Miami bass

Miami bass (booty music or booty bass) is a subgenre of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Its roots are directly linked to the electro-funk sound of the early 1980s.

The use of the Roland TR-808 sustained kick drum, raised dance tempos, and frequently sexually explicit lyrical content differentiate it from other hip hop subgenres. 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 historically black neighborhoods such as Liberty City and Overtown".

Miami bass has never found consistent mainstream acceptance, though it has had a profound impact on the development of Baltimore club, West Coast hip hop, funk carioca, and other genres.

History

1980s

During the 1980s, the focus of Miami bass tended to be on DJs and record producers, rather than individual performers. Record labels such as Pandisc, HOT Records, 4-Sight Records and Skyywalker Records released much material of the genre. Unterberger has referred to James (Maggotron) McCauley (also known as DXJ, Maggozulu 2, Planet Detroit and Bass Master Khan) as the "father of Miami bass", a distinction McCauley himself denies, choosing rather to confer that status on producer Amos Larkins.

Bass

Bass or Basses may refer to:

Fish

Music

Bass Rock

The Bass Rock, or simply the Bass,/ˈbæs/, is an island in the outer part of the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. Approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) offshore, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-east of North Berwick, it is a steep-sided volcanic rock, 107 metres (351 ft) at its highest point, and is home to a large colony of gannets. The rock is currently uninhabited, but historically has been settled by an early Christian hermit, and later was the site of an important castle, which after the Commonwealth period was used as a prison. The island is in the ownership of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple, whose family acquired it in 1706, and before that belonged to the Lauder family for almost six centuries. The Bass Rock Lighthouse was constructed on the rock in 1902, and the remains of an ancient chapel survive.

The Bass Rock features in many works of fiction, including Robert Louis Stevenson's Catriona and The Lion is Rampant by the Scottish novelist Ross Laidlaw.

Geography and geology

Maggotron

Maggotron (born James McCauley, and also known as DXJ, Maggozulu 2, Planet Detroit and Bass Master Kahn) is one of the pioneers of Bass music. He uses samples from many sources, and is influenced by Parliament, Funkadelic and Earth Wind and Fire among others. In 2000, he worked together with his former engineer Bass Mekanik on the album Bass Alien - Tales from the Lo-Zone. In 2001, he mixed and compiled a CD featuring Miami bass classics for empirewerks music: Super Bass - Original Old School Booty Shakers. The same year, his compilation Electro Jamz from the Vaults of Jamron Records brought Miami bass and electro tracks from his early days as a producer and performer. Due to pressure from Pandisc Records, the humour in his later work for Pandisc became less notable.

DXJ's earlier work was characterised by its humorous approach, which can also be seen in his use of pseudonyms. Musically, DXJ's music is characterised by its use of electro/bass beats and rock guitars, as well as vocal samples from all kinds of sources. Cultural and ethnic diversity are also part of the fabric of Maggotron's sound. Men and women of various nationalities have helped work to achieve the sound that Maggotron is noted for.

Miami

Miami (/maɪˈæmi/; Spanish pronunciation: [maiˈami]) is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County. The 44th-most populated city proper in the United States, with a population of 417,650, it is the principal, central, and most populous city of the Miami metropolitan area, and the most populous metropolis in the Southeastern United States after Washington, D.C. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Miami's metro area is the eighth-most populous and fourth-largest urban area in the United States, with a population of around 5.5 million.

Miami is a major center, and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2012, Miami was classified as an Alpha−World City in the World Cities Study Group's inventory. In 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked 33rd among global cities. In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Miami "America's Cleanest City", for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets, and city-wide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, and the world's fifth-richest city in terms of purchasing power. Miami is nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America", is the second largest U.S. city with a Spanish-speaking majority, and the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality.