South Beach Clubs Closing for Urban Beach Week

South Beach is ’bout to be mobbed. It’s almost Memorial Day weekend in the 305 (otherwise known as Urban Beach Week), the annual four-day span during which the beach (as well as mainland Miami) gets swarmed by famous rappers, celebrity strippers, and 250,000 party people from all over the Dirty…

Ten Best Miami Rap Anthems Ever

Everyone loves Miami. Our food, our people, our beaches. But we here at Crossfade would argue that it’s our music that puts us above the competition. We’ve never tried to steal anyone else’s sound. We keep it 100 with grooves and style of our own. We are leaders in the…

Justin Bieber Taking Teen Model to Miami Senior High School’s Prom?

We could hardly belieb our eyes. Could it be true? Has the world’s most popular singer-dancer-badboy been approved to attend the prom festivities at Miami Senior High School? Is some lucky girl (and teen model) from Little Havana named Yovanna Ventura actually dating the Biebz? Are they so super-cereal that…

Churchill’s New Owners: An Open Letter

In the early ’80s, Pepsi had begun seriously encroaching on sales of Coca-Cola, even outselling the latter in supermarkets. In an effort to rejuvenate sales, Coke outright replaced its formula with what would be known as “New Coke” — an “improved” version of the formula that would replace the original…

Afrobeta Moving to Los Angeles, “Only for Summer,” to Seek New Management

“Nooooooo! We party! We party! We party!” Those shrieks are just the desperate pleadings of Miami music fans collectively panicking at the news that Afrobeta’s Cuci Amador and Tony Smurphio might be splitting, like so many promising 305ers, for friendlier (and possibly more profitable) West Coast climes. Don’t worry, though…

Wynwood’s The Social Lubricant Lounge for Sale: $2.3 Million

The Lube’s for sale. Smoothing late-night interaction for just over a year at 167 NW 23rd Street, Wynwood’s The Social Lubricant Lounge is already being peddled to entrepreneurial bidders looking to slip into the ‘Wood hood. But for anybody wanting to purchase this particular location in “the most exciting and…

Miami’s Ten Best Ska Bands of All Time

The Sunshine State was a breeding ground for some pretty cool ska acts in the ’90s. You would almost think the state invented the genre. Maybe it is our proximity to the Caribbean and a large presence of Jamaicans that made the feat possible. Who knows? The reggaefied punk trend…

Miami’s 20 Best Punk Bands of All Time

The 305 did not invent punk rock, nor was it instrumental in the development of its subculture. As a matter of fact, South Florida was plagued by so-called “album-oriented rock” clubs, insufferable cover bands with Eagles aspirations, and misguided disco heads who were ignoring the better stuff put out by…

Churchill’s New Owners Abandoning Plans for 21-and-Over Policy

Rejoice, kids. Just days after the new owners of Churchill’s Pub announced a 21-and-over policy, they’ve already abandoned those plans. Yesterday, following the pub’s weekly staff get-together, an announcement of the reversal was made on Churchill’s official Facebook page. “After a meeting today with the new owners, the age policy…

Churchill’s Pub Becoming a Strictly 21-and-Over Club Under New Ownership

Sorry, kids. Local punk landmark Churchill’s Pub, a longtime haven for 18-and-up shows, will no longer be letting anybody except drinking-age adults through the door. It’s been only three weeks since founder and owner Dave Daniels completed the pub’s sale. And many Miami promoters, scene figures, and band members are…

House, Wynwood’s First Megaclub, Opens May 16

In December 2011, Crossfade first wrote about the impending arrival of House, a nightclub concept from Living Room veteran Mark Lowe. Months and eventually years went by with no word on the fate of House. We’ll admit, we just thought it was going to join Miami’s long history of never-materialized…

Marino Maali on Being a Deaf Rapper

Marino Maali lounges in the backyard of his friend’s house. His arms are covered with tattoos of Psalm 23, a coy fish, the name of his hometown, Windsor Castle, and the footprints of his son. His non-stop smile bridges the space between his ears. Behind his left ear, a hearing…