"Miami bass is the ghetto-style hip-hop that came out of Miami in the '80s," says DJ Jerry Pulles.
From 1989 to 1994, he drove a van loaded with speakers and records from Miami Lakes to Hialeah to Carol City, playing house parties for his friends from American High.
Later, he took a full-time job on Spanish-language radio and eventually moved to Redondo Beach, California, where he does voice-over work. But he never forgot his roots. A year ago, he started MiamiBass.fm, the first and only all-Miami-bass-format radio station in the world.
Here are Pulles' top nine Miami booty bass acts of all time. We at New Times contributed Maggotron ourselves.
10. Splack Pack. "They had 'Shake That Ass,' 'Scrub Da Ground,' 'Let Me See You Work It,'" Pulles recalls. "They were from West Palm Beach, but they really represented that Miami bass sound hard for South Florida."
9. Maggotron. The legend known as Maggotron, AKA James McCauley, is the prototypical electronic home producer, the Bassnectar of his day. Starting with 1983's Computer Funk, he has released a massive array of independent bass music under a series of assumed identities that sampled from a wide variety of sources. His signature sound is a mix of electro beats, rock guitars, and vocals.
8. DJ Jealous J and DJ Jock-D. "They really brought the turntablism and scratching to Miami bass," Pulles explains. "Jim Jonsin became a super-megaproducer who has worked with you-name-it, from Pitbull to Beyoncé. And Jock D actually just did a movie called The Bass That Ate Miami. It's a documentary about Miami bass — what it is and how it came about."
7. Clay D. "He was a producer and actually the guy who discovered Magic Mike, who is something like one of the most successful independent hip-hop artists of all time. He produced everyone from Raheim to Magic Mike to the Get Fresh Girls. And he's a Miami guy. He also made his own music. He had 'Boot the Booty.' You know 'Boot-b-boot-b-b-b-boot that booty.' That's Clay Dixon."
6. Magic Mike. "He was from Orlando," Pulles points out, "one of the guys that Clay D brought into the scene. And Magic Mike was incredibly successful. He was selling platinum, like 2 and 3 million records on his own small independent label. All independent. Millions and millions."
5. Prince Rahiem. "He was part of the Clay D posse too. He had a song called 'Loose My Money,' and he rapped on 'Shake Them Titties' and a bunch of other songs. He's still recording now up in NYC."
4. DJ Laz. "Being from Miami," Pulles says, "he was a pioneer on the radio and did a lot to get local and bass music on Power 96. He eventually became an artist himself alongside Danny D, 'The Voice From the Bottom.' And Laz is still to this day very active. He really put that Latin flavor into Miami bass. As a Cuban kid growing up in Miami, he was a hero to me for playing this music that I loved."
3. Gucci Crew II. "It was 240 Shorty and MC V, and Disco Rick who was also an artist and is over at King of Diamonds now. He was a producer, and Gucci Crew was his group on Hot Productions. I live on the West Coast, and I still hear 'Sally That Girl.' They came out of Miami, and it spread like crazy. They were always real hard Miami representers."
2. Poison Clan. "When they came out, they were known as 'the baby 2 Live Crew,'" Pulles tells us, "like the younger version. J.T. Money and Debonair were high school friends, and they formed that group and really put that street into the music. It wasn't gangster music, but it was real street music from Liberty City."
1. 2 Live Crew. "To me," Pulles insists, "the 2 Live Crew with all four members is the ultimate in Miami booty bass. They're really important, because I kind of call 'em the architects of the sound. That up-tempo 808 bass-heavy music and the dirty rhymes and chants from Luke is kinda like the blueprint. The sound, the up-tempo beats, the bass, the chants, and the Miami pride is what makes 2 Live Crew the greatest."
