Rolling out spoke with DJ Irie, while
he was out on the McDonald’s “Flavor Battle” tour, about several topics, including why South Florida is once again making
it’s presence felt in a major way on the hip-hop and popular music
scenes. Here’s what he had to say.
“Miami definitely has [an]
incredible movement going on right now and the cool thing about this
Miami movement is [that] it’s generational … going back to the ’80s
with bass music … my main man Luke, Gucci
Crew II, Poison Clan, all these groups that really set the foundation
and gave Miami its own identity with bass music. And you know what? It evolved — the music evolved, the artists evolved into cats like
Trick Daddy, who was one of the first cats who came out of Miami who
wasn’t all up on the bass music, but actually was kicking real rhymes,
making real songs and really talking about his life experiences from
the street, you know. And that really just opened the door to a lot
of other guys to kind of come out and represent Miami as well.
The Ric Rosses, the Pit Bulls — doing it real, real big — the Flo
Ridas … there’s so much talent and there is still a lot of talent
that’s not known nationally, that’s still bubbling and popping right
now, you know. Ball Greezy, Ace Hood, Hustle Hardest. There’s a lot
of talent out there …
“Miami is super big on the whole Latin
movement. You go to Miami, you might think you’re in Cuba sometimes,
you know, because of the big population, which gave birth to Pit Bull.
But the cool thing about it is, Pit has such a unique sound, that
it’s now global! … I mean, you listen
to his music, he still has his Latin Cuban element in there, but it’s
working in mainstream America. That’s a beautiful thing and it all
came out of Miami.
“Flo Rida has had some of the biggest
records … period! You know, the “Low” record broke all kinds
of records!
“Can’t forget about the homey Plies.
Even though Plies is from a little bit north of Miami, an area called
Ft. Myers, that’s the homey right there. Plies is doing what he does!
“Keep your eyes
on Miami — big things [are] coming!” –stanley yorker
