List of Latin freestyle musicians and songs

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Latin freestyle is a form of American electronic dance music of electro-funk, post-disco, Italo disco, hip-hop origins, that is popular within Latino communities. This is a list of notable freestyle music groups, musicians, songs and albums.

Contents

Contents
ArtistsHistory (1980s1990s) • AlbumsCompilationsReferences

History

1980s

YearArtist(s)NameLabel
1983 Shannon "Let the Music Play" Emergency (EMDS 6540)
1983 Stacy Lattisaw and Johnny Gill "Block Party" Cotillion (7 99725)
1985 Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force "Can You Feel the Beat" [1] Columbia (44-05295)
1985 Brenda K. Starr "I Want Your Love"Mirage
1985Wish featuring Fonda Rae "Touch Me (All Night Long)"KN (KN 1001)
1986 Nu Shooz "I Can't Wait" [1] Atlantic (0-86828R)
1988 Pebbles "Mercedes Boy" MCA (53279)

1990s

Examples of albums

YearNameArtist(s)Label
1987Show Me [1] The Cover Girls Fever Records
1989 We Can't Go Wrong The Cover Girls Capitol
1989Love Story [1] Judy Torres Profile
1994 Lovely [1] Jocelyn Enriquez Classified
1995 Life Goes On [1] Lil Suzy Metropolitan
1997 Te Sigo Esperando [1] Brenda K. Starr Parcha

Compilations

YearNameArtist(s)Label
1989Greatest Hits [1] Trinere Pandisc
1991The Best of Stevie B [1] Stevie B LMR (Lefrak-Moelis Records)
1995Freestyle Latin Dance Hits, Vol. 2 [1] Various ArtistsK-Tel Distribution
1997Freestyle Latin Dance Hits, Vol. 3 [1] Various ArtistsCold Front
1999The Hits and More [1] George Lamond Robbins Entertainment

Examples of musicians

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rave</span> Dance party

A rave is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance music scene when DJs played at illegal events in musical styles dominated by electronic dance music from a wide range of sub-genres, including drum and bass, dubstep, trap, break, happy hardcore, trance, techno, hardcore, house, and alternative dance. Occasionally live musicians have been known to perform at raves, in addition to other types of performance artists such as go-go dancers and fire dancers. The music is amplified with a large, powerful sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The music is often accompanied by laser light shows, projected coloured images, visual effects and fog machines.

Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard rock music was produced by the Kinks, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Cream, Vanilla Fudge, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In the late 1960s, bands such as Blue Cheer, the Jeff Beck Group, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, Golden Earring, Steppenwolf, and Deep Purple also produced hard rock.

Europop is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and moderate degrees of appreciation also in the 2000s and the 2010s. It features catchy and danceable beats, accompanied by euphoric pop-influenced melodies. The lyrics are usually very simple and carefree in order to have international appeal. One of the main differences between American and European pop is that Europop is generally more oriented towards European dance genres, such as trance, eurodance, and eurodisco.

Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines and funk. Records in the genre typically feature heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals; if vocals are present, they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. It palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.

Dance-pop is a subgenre of pop music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a combination of dance and pop with influences of disco, post-disco and synth-pop, it is generally characterised by strong beats with easy, uncomplicated song structures which are generally more similar to pop music than the more free-form dance genre, with an emphasis on melody as well as catchy tunes. The genre, on the whole, tends to be producer-driven, despite some notable exceptions.

Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards preteens and teenagers. Often, the artists themselves are teenagers during their breakout. While it can involve influences from a wide array of musical genres, it remains a subset of commercial pop, focusing on catchy melodies and marketability. Teen pop’s lyrics emphasize themes that teenagers can relate to, such as love, growing up, or partying. The image of the artist as an aspirational or desirable teenage figure is a crucial element of the genre, highlighting their visual appeal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disco Inferno (band)</span> English band

Disco Inferno were an English experimental rock band active in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Initially a trio of guitar, bass, and drums performing in an identifiable post-punk style, the band soon pioneered a dynamic use of digital sampling in addition to standard rock instruments. While commercially unsuccessful during their existence, the band is considered to be a key post-rock act.

Funky house is a subgenre of house music that uses disco and funk samples, a funk-inspired bass line or a strong soul influence, combined with drum breaks that draw inspiration from 1970s and 1980s funk records. The use of disco strings are also common in the genre, although not always. Funky house uses specific techniques and a specific sound, characterized by bassline, swooshes, swirls and other synthesized sounds which give the music a bouncy tempo with around 128 BPM.

George Lamond, sometimes styled George LaMond, is an American freestyle music and salsa music singer.

Dance-rock is a dance-infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and disco.

The Mizell Brothers were an American record producing team in the 1970s, consisting of Larry Mizell and Alphonso "Fonce" Mizell. They worked together on a string of jazz fusion, crossover jazz, soul, R&B and disco records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Wanna Be Where You Are</span> 1972 single by Michael Jackson

"I Wanna Be Where You Are" is a song written by Arthur "T-Boy" Ross and Leon Ware for Michael Jackson, who took the song to number 7 in Cash Box and number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. It also reached number 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in 1972.

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 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.

Alternative dance is a musical genre that mixes alternative rock with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained American and worldwide exposure through acts such as New Order in the 1980s and the Prodigy and in the 1990s.

Boogie is a rhythm and blues genre of electronic dance music with close ties to the post-disco style, that first emerged in the United States during the late 1970s to mid-1980s. The sound of boogie is defined by bridging acoustic and electronic musical instruments with emphasis on vocals and miscellaneous effects. It later evolved into electro and house music.

Pure Energy was an American disco and post-disco music group best known for their various club hits such as "You've Got the Power", "Breakaway" and "Love Game". The band comprised Curtis Hudson, Lisa Stevens, Raymond Hudson, and Wade Hudson.

Hanson & Davis was an East Coast-based freestyle/dance-pop duo comprising session singers Aaron Hanson and Edward J. Davis. Although the group was not commercially successful as many similar freestyle musicians of the time, the group enjoyed popularity throughout clubs and urban radio stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungry for Your Love</span> 1986 single by Hanson & Davis

"I'll Take You On" / "Hungry for Your Love" / "Hold On to Yesterday" is a 1986 single by American freestyle duo Hanson & Davis, released by New York City-based electro/dance label Fresh Records.

References