Here is an Artical I found interesting from www.urbanlatino.com
It is both loved and hated by the masses. For many, it is the soundtrack for a simpler time, set in a grittier New York City. It filled a void for many “danceaholics” during the 1980’s and into the early 90’s. It is at once, uniquely Latino, embraced by the Italian community and spawned from the birth of Hip-Hop. It is Freestyle.
It is both loved and hated by the masses. For many, it is the soundtrack for a simpler time, set in a grittier New York City. It filled a void for many “dance-a-holics” during the 1980’s and into the early 1990’s. It is all at once uniquely Latino, embraced by the Italian community and spawned from the birth of Hip-Hop. We call it Freestyle.
A genre of music that was never intended to make such an impact (at least according to the record companies), Freestyle music laid the groundwork for all forms of dance music heard in today’s market. From Techno to House, to Trance, to whatever gets your pulse pumping, Freestyle provided the fundamentals. It picked up where Disco left off,
and it incorporated the hunger of an urban community dying for a new form of self-expression.
There are many different perspectives on how the music developed, what made it so popular and why it virtually disappeared for a time from the radio airwaves. Though Freestyle enjoys a certain amount of airplay these days, there are still many who feel it never received the recognition it deserved. I spoke with urban music pioneer, Sal Abbatiello (Fever Records), Dance music’s Mickey Garcia (MicMac Records) and Carlos Berrios (After-Dark Music/ADM Records), and current Freestyle enthusiast DJ Rio Lopez about the rise and fall of the unexpectedly influential genre.
After the death of Disco, radio stations and their loyal young listeners were left with a void. Disco had been the “Queen Bee” for so long that its’ quick and sudden death left many stations without a game plan for what would come next. Radio stations that had wrapped their format around the onetime booming genre had to scramble to find a suitable and equally marketable replacement. Stations in New York City began to
change formats (sparking a nationwide trend), looking for the next pop music phenomenon. They would not find it, at least not right away.
As an alternative, stations began to appeal to specific demographics. Since Disco had been wildly popular amongst Latinos and Italians, Disco 92 (WKTU) decided to abandon its namesake to play more mainstream
pop, and subsequently rock music to attract the Anglo audience. Conversely, another dance station, 99X (WKLO) abandoned its format altogether to make a play for the African American audience, who at that time was exclusively listening to another station. WBLS 99X changed its name and call letters, which completed their metamorphosis
into the well-known 98.7 Kiss FM. Following close in suit was the ubiquitous Z-100 (WHTZ). Z-100 decided to go head-to-head with WPLG to capture the rest of the mainstream Anglo audience who had been displaced by Disco 92’s format change.
Bottom line, everyone was getting a new station and a new sound—everyone that is, except the massive Latino population.
With the Latino population growing by the second, it was only a matter of time before there was some kind of answer to this slight by mainstream radio. That answer was found in Latino communities from the Bronx and Spanish Harlem. It was found at house parties, block parties and Sweet 16’s. It was found on street corners, in talent shows and in small no-name underground clubs. It was a new sound not yet named, and not yet categorized.
“Rock, Rock , Planet Rock”
Along with young African Americans at the time, Latinos began to develop a new style of music—untouched by radio executives and unscathed by the clichés of Pop music. Some called the music “hip-hop be-bop”, others referred to it as “break-dancing music,” but whatever it was called it was a new blending of electronically enhanced rhythms-and-breaks, mixed with samples from the works of other artists. It was unconventional, fresh and totally driven by the urban youth culture. With the release of Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force’s “Planet Rock” in 1982, this new sound got its’ first chance to shine in the music industry. Many credit “Planet Rock” for opening the door to a multitude of Hip-Hop acts. However, what goes highly unnoticed, or perhaps ignored is the obvious link between this primitive form of Hip-Hop and the developing style of Freestyle music.
Dance music pioneer Carlos Berrios spent many years as a DJ both in Latin America and around the country. Originally from Queens, Berrios made apart of an elite group of editors known as the Hit Squad, who was able to master the intricate editing style created by The Latin Rascals. Berrios was responsible for editing and producing numerous hits during the golden age of Freestyle, including the smash-hit by Lissette Melendez, “Together Forever”.
