It seemed like 2019 was the year Miami acts finally came to the agreement they no longer had to follow the styles set by musical powerhouses such as New York and Los Angeles. It's a lesson that has taken everyone a long time to learn, because though South Florida has been routinely called a hot spot for the next big music trend, more often than not, things don't pan out that way — hell, even SoundCloud rap has begun to fizzle.
If Miami is to be a true music capital, it will have to carve out its own sound and style. Thankfully, 2019 showed a lot of promise. Here are 20 songs released by Miami acts in the past year that are unabashedly 305.
Ashiyushi, "Travels"
Try listening to this five-and-a-half-minute trip-hop track without bobbing your head once. It's impossible. "Travels” is the sonic equivalent of finding ants in your pants. The song is based on a subtle synth groove that will have you moving in a low-key way before you fully understand what's happening. Composed and performed by Ashiyushi, a West Kendall-based one-man band with a Nintendo-inspired aesthetic, the song is the spiritual descendant of Juan García Esquivel — retro, space-age bachelor-pad music for the 21st Century. — David RollandCity Girls, "Act Up"
Megan Thee Stallion may have declared it a “Hot Girl Summer,” but "Act Up" — Yung Miami and JT’s breakout hit from their debut album Girl Code — might have been the official summer anthem of 2019. From its flagrant recitable lyrics — co-written by Lil Yachty — to its up-tempo elements and banging bass, the track had a hypnotic effect that spread like wildfire, even prompting the viral #ActUpChallenge on social media. When the inevitable list of the best twerk songs of the 2010s drops, don't be surprised to find this song at the top. The track proves the City Girls' no-nonsense style is sprouting beyond their 305 roots into international acclaim. — Shanae HardyThe Darling Fire, "The Constant"
Fans of '90s shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur Jr., and Slowdive, rejoice! Everything old is new again with the aptly named the Darling Fire. The quintet's debut, Dark Celebration, is like a warm hug accompanied by crashing cymbals, crunching guitar rock, and tender, ghostly harmonies. Perhaps the most familiar aspect of the Darling Fire is its members, who assuaged so many emo hearts and souls throughout the early part of the 2000s in bands such as the Rocking Horse Winner, Further Seems Forever, Dashboard Confessional, Poison the Well, Shai Hulud, As Friends Rust, and Strongarm. The band's second single, “The Constant,” is a hypnotic throwback of sweet harmonies and grandiose wall-of-sound alternative that brings together everything the bandmates learned in their past lives for a song that has us introspectively reflecting while slowly headbanging the pain away. — Angel MelendezDebbie Deb, "Everybody's Jammin'"
“Everybody’s Jammin'” wasn't released in 2019, but this year marked the first time it gained the audience it deserved several decades ago. A collaborative release from Schematic and Sweat Records Records — the 2018 label cofounded by Lolo Reskin of the longtime Miami record store Sweat Records — “Everybody’s Jammin'” dates back to the mid-'80s, when it was originally made by vocalist and Miami freestyle queen Debbie Deb. It’s a quintessential cut from a quintessentially Miami style of music; it was songs such as this one that helped cement the Magic City’s reputation as an incubator and global destination for dance music. Ultimately, the musical era in which it was recorded and released really don’t matter: “Everybody’s Jammin'” is a timeless tune that’ll tear up any dance floor. — Zach SchleinDenzel Curry, "Ricky"
You can take the artist out of South Florida, but you can’t take South Florida out of the artist. Although Carol City rapper Denzel Curry left the city a few years ago, he saluted his hometown with his latest album, Zuu. “Ricky,” the standout single from the project, pays tribute to his father while incorporating the slick flows and the trunk-rattling bass for which Miami is known. “Ricky” is a reminder of Curry's upbringing, and as long as he's performing it live, home will never be too far away for the rising star. — Cristina JeromeDonzii, "Sand"
The title of Donzii's second EP is a lot like Miami: incredibly bright, vaguely sinister, and running on borrowed time. After 2018's Mines, Gladugly sees Donzii's intentioned performance art–meets–no wave–meets–postpunk architecture coalesce, particularly on "Sand," a mournful, synthed-out Italo-disco track driven by a drum machine and a sinking bass riff that's as hungry as the track's lyrics. "Nothing takes the place of you/'Cause time is material," Jenna Balfe snarls from behind the instrumentation. At every juncture, "Sand" is always just slipping from its tethers, losing track of time alongside you. — Stefanie FernándezHurricane Party, "Pamplemousse"
There is a bizarre variety of elements, a whirlwind of genres, involved in the existence of the yacht-rap duo Hurricane Party and its debut record, Juice, that feels haphazard and random. South Florida rapper Jacques "Bleubird" Bruna and singer-songwriter-producer Rick "Rickolus" Colada mash up so many sounds — from alternative hip-hop to '80s soft rock to punchy, glittering indie electro — that it should come off like a tidal wave of noise. But the result instead is an incredibly catchy and infectious set of tunes that tears through the night like the breeziest summer storm. In particular, standout single "Pamplemousse" showcases the group’s ability to make absolutely no sense while parlaying thumping beats, warmly deadpan vocals, and Bleubird’s left-field rapping into something utterly charming. It’s fitting that the music video is a collage of newspaper cutouts, old wallpaper bits, and anime imagery. It whips by and leaves the viewer with so many questions but also (and more important) the desire to do it all over again. — Angel MelendezJaialai, "In the Catacombs"
For Jaialai, 2019 was a year of many accomplishments. The psych-rock band released its debut album, Say So, joined the record label Public Works, performed on the main stage at III Points, and toured through Mexico. Also among this year's feats is the release of "In the Catacombs," a dark and heavy psych track featuring an eerie music video directed by Nick County. The song matches County's visuals with echoey guitars and howling vocals that at times teeter into surf rock before being pulled back into a wall of fuzzy instrumentals. After checking off so many goals in 2019, Jaialai has left fans wondering what could be in store for 2020. — Catherine Toruño
Las Nubes singer Ale Campos (center) stars in Iggy Pop's music video for "Love's Missing."
Photo by Ronny Roman