Why Do We Keep Forgiving Chris Brown?

Chris Brown often says Michael Jackson is his biggest inspiration. And it’s easy to see the foundation laid by the King of Pop in Brown’s work. Take his video for “Party,” for example; as the 27-year-old Brown dances, you can imagine Jackson’s moves, so much a part of Brown that…

Ariana Grande Is Not Your Sex Kitten

The transition from child starlet to mainstream pop diva can be rife with awkward and uncomfortable moments, as young stars become adults right in front of the world’s eyes. Every pop star who’s made the leap has put her own stamp on the big change. Christina Aguilera graduated from The…

Nelly, Maren Morris Drew a Record-Setting Crowd to Tortuga Music Festival 2017

It finally happened, and it took only five years. Tortuga Music Festival, selling out once again, set a record for attendance this past weekend. More than 100,000 people filed through the gates of the country-music beach party. Held annually on Fort Lauderdale Beach since its inception in 2013, the fest this year featured headliners Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, and Kenny Chesney. In short, Tortuga is big.

How World Music God Zakir Hussain Changed My Life — Twice

In the early 2000s, I was dosed with 300 hits of LSD while attending a free Zakir Hussain concert in New York City’s Central Park. A young woman in her late teens with green hair and crooked teeth, wearing an Econochrist shirt, offered me a stick of mint gum. Rubbing the chewing gum’s foil wrapper against my neck, she informed me that the gum had been dipped in liquid acid.

The Best Concerts in Miami This Week, April 10-16

With major arena tours from Ariana Grande, the Chainsmokers, Chris Brown, and Panic! at the Disco hitting South Florida this week, it will be a music-filled month. In club land, electroclash icon Miss Kittin goes B2B with Oxia at Heart, while Duke Dumont, who was surprisingly absent last month during…

Duran Duran Remains Timeless at Hard Rock Live

It is a bizarre experience for anyone visiting the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood these days. The mammoth entertainment and gaming property is undergoing an equally massive facelift that, at the moment, has left much of the property a desolate landscape. Gone…

Bed Scene Talks Upcoming EP Ahead of Debut Show April 6 at Bardot

Cotton-candy skies and technicolor dreams drip through the speakers and melt like gold into your ears, courtesy of Miami composer/producer Bed Scene.Nick Aponte, better known as Bed Scene, is no stranger to the tropics. The Miami native is gearing up for his debut show tonight, April 6, at Bardot. It’s presented by Showskii Records as part of the Artist Series.

Dionne Warwick on Diana Ross and Evolving With the Classics

Movie and television audiences tend to appreciate subtle, understated work from actors. But music is a different story. Singers who simply let the song carry their voice, without theatrical flair, don’t always get the love and admiration they deserve. If they did, Dionne Warwick would have a fancy nickname like…

Soul Man Zach Deputy Redefines the Solo Album

“It’s soul music. It touches the soul and the soles of the feet that gets everyone moving to the orchestra in my head.” Zach Deputy’s description of his sound is both inspiring and pun-tastic. The Savannah, Georgia-based Deputy, who will play the Wynwood Yard this Saturday, is a 21st-century version…

Fedde Le Grand Talks “Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit” at Ultra 2017

In 2006, “Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit” catapulted Dutch house producer Fedde Le Grand into the spotlight. Beyond that, it helped revive a flagging industry and is commonly regarded as one of the crucial tracks of the rebirth of dance music. This past Sunday, Le Grand delivered one of the best headlining sets at Ultra Music Festival 2017.

A 62-Year-Old Mom and Her Son Bonded at Ultra 2017

Generally speaking, society has defined the way mothers and sons bond. It usually involves shared interest in geeky passions or time at familial gatherings. Heads nodding in sweaty, immense crowds to techno typically doesn’t make the cut. Try telling that to Thomas Marshall, who’s 29 years old, and his mother…

We the Kings Keep Their Florida Roots at the Forefront

As grownups living out their teenage rock-star dreams, it’s only right that the five guys who make up We the Kings named their band after the Bradenton middle school they attended. “We all went to Martha B. King Middle School,” keyboardist Coley O’Toole confirms. “Travis Clark and Hunter Thomsen started…

Ultra Music Festival 2017 Was Strangely Apolitical

Music has always been a way to escape, and dance music embodies this mission more than any other genre. Following the “disco sucks” movement of 1979, marginalized groups — black, Latino, and gay — were once again pushed outside the mainstream. Genres like house and techno were born in the warehouses in which these groups sought refuge.