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The Gucci Crew II was a Miami bass group popular between 1986 and 1994. The group was made up of MC V and TFS (aka 240 Shorty), along with Disco Rick, who was their DJ early on.
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The Gucci Crew II was a Miami bass group popular between 1986 and 1994. The group was made up of MC V and TFS (aka 240 Shorty), along with Disco Rick, who was their DJ early on.
Their first song, "Gucci Bass", was inspired by LL Cool J's "Rock the Bells", and much like Gigolo Tony's 1986 hit, it utilized The Smurfs' theme song as the hook. The track was produced by Amos Larkins II in late 1986, making it a regional hit in early 1987.
As Larkins went into semi-retirement for a few years, Disco Rick assumed the role of producer. They released the album So Def, So Fresh, So Stupid in 1987, which became a hugely successful album locally on the heels of 2 Live Crew's debut album. The success was only heightened as the campy single, "Sally, That Girl", caught fire outside of Florida that same year, which over time proved to be their signature song.
In 1988, the trio released What Time is It? It's Gucci Time, and was quickly embraced by the emerging car audio bass market. Tensions arose as the final version of the album featured a parody of Doug E. Fresh's "La Di Da Di", which went against Disco Rick's wishes. As a result, Rick left the unit to form The Dogs, and Gucci Crew suddenly found themselves without a DJ and producer.
As a duo, Gucci Crew began work on their third album, Everybody Wants Some in 1989, utilizing Hot Productions' in-house producer, Larry Davis. Davis had not only been a member of the highly successful disco-funk group Instant Funk, but had produced national hits for Gucci Crew's label mates L'Trimm the previous year, which led L'Trimm to a licensing deal with Atlantic Records. In a maximum effort promotional campaign, Hot Productions bought time for an interview on B.E.T.'s "Rap City" video show for both L'Trimm and Gucci Crew. Despite all the effort, Everybody Wants Some failed to impress Gucci Crew's core audience, and it also failed to attract new fans. Tensions between the group and the label came to a boil.
The following year, Gucci Crew hired a new DJ and producer named Hollywood, and released their fourth and final album, G4. The initial single, "Pushin'", received airplay on Yo! MTV Raps, but again failed to gain attention. It was the group's next single, "Booty Shake", that became a club anthem in the south eastern United States in 1990/1991 and gained the act a whole new fanbase for a brief period.
By the end of 1991, the Miami bass scene went through a complete makeover. 2 Live Crew had officially announced their breakup, sample clearance issues halted productions for many groups, and a couple of breakthrough hits had changed the focus of the music to higher tempos for "booty shake" contests. It took until 1994 for any new material to come out under the Gucci Crew moniker. The two singles, "Erase Ya Face" and "Spikin' The Funky Punch", did not meet the new standards for the Miami bass scene. Although the act now only featured 240 Shorty and the singles failed to gain any substantial attention, Gucci Crew II continued to conduct underground birthday parties for young children under the moniker "Goofy Crew II". The label closed out Gucci Crew's contract by funding no new productions, maximizing their existing catalog by releasing a greatest hits compilation later that year.
In December 2007, MC V (Victor May) was shot 6 times in the back and killed in Americus, Georgia. He was buried in Ocala, Florida. Disco Rick was the only former Gucci Crew II member that attended his funeral.[ citation needed ]
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House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, House became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat.
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Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Florida—often titled "The Big 5," five states which constitute the "Southern Network" in rap music.
Miami bass is a subgenre of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The use of drums from the Roland TR-808, sustained kick drum, heavy bass, 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, Goulds, and Overtown".
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "Get Down Tonight", "That's the Way ", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Boogie Shoes", "Please Don't Go", and "Give It Up". The band took its name from lead vocalist Harry Wayne Casey's last name ('KC') and the 'Sunshine Band' from KC's home state of Florida, the Sunshine State. The group had five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1970s.
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B.T. Express was an American funk/disco group that had a number of successful songs during the 1970s.
L'Trimm was a Miami bass hip-hop duo composed of Bunny D and Lady Tigra. Originally from Coconut Grove, Florida, they recorded three albums for Atlantic Records: Grab It! in 1988, Drop That Bottom in 1989, and Groovy in 1991.
