They represent two different parts of Florida, but the MCs of Word Perfect stand in line together as they wait to enter the big show. Dirty Dem of Fort Lauderdale and Wiseguy of Orlando are trying to offer the rap world something more than the typical hip-pop, but these days…
Finally, it’s here in all its two-disc, 29-track, guest-star-studded, double-album glory: Underground Kingz, the most anticipated album out of the South this year and the most eagerly awaited Texas rap album since Scarface’s The Fix back in 2002. Not since 2001 have we heard a whole album’s worth of “country…
From Christmas Day 1986 through January 17, 1988, Mötley Crüe founder and songwriter Nikki Sixx kept a daily diary that chronicled his exploits as an unraveling drug addict. He’s not the first and won’t be the last to do this, but goddamn if the result isn’t one of the most…
Guitarist Josh Smith isn’t a celebrity in his native Pembroke Pines, but the longer he keeps playing in Taylor Hicks’ band, the more it’s inevitable that he’ll reach stardom. The 27-year-old, down-to-Earth guitarist is on the road with last year’s “American Idol” winner. This weekend they’ll be in town for…
You may be wondering — and rightfully so — what the hell’s up with Bruce (err, sorry… Broooooooosssssss) lately? He’s detoured off E Street and opted for some dusty old folk songs most of us had to learn back in grade school. “Old Dan Tucker”? “When The Saints Go Marching…
Unlike many of his rap contemporaries, Lonnie Rashid “Common” Lynn Jr. has matured artistically — but he did have a head start. When he released his Can I Borrow a Dollar? debut in 1992 under the name Common Sense, he was already sage beyond his age. Finding Forever continues this…
Gainesville’s Against Me! shares a hometown with Lynyrd Skynyrd and, discounting the redneck caricature Skynyrd became after frontman/spiritual leader Ronnie Van Zant’s 1977 death, a lot more. They’ve got a keen eye for the flaws of leaders and those being led alike and write songs with sentiments as potent as…
It was a hot Friday night in Fort Lauderdale and Dred Scott had hip-hop on the brain. It’d been a while since I’d found a comfortable place to enjoy beats, rhymes, and life in Broward County, and I was getting frustrated. The lull in hip-hop-related events around these parts is…
It’s a fine line between retro and rehash, but the Black Crowes always manage to tread that precipitous divide with swagger and finesse. In the 17 years since they made their debut, the band, helmed by brothers Chris and Rich Robinson, remains relevant and resilient. With a new effort in…
Any group that’s been together for three-plus decades is bound to go through some sonic shifts. The legendary reggae band Inner Circle isn’t exempt from these laws of music physics, as anyone who’s followed the band can attest. When its career got off the ground in the late ’60s and…
Give Orlando-based DJ/producer Baby Anne a gold star on two counts. One, for still carrying a torch for Florida breaks, our state’s woozy, psyched-out spin on electro that had its heyday in the late ’90s. Two, for being one of the few females to do so in a scene ruled…
Just ask A.J. Croce (son of Jim), Louise Goffin (Carole King’s daughter), or Frank Sinatra Jr. — being compared to a famous parent will haunt you, maybe forever. Take Femi Kuti — his late father, Fela, virtually invented Afrobeat but the younger Kuti is categorically not riding on his dad’s…
This is the closest thing to a supergroup that the fledgling genre of reggaeton has spawned. In truth, though, it’s a sonic swing party: Wisin, Yandel, Jayko, Tony Dize, Franco El Gorila, Hector “El Father,” and Don Omar mix and match, creating several working partnerships on this disc of collaborations…
On the Rough Guides’ latest foray into Africa, where there seems to be an endless supply of music, they focus on the northern area of the continent, featuring Arabic and French-language songs, mainly from Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia. The tunes have various flavors, and the grooves shift from traditional Middle…
The Pirate Republic954-779-7677234 Almond Ave.Fort LauderdaleIt’s a hidden treasure, buried in the side of a Las Olas beachfront building. Find it and you’ve got plenty of sake. When the Pirate Republic opened more than a year ago, the walls were clean and white. Now they’re covered in graffiti that ranges…
Jah Jerry It’s come to the attention of Crossfade that Jerry Hines, founding member of legendary Jamaican group, the Skatalites, has died. The guitarist, who passed away last Monday in a Jamaican hospital, was 80-years-old. Better known as Jah Jerry, Hines helped push the sound of ska forward long before…
Wherever his musical endeavors take him from this point forward, Marco Antonio Solis will forever be credited for greatly influencing norteno and tejano music all over Mexico and southwestern parts of the United States. Just 12 years old when he started improvising on an array of instruments and developing a…
“I said it’s here, it’s here, it’s here, it’s here.” The dude seems to release new material every 6 months and today, Mr. Talib Kweli BK MC, has another LP for hip-hop lovers to consume. Eardrum is in record stores today and while I haven’t heard it yet, I’d love…
London’s favorite rock’n’roll screwball, Pete Doherty, of Babyshambles is escaping jail time despite being arrested for suspicion of drug use recently. Apparently the cops didn’t get him to court within 24 hours of his arrest. Not quite sure how that happened. Maybe a few extra quids in the cops pockets…
Alright…so as some of you know, R Kelly and his crazy “Trapped in the Closet” series is being released today. I have a tough time supporting that one…mainly because chapters 13-22 offer us nothing that Chapters 1-12 already haven’t. Cheap laughs and blah blah. That’s not even me hating. Scroll…
Since Nasty Nas was just here a couple of weeks ago for the Rock the Bells Tour, it only seems fitting to play some Nas today. Work day is almost over folks. It’s Halftime –Jonathan Cunningham…
The “World” section at your local music retailer is just a way to pile together all the stuff that isn’t from America or the UK. It really isn’t fair that Bossanova joints can be found right next to some Riverdance jams, but English-born Sri Lankan M.I.A.’s latest, Kala, truly deserves…
