MIAMI NEW TIMES: Kat Dahlia Talks Debut Album, My Garden
Miami New Times It's been a tumultuous three years for singer-songwriter Kat Dahlia. In 2012, the fledgling recording artist and former waitress signed a recording contract with Epic Records. A year later, she released her first single, the piano-laced hit "Gangsta,"...
MIAMI NEW TIMES: “By the Time the Show Is Over, You’re a Piece of Art”
Miami New Times Sometimes, it takes a disaster to instigate change. In this case, it was undelivered packages. By 2009, Life in Color (then called Dayglow) was picking up momentum. What had started two years earlier as a paint-throwing EDM party for college students...
BROWARD-PALM BEACH NEW TIMES: Twiggy Rasta Masta Is Keeping Hip-Hop “Based”
Broward-Palm Beach New Times IT'S SPRINGTIME IN HOLLYWOOD. The sky is cloudless and blue. Tourists bake in the sun and the Hollywood sign winks from the hills. A low-flying plane poops smoke trails overhead. On the rooftop of a 1920s apartment building, two girls are...
The Rise of Black Market Alcoholic Coolers in Oakland
The East Bay Express I'm sitting on the concrete floor of a garage, my back against a pole. To my right, a girl braids auburn weave into another girl's hair. Three teenagers sit on a couch to my left and a lone teddy bear, clutching a red velvet heart inscribed with...
MIAMI NEW TIMES: Metro Zu’s Lofty305 Plunges Head First Into the Art World with Miami Showing
The Miami New Times Lofty305 woke up at 9:40 a.m. in his Midtown Manhattan apartment. It was a Monday. He brushed his teeth with non-fluoride toothpaste and rinsed his XS afro with coconut oil. He ate two Butterfingers, worked out at the building's gym, and snacked on...
MIAMI NEW TIMES: Wynwood’s Danilo Gonzalez To Name Mural Contest Winner: “I Want a Landmark”
The Miami New Times In the bowels of Craigslist, buried in the catacombs of 'Community' is an ad with a plaintive plea. "WE NEED A MURAL!" its title reads in all caps. "SHOW US WHAT YOU CAN DO!" It's a pithy post, no longer than one sentence, with a photo of a long,...
NY OBSERVER: Down & Derby, A Pop-Up Roller-Skating Dance Party
The New York Observer A few weeks ago, Vince Masi’s website, skatedrinkdance.com, crashed due to a virus. It has since been cleaned, resuscitated and put back online, but Mr. Masi has yet to recover. “It was a nightmare,” he said. “I think that was probably, like, the...
NY OBSERVER: Vimeo Awards Show Proves That Imperfection Is Interesting
NY OBSERVER Perfection is overrated. It’s boring and predictable and uninspiring. But imperfection? Now that’s fun. Take for instance last night’s 2012 Vimeo Awards show. Within the first few minutes, the audio crapped out. Awkward silence ensued. The light...
NY OBSERVER: A 68-Year-Old Woman Attempts to Set a World Record Playing Solitaire
NY OBSERVER It was lunch hour on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 47th and the intersection was teeming with people. A Prêt-A-Manger employee proffered brownie samples to passersby on a silver tray. A family of five, laden with backpacks and rolling suitcases,...
A Deep East Oakland Neighborhood Reawakens
The East Bay Express Few people, if any, refer to the crossroads of Bancroft and Fairfax Avenues in East Oakland as the Bancroft-Fairfax Business District—and yet, there’s a sign at the intersection designating it as such. Most people know it by one of its older...
The Party That Never Ends
The East Bay Express It's Saturday night at The Layover and the bar is close to maximum capacity. People of all ages are crammed onto the tiny dance floor, their foreheads glistening with sweat as they shake and bob to the music. A gaggle of girls start twerking in a...
A Cafe Oasis in Deep East Oakland
The East Bay Express The chances of finding a cup of coffee in deep East Oakland — not to mention a sandwich or a pastry to go with it — are relatively slim. The nearest Starbucks or Peet's is in Alameda or by the airport. So if you're jonesing for a cup of joe,...