American Football Brings Influential Head-Nodding Heartaches to Revolution Live

Filing into Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale to see the seminal emo act American Football, you’d be forgiven for not knowing the band’s highly influential debut came out nearly 20 years ago. Here was a crowd of fresh-faced youngsters piled in to watch a group of guys who could be these kids’ dads play music suffused with melancholy and beats that rarely surpass a steady 120 BPM.

Miami Welcomes J. Cole, the Best Worst Rapper in the World

This country does not do earnestness well. We would rather turn you into a meme than lend you an understanding ear. We have trouble digesting sincerity unless it’s wrapped in something less vulnerable. Perhaps that’s part of the reason some folks have so much trouble with J. Cole. His…

Dragon Fox Hits the Sweet Spot Between Pop and Cerebral Music

Miami singer/songwriter Gabriela Sotomayor has music in her DNA. This daughter of a Nicaraguan vocalist and a deep-house DJ has been singing and writing for as long as she can remember. With the release this year of her debut EP, Daytime Odyssey (produced by her friend E Ric), Gabriela has…

Mat Zo Returns to the Intimate Heart of South Beach, Treehouse

Matar Zohan knows how to bring the funk. Plain and simple, the 28-year-old London-born virtuoso is one of the last proponents of the nearly extinct art of originality. His past projects have run the gamut from collaborations with Kill the Noise and the Knocks, to an ambitious and widely satisfying…

J. Cole Is This Generation’s Most Consistent Artist

Jermaine Cole’s latest project, KOD, channels pure artistry. It’s inspired by an artist who doesn’t stray from lyrical consistency, Kendrick Lamar. Cole witnessed Lamar’s work onstage in Detroit during the Damn Tour, which left both fans and Cole himself coveting the encore. These artists, who lead the hip-hop generation, have two…

Do You Like Def Leppard Ironically, for Real, or Always and Forever?

Today, I drove past a hip-looking young woman with short black bangs, concentrating on her phone. She was  standing on the corner of a street lined with cool stores and was wearing a Def Leppard crop-top with leopard-print short sleeves and a high waisted skirt. I wondered: Is she wearing the…

H.E.R. Will Headline Wynwood’s New, R&B-Themed Best Life Festival

The Best Life Festival announced this morning that R&B up-and-comer H.E.R. will headline the inaugural Best Life Festival on September 15. H.E.R. joins a previously announced lineup of rising R&B talent including singer Ella Mai — whose song “Boo’d Up” has recently made a slow but steady climb up the pop charts — along with Florida-raised singer R.LUM.R, New Times‘ Best R&B Singer of 2018 Savannah Cristina, and others.

Vans Warped Tour Makes Its Final Visit to Coral Sky Amphitheatre

Since 1995, Warped Tour has excelled in blending the demands of American boardrooms and corporate sponsorships with the shifting cultures of alternative lifestyles. While simultaneously surviving because of partnerships with Vans, Journeys, and Monster, Warped Tour was always the most DIY of festivals. Sure, it was held…