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Jimmy Kimmel Launches Fundraisers in Tribute to Cleto Escobedo III
Music

Jimmy Kimmel Launches Fundraisers in Tribute to Cleto Escobedo III

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Escobedo, who led the Jimmy Kimmel Live! house band since the show premiered in 2003, died at age 59

Jimmy Kimmel has launched two fundraisers in memory of Cleto Escobedo III, his childhood friend and the longtime bandleader of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Escobedo died on Tuesday at the age of 59.

“Cleto was always kind and eager to help others. As we mourn his loss, we have started two fundraisers to celebrate his life and give back,” wrote Kimmel in a social media post alongside photos of Escobedo and his family with their dog, and an image of Kimmel and his friend. “The first is for UCLA Medical Center where he received such incredible care. Together we can help vulnerable patients and families in need of financial assistance during hard times,” continued the late-night host. “And to honor his love of animals, the @TheAnimalFoundation in our hometown of Las Vegas.”

In his bio, Kimmel linked to the UCLA Health fundraiser page, which reads, “In memory of our friend Cleto, we’d like to thank all the hardworking specialists, doctors, and nurses at UCLA. They worked tirelessly and generously to give him the best care. … To honor his generous spirit, we’d like to help vulnerable patients and families in need of financial assistance during hard times.”

The host also pointed fans to the Animal Foundation, which is based in Las Vegas, where he and Escobedo grew up. “Cleto was a compassionate animal lover. He loved each of his rescue dogs like they were family,” read the foundation’s page. “Cleto would have loved his friends and family helping to provide safety, healing and homes for pets in need.”

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Escobedo died at UCLA Medical Center following complications related to a liver transplant. His cause of death was later revealed to be due to cardiogenic shock.

Kimmel paid tribute to his pal during his Tuesday night monologue. “It’s just not fair,” Kimmel said, breaking into tears. “He was the nicest, most humble, kind, and always funny person.” The host added, of the their shared success, “He loved me. He loved seeing all of this happen. He loved being a part of it. He never took it for granted…. He was just a great older brother. No baggage, all love. There’s no one in my life I felt more comfortable with.”

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Cleto Escobedo III Remembered by ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Bandmate
Music

Cleto Escobedo III Remembered by ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Bandmate

by jummy84
written by jummy84


Jimmy Kimmel Live! was hit by tragedy this week when bandleader Cleto Escobedo III died from an undisclosed illness. “To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement,” Kimmel said in a statement. “Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old. The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true.” (Watch Kimmel’s 22-minute monologue tribute here.) The gig was also a dream for Jimmy Kimmel Live! keyboardist/musical arranger Jeff Babko, who worked alongside Escobedo for over 30 years, and considered him one of his closest friends. Babko hopped on the phone with Rolling Stone to look back at their time together. 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen television like Jimmy’s monologue the other night. It was something else. We were all feeling a lot, and I think it really showed what kind of family Jimmy created over there. If it’s not legit blood family, it’s one step removed. It’s pretty deep. And with Cleto gone, it’s all hitting hard. These events — the good ones and the bad ones — show our little show-family at its closest. It’s not making it easy.

I met Cleto in 1994. I was just out of college, on my first tour with Julio Iglesias. We’d play Caesars Palace a few times a year in the old Circus Maximus ballroom, the last of the old Vegas rooms still standing. Cleto’s dad was the valet, the butler backstage. Sammy Davis Jr. had gotten him that job years before, and Julio absolutely loved him. Cleto Sr. spoke Spanish, understood Julio in ways most people didn’t — his needs, his personality. He introduced himself to me right away, the friendliest guy, and he treated us musicians with this deep respect when most people treated us like the help. Only later did I learn he had been a musician himself, which explained everything.

Every time I was backstage, Cleto Sr. would tell me, “You gotta meet my son. He’s in L.A. He’s new to town. You’re the L.A. guy.” And then I came home and started following this band, Cecilia Noel and the Wild Clams. Wild is an understatement. Part Latin, part funky L.A. music, part simulated sex show, part complete insanity. Monday nights, Thursday nights — I was there every chance I got. Cecilia eventually asked me to join; I didn’t need rehearsal. I’d memorized the whole show just by being in the room.

