When I think of Hip Hop and it’s attributes, it reminds me of a long lasting burger joint. It started out just serving hamburgers, but eventually added cheeseburgers, bacon cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, etc. to the menu. In Hip Hop, the burgers are subgenres.
Gangsta Rap, Conscious Rap, and Jazz Rap, among others, help make the culture multidimensional. However, I think Miami Bass is an unsung subgenre.
[Tune In To HipHop-Album-Debate, “The Podcast” Every Tuesday and Friday!]
Miami Bass or Booty Music was brought to the forefront by Uncle Luke, Brother Marquis, Amazing Vee, Mr. Mixx and the late-Fresh Kid Ice, collectively known as 2 Live Crew, in the mid-80s. The Roland TR-808 and up-tempo sexually theme songs were the main components for their 1986 debut, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are which featured hits “We Want Some Pussy” and “Throw the ‘D’.”
Most New York-MC’s thought the South Florida lifestyle on wax wasn’t Hip Hop. However, the fans thought differently. Over the next four years, 2 Live Crew released several highly successful albums, Move Somethin’, As Nasty As They Wanna Be, and Banned In the U.S.A., all reaching Gold or Platinum status.
The “Throw that ‘D'” artists authenticated the sound, in addition to a combination of other Florida artists such as Poison Clan (“Shake What Momma Gave Ya”), MC Luscious (“Boom! I Got Your Boyfriend”), and L’Trimm (“We Like The Cars That Go Boom”).
Contributors would extend outside of the 305 area. Quad City DJ’s, 95 South and 69 Boyz, the former two of Jacksonville and the latter being from Orlando, provided charting-hits under the Miami Bass sound as well.
Speaking of the latter, they were accredited for bringing Miami Bass to mainstream radio in the mid-90’s, a feat 2 Live Crew weren’t able to achieve due to sexual explicit content. 69 Boyz were able to create more radio friendly hits such as “Tootsie Roll” and “Woof Woof.” During an interview with The Radio Angels of Atlanta, HHAD’s extended family, Thrill Da Playa, the front man of the Orlando Florida-based group, reveals that it was all by design.
“It created a lane for us to make that kind of sound that radio could gravitate to,” Thrill says. “Which that’s why our sound was the Florida Bass sound, but just had more commercial and mainstream appeal.”
Georgia artists were licensed Miami Bass dealers, too. MC Shy D, Kilo, and Raheem The Dream, among others, were Atlanta-based artist that provided the dance floor with booty-shaking hits that did well on the charts and ultimately provided several theme songs to the Atlanta famed event, Freaknik.
Shy D, an Atlanta transplant, was signed to Luke’s imprint, Luke Skyywalker Records, in the late 80s.
Many Miami Bass songs and albums have reached the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 throughout the years, yet it hasn’t gotten the proper respect.
Recently, Uncle Luke was honored “I Am Hip-Hop” award at the 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards for his contributions. Though he seemed honored, he didn’t shy away from addressing the neglect he received over the years.
“Nobody never honored me for sh*t,” the Miami Bass founder said. “We got kicked off stage because they said we did booty music, said we weren’t Hip Hop.”
It’s apparent that Hip Hop started in New York, but due to the different beat, style, and rhyme patterns, they set the tone for the disgrace for the Miami Bass sound. Personally, I never understood that. To me, some of the Miami Bass records were similar to New York penned-hits, just told from a different perspective. For example, LL Cool J’s 1989-hit, “Big Ole Butt.” LL raps: “Tina got a big ole butt, I know I told you I’d be true, but Tina got a big ole butt, so I’m leaving you.” MC Luscious tells the same story in her 1991 hit, but she’s playing the role of Tina: “Boom! I got your boyfriend, I got your man.” What’s not Hip Hop about that?
Also, don’t forget to check out HHAD Activity Books.
If you ask me, Miami Bass is a bona fide subgenre and should be paid homage. What you guys think?
Should Miami Bass Get More Recognition?
[Polls Are Closed!]
Absolutely! – 83%
Nah, it was just a fad. – 17%