“It was funny,” says Berrios, “because with Hip-Hop, Rap and urban music in general— everyone wanted to be apart of it. But for some reason this seed, whatever that Urban dance seed was—split into two. Rap went left and freestyle went right. I really don’t know why—it is a curious phenomenon.”
“Every kid started writing songs, writing poetry, they also started rapping—but then that rap slowly turned into songwriting, and into new melodies that dove into the subject of love and heartache,” Berrios affirms.
The electro-rhythms housed in tracks by the Soulsonic Force were contagious and followed by numerous releases, each showcasing a variation or twist on this new sound. While many clubs in New York City were shutting down after the demise of Disco, certain clubs were cashing in on the rising popularity of the new electro-dance music style. Clubs like The Roxy, The Funhouse, Broadway 96, Gotham’s West and Roseland were bringing in serious numbers and their dance floors were packed. Clubs around New York were rejuvenated and dance music as a whole experienced a reformation.
“Play at Your Own Risk”
Producers began to take these electrotracks and instead of laying rap vocals on top, they added melodic vocals, similar to those found on dance records (Disco) in prior years. What resulted from this practice wereFreestyle classics such as 1984’s “Let The Music Play” and “Give Me Tonight” by Shannon. The music’s popularity continued to grow within the Latino and subsequently the Italian communities—giving the genre a wider audience. In retrospect, what continued to link the majority of this new audience with the burgeoning Hip-Hop crowd was that this music stemmed from the youth of a minority community.
Sal Abbatiello has had his finger on the pulse of the urban music since the mid 70’s. Though not often credited, Sal was one of the first club owners to take a chance on hip-hop before anyone would. A ronxnative,
Sal heard some kids rapping in the street over a DJ cutting records, and instinctively began to ask around about this new style. His inquiries led him to a man by the name of Grand Master Flash. In 1977, he convinced Grand Master Flash to play at his club “Disco Fever” in the South Bronx, giving hip-hop one of its’ first opportunities for widespread exposure.
A few years later, in the early 80’s, Sal had once again heard a sound full of potential coming out of this urban community. Only this time it was Latino kids performing on the street—once again highlighting the very real connection between the two urban genres.
“Now I see this new era of 2nd generation Latinos, in The Bronx, and in New York in general…so I am thinking local—because that is exactly how I started with hip-hop,” explains Sal. “I just knew that this was going to be the new scene.”
“What really makes music blow up is when the movement is started by teenagers, 15-19 years old. Back then the drinking age was only 18, so you could get a whole lot of people into a club, and the 16-17 year olds would just sneak in,” he says. “You could break music in these clubs to a younger generation—which you can’t do anymore because it is 21 and over. Plus the DJ’s are so popular today—you can’t break a record—someone like a Funkmaster Flex is more popular than the recording artist.”
Sal and other producers/promoters at the time, worked hard to get Freestyle artists enough exposure. Along with one of the genre’s most influential producers, Andy “Panda” Tripoli, Sal discovered a variety of Freestyle acts like Nayobe and The Cover Girls. He was also able to give them a venue to showcase their talent and grow as performers.
“I had a club in the Bronx called the Devil’s Nest, Little Louie Vega was my DJ. I would bring in these artists and give them a shot. TKA did their first show there and La India was actually in the group!” Sal recalls.
“Back then there was no radio play, but we didn’t need it because there was such an underground movement in The Bronx, that if you just started playing the music in the Devil’s Nest it became a hit…we discovered The Cover Girls, Information Society—every week a new group came out. I began to book the groups all around, at the Copacabana, etc. From Nayobe to Lisa Lisa to Exposé—they all performed there, we even had Debbie Gibson!”
Though Sal gave much of his credit to the “Boogie-Down” (The Bronx), Carlos Berrios spoke fondly of East Harlem’s contribution.
“Freestyle music from my point of view organically sprung out of Spanish Harlem,” says Berrios. “Places like the Devil’s Nest became an outlet for the first artists to get on stage and try to do something.”
