayfront Park for some incredible new two-day festival called Down by the Bay during Art Basel. The lineup is…

RIP Henry Stone, King of Independent Records, Dead at 93

Henry Stone, king of the record business, passed away peacefully August 7, 2014, in Miami. Throughout almost 80 years of wildly prolific musical activity, the 93-year-old had a hand in every aspect of the music business and was a true pioneer of independent manufacturing, promotion, and distribution. In the 1970s,…

Miami’s Baez Kicks Off Crossfade’s New DJ Podcast Series

We here at Crossfade are proud to introduce our new DJ podcast series today. Each month, we will be showcasing exclusive new mixes by those who call the 305 home — from local nightclub residents to up-and-coming talent. The first installment in our series comes courtesy of Miami clubland mainstay…

Help Keep Blowfly From Going Homeless!

Click here for Blowfly’s Indiegogo campaign page. Clarence Reid and his alter ego Blowfly have released hundreds of songs and albums since starting a recording and songwriting career in Miami in the early ’60s. From straight ahead pop hits like Betty Wright’s “Cleanup Woman,” to groundbreaking classics like “Rapp Dirty,”…

Basside Rapper Opens Bikram Yoga Studio in South Miami

They say music tames the savage beast, but in this concrete jungle, it takes more than a little mood music to unwind. Carolina Villalba, 25, is attacking the nerves of the Miami scene at both ends. Not only does she inspire crowds to let loose as one half of booty…

Pretty Tony on Freestyle Music: “I Came Up With a Whole Genre”

“Pretty” Tony Butler’s Music Specialists Inc. may be Florida’s first black-owned, million-record-selling independent record label. With Butler’s confidence in his ear for hits, he launched a studio in the heart of Liberty City and took on the recording industry. At its peak, the company owned its own pressing plant and…

Suenalo Says Miami Is “on the Forefront of New Music”

Miami is a melting pot of cultures, and there’s no band that represents the various background of the 305 better than Suenalo. 

 After four years without releasing an album, Suenalo dropped Keep It Groovin’, their fourth, in February of this year. 

Now, the band is busy promoting it with…

King of Diamonds Sold to New York Investors

King of Diamonds has sorta become hallowed ground for anybody in the hip-hop game. Just about every major rapper, from Drake to Lil Wayne to Rick Ross, have dropped verses about the highly successful strip club catering to a predominantly African-American clientele. Floyd “Money” Mayweather practically has a second home…

Curren$y – Grand Central, Miami – August 3

Better Than: Getting caught in the rain while out and about on a Sunday night. Even though Grand Central recently announced that the Miami venue would no longer allow smoking inside, last night the room was filled with a peculiar kind of smoke. 
It didn’t smell like cigarettes, but it…

Miami Bass: An Abbreviated History, According to Joe Stone

Bass parties were invented when people started stretching animal skins, beating them with sticks, and dancing around the fire back in the Flintstones days. In Miami during the 1980s, that beat became electronic and it was called bass music. The style has spawned global phenomenons, like Gucci Crew’s Cabbage Patch…