Miami | ChinaShop

Gallery Music Heavyweight Hip-Hop: Rick Ross

September 14, 2011 - 8:22 am

The “I Am Still Music” hip-hop tour drew impressive crowds as it made its way across the country for its 2011 run. The tour (headlined by Lil Wayne and featuring Keri Hilson, Far East Movement, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross and more) ended its run on September 11th in Woodlands, TX. While Wayne took front and center, the rest of the performers, including Ross, held their own, contributing to the aura of the traveling festival.

If you’re unfamiliar with Ross, allow me to bring you up to speed. Ross is an artist who has dominated large parts of the hip-hop scene for years. Ross was one of the forerunners in revamping Miami’s rap scene and putting it back in the national spotlight. Predominantly influenced by Luther Campbell and the Notorious B.I.G., he began rapping in the 1990’s, fronting the group, Carol City Cartel. Their sound took its cue from Ross’ unique baritone voice; makes sense considering Ross is an imposing six feet at 300lbs.

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Music Mandy’s Music Mail 3/25/11

by Amanda Boyd

March 25, 2011 - 9:28 am

Apologies to all you gorgeous party people, I’m afraid this week’s post is going to be a bit on the short side; was one of those highly infuriating weeks where there just wasn’t that much to write about and very few new tracks that I actually enjoyed. Although Sade (who doesn’t love a little Sade action?) announced the release of a second greatest hits album (no released date yet) and she finally agreed to collaborate with my future BFF Jay Z on a track for it. So that’s rather magical.

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Contest So You Say You Are VIP… (Ultra Music Festival VIP Ticket Giveaway)

by Shop Keeper

March 23, 2011 - 4:01 pm

In case you haven’t heard, this year’s Ultra Music Festival is SOLD OUT… Yep, they are, except for the VIP Tickets ChinaShop stashed and is giving away in the next 24 hours (How bad to you want em?). Should you win, you could find yourself and your newest best friend sitting or more probably dancing your face off in the Red Bull Energy Station’s premium viewing area for the Ultra live stage (as well as many other VIP areas)! So, game on – We will be giving away 6 tickets for each day of the Festival starting now! Here’s the scoop…

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Featured Gallery Music Nothing But Nervous

by Rich Thomas and Graham John Bell

March 14, 2011 - 2:52 pm

Tuesday was mild, Wednesday was warm, and Thursday was poppin’, but by the time Friday rolled around, the spring break crowd was in full effect and the WMC’ers were ready to go hard into the weekend. We wanted to experience a little local flavor, so our friends over at Nervous Records told us to come by their big “Made In Miami” party, featuring an exclusive cast of homegrown deck masters like Behrouz, Rony Seikaly, Lazaro Casanova, Ralph Falcon, Jon Cowan, Stryke, DMS12, Edgar V, Danny Daze, Patrick M, and of course the one and only Oscar G. When we set foot in the building, it became abundantly clear that this was the place to be. We caught three sets worth of tunes, then had to give our ears and dancing feet a rest. Here’s what it looked like.

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Music DJ Colette: Your House Or Mine

by Rich Thomas and Graham John Bell

March 14, 2011 - 11:27 am

She’s been called Om Record’s First Lady of House, helped form the genre’s only female supergroup (SuperJane), and released some of last decade’s most infectious 12-inch singles in “Feelin’ Hypnotized,” “What Will She Do For Love,” and a sultry version of Robert Palmer’s “Didn’t Mean To Turn You On.” Indeed, Chicago’s DJ Colette is one of house music’s most well-respected performers and producers, and a 16-year veteran of the Winter Music Conference. You know, back when people traded vinyl by the pool and the only things that tweeted were the endemic Florida Scrub-Jays that hung out in the palm trees. We met up with Colette at a South Beach cafe to get her take on this year’s conference and the inside scoop on her next artist release for Om Records.

