10 March 16-22, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | H ere we go again. Ultra returns to Bayfront Park for another year of EDM insanity March 24-26. Plenty of uncertainties abound this year. Will Skrillex make an appearance after storming New York City with Four Tet and Fred Again? Will the Colonel return? Will we ever see acts like Snoop Dogg or the Cure play at the festival again? Whatever happens, there’s some great mu- sic coming to Miami. Here are New Times’ picks for the best acts of the Ultra 2023 lineup. Andy C Junglists, this one’s for you. There is no one on this list more respected in their own scene than Andy C, quite possibly the most accomplished, celebrated name in drum and bass. Founder of the seminal label RAM Re- cords, he pioneered the genre as part of the group Origin Unknown, whose track “Valley of the Shadows” is considered one of the best of the 1990s. As a new generation of jungle and drum ‘n’ bass DJs like Tim Reaper and Sherelle gain prominence, Andy C can be seen as an elder statesman of the scene. In 2018, he became the first drum ‘n’ bass artist to sell out London’s Wembley Stadium. Sun- day, March 26, at the Worldwide Stage. Carl Cox If you’ve been to Ultra, we don’t need to explain who Carl Cox is and why you are go- ing to see him DJ for the umpteenth time. The face of Resistance has frequently threat- ened to retire only to get immediately back into the swing of things with Ibiza residen- cies, stadium-headlining shows, and, in 2022, his first album in a decade, Electronic Genera- tions. Few other DJs are as respected, hard- working, and consistent as him. Saturday, March 25, and Sunday, March 26, at the Resis- tance Superstructure. Deathpact From Deadmau5 and Marshmello to Clap- tone and Sbtrkt, dance music is rife with riffs on the “masked DJ” persona pioneered by Daft Punk. Deathpact is the latest and most deliber- ately mysterious musician to follow this trend. The black-hooded producer/DJ launched in 2018 with an AR game, a breadcrumb trail of lockboxes and flash drives, and a “Deathcord” Discord server for fans to play along and un- ravel the mystery. It all culminated in the artist dropping their debut album, Split // Personal- ity, in 2021. But the biggest mystery — Death- pact’s secret identity — remains. Are they famous? Are they just some guy? They’re prob- ably just some guy, let’s be honest. Saturday, RADICAL RHYTHMS The ten best acts at Ultra Music Festival 2023. BY DOUGLAS MARKOWITZ Cavalcante plan the next event in Proibidæ’s repertoire, the most important thing is often booking artists with experience in or willing- ness to truly learn, research, and play baile funk. “We don’t book anyone based on their clout. We don’t book anyone based on their popularity. Our bookings are strictly based on the sounds that this artist brings to the table or the capacity that this artist has to incorpo- rate the sounds we want to present,” Caval- cante explains. This commitment to the genre is, in many ways, what sets Proibidæ apart from the other, more mainstream baile funk-inspired parties that have cropped up in the city. For example, the popular Baile da Gringa party focuses on EDM edits on top of baile funk. “At Proibidæ, you can hear all kinds of baile funk, and people who are preparing to play a set of baile funk do their research,” Rodrigues notes. Palomino didn’t start playing baile funk or incorporating it into her sets until she began spinning at Proibidæ’s events. “I’m not Brazilian, and I didn’t grow up with that culture, but once I went to [Proi- bidæ’s] parties, and I started listening to [baile funk], and I realized how fun it is. I be- came obsessed with this genre,” Palomino says. “Had I not been to [Cavalcante’s] parties or had she not been representing her country, maybe I wouldn’t have been exposed to it. Now, I’m able to learn about it through her and through her parties and am able to incor- porate that sound in my set because it’s really influential to me.” These underground music spaces, like Proibidæ or Saturnsarii’s iconic Perreo del Futuro, are essential community spaces where Latin artists and fans can connect with Latin-inspired sounds. As Palomino said about Proibidæ, the commitment to uplifting Latin American music — in this case, baile funk from Brazil — is similar to “traveling somewhere without going there.” Fostering Connections The flourishing renaissance of Latin-in- spired dance music in Miami’s underground scene also has strengths beyond baile funk. For immigrants and the children of immi- grants in the city, having access to a vibrant Latin music scene serves as a way to maintain ties to their heritage despite being physically away from their home countries. This is espe- cially true for those who cannot return to their home countries for one reason or another. “I have a lot of friends who are Venezue- lan, and they have a new sound that’s coming out [there], and a lot of them, unfortunately, don’t even get to go back and visit,” Palomino says. “It’s really special that they get to ex- press it here [in Miami].” This ability to connect with countless dif- ferent cultures, identities, and experiences of immigration is what makes Miami’s under- ground unique and necessary. “If we go to an- other city in the U.S., I don’t think we would feel that connected to our like Latin Ameri- can heritage, and that’s why Miami is so spe- cial,” Palomino adds. In this way, Proibidæ becomes a mirror for Miami and the need for dynamic, diverse mu- sic spaces. “Proibidæ is that meeting in the middle,” Rodrigues says. “Cultural music and techno and bass and electro with the baile funk and some other Hispanic sounds as well.” Above all, it’s a community that pro- vides people with a space to dance and enjoy themselves. Earlier this month, Palomino made the dif- ficult decision to leave Miami for New York City, hoping to “bring the Miami sound” while continuing to build her musical repertoire and hone her relationship with her art. Though sad to leave a scene that has welcomed her with open arms, she acknowledged it’s “im- portant to take that sound and everything Mi- ami represents and take it somewhere else, [as an] even bigger way of expanding it.” As an artist, Palomino’s priority has always been to “put Miami on the map.” As for Rodrigues, Cavalcante, and the rest of the Proibidæ team, the future is bright. In just a few short years, the party has grown from a project spearheaded by Cavalcante to give a unique space for baile funk in the city to a national and even international hub for baile funk artists and fans alike. The Miami Accennt from p8 M.I.A. “At Proibidae, you can hear all kinds of bailefunk,” Stephanie Rodrigues says. Betty McGhee Island Records
