5. Curren$y
8 p.m. Friday, February 22, at Revolution Live. 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $30 plus fees. Call 954-449-1025, or visit jointherevolution.net.
It's pretty clear from his songs and Facebook page that Curren$y likes to ride fancy cars and fancy gals. The New Orleans rapper is all about the Jet Life, which is also the name of the imprint he owns and operates under Warner Bros. Records and which includes a crew of other talents from the Big Easy. Last year, Spitta, as he is also known, released The Stoned Immaculate on Warner Bros. in what was presumably a veiled nod to the smoky-smoky, another of his favorite topics.
He worked on this, his eighth album, with Wiz Khalifa, Wale, 2 Chainz, and Pharrell, all of whom, he told Interview Magazine in 2012, he's known for a while. On his philosophy of collaboration, he said: "I hear people, and I like them, but, if in the course of life I never meet these people, or end up forming some type of friendship, then I'll probably never work with them... If in some kind of way, our paths cross, that's because the universe wanted that to happen."
He did go to the same elementary school as Lil Wayne and was signed to Young Money, so going with "who you know" is working pretty well for Curren$y. Also, he just announced, sort of, via Twitter, that he'll be working in collaboration with Ski Beatz on his next project, Pilot Talk III. Get your hands ready to wave that Jet Life sign high at his Revolution show this week. - Liz Tracy
4. Holly Hunt
With Black Seal, the Tunnel, Swamp Witch, and Amplifier Orgy. 8 p.m. Friday, February 22, at Speakeasy Lounge, 120 N. Federal Highway, Lake Worth. Entrance is $5. Call 561-791-6242, or visit speakeasylw.com.
Last year, Miami's stripped-down stoner metal act Holly Hunt went on a minitrek with Scrapping Teeth, once declared the "worst band in America" by Spin magazine. Now again, the duo is set to leave the 305 on a spring tour, but first, it's playing Lake Worth's Speakeasy Lounge with fellow psych outfit Black Seal.
Robb Erwin of the latter act told New Times of his band's sound: "I think when people see psychedelic, they think we're going to be Grateful Dead devotees, with ten people onstage playing extended jams. They're not expecting two people shouting over reverb and something more aggressive." And aggressive in a friendly way, or dark music for the fairly well-adjusted is how we'd loosely define these two impressive acts.
Holly Hunt consists of artists Beatriz Monteavaro, smiling away on the drums, and Gavin Perry tapping pedals and playing guitar. Together, the couple has been a hit since Year One, which is appropriately the title of their album released at the end of 2012. It evokes a roller coaster of groovy feelings and presents a perfect portrait of what to expect live from these two onstage. - Liz Tracy
3. Lotus
With Moon Hooch. 8 p.m. Friday, February 22, at Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $18 plus fees. Call 954-564-1074, or visit cultureroom.net.
"You're drinking your fourth delicious draft of domestic swill when darkness overtakes the Culture Room. A random girl's ass shakes against your leg excitedly. Someone hoots, someone hollers, someone lights a joint. With a flick of his wrist, bass player Jesse Miller triggers a sample on one of many electronic gadgets onstage, and suddenly the club erupts in bass. A whirling orchestra of robotic lights on a massive hanging grid swings its multicolored beams throughout the space. The other four guys in the band dive into their instruments, and a lock-tight groove takes over.
This is Lotus, the greatest instrumental electronic dance and rock band on the touring circuit."
2. Travis Porter
"Rizinstar Tour," with Kirko Bangz, Ca$h Out, and others. 7 p.m. Saturday, February 23, at James L. Knight Center, 400 SE Second St., Miami. Tickets cost $26.75 and $33 plus fees. Call 305-372-4634, or visit jlkc.com.
God bless Atlanta, damn it. In terms of hip-hop, the ATL is always at the forefront of swag, pumping out bangers from some of the game's crunkest solo artists and rap crews. Among them are three MCs -- Ali, Quez, and Strap -- from the Atlanta suburb of Decatur, known collectively as Travis Porter, who, despite hustling in the rap game since 2006 (when the trio was known as Hard Hitters), have enjoyed a steady climb to mainstream recognition.
Together with Kirko Bangz, Ca$h Out, and a slew of others, the Travis Porter dudes are scheduled to "Make It Rain" in Miami on Saturday, when the "Rizinstar Tour" rolls through the James L. Knight Center. But let's just hope Strap remembers to keep his Glock at home. About a year ago, he was arrested at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport when security scanners picked up a loaded .45-caliber handgun in the rapper's carry-on luggage.
Two days after the incident, Strap spoke with MTV's Sway Calloway and admitted the whole thing was his fault. "[I was] moving fast, man, leaving the studio to catch an early flight," he said. "[It was] an honest-to-God mistake." Shit happens. A few months later, the Travis Porter guys dropped their debut record, From Day 1, after a shit-ton of mixtapes. And the rest, including homie's careless slip-up, is history. - Victor Gonzalez
1. P!nk, with the Hives.
7:30 p.m. Monday, February 25, at BB&T Center, 1 Panther Parkway, Sunrise. Tickets cost $35.75 to $75.75. Call 954-835-7000, or visit thebbtcenter.com.
"New Times: How did "the greatest rock 'n' roll band on the planet" wind up touring with P!nk, of all people?
Pelle Almqvist: We wanted to be the small band again, because sometimes you've got to do that to get a reality check and see if you can convince new fans. It is also more the fact that most big rock bands... I don't know, they usually don't want to bring us on tour. They say they do, but then at the end of it, they usually take some singer/songwriter and make it not a competition! The bottom line is, she asked us and we said yes! [laughs]"
Follow @CountyGrind
