Music of South Florida
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Music of South Florida is music from the South Florida metropolitan area, which comprises cities such as Miami, West Palm Beach, Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
The South Florida area has been a hub for diverse musical genres. For example, South Florida has been a hub for Southern Rap. Miami, in particular, is a "hub" for Latin Music in the United States.[1] Miami bass (also known as booty music), a prominent hip-hop genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s, got its start in Miami; Luther 'Luke Skyywalker' Campbell and his 2 Live Crew were among the more prominent Miami Bass acts, largely because of an obscenity scandal fomented by Broward County, Florida Sheriff Nick Navarro. Moreover, although not a South Florida native, Jimmy Buffett rose to prominence after moving to Key West, Florida and has long been associated with the "South Florida lifestyle". Other notable South Florida-based musical performers include Gloria Estefan, Marilyn Manson, Mental Crutch, Vanilla Ice, DJ Laz, and Pitbull.
Recording industry
The South Florida recording industry started in Miami in the 1950s with Criteria Studios, recording top selling albums such as Rumours by Fleetwood Mac and Hotel California by The Eagles. Local music entrepreneur Henry Stone and his label, TK Records, created the local indie scene in the 1970s. T. K. Records produced the R&B group KC and the Sunshine Band along with soul singers Betty Wright, George McCrae and Jimmy "Bo" Horne as well as a number of minor soul and disco hits, many influenced by Caribbean music. Tom Dowd a true innovator in the engineering of music worked out of Miami for many years and worked with a plethora of artists, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd just to name a few. Tom Petty also came out of South Florida.
1970s
In the heyday of Disco, South Florida produced such groups as KC and the Sunshine Band. They were on the very same South Florida label that released the first disco song to become a #1 hit on the pop music charts, "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae in 1974. Other artists from that local label include Foxy, Peter Brown, Jimmy "Bo" Horne, Gwen McCrae, T-Connection and Anita Ward.
Cuban and Latino influences
The influence of Cuban culture and music history on the music of South Florida is undeniable. The 1997 hit album Buena Vista Social Club was performed by a group featuring former stars of the Havana nightclub scene, it won a Grammy, became a hit, and was listed in 2003 by Rolling Stone magazine as #260 in The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
MTV Latin America is based in Miami, serving residents in Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, and other Latin American countries since 1993.
EDM
Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and its subgenres have been important in South Florida. Starting in the 1970s with acts like Jimmy Bo Horne and KC and The Sunshine Band, dance music coming out of Florida could be heard all over the world. With the demographics of South Florida being made up of Cuban, Haitian, and many other Afro-Caribbean cultures, Dance Music became very popular adopting a lot of the grooves and percussion from those cultures. Early on the dance scene in South Florida was mostly playing the EDM subgenres Disco, House, and Freestyle. By the 1980s Miami in particular Miami Beach having clubs stay open till 5 AM, and the glut of easily available drugs, its dance scene began to get noticed internationally. In 1985 the Winter Music Conference, a yearly, week-long dance music conference/convention/showcase started in South Florida. The event has happened in Miami every since. WMC as it is also known as, is famous as well for its Ultra Music Festival which happens the same week. By the 1990s many local DJs and producers where getting noticed. Acts like Murk, aka Funky Green Dogs, Planet Soul, and DJs like Robbie Rivera, where all getting air play not just in Florida but around the world. Clubs like Space Crobar, and Mansion also attracted first class international DJ as well increasing the musics popularity. Miami would wind up allowing its night clubs to stay open 24 hours on the weekend. Thus increasing the demand for Dance Music. Clubs would regularly have internationally known DJs as well as local acts such as Ivano Belllini, Patrick M, and long list of others spin into the next day. Currently the EDM subgenres popular in South Florida in particular are Deep House, Tech House and Techno.
Miami bass
Miami Bass is a popular style of music from the Miami area of South Florida and is embodied by the musical style of local rap stars such as Trick Daddy.[2] Miami Bass is a part of the robust music scene in the South Florida metropolitan area, which comprises cities such as Miami, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. These cities have many locally famous rappers; and dj's who are on their way up in the rap game.