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Jeff Babko and Cleto Escobedo III

Courtesy of Jeff Babko

And Cleto Jr. was in that band. Singing, playing sax. We really bonded there. One night after a gig, we all ended up at Jerry’s Famous Deli in Studio City. Cleto was holding court with the backup singers, telling horrible stories about his ex-girlfriend, animated and loose and hilarious. And I remember thinking, How do I not know this guy? He liked the way I played, especially the wah-wah pedal I used on keyboards. We kind of found each other right away — instant click. We became inseparable from that Jerry’s Deli moment.

We started doing everyday life together — cotton commercial auditions with the whole 13-piece band shoved into a tiny casting office (the band didn’t get the spot, but the overweight trumpet player did, which we thought was hilarious). We were broke together. If one of us needed $100 to get through the weekend, whoever had it loaned it. We ended up in the same apartment building — he was downstairs, I was upstairs. We hung out constantly. We built a little act at Café Cordiale on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, playing twice a month for six years. He was too humble to make a fool of himself onstage, and I had no problem doing that for both of us. That little band became the nucleus of the Cletones.

By the early 2000s, our Cordiale gig had become a kind of valley sensation — part middle-aged pickup joint, part musicians hang, and absolutely packed. Rumor was Jimmy Kimmel was going to get his own show after The Man Show ended. One night Jimmy came in with [executive] Lloyd Braun from ABC. We did our act — R&B, Stevie Wonder, Rufus, some bizarre Borscht Belt rock-and-roll humor. Lloyd stayed for three songs, smiled, left. Next thing we knew, we had a gig. This was late 2002.

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Cleto was out with Marc Anthony at the time, and I was juggling touring with Toto and working on The Martin Short Show. But the call came: help build the show open, figure out the music. We all knew most shows aren’t built to last — three weeks and gone. But we knew we loved Jimmy, and we knew we loved Cleto. We were all in.

The early days of Kimmel were chaos. Total party. The green room was a party. The show was trying to be what late night really was in Hollywood, which, it turns out, is not sustainable. We’d get three-week, six-week, nine-week pickups. The smell of pizza at rehearsal meant celebration: We got renewed again. That was how we lived. Two years in, it started to feel like maybe we would stick around.

Cleto had zero experience as a bandleader. None. If you asked him, he’d say, “I just hired the baddest motherfuckers I know and hoped for the best.” And that’s exactly what he did. Thankfully, Toshi [Yanagi],and I had done the Martin Short Show, the Wayne Brady Show, a few pilots — we had enough TV tricks to keep the train on the tracks. And Cleto trusted us. Always. He hired people he knew knew more than he did, which made him the best kind of leader.

Watching him with his dad was something beyond words. His dad had hung up his horn to get a steady job, to raise a family. He hung up his dreams. So when he picked up that horn again — because his son was giving him the stage he deserved — it was powerful. Music did what words could never do. It was soul-to-soul transmission. All of us — me, Toshi, Junior — we’re only children. That bond with a parent is deep. The three of them had this magic triangle. When Senior played with Junior, it was like watching someone step back into the life they were meant to live.

Musically, Cleto loved groove. He loved Stevie Wonder, Rufus, Donny Hathaway, Tower of Power, Sting. He loved the truth. His playing was soulful, genuine — no math, no patterns, no cerebral showing-off. Just purpose and soul. Every note meant something.

We connected deeply on early Late Night With David Letterman — Paul Shaffer, Steve Jordan, Hiram Bullock. If you shared that OG Letterman DNA, you instantly understood each other’s humor, timing, worldview. Letterman was our connective tissue. It fast-tracked me into his life, and honestly into Jimmy’s.

Kimmel and Escobedo in 2012

Richard Cartwright/Disney General Entertainment/Getty Images

As the show evolved, our music evolved. Early on we were trying to pilfer the KROQ playlist — Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters — instrumental versions that kept the energy young. But as the show grew up, we leaned into what two saxophones are supposed to do. A little more classy, a little jazzier. And Cleto always trusted me to write music that featured what we did well. He gave us freedom. If I needed to miss a show to record a film score, he insisted I go. “You never know how long a show will last,” he’d say. He was never threatened. He just wanted his people to shine.

And now — now that he’s gone — it’s hard to imagine coming back without him. For decades, Toshi, Cleto, and I could communicate entire conversations with a single look. Cultural opposites, but an only-children family. One of us is missing now.

The end was brutal. He got sick, and I won’t go into details, but I’ve never seen doctors and nurses love a patient like they loved him. He knew every RN, every tech, every doctor. Even when he couldn’t communicate, they experienced Cleto through us. They felt his spirit. I’ve never seen medical professionals break down like that. It was a testament to him — his kindness, his light.

