If you've never heard of moombahton, then clearly you are not one of the Miami bass scene's cool kids, because that's all they've been raving about lately.
So what is moombahton? In order to understand this wacky new electronic dance music style, you have to go back to the fall of 2009 and a Washington, D.C. kid called Dave Villegas, AKA Dave Nada.
The young DJ was playing a set at his cousin's high-school homecoming party when he randomly slowed down Afrojack's fidget house remix of Silvio Ecomo & DJ Chuckie's "Moombah" to 108 beats per minute (the approximate tempo of reggaeton) with unexpectedly cool results.
Inspired, he would go home and spend the next few months in the studio giving birth to the "moombahton" sound -- named after that fateful "Moombah" track and the "-ton" in "reggaeton" -- and releasing his seminal debut EP on T & A Records. The rest, as they say, is history.
With its sleazy, crunky fusion of fidget, booty bass, and reggaetonesque rhythms, Miami is the perfect breeding ground for moombahton, and several locals have already caught on. Among them are Somejerk (Miami New Times' Best New Electronica Artist of 2010) and Miami-slash-Puerto Rico production duo Mango Troops.
Catch them along with Never Yawn, Ashworth, and Shake resident DJs at the Vagabond this Thursday if you're even slightly curious about the new moombahton craze.
Shake presents Mango Troops, Somejerk, and others. Thursday, September 30. The Vagabond, 30 NE 14th St., Miami. The party starts at 10 p.m. Call 305-379-0508 or visit thevagabondmiami.com.
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