By Jonathan Anthony Burkett
When people list hip hop's great regions, they usually start with New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Houston. Florida often gets left off, which is strange, because the Sunshine State gave rap one of its most recognizable sounds and a long line of stars. If you have ever felt a car trunk rattle from a deep bass line, you have felt a bit of Florida's influence.
What Miami bass sounds like
Miami bass, sometimes called booty bass, took shape in South Florida in the 1980s. Its foundation was the Roland TR-808 drum machine, especially its long, booming kick drum, which producers tuned and stretched until it shook speakers. The tempos were fast, the drum patterns busy and the focus was on the dance floor.
The style drew on electro, the robotic, synth-heavy sound that Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force made famous with "Planet Rock." Florida producers took that blueprint, pushed the bass even lower and sped things up. Vocals were often chanted rather than rapped in long verses, with call-and-response hooks that crowds could shout back. The records were built for DJs, skating rinks, clubs and block parties, places where people came to dance rather than to sit and study the rhymes. Car audio culture played a role too. Bass records were made to be played loud through custom systems, and competitions over who had the most powerful setup helped spread the music.
2 Live Crew and a fight over free speech
No group is more tied to Miami bass than 2 Live Crew. Fronted by Miami's Luther Campbell, also known as Uncle Luke, the group and his independent label became the most visible face of the scene. Their records were party-focused and deliberately explicit.
That explicit content led to one of the most famous free speech battles in music. In 1990, a federal judge in Florida ruled one of their albums obscene, and arrests followed in connection with sales and performances. The ruling was later overturned on appeal. Whatever you think of the lyrics, the case became a landmark moment in debates over censorship, parental advisory labels and artistic freedom, and it put Florida rap in national headlines.
It also showed something important about the scene: it was independent. Florida bass artists built labels, distribution and fan bases largely outside the New York music business.
Beyond Miami: bass across the state
Bass music did not stay in one city. It spread throughout Florida, and each area put its own spin on it:
- Orlando developed its own bass scene, with DJ Magic Mike among its best-known producers.
- Jacksonville produced big bass party hits in the 1990s, including Quad City DJ's "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)."
- Tampa and other cities supported local DJs, clubs and car-audio scenes that kept the sound alive.
Florida bass also traveled. Its fast drums and call-and-response chants can be heard echoing in later Southern styles, and the general idea that Southern rap could be loud, regional and proudly different helped open doors for the whole region.
The next generations
By the late 1990s and 2000s, Florida had moved well beyond bass. Trick Daddy and Trina put Miami street rap on the map. Rick Ross and Flo Rida, both from the Carol City area, became major stars in very different lanes, one known for luxurious storytelling and the other for global pop-rap hits. Pitbull, a Miami native of Cuban descent, brought a bilingual party energy that reached audiences far outside hip hop. DJ Khaled built his career in Miami as a DJ, radio personality and hitmaker.
What ties these artists together is less a single sound than a spirit: bright, bold, multicultural and unapologetically fun, with roots in a region where Caribbean, Latin American and Southern Black communities share the same streets.
Florida's Caribbean connection
South Florida's mix of cultures is part of what makes its music distinct. Haitian, Jamaican, Cuban, Bahamian, Puerto Rican and many other communities all shaped what you might hear on Miami radio or at a block party. Reggae, dancehall, salsa and hip hop live side by side there.
That blend is personal for Jonathan Anthony Burkett. He was born in Miami in 1987 and raised in Jamaica by his grandparents, and he now records inspirational hip hop and soul on his own label, Upstormed Records. His signature song, One Life, features reggae artist Ambelique, the kind of cross-Caribbean pairing that feels right at home in Florida's musical story.
When Jonathan was in high school in west Miramar, students hyped up by rap and hip hop called themselves “305” representatives, after the area code. South Florida is where his own love of hip hop took shape, from the songs everyone danced to in middle school to the Tupac albums that carried him through his hardest years.
Give Florida its due
Florida's place in hip hop history goes far beyond a few party records. It helped define what bass in rap could feel like, fought a public battle over artistic freedom, built a strong independent scene and kept producing stars across every era. Next time you make a list of great hip hop regions, put Florida on it.
To hear an artist with Miami and Jamaican roots carrying that mix forward, visit the Music page.
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