Jimmy got everything right in that monologue, except one thing: it was a BB gun, not a shotgun, shooting down kites. Cleto corrected that story eight times. But Jimmy painted the picture. Cleto was humble. He wanted respect, but hated attention. Hard place to live. Those who knew, knew. And he got his flowers.

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Standing next to his dad during that monologue… I’ve never had to try that hard to be the strong one. His dad showed up in a suit, with his horn, ready to play. We played Grover Washington — the solo Cleto had air-saxophoned in his hospital bed just a week earlier. We played a song Cleto and I wrote for his mom 30 years ago. And we were going to play “Hard Times” by Ray Charles. I said to Senior: “That’s kind of your song, are you OK to play it? I thought we would play it without a sax, just as a tribute to you guys.” And his dad said, “You know, Jeff, I always hoped that he would play this when I died. This is wrong. It wasn’t supposed to go this way. But I have to play this for Junior.” And he played like I’ve never heard anyone play.

So we know this wasn’t by choice. He fought until the bitter end to stay here for his family. Last night, his his wife said, “I never wanted to do this alone.” And I said, “You couldn’t be less alone.” He spent a lifetime building friendships — deep, wide, loyal friendships. A chosen brotherhood. And I’m just so lucky I got to be his friend.

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Jimmy Kimmel and Cleto Escobedo III
TV & Streaming

Jimmy Kimmel Remembers His Longtime Bandleader Cleto Escobedo III

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Jimmy Kimmel is paying tribute to Cleto Escobedo III, his childhood best friend and longtime bandleader for his late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, who died on Tuesday at 59.

During his 22-minute monologue (below), which he called his “hardest” to date, the host recalled tons of memories he shared with Escobedo over the years. The pair became best friends as children after Kimmel’s family moved in across the street from Escobedo’s home in Las Vegas. Once Kimmel later landed his show at ABC in 2003, he brought Escobedo and his band, Cleto and the Cletones, along since the beginning.

“We had so many adventures,” Kimmel said through tears during Tuesday’s show. “We would laugh so hard. We had our own language that almost no one else understood. We didn’t have to say anything. We’d sit here at rehearsal every day. We didn’t have to look at each other. I knew he was thinking about looking at me and I was thinking about looking at him. We look at each other like this and that would be it.”

Kimmel continued, “We loved all the same things. Baseball, fishing, boxing, [Muhammad] Ali, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen, Michael McDonald, Huey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, and most of all, we love David Letterman. We never missed David Letterman. And the first time I was on the [Late Show with David Letterman] was in 1999. It was a really big deal for both of us. That afternoon before the show, I was so nervous. I was walking in New York City, just walking fast, trying to burn off the nervous energy, and I called him just so we could be amazed together that this was happening and it was an amazing thing.”

The comedian went on to praise how “phenomenal” a saxophone player Escobedo was from a young age: “He was a child prodigy who would get standing ovations in junior high school, if you can imagine that.” And once ABC hired Kimmel to host Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he knew he had to bring his best friend along for the journey.

“One day in September of 2002, I got a talk show just out of nowhere. I had a meeting with an executive at ABC named Lloyd Braun and he hired me to host this show. And when you do a show like this, you need a few things. You need a desk, you need an announcer, you need a Guillermo and you need a band. And of course, I wanted Cleto to lead my band,” Kimmel explained. “The idea that anyone other than him would lead the band was terrifying. It had to be him. I was so scared they would say no and I would have to have another band.”

Kimmel eventually found the courage to pitch the idea to ABC, and said Escobedo and his father ended up auditioning for the job together.

“Not only did I want Cleto to lead the band, I wanted his dad to be in the band. So, I pitched it to Lloyd,” he recalled. “Cleto and his dad did a special song. They played ‘Pick Up the Pieces’ by the Average White Band, which is two saxophones. And Lloyd saw it. He saw the father and son together. He said, ‘I love it.’ And he just got up and left. And we’ve been working together every day for almost 23 years now.”

An emotional Kimmel added, “I’ve often said that the single best thing about doing this show was getting the opportunity to allow Cleto Senior to pick up where he left off in 1966 and become a musician again with his son.”

The host continued to express how much “everyone loves Cleto,” and that “everyone here at the show, we are devastated.” He also noted that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be taking a few nights off following Escobedo’s death.

