# Miami Eleven records, three of our rankings, thirty years. One drum machine tuned in a Florida car park, and what became of it in Rio and on the South Side of Chicago. - **Picks:** 11 - **Drawn from:** 3 rankings - **Years:** 1985–2015 - **Curator:** The Waxonia Desk - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Curator's page:** https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/ - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/theme/miami/ ## What gets in, and what does not Made in Miami, or built on the 808 pattern Miami tuned — and where it is the second, this site has to already publish the lineage that says so. Being upstream does not qualify: Planet Rock is the signal the city received, not a record the city made, and it is not here. Every record here is already in one of our rankings — a theme re-cuts what the site has vouched for, and vouches for nothing new. Drawn from: [Baile Funk](https://waxonia.com/genre/baile-funk/), [Juke and Footwork](https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/), [Miami Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/miami-bass/). ## The records Selected, not ranked — the order carries no claim about which is best. ### [MC A.D.E.](https://waxonia.com/artist/mc-a-d-e/) — [Bass Rock Express](https://waxonia.com/track/mc-a-d-e--bass-rock-express/) *1985 · 4-Sight* The starting point, and the clearest statement of what the city actually changed. The kick is not a drum here, it is the arrangement — tuned low, held long, and mixed to be felt through a car door rather than heard through a speaker. Also on: [Miami Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/miami-bass/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/MC%20A.D.E.%20Bass%20Rock%20Express) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=yGm5w_k79GY) ### [2 Live Crew](https://waxonia.com/artist/2-live-crew/) — [Throw the D](https://waxonia.com/track/2-live-crew--throw-the-d/) *1986 · Luke Skyywalker* The template every record below is a variation on: an instruction, a call-and-response, and the 808 louder than the voice giving it. Luke Campbell put it out on his own label because no one else in the country was going to. Also on: [Miami Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/miami-bass/), [The Eighties](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/2%20Live%20Crew%20Throw%20the%20D) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=IMicDDXU-9c) ### [Amos Larkins II](https://waxonia.com/artist/amos-larkins-ii/) — [Planet Rock](https://waxonia.com/track/amos-larkins-ii--planet-rock/) *1986* Not the Bambaataa record — a Miami producer's answer to it, and the single best demonstration of the criterion above. Everything received from New York has been thrown out except the drum machine, which has been retuned until it is the whole track. Also on: [Miami Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/miami-bass/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Amos%20Larkins%20II%20Planet%20Rock) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qwwb8WkrdOM) ### [Dynamix II](https://waxonia.com/artist/dynamix-ii/) — [Scarface](https://waxonia.com/track/dynamix-ii--scarface/) *1987* The precise end of the city, and proof that the sound was a choice rather than a limitation. Vocoders and tight programming over the same low end, by people who could clearly have made a Kraftwerk record instead and did not want to. Also on: [Miami Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/miami-bass/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Dynamix%20II%20Scarface) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Olgn9sXNdl0) ### [2 Hyped Brothers and a Dog](https://waxonia.com/artist/2-hyped-brothers-and-a-dog/) — [Doo Doo Brown](https://waxonia.com/track/2-hyped-brothers-and-a-dog--doo-doo-brown/) *1991* A rhythm that stopped belonging to its makers almost immediately. New Orleans took it and built bounce out of it, which is the first time Miami's pattern left Miami and kept going under another name. Also on: [Miami Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/miami-bass/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/2%20Hyped%20Brothers%20and%20a%20Dog%20Doo%20Doo%20Brown) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1zRb_WNEeaw) ### [69 Boyz](https://waxonia.com/artist/69-boyz/) — [Tootsee Roll](https://waxonia.com/track/69-boyz--tootsee-roll/) *1994 · Rip-It* The pattern reaching the top ten, and doing it without changing. Every Southern rap record that pairs an instruction with an 808 is downstream of this habit, which is why the theme cannot stop at the city limits. Also on: [Miami Bass](https://waxonia.com/genre/miami-bass/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/69%20Boyz%20Tootsee%20Roll) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Do4GyqPnuug) ### [DJ Marlboro](https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-marlboro/) — [Melô do Tabaco](https://waxonia.com/track/dj-marlboro--melo-do-tabaco/) *1989* Miami bass arriving in Rio on cassette, which is a fact this site already publishes as a lineage arrow. Marlboro looped somebody else's drum programming and a national music came out of it — the same 808, the same shouting, a different language. Also on: [Baile Funk](https://waxonia.com/genre/baile-funk/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Marlboro%20Mel%C3%B4%20do%20Tabaco) · [Search YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/search?q=DJ%20Marlboro%20Mel%C3%B4%20do%20Tabaco) ### [Cidinho e Doca](https://waxonia.com/artist/cidinho-e-doca/) — [Rap da Felicidade](https://waxonia.com/track/cidinho-e-doca--rap-da-felicidade/) *1995* "I only want to be happy." Six years after Marlboro, over the most basic possible version of the imported beat, and it is the most quoted line in Brazilian funk. The pattern has stopped being borrowed and become local property. Also on: [Baile Funk](https://waxonia.com/genre/baile-funk/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Cidinho%20e%20Doca%20Rap%20da%20Felicidade) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7pD8k2zaLqk) ### [MC João](https://waxonia.com/artist/mc-joao/) — [Baile de Favela](https://waxonia.com/track/mc-joao--baile-de-favela/) *2015* São Paulo, a hundred million views, and the drum still tuned the way a Florida producer tuned it in 1985. Included as the far end of the line: thirty years on, the most popular music in Brazil is running on Miami's kick. Also on: [Baile Funk](https://waxonia.com/genre/baile-funk/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/MC%20Jo%C3%A3o%20Baile%20de%20Favela) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=eR_Uy9fkz9Q) ### [DJ Deeon](https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-deeon/) — [Freak Like Me](https://waxonia.com/track/dj-deeon--freak-like-me/) *1994 · Dance Mania* Chicago's ghetto house takes the same overlong, tuned kick rather than the house records made in its own city — the lineage note on our footwork ranking says exactly that. A drum pattern, a bassline, a chant, and nothing that costs money. Also on: [Juke and Footwork](https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/), [1994](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Deeon%20Freak%20Like%20Me) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PIpWP5gcPCw) ### [DJ Funk](https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-funk/) — [Run](https://waxonia.com/track/dj-funk--run/) *1995 · Dance Mania* The second Chicago record, at a pace Miami never played at, and the low end is still the point of it. Daft Punk and most of French house took their cue from this — a fourth city, one step further along the same line. Also on: [Juke and Footwork](https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Funk%20Run) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4I4A1ixsMYQ) ## Who made this The people who write the rankings on this site. We keep the lists honest, we argue about the order, and we get asked the same question more than any other: where should someone actually start. These are our answers. Elsewhere: https://waxonia.com/ --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.