MUSIC MONDAY

ELECTRONIC DANCE

Latin Freestyle | Latin House

THE BRONX | GUADELOUPE| BRAZIL| MARTINIQUE| FRANCE | PUERTO RICO | HARLEM| WASHINGTON, D.C.| MIAMI | NEW JERSEY| CALIFORNIA | ITALY | QUEENS | CHICAGO

Jennifer Lopez (featuring Pitbull), “On the Floor” | Kaoma, “Lambada” | Sa-Fire, “Boy I’ve Been Told” | Sa-Fire Talks about Michael Jackson’s “This is It” | George Lamond, “Look Into My Eyes” | Exposé, “Point of No Return” | Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, “Can You Feel The Beat” and “Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star” | Nina Sky, “Move Ya Body” | Noel, “Silent Morning” | Stevie B, “I Wanna Be the One | Little Jackie, “The World Should Revolve Around Me“

Bronx-born Jennifer Lopez sprinkled a hint of house music on the charts with “On the Floor” in 2011. The song is an infusion of dance-pop, electropop and electro-house. “On the Floor” samples the 1989 song, “Lambada” by Kaoma, a multinational French pop group. Koama’s members were from Guadeloupe, Brazil, and Martinique.

Singer, Sa-Fire, was born in Puerto Rico and raised in East Harlem. She has been a major success in the Freestyle music genre, specifically Latin Freestyle which gained popularity in the 80’s and early 90’s. Some of her hits include 1986’s Don’t Break My Heart, 1987’s “Let Me be the One” and “Boy I’ve Been Told“. Sa-fire continues to sing and perform today. In 2009, another version of her 1991 song “I Never Heard” was posthumously released as “This is It” by Michael Jackson. He wrote the song with Paul Anka in 1983.

George Lamond, also made a name for himself in the Freestyle genre. Lamond is of Puerto-Rican descent and was born in Washington, D.C. He topped the Billboard charts with hits such as 1990’s “Look into My Eyes” and “Bad of the Heart“, and 1989’s “Without You“.

Exposé was known for their both their dance club and contemporary adult appeal. They were the to the first group in history to have four Top 10 hits on their debut album and the first girl group to have 7 back-to-back Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The hits included “Come Go wit Me“, “Let Me Be the One“, and “Season’s Change“. The group members are from Upstate NY, NJ, CA, Miami and Italy.

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam are iconic in the freestyle genre. They were produced by Full Force. Lisa Velez’ is of Puerto Rican descent and grew up in New York and Miami. Hits include “I Wonder If I Take You Home“, “Head to Toe“, “Lost in Emotion” and “Let the Beat Hit’em.

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam’s hit song, “Can You Feel the Beat“, was sampled in Nina Sky’s 2004 hit single “Move Ya Body“. (Nina Sky, also of Puerto Rican descent, were born/raised in Queens). Another Lisa Lisa hit was “All Cried Out” which was covered by Allure in 1997. Lisa Lisa influenced many singers that followed. Her song “Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star” became the inspiration behind Little Jackie, the group.