Halloween is one of Elijah Rentas’ favorite holidays. The inside of his two-bedroom Margate apartment is lined with skulls and crossbones and looks ready for trick-or-treaters to show up at any minute. The 1978 cult film Zombi is blaring through his television set and intermittent blood-curdling screams fill the air…
New York-based singer Manze Dayila is no stranger to overcoming the odds. She arrived in Miami from Haiti at the age of 19 in a rickety boat while 8 months pregnant. Here in Miami, she faced all type of obstacles, (many of which are worth reading about) but trying to…
Good morning everybody…and Happy Diwali. So we here at CrossFade give readers a taste of the old-school every week with Throwback Tuesdays. This week, we’re throwing it way back and including a local legend in the mix. Jazz impresario Julian “Cannonball” Adderley has always been one of my favorite saxophone…
The biggest concert to hit Nassau, Bahamas all year is right around the corner and anticipation is building up for it. The Millennium Concert 2008 is scheduled for Oct 30-Nov 2nd and features three nights of top notch music acts plus a night of fashion and partying. The line up…
I just got the good word that Cape Verdean singer Anané and her husband, New York house legend, Louie Vega, are playing a show together in Miami two weeks from now. The show is set for November 6 at the Florida Room inside of the Delano Hotel, and sounds like…
During an era of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1970s that seemed dominated by men, it’s fitting that a woman like Donna Jean would plant herself in the middle of the Grateful Dead and shake things up. After working for years in the fabled Muscle Shoals, Alabama, music scene —…
There’s nothing uncommon about seeing a line of men drooling over cute girls at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. Anyone who’s ever been there knows the place is hookup central — where guys dressed in Ed Hardy shirts flirt zealously with girls wearing almost nothing. That’s…
Stuntin Like My Daddy – Birdman & Lil Wayne So Lil Wayne is back in the news today (as if he ever leaves) and it’s related to his arrest last year on gun charges in Manhattan. Last July, the rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, was arrested and charged…
Early this morning, Opa-Locka-based rapper Toro, was shot and killed in Miami. The artist, whose real name is Derek Johnson, 23, was killed in a drive-by shooting while leaving Coco’s Strip Club at around 4 am. Toro, who was signed to Iconz Music, was a popular local rapper that didn’t…
“Drive Me Crazy” by Don Yute featuring Amerika Six cops sit in patrol cars outside Diamonds Cabaret, a swank-meets-hood black strip club on the western, industrial edge of North Miami Beach. It’s just before midnight, and three security guards stand near the door. The club once had a bad reputation…
Music lovers who enjoy sounds of the African continent often hit a wall when trying to delve accurately into Ethiopian compositions. Much of it dates back to Abyssinian tribal music from the early part of the 20th Century that, when fused with American jazz and rock influences of the ’60s…
This past Sunday, Broward County’s West Indian community was alive with music and culture as the sixth-annual Broward Caribbean Carnival rocked Lauderhill in grand fashion. According to early figures, it may have also surpassed the 24th-annual Miami Carnival in attendance for the first time. Upward of 11,000 people showed up…
Los Angeles-bases funkateer Nikka Costa is in town tonight playing a show at the Culture Room. She’s probably better known in Europe on a pop level but Costa, daughter of former composer and arranger, Don Costa, is a soul sensation that deserves better attention stateside as well. Here’s a video…
So there’s a new mixtape DJ on the prowl in Broward County and she (that’s right, I said she) has a deft ear for good music. Her name is Miss Face, and she just released a red-hot digital download called “Face Smusher” which, when you hear these beats drop, will…
So it’s now official that R&B singer Erykah Badu is carrying her third child. During a recent concert in Texas, the Dallas-born chanteuse announced that she is in fact pregnant again…and it looks like the father is Jay Electronica pictured above. Back in June, Erykah took some slack when the…
I just got a press release stating that reggae artist Tami Chynn will be in South Florida tonight performing at Pangaea at the Seminole Hard Rock and Casino. There’s a surprise guest slated to perform as well and rumor has it that it could be Shaggy. Shaggy is probably best…
Gym Class Heroes, Estelle and the Roots Wednesday, October 8 Fillmore Miami Beach Better than: Reading Okayplayer.com for news on the Roots. Last Night, the Fillmore Miami Beach was alive and drenched in abstract hip-hop. Putting Gym Class Heroes, the Roots, and Estelle on one line-up guarantees that there will…
“Roll It Gal” by Alison Hinds: For lovers of Caribbean music, Carnival Weekend 2008 is easily the best four-day weekend of the year. Folks representing the entire island chain are already beginning to pour into South Florida to participate in the festivities. There’s an almost palpable buzz floating around Broward…
Robin Thicke is working hard to move out of his father’s shadow. As the son of Canadian actor Alan Thicke from the hit ’80s sitcom Growing Pains, people initially wondered if his rising success in the music world was due to the fact that his father is famous. But the…
When local musicians Russ Rogers of Kill Miss Pretty and his partner Todd Evans put together their latest band, A New Way to Live Forever, the idea was simply to make good indie rock and not worry too much about specifics. Building off their core influences such as U2, Nirvana,…
Charlie Pickett Bar Band Americanus – The Best of Charlie Picket And (Bloodshot) Both as a music addict and “critic,” I hear lots of music that slips into cult following-status and/or obscurity while less talented musicians reap the big rewards. Take South Floridian Charlie Pickett for example. Throughout the1980’s he…
So if anybody watched VH1’s heralded Hip-Hop Honors program last night, I’m curious to know what people thought. I’m not personally a fan of comedian Tracy Morgan hosting the show (his jokes are funny 60% of the time at best) but everything else associated with this year’s Hip-Hop Honors was…