It is both loved and hated by the masses. For many, it is the soundtrack for a simpler time, set in a grittier New York City. It filled a void for many “danceaholics” during the 1980’s and into the early 90’s. It is at once, uniquely Latino, embraced by the Italian community and spawned from the birth of Hip-Hop. It is Freestyle.
It is both loved and hated by the masses. For many, it is the soundtrack for a simpler time, set in a grittier New York City. It filled a void for many “dance-a-holics” during the 1980’s and into the early 1990’s. It is all at once uniquely Latino, embraced by the Italian community and spawned from the birth of Hip-Hop. We call it Freestyle.
A genre of music that was never intended to make such an impact (at least according to the record companies), Freestyle music laid the groundwork for all forms of dance music heard in today’s market. From Techno to House, to Trance, to whatever gets your pulse pumping, Freestyle provided the fundamentals. It picked up where Disco left off,
and it incorporated the hunger of an urban community dying for a new form of self-expression.
There are many different perspectives on how the music developed, what made it so popular and why it virtually disappeared for a time from the radio airwaves. Though Freestyle enjoys a certain amount of airplay these days, there are still many who feel it never received the recognition it deserved. I spoke with urban music pioneer, Sal Abbatiello (Fever Records), Dance music’s Mickey Garcia (MicMac Records) and Carlos Berrios (After-Dark Music/ADM Records), and current Freestyle enthusiast DJ Rio Lopez about the rise and fall of the unexpectedly influential genre.
After the death of Disco, radio stations and their loyal young listeners were left with a void. Disco had been the “Queen Bee” for so long that its’ quick and sudden death left many stations without a game plan for what would come next. Radio stations that had wrapped their format around the onetime booming genre had to scramble to find a suitable and equally marketable replacement. Stations in New York City began to
change formats (sparking a nationwide trend), looking for the next pop music phenomenon. They would not find it, at least not right away.
As an alternative, stations began to appeal to specific demographics. Since Disco had been wildly popular amongst Latinos and Italians, Disco 92 (WKTU) decided to abandon its namesake to play more mainstream
pop, and subsequently rock music to attract the Anglo audience. Conversely, another dance station, 99X (WKLO) abandoned its format altogether to make a play for the African American audience, who at that time was exclusively listening to another station. WBLS 99X changed its name and call letters, which completed their metamorphosis
into the well-known 98.7 Kiss FM. Following close in suit was the ubiquitous Z-100 (WHTZ). Z-100 decided to go head-to-head with WPLG to capture the rest of the mainstream Anglo audience who had been displaced by Disco 92’s format change.
Bottom line, everyone was getting a new station and a new sound—everyone that is, except the massive Latino population.
With the Latino population growing by the second, it was only a matter of time before there was some kind of answer to this slight by mainstream radio. That answer was found in Latino communities from the Bronx and Spanish Harlem. It was found at house parties, block parties and Sweet 16’s. It was found on street corners, in talent shows and in small no-name underground clubs. It was a new sound not yet named, and not yet categorized.
“Rock, Rock , Planet Rock”
Along with young African Americans at the time, Latinos began to develop a new style of music—untouched by radio executives and unscathed by the clichés of Pop music. Some called the music “hip-hop be-bop”, others referred to it as “break-dancing music,” but whatever it was called it was a new blending of electronically enhanced rhythms-and-breaks, mixed with samples from the works of other artists. It was unconventional, fresh and totally driven by the urban youth culture. With the release of Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force’s “Planet Rock” in 1982, this new sound got its’ first chance to shine in the music industry. Many credit “Planet Rock” for opening the door to a multitude of Hip-Hop acts. However, what goes highly unnoticed, or perhaps ignored is the obvious link between this primitive form of Hip-Hop and the developing style of Freestyle music.
Dance music pioneer Carlos Berrios spent many years as a DJ both in Latin America and around the country. Originally from Queens, Berrios made apart of an elite group of editors known as the Hit Squad, who was able to master the intricate editing style created by The Latin Rascals. Berrios was responsible for editing and producing numerous hits during the golden age of Freestyle, including the smash-hit by Lissette Melendez, “Together Forever”.
