Florida breaks

Florida breaks, referred to as Florida breakbeat and Funky Breaks, is an early genre of today's electronic dance music. Its sound was born of a mixture of original Hip Hop breaks, plus freestyle, electro and Miami bass from the 1980s, as well as electronic music/techno/house from the 1990s as well. The 1990s techno influence can be heard in the use of pianos and keyboards. The electro influence can be traced back to Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaataa's 'Planet Rock' which is widely accepted to have started the Miami bass scene around 1982 More modern day sub genes such as the UK's nu-skool dirty breaks, can be traced back to Florida Breaks.


Central Florida is credited with this sound due to the large number of producers living in this area and DJing there music at local parties and clubs. A few party promoters began bringing over larger electronic music DJs and acts since the DJs had been hearing about what was happening in Central Florida and wanted to come and check it out for themselves. They then went home and their music was then influenced by their experiences, as seen in the 1994 UK release by Newton called "Orlando."


Florida Breaks, which may also be referred to as Orlando breaks, Tampa Breaks, or The Orlando Sound is a genre of breakbeat dance music that originated in the central region of the State of Florida, United States.[1] Florida Breaks originates from a mixture of hip-hop, Miami bass and electro that often includes recognizable sampling of early jazz or funk beats from rare groove or popular film. Florida's breakbeat style feature vocal elements[2] and retains the hip-hop rhythms on which is based.[1] The Florida breakbeat style however is faster, more syncopated, and has a heavier and unrelenting bassline.[2] The beat frequently slows and breaks down complex beat patterns and then rebuilds to creative an uplifting, happy, or positive mood in the listener.[2]

By 1997 Orlando's city council passed the "Rave" ordinance shutting down clubs at by 3 a.m. and the big beat subs had been carried into the main stream by the likes of the Chemical Brothers, Moby, Crystal Method, and Rabbit in the Moon but much of the Florida Breaks music produced and released in the mid to late 1990s in Central Florida was on a local record label, and only released on vinyl records.


History

Late 1980s – early 1990s

The unique Florida style was first encountered during the late '80s inside the historic Beacham Theatre in Orlando.[2] The breaks genre continued to gain popularity as a local underground music subculture became developed during Orlando's Summer of Love era from roughly 1989 to 1992 and simply "exploded" into prominence in mid-1993.

Mid 1990s popularity

External audio
Passion by K5 is an example of Florida Breaks, YouTube video
Nick Newton's - Planet Acid combines acid, electro, and breakbeat elements for a grittier Florida sound,
Set U Free by Planet Soul exemplifies the vocal and breakdown elements of Florida Breaks, YouTube video
Nick Newton's Orlando mix of Screamer the progressive style defined the Orlando Sound
Orlando Mix 96 Mixed Florida breaks, acid breaks from all over the state recorded live in Orlando

The "Orlando Sound" was wildly popular among DJs and club goers in Florida and the sound was marketed internationally as "Orlando friendly". During the mid 1990s.[2] However, there did not seem to universal consensus on the exact elements that constituted the Florida Sound.[2] until Nick Newton, an English breaks DJ and producer, called his 1996 record Orlando.Due to its wide popularity [3]

The genre received limited local radio play in Central Florida on radio stations WXXL (106.7 FM)[2] and on college radio WPRK (91.5 FM),[2] as well as WUCF (89.9 FM), WFIT (89.5 FM on Space Coast), and WMNF (88.5 FM in Tampa).[3]

2000s

The international and local popularity of Florida breaks peaked and began to wane in 2000.[2] However, the genre is still quite popular. Especially among those who remember the era in Central Florida and the genres unique role in electronic music history.[1]

Florida Breaks Artists

Some local Florida break artists during the genres peaking years aimed for main-stream and news media and gave up the idea sense of rave and the Florida funk values for popularity while many others purposely remained true to the underground scene and continued to thrive and be successful in their own rights.

Early Florida breaks venues

AAHZ (Orlando),[1] The Edge (Orlando).[1] The Abyss (Orlando),[1] The Club at Firestone (Orlando),[2] The Beach Club (Orlando),[3] Icon (Orlando),[2] Simon's (Gainesville),[4] Marz (Cocoa Beach),[3] The Edge (Fort. Lauderdale),[4] and Masquerade (Tampa)[4] were early Florida Breaks venues.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Le-Huu, Bao (November 28, 2015). "AAHZ respects the breaks that made Orlando global, overdue propers for DJ Stylus (The Beacham)". Retrieved December 1, 2015. The AAHZ days, though absolutely foundational, were an elementary phase in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s that heavily featured European house sounds. But the breaks – a breakbeat subgenre braided of hip-hop, Miami bass and electro – was the Orlando sound, our original chapter and contribution to the EDM world. And when the breaks surged in the mid ‘90s, it was (1)of 3-4 main hubs at its apex, when we weren’t just playing the leading sounds but making and exporting them. When it comes to breaks, the names that really jump out on this heavyweight lineup are Icey and Stylus, the two DJs who actually specialized in the style. {blog of Orlando Weekly's music column}
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Gettelman, Parry (February 9, 1997). "The Orlando Sound Although Hard To Define, It's Hot Among Lovers Of Underground Dance Music". orlandosentinel.com. The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ferguson, Jason; Le-Huu, Bao (July 2, 2013). "Dance dance revolution". orlandoweekly.com. The Orlando Weekly. Retrieved July 28, 2016. The 1990s was formative in the electronic dance music awakening of America, and that fire-catching cultural momentum would vault Orlando to the vanguard of it all. As one of the premier global epicenters of the rave big bang, the city found itself on equal footing with not just New York or Los Angeles but also with the trailblazing U.K. scene (English breaks DJ-producer Nick Newton named his 1996 record Orlando), even siring its own sound (Florida breaks).
  4. 1 2 3 Gentile, Jessica (November 5, 2014). "The Essential Rave Nightclubs of Floridian History". thump.vice.com. VICE. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
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