A Timeline of the DJs and Artists of Bounce Music

1991

Known as the “Fathers of Bounce”, MC T. Tucker and DJ Irv are credited with creating the first bounce track.  Tucker initially released the track “Where Dey At” due to the popularity of the mix at the club, Ghost Town. The hit was recorded live at a club performance and copies of the crudely recorded track were sold on bootleg cassettes and played on local radio stations. The local success of the song prompted DJ Jimi, who was DJ Irv’s best friend, to produce a more polished version of the hit which led the track to nationwide success and acclaim. DJ Jimi’s “Where Dey At” briefly appeared on the Billboards Charts.

“What if we never would have done that shit and opened that door and let that shit out? You all would have been bored as fuck, having to listen to Busta Rhymes.”

DJ Jimi

 

1992/93

Everlasting Hitman produced a popular track in 1992 or 1993 which many believe coined the term “bounce”.  His hit “Bounce! Baby Bounce!” was influential and a major hit in New Orleans.  Unfortunately, at the age of 21 Floyd Blount’s rap career was tragically cut short when was shot to death in the Fischer housing project a few years later in 1996.

 

 

1995

Mannie Fresh is credited for creating a second element to bounce music then called the “Brown Beat” and now referred to as the “Cheeky Blakk Beat”.  Mannie Fresh produced a track titled “Bitch Get Off Me” for local artist Cheeky Blakk and on this track he sampled the beat from club DJ Cameron Paul’s 1987 track “Brown’s Beat” and mixed it with the popular Triggerman beat which ultimately created an entirely new sound. The “Cheeky Blakk Beat” is so popular that it is still sampled and rapped over by a number of artists. Fresh was a highly sough after producer and created music for Cash Money Records in the early 90s with artist such as Lil Wayne, Young Buck and Birman. Fresh created a platform for bounce music that took the genre to the next level without compromising its original sound.

 

1997

Renetta Yemika Lowe, who went by the stage name Magnolia Shorty, was the first female rapper signed to Cash Money Records.  Her 1997 debut album, Monkey On Tha D$ck, epitomized the bounce music style that New Orleans rappers were known for and her album produced several bounce classics.  Magnolia Shorty appeared on several Cash Money artists’ albums such as Juvenile, and the Hot Boys. Magnolia was invited to perform at South by Southwest in 2009 and her career with Cash Money Records looked promising.  However, Renetta Lowe’s life was tragically cut short when she was gunned down in Miami, Flordia in front of her apartment complex by a gang member.  Lowe was 28 years old.

 

2000s-present

Hailed as the “Queen of Bounce Music”, Big Freedia is the national icon of bounce music today.  Getting her start in the late 90s, Big Freedia released her first track “An Ha, Oh Yeah” in 1999. Freedia’s energetic and electrifying performances captured the trues essence of bounce music and her ability to get the entire club on their feet set her apart from other performers in the area. Her first studio album was released in 2003 and titled Queen Diva; while this was a local success, her national fame would not arrive until later in her career. Big Freedia was introduced to the nation in 2009 while on tour with  Katey Red and Sissy Nobby at the Bingo Parlour Tent and the 2009 Voodoo Experience. In 2010 Big Freedia toured the country with a number of different bands and artists as a “booty dancer” and as her music was discovered by those outside of New Orleans, she was deemed an “overnight sensation”.  Big Freedia has appeared and performed on television shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and she was invited to perform at South by Southwest in Austin in 2012. In 2012, Fuse created a reality show around Big Freedia which followed her success and emergence into mainstream media.  Her latest achievement happened in February of 2016 when Beyonce featured Big Freedia’s voice on her widely-successful music video, Formation.

I am a role model now for a lot of performers because I am the hardest working gay performer down here in New Orleans. I work just about six nights a week if not seven, sometimes, sometimes two or three shows in one night.

Big Freedia