Freestyle music
Freestyle,[10] or Latin freestyle[4] (initially called Latin hip hop) is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area, Philadelphia, and Miami, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s.[2] It experienced its greatest popularity from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. A common theme of freestyle lyricism originated as heartbreak in an urban environment typified by New York City.
This article is about a genre of electronic dance music. For the freestyle form of rhyming in music, see freestyle rap.Freestyle
Latin freestyle, Latin hip hop
Early 1980s, United States: New York/New Jersey metropolitan area,[2][3] Philadelphia and Miami[5][6][7] (especially among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans)
An important precursor to freestyle is 1982's "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force. Shannon's 1983 hit "Let the Music Play" is often considered the first freestyle song and the first major song recorded by a Latin American artist is "Please Don't Go" by Nayobe from 1984. From there, freestyle gained a large presence in American clubs, especially in New York and Miami. Radio airplay followed in the mid 1980s.[11]
Performers such as Exposé, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Stevie B and Sweet Sensation gained mainstream chart success with the genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but its popularity largely faded by the end of the decade. Both classic and newer freestyle output remain popular as a niche genre in Brazil (where it is an influence on funk carioca), Germany and Canada.
History[edit]
1982–1987: Origin[edit]
Freestyle music developed in the early 1980s, primarily simultaneously in the Hispanic (mainly Puerto Rican) communities of Upper Manhattan and The Bronx and in the Italian-American communities in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and other boroughs of New York City, New Jersey, Westchester County and Long Island. It initially was a fusion of synthetic instrumentation and syncopated percussion of 1980s electro, as favored by fans of breakdancing. Sampling, as found in synth-pop music and hip-hop, was incorporated. Key influences include Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force's "Planet Rock" (1982) and Shannon's "Let the Music Play" (1983), the latter was a top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hit.[12] In 1984, a Latin presence was established when the first song recorded in the genre by a Latin American artist, "Please Don't Go", by newcomer Nayobe (a singer from Brooklyn and of Afro-Cuban descent) was recorded and released.[13] The song became a success, reaching No. 23 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In 1985, a Spanish version of the song was released with the title "No Te Vayas". By 1987, freestyle began getting more airplay on American pop radio stations. Songs such as "Come Go with Me" by Exposé, "Show Me" by the Cover Girls, "Fascinated" by Company B, "Silent Morning" by Noel, and "Catch Me (I'm Falling)" by Pretty Poison, brought freestyle into the mainstream. House music, based partly on disco rhythms, was by 1992 challenging the relatively upbeat, syncopated freestyle sound.[14] Pitchfork considers the Miami Mix of ABC's single "When Smokey Sings" to be proto-freestyle, despite that version being released in 1987.[15] Many early or popular freestyle artists and DJs, such as Jellybean, Tony Torres, Raul Soto, Roman Ricardo, Lil Suzy, and Nocera were of Hispanic or Italian ancestry, which was one reason for the style's popularity among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the New York City area and Philadelphia.
1988: pop crossover[edit]
Freestyle's Top 40 Radio airplay started to really take off by 1987, and it began to disappear from the airwaves in the early 1990s[14] as radio stations moved to Top 40-only formats. Artists such as George Lamond, Exposé, Sweet Sensation, and Stevie B were still heard on mainstream radio, but other notable freestyle artists did not fare as well. Carlos Berrios and Platinum producer Frankie Cutlass used a freestyle production on "Temptation" by Corina and "Together Forever" by Lisette Melendez. The songs were released in 1991, almost simultaneously, and caused a resurgence in the style when they were embraced by Top 40 radio. "Temptation" reached the number 6 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. These hits were followed by the success of Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, who had been one of the earliest freestyle acts. Their records were produced by Full Force, who had also worked with UTFO and James Brown.
Several primarily freestyle artists released ballads during the 1980s and early 1990s that crossed over to the pop charts and charted higher than their previous work. These include "Seasons Change" by Exposé, "Thinking of You" by Sa-Fire, "One More Try" by Timmy T, "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)" by Stevie B, and "If Wishes Came True" by Sweet Sensation. Brenda K. Starr reached the Hot 100 with her ballad "I Still Believe". Freestyle shortly thereafter gave way to mainstream pop artists such as MC Hammer, Paula Abdul, Bobby Brown, New Kids on the Block, and Milli Vanilli (with some artists utilizing elements of freestyle beginning in the 1980s) using hip hop beats and electro samples in a mainstream form with slicker production and MTV-friendly videos. These artists were successful on crossover stations as well as R&B stations, and freestyle was replaced as an underground genre by newer styles such as new jack swing, trance and Eurodance. Despite this, some freestyle acts managed to garner hits well into the 1990s, with acts such as Cynthia and Rockell scoring minor hits on the Billboard Hot 100 as late as 1998. As this new music style took over many big cities in America, the labels that signed these artist such as Columbia, Warner Bros, and other labels did not know how to market these artist originally.[16] Instead of pushing this style of music as a solidified sound, the labels separated the cities. This caused the Miami sound of freestyle music to be more popularized through the radio compared to NYC's sound at the time. The labels who pushed out low quality tracks ended up hurting themselves, instead of making the track a quality piece of music. [17] This is part of the reason freestyle music never reached its full potential.
Post-freestyle era[edit]
Freestyle remained a largely underground genre with a sizable following in New York, but has recently seen a comeback in the cities where the music originally experienced its greatest success. New York City impresario Steve Sylvester and producer Sal Abbatiello of Fever Records launched Stevie Sly's Freestyle Party show at the Manhattan live music venue, Coda on April 1, 2004. The show featured Judy Torres, Cynthia, and the Cover Girls and was attended by several celebrity guests. The Coda show was successful, and was followed by a summer 2006 Madison Square Garden concert that showcased freestyle's most successful performers. New freestyle releases are popular with enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Miami rapper Pitbull collaborated with Miami freestyle artist Stevie B to create an updated version of Stevie B's hit, "Spring Love".
Currently, freestyle music continues to have a thriving fanbase in certain parts of the country, with New York City Italian-American DJs such as Bad Boy Joe and Louie DeVito helping to maintain an active freestyle scene in the NYC metro area.[18] In cities like New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, recent concerts by freestyle artists have been extremely successful, with many events selling out.