Naeem Juwan Hanks, better known by his stage name Spank Rock, is an American rapper and songwriter from Baltimore. He rose to fame with his 2006 album YoYoYoYoYo, which was produced by former group member Alex Epton (XXXChange). A harbinger of post-millennial alternative rap, the duo became known for its mixing of disparate hip hop and club genres, including Baltimore club, Miami bass, electro music and rock.
Dynamix II is an American DJ act and record label specializing in electro, Florida breaks, and Miami bass. Their 1986 single "Just Give The DJ A Break", reached gold status. Over 600,000+ units of the record were sold and the song reached No. 50 in the United Kingdom in 1987. The record, was considered to be a "formative and influential" in the Miami-bass genre. The track was one of first Miami Bass records to use a Roland TR 808 bass drum.
Danny Robledo, better known as Hypno5ive or Hypno5 is an alternative music DJ, artist, promoter, designer and publisher of a music website of the same name that offers news and reviews focusing on industrial, ebm, darkwave, gothic, post-punk and alternative genres.
The music of Miami is a diverse and important field in the world of music. The Greater Miami area has long been a hub for diverse musical genres. For example, South Florida has been a hub for Southern Rap. Miami, in particular, is a "hub" for Latin Music in the United States. Miami bass, a prominent hip-hop genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s, got its start in Miami; Luther "Luke Skyywalker" Campbell and his 2 Live Crew were among the more prominent Miami Bass acts, largely because of an obscenity scandal fomented by Broward County, Florida Sheriff Nick Navarro. Moreover, although not a South Florida native, Jimmy Buffett rose to prominence after moving to Key West, Florida and has long been associated with the "South Florida lifestyle". Other notable South Florida-based musical performers include Gloria Estefan, Marilyn Manson, Leslie Grace, Tony Succar, Vanilla Ice, DJ Laz, and Pitbull.
Noel George Williams, better known as King Sporty, was a Jamaican DJ, reggae musician, and record producer for the Tashamba and Konduko labels. He is best known for co-writing the song, "Buffalo Soldier", made famous by Bob Marley.
Nu-disco is a 21st-century dance music genre associated with a renewed interest in the late 1970s disco, synthesizer-heavy 1980s European dance music styles, and early 1990s electronic dance music. The genre was popular in the early 2000s, and experienced a mild resurgence in the 2010s.
Post-disco is a term and genre to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with the backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and indistinctly ending with the mainstream appearance of new wave in 1980. During its dying stage, disco displayed an increasingly electronic character that soon served as a stepping stone to new wave, old-school hip-hop, Euro disco, and was succeeded by an underground club music called hi-NRG, which was its direct continuation.
David P. Hobbs, also known by his stage name Mr. Mixx, is an American musician and record producer who is the co-founder of the controversial rap group 2 Live Crew. In 1986, the group released the single "Throw The 'D'"; it is now considered the blueprint of Miami bass.
The influence and impact of hip hop was originally shaped from African American and Latino communities in the South Bronx. In the last several decades, the movement has become a worldwide phenomenon which transcends different cultural boundaries as it reaches several ethnic groups, including Asian Americans. Asian American hip-hop practitioners include: MC Jin, Lyrics Born, Dumbfoundead, Tokimonsta, and DJ Q-Bert.
Mark D. Ross, better known by his stage name Brother Marquis, was an American rapper and a Miami bass pioneer. Ross was born in Rochester, New York. In his teens, he moved with his mother to Los Angeles, California. By the early 1980s, Ross started to release music and made an impression on DJ and producer David Hobbs. Hobbs was part of the group 2 Live Crew, who had just created the Miami Bass blueprint, and were successful in Florida. This led Ross accepting an invitation to join them. Due to his comedic sensibilities, Ross integrated easily into the direction the group was taking. Alongside Hobbs, Christopher Wong Won, and Luther Campbell, they became the most well-known line up of the group. In 1986, they had a breakthrough with their Gold-certified debut album, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are.
The 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, that had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's best-known lineup was composed of Uncle Luke, Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, and Brother Marquis. They were considerably controversial in the U.S. due to the sexually explicit content in their songs, particularly on their 1989 album As Nasty as They Wanna Be.
