Miami bass

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Miami bass (also known as booty music, a term that may also include other genres, such as dirty rap), is a type of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. It is known for applying the Roland TR-808 sustained kick drum, slightly higher dance tempos, and occasionally sexually explicit lyrical content. Music author Richie Unterberger has characterized Miami bass as using rhythms with a "stop start flavor" and "hissy" cymbals with lyrics that "reflected the language of the streets, particularly Miami's black ghettos such as Liberty City and Overtown" ^[1]. Miami bass has never had consistent mainstream acceptance, but has had a profound impact on the development of drum and bass, Baltimore Club, Southern rap, funk carioca, and other genres of music. Unterberger has called James (Maggotron) McCauley (also known as DXJ, Maggozulu 2, Planet Detroit and Bass Master Khan), the "father of Miami bass". But, strangely enough, Maggotron claims even by his own admittance that he is not the "father" of Miami bass - a claim that Unterberger makes in his book. James McCauley admits that Unterberger clearly misquotes him and that it is not him but “Amos Larkins who should be called the Father of Miami Bass "bar none, no exceptions, hands down”. In the 80s, the focus of Miami bass was on the DJs and record producers rather than the performers. Record labels like Pandisc were also well-known. "Bass Rock Express" by MC ADE music and beats produced by Amos Larkins is often credited as the first Miami bass record that gained underground popularity on an international scale.

Luther 'Luke Skyywalker' Campbell, of the crew 2 Live Crew, did the most to popularize Miami bass in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are, released in 1986, became controversial for sexually explicit and profane lyrics. The 1989 As Nasty As They Wanna Be, and its hit single "Me So Horny", was even more controversial and led to legal troubles for 2 Live Crew and retailers; all charges were eventually overturned on appeal. Miami bass popularity was in part successful due to the promotion it received in the South Florida area by local DJs, radio and clubs. For the better part of the mid 80’s to early 90’s DJs such as Luke Skyywalker’s Ghetto Style DJs, Norberto Morales’ Triple M DJs, Space Funk DJ's, Mohamed Moretta, DJ Nice & Nasty, Felix Sama, Ramon Hernandez, Lazaro Mendez (DJ Laz) and others were heavily involved in playing Miami bass at local outdoor events to large audiences at area beaches, parks, and fairs. Clubs in South Florida including Pac-Jam, Superstars Rollertheque, Bass Station, Studio 183, Randolphs, Nepenthe, Video Powerhouse, Skylight Express, Beat Club and Club Boca were hosting bass nights on a regular basis. Radio airplay and programming support was strong in the now defunct Rhythm 98, as well as WEDR, and WPOW (Power 96). Disco Rick debuted with the Gucci Crew first in 1986 and then later released The Dogs album in 1988, and after that signed a solo deal with Luke Records in 1993 and created a hit single "Wiggle Wiggle". Disco Rick has been the first bass artist that turned into well known studio engineer and producer outside of the genre of bass music, opening doors for others to come work with him. By bringing "Bone Thugs-N-Harmony" in changed Miami significantly when they worked with Disco Rick and he produced a bass track on the Mo Thugs album called "Its All Good". Later, Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz came to Miami at the same studio to work with Disco Rick on first single of "Kings Of Krunk". Crunk thus may be viewed as a sub-genre of Miami bass. Another well known sub-genre of Miami bass is "car audio bass" with artists such as Techmaster P.E.B., DJ Magic Mike, Beat Dominator, Bass 305, Bass Mekanik, Quad Force, Bass Patrol, MC ADE, and many others. This style of Miami bass features an even more stripped down and bass heavy sound, tending to focus on either extremely hard 909 kicks combined with sine waves or the classic 808 kick, or sometimes just the sine wave by itself as the main focus of the track. Miami bass is closely related to the modern genres of Ghettotech and Booty House, genres which combine Detroit techno and Chicago house with the Miami bass sound. Ghettotech follows the same sexually oriented lyrics, hip-hop basslines and streetwise attitude but with harder, uptempo Roland TR-909 techno-style kick beats.

Revival

Bellingham, WA is where the Miami bass revival movement began. It began at a local party house ("The Poon saloon") and has rapidly spread across the city of Bellingham, as well as other places in the State of Washington.

References

• Papawheelie. "Miami Bass: The Primer" http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/miami-bass-the-primer.htm
• Unterberger, Richie (1999). Music USA: The Rough Guide. The Rough Guides, 144-145. ISBN 1-85828-421-X. 

External links

• 100 Greatest Miami Bass Songs
• A comprehensive article detailing the evolution of Miami bass.
• A primer on Miami bass from Stylus Magazine.