Concert review: Nas and Goodie Mob at the Adrienne Arsht Center

From The Miami Herald’s blog, Miami Music Matters

Hip-hop veterans Nas and Goodie Mob stormed the stage of the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center in downtown Miami late Friday with a performance that was light on production value, but heavy on crowd-pleasing rap classics.

The show, put on by the folks who brought the Rock The Bells tour to Miami in 2007 and 2008, was a one-time-only truncated version of the traveling hip-hop festival, which skipped the Magic City in 2009.

 The Knight Hall, a classical music venue which has recently been home to concerts by hip-hop and R&B acts like Mos Def and Ne-Yo, was a less than ideal venue for this kind of show: Opening act ¡Mayday!, with its four-piece band and two vocalists, sounded sharp and clear, while both Nas and Goodie Mob, who had no live musicians and only DJs, suffered through muddled bass and inconsistent sound. Continue reading

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Concert review: John Mayer at BankAtlantic Center

On the first date of his Battle Studies World Tour at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., John Mayer debuted a new concert configuration that relied more heavily on theatrical presentation than ever before. Continue reading

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Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2009

5) Wale “Attention Deficit”

“… Wale proves on his debut that he is a multifaceted songwriter and performer who can make seemingly unrelated musical styles coexist through the often narrow lens of hip-hop.”

4) K’naan “Troubadour”

“… Troubadour is an eclectic batch of musical influences: Rock guitar riffs, African percussion, reggae horns and chanting all coexist in a fluid bedrock that supports a foundation of great hip-hop.”

Continue reading

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Review: John Mayer “Battle Studies” (2009)

On his fourth studio album, singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer likens relationships to war. Ironically, Battle Studies might be his quietest, most stripped-away and bare release yet. Continue reading

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Review: Wale “Attention Deficit” (2009)

wale

After bubbling in hip-hop’s underground for several years  with many buzz-worthy songs and mixtapes, Wale proves he’s more than just a one-dimensional sneaker MC on his major label debut, Attention Deficit. Continue reading

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