“Even though I’m heartbroken to lose him,” a teary-eyed Kimmel continued, “I’m going to take yet another lesson from him and acknowledge how lucky I was to have him literally at my side for so many years.”

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Who Is Leon Thomas III? 5 Things on the 2026 Grammys Nominee – Hollywood Life
Hollywood

Who Is Leon Thomas III? 5 Things on the 2026 Grammys Nominee – Hollywood Life

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Image Credit: Billboard via Getty Images

Here’s everything to know about Leon Thomas III, from his early days and creative collaborations today.

He Got His Start on Broadway as a Child

Leon began performing at a young age, showing his talent long before he became a familiar face on TV. Born on August 1, 1993, in Brooklyn, New York, he made his Broadway debut at just 10 years old as Young Simba in The Lion King.

He went on to appear in several stage productions, including Caroline, or Change and The Color Purple, earning early praise for his powerful vocals and stage presence — skills that would later define his music career.

He Rose to Fame on Nickelodeon’s Victorious

Leon became a household name after landing the role of Andre Harris on Nickelodeon’s hit series Victorious, which ran from 2010 to 2013. His character — a talented musician and loyal best friend to Tori Vega (played by Victoria Justice) — showcased Leon’s real-life musical ability, as he often performed original songs on the show. The role not only made him a fan favorite but also helped him transition naturally into a recording and producing career after the series ended.

He’s Nominated at the 2026 Grammys

Leon’s hard work in music has officially paid off. His 2024 album MUTT earned him multiple Grammy nominations at the 2026 Grammy Awards, including nods for Best Progressive R&B Album and Best R&B Performance. The project has been praised for blending neo-soul, alternative, and modern R&B influences, solidifying Leon as one of the most exciting new voices in the genre.

He’s Also an Acclaimed Songwriter and Producer

Outside of his own music, Leon is a Grammy-winning producer and songwriter with credits spanning some of today’s biggest hits. As part of the production duo The Rascals, he has co-written and produced tracks for Grande, Post Malone, Kehlani, and Giveon. Most notably, he earned a Grammy Award for his work on SZA’s hit single “Snooze.”

He’s Collaborated With Artists Like Drake and SZA

Leon’s creative fingerprints are all over modern R&B and hip-hop. He collaborated with Drake on the song “Pipe Down” from the rapper’s 2021 album Certified Lover Boy and has continued working closely with SZA, contributing both vocals and production to several of her projects.

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Ca7riel and Paco Armoros perform at III Points Miami. (Credit: Adi Adinayev for III Points)
Music

New Animal, Same Portal: A Dispatch from III Points Miami

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Friday, October 17

I arrived as the sun set. Erika De Casier’s “Two Thieves” rang out softly as I rushed past the guards toward the Mind Melt stage. A small crowd of alt-kids was gathered as close to the front as possible. Erika swayed to a gentle trip-hop drone.   

“Is Nick León present,” she asks, half-teasing. The crowd cheers and points, and sure enough, keeping it casual, one of Miami’s key producers was dancing toward the center back. Erika ends her set with their collab “Bikini”, a swoon-worthy storm of techno and harp that was a strong contender for last year’s song of the summer.

Strolling after her set, I run into (and subsequently walk quickly next to) Caterina Haddad, the Club Space senior marketing manager and Miami nightlife Swiss Army Knife who co-founded the Suero collective/party series alongside León. Her short black hair whips around as we speed toward S3QUENC3, the outdoor scaffolding cube stage that has hosted some of III Points’ best techno moments and will serve as Suero’s stage this year. She’s just dropped off a bunch of capsule zines that capture the party’s universe, and has to show up before dawn tomorrow to set the stage up. “We’re gonna have bubbles and red fabric…we’ve never decorated the stage before, it’s gonna be exciting.”

Phantogram performs at III Points Miami. (Credit: Taylor Regulski for III Points)

Back at Mind Melt, Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso are “tender but gangsta.” The crowd waves their hands to and fro. I run straight to The Player’s Club, a VIP mini-nightclub by the mainstage. My eye catches a small room by the entrance: a small sit-down tea room. This little slice of heaven run by JoJo Tea has apparently been a best-kept secret of the festival’s upper echelon for years. “We’ve been secretly doing this room since 2014, the first [III Points], then after a pause for the pandemic we’ve done all of them since 2021”, says co-founder Mike between pours of a smoky white blend. 

