From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Memorial Day hip-hop weekend preview

May 24 2006

"Stay off South Beach Memorial [Day] weekend unless you are a young, partying 20-something. It is urban hip-hop weekend, and 300,000 kids descend on South Beach. Nothing but bling and rap."

That dire, vaguely racist warning recently appeared on a message board at the travel site Fodors.com. Urban, of course, is a euphemism for black, and yes, roughly 300,000 "kids" are expected to arrive in Miami Beach this weekend for several days of partying, concertgoing and all-out craziness. This will mark the sixth year Miami Beach has become the epicenter of the hip-hop universe during Memorial Day weekend. The tradition began in 2001 and has only gotten bigger and more organized since, with top-name rap and hip-hop artists playing hoops in the Memorial Day Weekend Celebrity Charity Basketball Game and taking the stage at nearly every nightclub in the city.

So if the combination of hip-hop, alcohol and people in search of a good time scares you, take the aforementioned alarmist's advice and stay away from Miami Beach this weekend. If not, read our guide to the holiday's best parties, concerts and events to plan your weekend accordingly. We've also provided profiles of two South Florida hip-hoppers, "Ingrid B." Bazin and John "Butta Verses" Cullen, who will do their part to make sure that "nothing but bling and rap" dominates the South Beach scene this weekend.