Rod Wave
Last year, the 21-year-old rapper told Billboard that his first gigs were $500 guarantees for school night strip club shows 20 minutes away from home. All his friends showed up and sang every word, so the promoter booked him over and again. By spring 2020, Wave, real name is Rodarius Marcell Green, was supposed to wrap his 22-date U.S. tour at Jannus Live, a 4.5-mile drive from his old stomping grounds at Lakewood High School. A few weekends ago, Wave played Tampa’s biggest venue, MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, in support of a new album 'SoulFly' which earned him a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. @rodwave on Twitter.
Best of the Bay 2021 Arts & Entertainment: Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's 2021 readers and critics pick the best in local theater, poets, museums and so much more.
Winner: Joel D. Wynkoop
Runners-Up: Michael Ajazi, Michael Kenneth Fahr
Winner: M. Catherine Wynkoop
Runners-Up: Jadyn Mills “Lend Me a Tenor,” Eugenie Bondurant
Tony Krol
As we interviewed Tampa Bay’s Black artists for our Spring Arts Preview, Tony Krol’s name kept coming up. Krol worked with several Black artists in 2020, created murals with them, provided space for them to show their work, and brought them into conversations about curation. The collaborations introduced Tampa Bay to the Black Activist Photographers and New Roots Art Collective. They brought us Tampa’s Black Lives Matter street mural, “Cultural Currency” at Peninsularium, and “Black Storm” at Cafe Hey. Krol knows that Tampa’s diversity is one of its greatest assets, and he’s making sure that diversity is well-represented in Tampa’s art galleries and streets. mergeculture.com
Winner: Drew Garabo Live
Runners-Up: Serrano on Hot 101.5, Mason Dixon
Winner: Painting with a Twist
Runners-Up: SHINE Mural Festival, Creative Clay Fest
Elizabeth Brincklow
Brincklow was born with an unfair advantage. You see, her mother Martha taught “arts and ideas” to generations of students at Dunedin High School. This cultural cocoon launched her to the FSU School of Theatre and the study of mime in Paris. Imaginative gigs in D.C. and NYC forged her keen skills. But the trail she’s blazed across disciplines with major artists over the past three decades since returning to Pinellas County is unmatched. She strategically developed St. Pete’s cultural scene, crafted Creative Pinellas’ grants program and shepherded Dunedin’s Public Art Master Plan and implementation of significant installations. brincklow-arts.com
Winner: “Naked Came the Florida Man” by Tim Dorsey
Runners-Up: “Dogs of the Burg” by Urban Dog Studio, “Curveball at the Crossroads” by Michael Lortz
Winner: Mayven Missbehavin
Runners-Up: Femmes and Follies, Janinie Fatone-Butler