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Gallery Music Stormy Weather Is No Match for Second Sun

by Rich Thomas and Graham John Bell

March 11, 2011 - 4:44 pm

Here’s what I love about Miami. At approximately 11:30am on Wednesday, I was walking along the rooftop deck of my hotel admiring the amazing view, taking in some sunshine, and cursing the fact that I had to quickly go back inside and get writing done. At 12:30pm, deck chairs were flying into the pool and the rain was coming down sideways against the glass of the café I was working in. It was a rainstorm of biblical proportions, and the beautiful people of South Beach were undoubtedly cursing the fact that they now had to go inside and do something not so fun. One glance at the weather report told me that that any outdoor parties scheduled for today were sure to be a bust, which included the annual mega-bash on Nikki Beach, one of WMC’s most tried and true venues. This was to be our big destination for the day. Electric Beach, a 12pm to 5am marathon of banging house music put forth by names like Donald Glaude, Harry “Choo Choo” Romero, Behrouz and Junior Sanchez. Gone with the wind, we thought—washed away by the elements. But we decided to go anyway, and of course, it was rammed.

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Featured Gallery Music Q&A With The Indelible Talib Kweli

by Rich Thomas and Graham John Bell

March 11, 2011 - 2:52 pm

Hip-hoppers at Winter Music Conference this year got a special treat when the Red Bull Music Academy announced a special two-day event featuring indelible MC Talib Kweli and producer 9^th Wonder that hoped to provide an intimate look into two of the game’s most talented and influential artists. After an interview and Q&A session on Thursday, the two artists would then regroup at the Delano Hotel’s Florida Room for an “On The Floor” performance. We had the chance to interview Talib before he took the stage for the interview portion of the event, held at the Raleigh Hotel. Then, due to flight delays with 9^th and the session moderator, we jumped on the mic to kick off the discussion while we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. Below is a portion of our conversation.

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Gallery Music Pool Party 101

by Rich Thomas and Graham John Bell

March 10, 2011 - 3:25 pm

People-watching at the Winter Music Conference is one of the highlights of the week, and chlorinated bodies of water seem to bring out interesting behaviors. While taking in the soothing sounds of Daz-I-Kue, Alix Alvarez, Vikter Duplaix and other sun drenched DJs at the Lotus WMC 2011 Showcase, we noticed a few things happening poolside and thought we’d report back. All you people looking to hit up WMC in 2012 take note—here’s the ChinaShop guide on how to conduct yourself at a pool party. You can thank us later.

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Gallery Music Vagabonding with David Morales

by Rich Thomas and Graham John Bell

March 9, 2011 - 5:17 pm

Sweaty, smelly, hot and cramped—and that’s just the cab ride to the venue. Our second stop of the evening was the official WMC Opening Night Party at the Vagabond downtown, where Frankie Knuckles, David Morales and Hector Romero were spinning house music so deep they should have been handing out free life preservers at the door. If Tenaglia’s set at the National was the appetizer, this was the main course, and the Vagabond did not disappoint.

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Gallery Music WMC 2011, Day 1: Danny Tenaglia and the Way Back Machine

by Rich Thomas and Graham John Bell

March 9, 2011 - 2:02 pm

It’s been three years since I last touched down in Miami for the electronic music smorgasbord that is the Winter Music Conference. For the uninitiated, WMC is a week-long dance party that occupies most if not all the hotels and live music venues on South Beach. It is ground zero for guidos, beat freaks, spring breakers and foreigners who “love zee house music!” There is no shortage of poolside shenanigans and late night club action to be had, and the party don’t stop ‘til 6 in da mornin’. Unless you’re talking about my photographer and I. In that case, the party has to stop at an hour reasonable enough to return to the hotel, upload photos, and recap the night’s shenanigans in a relatively intelligible manner. We will be doing this for the next four nights. Our first stop tonight, on Day One of the festival: the National Hotel for the 4^th annual Future Classics Pool Party.

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