It’s refreshing to take some refuge from the booming techno in the lounge, and the greater outside noise. I end up next to Hunter, a long-time attendee hidden by a bucket hat and sunglasses (I talk to him, also hidden by sunglasses). I ask what keeps him coming back: “Every year it develops a new scent, becomes a new animal, but every year we return and it’s the same portal.”

Full of tea, I run to Sector 3. Sean Paul’s boisterous takeover has everything you’d expect. Between twerking and Jamaican flags feverishly waved, a sweaty mosh pit throws it back to “Temperature”. The crowd walks out as Nelly Furtado’s “Say It Right” plays on the speakers. 

I walk back toward Mana, the internal area that was once the sole host of the festival, which has since grown to a largely outdoor behemoth. I find the festival’s publicist, who tells me I must check out the Despacio sound room. We try to cut the line but not even she’s allowed to. “We’re working the festival,” she pleads with the guard, who retorts “me too,” with the kind of side eye of someone who’s been dealing with Miami partygoers all day. Out of the corner of my eye, a shirtless twink chatters his teeth without blinking and frantically sends a text. Yeah.

Peggy Gou performs at III Points Miami. (Chris Lavado for III Points)
Peggy Gou performs at III Points Miami. (Chris Lavado for III Points)

We eventually sneak in through a back curtain, face-to-face with a circular room where LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Belgian electronic brotherly duo Soulwax (silently tucked away, top of their heads barely visible above a black tarp near the back) have curated an analog sound room for the gods. With the crowd rotating around the gigantic disco ball in the center, techno and funk and French disco on vinyl abound well until 3:00 a.m. both nights. On my way out, I hear “Andy” by Les Rita Mitsouko with the bass turned all the way up.

The Halo 88 stage to the furthermost right of the building is hosting arguably the night’s most lit stage, curated by party collective Masisi’s co-founder Akia Dorsainvil, who DJs as Pressure Point and was celebrating his birthday. A beaming bastion of community, he vamps and blows kisses and tears the decks in two alongside Mr. Bitch, mixing Plan B’s “Guatauba” with transcendental breakbeats. Before giving the stage to Venezuelan Miami mainstay V1fro, Dorsainvil spins a mix of Ne-Yo’s “Closer” with a breakbeat that gives us all the euphoric fist-pounding ending we needed. On the way out, a girl catches her breath, eyes popping out of her head and hair disheveled by the bass: “That stage was crazy…everyone was soooo FOINE.”

Saturday, October 18

It was absolutely criminal that they put James K. on so early when Friend is one of the best records out this year. I could say the same for Oklou, whose set I catch the tail-end of. I can grumble as much as I want about showing up late, but it makes sense to put the ethereal indie acts at sundown…how else can one listen to the fairy voice of “Doom Bikini”, to the electronic hum of “God’s Chariots”? 

Cate made good on her promise: the DJ booth at S3QUENC3 is covered by a large tarp of orange vinyl film with the word “SUERO” cut out in block letters. Colombian Miami DJ Berrakka played a charged b2b set with Houston underground delight Hyperfemme, ending (appropriately) with a breaks remix of a cut from JT’s “City Cinderella”. Jonny from Space and DJ Plead are next on the decks, switching the vibe toward minimal dub by way of trancey beats, tribal drums, and a minimal dub situation that grows gently with each rattle of an electronic shaker. A small crowd begins to gather, everyone ready to let absolutely loose.

L'Imperatrice on stage at III Points Miami. (Adi Adinayev for III Points)
L’Imperatrice on stage at III Points Miami. (Adi Adinayev for III Points)

Upstairs, Dominican experimental producer Diego Raposo and V1fro are stressed about a girl hanging from a rafter. “I think the police got her down,” Diego tells me before the two run off. Downstairs, Tayhana plays to a full floor, spinning guaracha, raptor house, and trance mixed with alt rock and pop from the ’90s and early 2000s: deep cuts by Sinéad O’Connor and the Killers, Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” with a Latin Electronic kick. 

I spend some time talking to a seasoned manager; this is her first time at the festival. “I went to the first Coachella, and now…well, we know what it is,” she says. “I feel like there are still freaks at III Points, like the tech bros haven’t found it yet.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Cate and I giggle later on at the S3QUENC3 entrance, coordinating a time to chat between the two of us running around the grounds. Before she runs off, she adds something true: “I guess it’s big enough of a festival that you can curate your entire experience away from the tech bros!” My mind goes to the polo- and boat shoes-wearing wolf pack I saw earlier at the entrance buying poppers at the smoke shop. I was in line for gum, which they didn’t sell—the cashier felt bad and gave me the last stick of Orbit out of his pocket. 

