Music of Miami: History and Key Facts

The music of Miami spans a diverse range of genres and traditions, shaped by the city's position as a major center for Latin music in the United States and a gateway for Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean influences. Miami bass (also known as booty music), a prominent hip-hop genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s, was introduced 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.

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 (began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida), Leslie Grace, Tony Succar, Vanilla Ice, DJ Laz, and Pitbull.

Cubans brought the conga and rumba, while Haitians and the rest of the French West Indies brought kompa and zouk to Miami from their homelands.Dominicans brought bachata and merengue, while Colombians brought vallenato and cumbia, and Brazilians brought samba. West Indians and Caribbean people have brought reggae, soca, calypso, and steel pan to the area as well.

Source and attribution

Text excerpted from Music of Miami by Wikipedia contributors, available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The extract is abridged and formatting has been adjusted; the adapted text on this page is shared under the same licence. Revision history.