Freestyle, or Latin freestyle 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. 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.
New Kids on the Block is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have sold more than 80 million records worldwide, and are often credited for paving the way for future boy bands such as Take That, Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. They won two American Music Awards in 1990 for Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo, or Group and Favorite Pop/Rock Album. In 1991, they performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XXV, a first for a popular music group.
Marco Antonio Muñiz, known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. A four-time Grammy Award, eight-time Latin Grammy Award and twenty-nine-time Lo Nuestro Awards winner, he has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide.
"All Shook Up" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley, published by Elvis Presley Music, and composed by Otis Blackwell. The single topped the U.S. Billboard Top 100 on April 13, 1957, staying there for nine weeks. It also topped the Billboard R&B chart for four weeks, becoming Presley's second single to do so, and peaked at No. 1 on the country chart as well. It is certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Only You (And You Alone)" (often shortened to "Only You") is a pop song composed by Buck Ram. It was originally recorded by The Platters with lead vocals by Tony Williams in 1955.
George Lamond, sometimes styled George LaMond, is an American freestyle music and salsa music singer.
Daphne Rubin-Vega is an American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is best known for originating the roles of Mimi Marquez in the 1996 premiere of the Broadway musical Rent and Lucy in the 2007 premiere of the Off-Broadway play Jack Goes Boating.
Brenda Joy Kaplan, known by her stage name Brenda K. Starr, is an American singer and songwriter. She is well known originally in R&B, dance and pop but now mostly in salsa-based music. She is also well known for her 1980s work with freestyle music.
"All I Have" is a song by American singer Jennifer Lopez, featuring American rapper LL Cool J. Written by Lopez, Makeba Riddick, Curtis Richardson, and Ron G and produced by Cory Rooney, Ron G, and Dave McPherson, it was released on December 14, 2002, as the second single from Lopez's third studio album, This Is Me... Then (2002).
"I Still Believe" is a song written and composed by Antonina Armato and Giuseppe Cantarelli, and originally recorded by pop singer Brenda K. Starr for her eponymous second studio album, Brenda K. Starr (1987). It is a ballad in which the singer is confident she and her former boyfriend will be together again one day. It is Starr's biggest hit in the United States, reaching the top-twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 and being considered her signature song. "I Still Believe" was covered by American singer Mariah Carey, a former backup singer for Starr before she achieved success, for her #1's album in 1998 and released as a single in 1999. It was also recorded by Cantopop singer Sandy Lam in 1989.
"What If" is a song written by Diane Warren and recorded by American singer Brenda K. Starr for her 1991 album By Heart. The song was later covered by Belgian jazz band Vaya Con Dios on their 1995 album Roots and Wings and by American country singer Reba McEntire in 1997.
Temptation is the seventh studio album by American singer Brenda K. Starr. It was released on March 26, 2002 on Sony Discos.
I Want Your Love is the debut album by American dance/pop singer, Brenda K. Starr. While it was a small label release on Mirage Records, distributed by Atlantic Records, It featured her first Freestyle music hit, "Pickin' Up Pieces," which peaked at #9 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1986. Other noteworthy songs on the album include "Love Me Like The First Time", which would be recorded soon after by r&b/soul artist Stacy Lattisaw. While contemporary listeners will liken this album to the similar style of Latin Freestyle, many of the songs were produced in a sleeker, more polished, electro style. While the album itself was not a blockbuster success, Starr soon found herself on MCA Records for the release of her second, self titled, studio album.
Rent (Original Broadway Cast Recording) is an album of music from the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning 1996 musical Rent. It is produced by DreamWorks with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson. The album is a 2-disc (in its CD format) collection of every song from the musical; some small segments of narration and spoken dialogue from the play are not included in the recording. The collection ends with a studio-recorded rearrangement of the song "Seasons of Love" featuring Stevie Wonder. The album was recorded by the original Broadway cast of RENT and was released on August 27, 1996. A second one-disc album was released in 1999 containing highlights from the original cast album.
"No Matter What" is the fourth single from freestyle singer George Lamond's debut album Bad of the Heart featuring Brenda K. Starr. In 1993, Lamond recorded a Spanish-language version as "No Morirá" with Lisa Lopez on his album Creo en Ti.
"Pickin' Up Pieces" is the lead single from Brenda K. Starr's debut album, I Want Your Love, released in 1985 by Mirage Records. The song was produced by Arthur Baker, who co-wrote it with Lotti Golden. The single, released in 1985, was a sizable hit on the Dance/Club Songs chart. It reached a peak of #9 on that chart the same year, and also managed to chart on the R&B chart at the time - reaching a peak of #83.
Jim Klein is a Los Angeles born, Philadelphia-based, Emmy Award-winning composer, music producer, recording engineer, and songwriter. Klein is best known as the producer and songwriter behind the influential freestyle group Pajama Party, whose albums produced several hit singles. He is also a published author.
"Bound 2" is a song by American rapper Kanye West, featured as the final track from his sixth studio album, Yeezus (2013). It was produced by West and Che Pope, with additional production being handled by Eric Danchick, Noah Goldstein, No ID and Mike Dean. The song features vocals from American soul singer Charlie Wilson and serves as the album's second single. "Bound 2" incorporates samples from "Bound" by Ponderosa Twins Plus One and the lines "Uh-huh, honey" and "Alright" from Brenda Lee's "Sweet Nothin's". The song also interpolates Wee's "Aeroplane (Reprise)" for the bridge, sung by Charlie Wilson.
"Herida" (Wound) is a song originally recorded by Chilean singer Myriam Hernández as the third single from her second studio album, Dos (1990). The song reached number three on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in 1991.
Khalick Antonio Caldwell, better known as Stunna 4 Vegas, is an American rapper from Salisbury, North Carolina. He is best known for his 2020 single "Go Stupid", which received triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Two years prior, he signed with fellow North Carolina-based rapper DaBaby's Billion Dollar Baby Entertainment, an imprint of Interscope Records to release his debut album, Big 4x (2019) and its follow up, Rich Youngin (2020). Both albums performed moderately on the Billboard 200—the latter reached number 29 on the chart. His third and fourth albums, Welcome to 4 Vegas (2020) and Rae Rae's Son (2022) failed to chart.