“It was funny,” says Berrios, “because with Hip-Hop, Rap and urban music in general— everyone wanted to be apart of it. But for some reason this seed, whatever that Urban dance seed was—split into two. Rap went left and freestyle went right. I really don’t know why—it is a curious phenomenon.”
“Every kid started writing songs, writing poetry, they also started rapping—but then that rap slowly turned into songwriting, and into new melodies that dove into the subject of love and heartache,” Berrios affirms.
The electro-rhythms housed in tracks by the Soulsonic Force were contagious and followed by numerous releases, each showcasing a variation or twist on this new sound. While many clubs in New York City were shutting down after the demise of Disco, certain clubs were cashing in on the rising popularity of the new electro-dance music style. Clubs like The Roxy, The Funhouse, Broadway 96, Gotham’s West and Roseland were bringing in serious numbers and their dance floors were packed. Clubs around New York were rejuvenated and dance music as a whole experienced a reformation.
“Play at Your Own Risk”
Producers began to take these electrotracks and instead of laying rap vocals on top, they added melodic vocals, similar to those found on dance records (Disco) in prior years. What resulted from this practice wereFreestyle classics such as 1984’s “Let The Music Play” and “Give Me Tonight” by Shannon. The music’s popularity continued to grow within the Latino and subsequently the Italian communities—giving the genre a wider audience. In retrospect, what continued to link the majority of this new audience with the burgeoning Hip-Hop crowd was that this music stemmed from the youth of a minority community.
Sal Abbatiello has had his finger on the pulse of the urban music since the mid 70’s. Though not often credited, Sal was one of the first club owners to take a chance on hip-hop before anyone would. A ronxnative,
Sal heard some kids rapping in the street over a DJ cutting records, and instinctively began to ask around about this new style. His inquiries led him to a man by the name of Grand Master Flash. In 1977, he convinced Grand Master Flash to play at his club “Disco Fever” in the South Bronx, giving hip-hop one of its’ first opportunities for widespread exposure.
A few years later, in the early 80’s, Sal had once again heard a sound full of potential coming out of this urban community. Only this time it was Latino kids performing on the street—once again highlighting the very real connection between the two urban genres.
“Now I see this new era of 2nd generation Latinos, in The Bronx, and in New York in general…so I am thinking local—because that is exactly how I started with hip-hop,” explains Sal. “I just knew that this was going to be the new scene.”
“What really makes music blow up is when the movement is started by teenagers, 15-19 years old. Back then the drinking age was only 18, so you could get a whole lot of people into a club, and the 16-17 year olds would just sneak in,” he says. “You could break music in these clubs to a younger generation—which you can’t do anymore because it is 21 and over. Plus the DJ’s are so popular today—you can’t break a record—someone like a Funkmaster Flex is more popular than the recording artist.”
Sal and other producers/promoters at the time, worked hard to get Freestyle artists enough exposure. Along with one of the genre’s most influential producers, Andy “Panda” Tripoli, Sal discovered a variety of Freestyle acts like Nayobe and The Cover Girls. He was also able to give them a venue to showcase their talent and grow as performers.
“I had a club in the Bronx called the Devil’s Nest, Little Louie Vega was my DJ. I would bring in these artists and give them a shot. TKA did their first show there and La India was actually in the group!” Sal recalls.
“Back then there was no radio play, but we didn’t need it because there was such an underground movement in The Bronx, that if you just started playing the music in the Devil’s Nest it became a hit…we discovered The Cover Girls, Information Society—every week a new group came out. I began to book the groups all around, at the Copacabana, etc. From Nayobe to Lisa Lisa to Exposé—they all performed there, we even had Debbie Gibson!”
Though Sal gave much of his credit to the “Boogie-Down” (The Bronx), Carlos Berrios spoke fondly of East Harlem’s contribution.
“Freestyle music from my point of view organically sprung out of Spanish Harlem,” says Berrios. “Places like the Devil’s Nest became an outlet for the first artists to get on stage and try to do something.”