2hollis performs at III Points Miami. (Credit: Chris Lavado for III Points)
2hollis performs at III Points Miami. (Credit: Chris Lavado for III Points)

Back at Mana, tonight’s Halo 88 set is curated by Gami, Miami’s underground doll extraordinaire, who spins as Ultrathem. I catch Proletar b2b with Vsyana, one of them in a skeleton shirt with a Palestinian keffiyeh wrapped around their waist. German-style hard techno, a meaty bass so engorged it threatens to devour us all, the light smell of amyl nitrate, and not a tech bro in sight.

Before heading back to S3QUENC3, I somehow find another tea room. This one is by the VIP festival entrance, a small outdoor stand run by Haifa Ballol of Haiphanated. I’m still not sure exactly what she sells, but the little open air stand—replete with bottles of pure oud, rose, and leather essence, vintage metalwork seating, hot tea, and a typewriter — has given me enough sanity to keep pushing. 

Back at the Suero takeover, Bambii is mixing Robin S’s “Show Me Love” with Beyoncé’s “Run The World.” The divas are twirling. I find myself near the center when M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” comes on mixed with minimal techno, maybe the festival’s most transcendental moment. Nick León follows, an intimate midnight set that starts soft. The Erika de Casier collab returns, this time bolstered by gentle bongo percussion. The gentle tropical techno of it all expands until it collapses into beat changes, synapses, claps. The bubble machine envelops us in the front. Overwhelming drums barely hide the a capella from a Tainy song: No me importa nada / Yo soy un adicto. He keeps growing, moving us through guaracha, raptor house, and baile funk onward to club heaven. 

Thundercat performs at III Points Miami. (Credit: Adi Adinayev for III Points)
Thundercat performs at III Points Miami. (Credit: Adi Adinayev for III Points)

I find Cate, who spirits me away to the green room as Boy Harsher’s set blisters in the background (pain breaks the rhythm / breaks the rhythm / breaks the rhythm). We’re both exhausted, soon joined by Nick León and his manager, frantically planning to cover a last-minute cancellation at the Suero stage. She explains the stage’s history, her work on Suero specifically (doing, well, everything from management to creative and art direction to marketing) and her own relationship to the festival, one she had first attended in 2017, though she had heard of since the start, a teenager in Broward just starting to get into nightlife. “If I had to make a Venn diagram [of Suero], the center of it is the club [Space] where it was born, and then there’s an outer ring where I guess III Points would fit,” she says. “Then there’s the community outreach, these Ableton music production classes that we wanted to do, and then the gallery…for the festival, they gave us free range to curate a lineup. For me personally it’s also an excuse to make things. I don’t have a bunch of free time to invest into my ‘practice,’ so it definitely mirrors a huge part of my identity in that way.”

The post-cancellation lineup coalesces: Nick León, Berrakka, Jonny From Space, and Hyperfemme tear up the decks for a surprise marathon set. Yasuri Yamileth, Six Sex, techno, breakbeat, and a clear-skied night lit up by Orion’s belt round out the stage to be at this year’s festival, one that’s grown exponentially from an indoor event that sought to mix art and music but keeps an energy that’s all Miami. Sometime around 4:00 a.m., Nick gets off stage and we head to a golf cart that takes us, his manager, and two of his friends from New York to a black SUV. “It’s like we at Coachella,” one of them exclaims as we speed into the night.

We arrive to The Ground for the afters. After sips of Club Space-branded coconuts, we step out before Nick’s set with Ela Minus—who arrives in a flowy black Acne Studios jacket, all smiles to see him—to reminisce about how he got to this point, from a young Florida jit playing keys at early III Points to an emerging DJ in 2015 booked at (RIP) Bardot by Ashley Venom to one of Miami’s most exciting producers at a global level and co-curator of III Points’ most dynamic stage.

“I was reflecting on this with David [Sinopoli, Space’s co-owner and III Point’s co-founder]; it was a collaboration in the way that Cate would say ‘if we did our stage, would this fit?’,” he says of Suero’s dynamic. “We ended up curating in a group effort last year, which is cool. Then this year, being able to do it at the S3QUENC3 stage and having it be a bunch of club music that we really enjoy, like Tayhana, and Bambii….it feels tied to something new.”

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