Miami bass is a booming, bass-heavy style of hip hop that developed in the mid-1980s in Miami. The distinctive sound evolved from electro hop, including sounds from Luther Campbell and his group, 2 Live Crew. The Miami Bass scene that 2 Live Crew typified is simply one form of southern rap and Miami Bass' club-oriented sound garnered little respect from hip hop fans. But the 2 Live crew is not the only music artist in Miami. This city also holds Trick Daddy, DJ Uncle Al, Rick Ross, Trina, Jacki-O, Pitbull, Cool & Dre, DJ Khaled, Smitty, Pretty Ricky, BlackMask and many more. Miami rapper Trick Daddy also grew up in the Liberty Square of the Liberty City section of Miami, one of the city's and America's roughest areas. The city of Miami is also home to the label Slip "N" Slide Records.
Miami bass innovators include Maggotron and Luther Campbell's 2 Live Crew. The lyrics to Miami bass are sexually explicit, so when 2 Live Crew achieved national attention, these explicit lyrics caused a controversy. Several music stores were prosecuted under obscenity laws for selling the disc, and the members of 2 Live Crew were arrested for performing songs from the album Nasty As They Wanna Be The charges were subsequently dropped.[3]
Southern rap
Southern rap is a category of hip hop music that arose from the influences of hip hop culture in New York City and California in the late 1990s in cities such as Miami, New Orleans, Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, and Dallas. Miami and Southern Florida are a major hub and driving force for Southern rap. Floridian artists such as Plies, Epitaph, DJ Laz, Trick Daddy, Urban Horror Clique, DEMONIC, Pitbull, Flo Rida, Randum Shotz, Stack$, JT Money, Lumo Da Gr8, Rick Ross, Trina, Jacki-O, Gold Rush, etc.....
Miami rock & singer songwriters
The Miami rock scene had a particularly successful period in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, sparked by the many rock and acoustic venues within South Beach and Fort Lauderdale, including Washington Square, Roses, the Stephen Talkhouse, Cactus Cantina, South Beach Pub, Blue Steel, the Chili Pepper (Revolution), The Culture Room, Squeeze, Edge, Reunion Room, Nocturnal Cafe, Button South, Plus Five, McFly's and Tavern 213. Popular local artists included The Mavericks, Nuclear Valdez, I Don't Know, Marilyn Manson, The Goods, Collapsing Lungs, Nonpoint, Saigon Kick, Tuff Luck, Vandal, Sin City, Charlie Pickett, The Holy Terrors, Forget the Name, Natural Causes, Peter Betan, Nil Lara, Diane Ward, The Broken Toys, Ed Hale, Matthew Sabatella, Zac, Paul Roub, Dennis Britt, Harry Pussy, Magda Hiller, Quit, Load, Dore Soul, Eyes of Pandora, Sixo, Brian Franklin, Itanna, Curious Hair, Robbie Gennett, Rudy, Restless Spirits, the Baboons, Purple Mustard, Brian Scheinhoft aka BeShine and "The Ekeouts," The Weeds, Tommy Anthony & Goza, Four O'Clock Balloon, Machete, and Amanda Green.
A local producer and noise-artist from the Miami Rock Scene, Rat Bastard, has recently been celebrated in a rock opera, entitled "Hearing Damage (aka the Rat Opera)". The Rat Opera, written by local performers Brian Franklin and Rob Elba, features Rene Alvarez playing the part of Rat. Rat co-founded the group To Live and Shave in L.A. in 1993.
This list is not complete without mentioning the Lesley Daunt led Lyrics For Lunch, acoustically driven rock featuring John Reece, Kathi George and Eric Levierre (sp) the band remained in heavy demand through the early 90s playing to packed local clubs and being regularly featured on local FM radio. The band traveled to Indianapolis for a showcase show during the week of the 75th running of the Indy 500 motorsports event.
See also
References
- ↑ "Oye Como Va!". Miami Magazine. Retrieved 2006-11-08.
- ↑ "Trick Daddy's Official Website". Trick Daddy. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
- ↑ "2 Live Crew Biography". All Music.com. Retrieved 2006-11-08.