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In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
| Florida breaks | |
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| Other names |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1980s and early 1990s, United States |
| Derivative forms | Acid breaks |
| Regional scenes | |
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| Local scenes | |
Florida breaks, which may also be referred to as The Orlando Sound, Orlando breaks, or The Breaks, is a genre of breakbeat dance music that originated in the central region of Florida, United States.[1] Florida Breaks draws on hip-hop, Miami bass and electro. It often includes samples of early jazz or funk beats from rare groove or popular film. It often features vocal elements.[2] Compared to the hip-hop on which it is based,[1] the style 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.[2] The genre has been described as being easy to dance to while creating an uplifting, happy, or positive mood in the listener.[2]
The style emerged during the late '80s at the Beacham Theatre in Orlando[2] and gained popularity in the local underground music subculture during the city's Summer of Love era, roughly 1989 to 1992.[3][4] Genre pioneer Eddie Pappa, influenced by nights spent at the Beacham, honed his skill at The Edge when it opened in 1992. In 1993, it gained prominence state-wide and, propelled by large events at the Edge, elsewhere in the U.S. and Europe.[5]
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 Nick Newton's - Planet Acid combines acid, electro, and breakbeat elements for a grittier Florida sound. |
The Breaks influenced producers who mixed breakbeat with progressive and trance, producing a mixture that became known as "The Orlando Sound" or Florida breaks.[5] The sound became popular among DJs and club goers during the mid-1990s. It was marketed internationally as "Orlando friendly."[2]
English breaks DJ and producer Nick Newton released a 1996 record Orlando.[5]
There is only general consensus on the defining elements of the genre, which spawned regional and preference variations.[2] For example, the Orlando Sound of Central and Northern Florida were influenced by new beat, trance, and progressive house sounds. Producers in South Florida and Tampa chose a deep house flavor or retained more of the funk and hip-hop influence of Miami's "ghetto-bass" or funky breaks.[2][6][7]
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).[5]
The international and local popularity of Florida breaks began to wane in 2000,[2] though it remains popular in Central Florida.[1][4]
Florida breaks retained a foothold in Central Florida through the 2020s, sustained by both veteran DJs and a new generation of local producers. Several of the scene's original figures continued to share bills at reunion-style events around Orlando. In August 2023, DJ Icey appeared alongside DJ Magic Mike, DJ Sandy, and others at the House of Blues.[8] The following year, Icey, Magic Mike, Kimball Collins, Baby Anne, and Jimmy Joslin headlined a Labor Day weekend dance party that Orlando Weekly described as a possible unofficial reunion of the Orlando breaks scene.[9] Such events continued into 2025, when a Thanksgiving-eve party at the Beacham Theatre brought together a lineup billed as Orlando's veteran dance-music DJs.[10]
A newer generation has also worked in the style. In 2025, Orlando DJ and producer Arina Krondeva, formerly of Rinas, released a breaks-centric EP titled Scattered.[11]
AAHZ at the Beacham Theatre (Orlando),[1] The Edge (Orlando).[1] The Abyss (Orlando),[1] The Club at Firestone (Orlando),[2] The Beach Club (Orlando),[5] Icon (Orlando),[2] Simon's (Gainesville),[12] Marz (Cocoa Beach),[5] The Edge (Fort. Lauderdale),[12] and Masquerade (Tampa).[12]
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 the Orlando dance scene 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}
Collins could not be aware of it at the time, but those Saturday nights -- eventually known as "Aahz"-- would kick-start an underground culture and spawn countless DJ careers. Orlando would never be the same...By 1991-1992, Orlando experienced its own "summer of love" through the culture that sprang up around the weekend acid-house nights at the Beacham Theatre presided over by Collins and Dave Cannalte, and nurtured by Beacham promoter StaceBass...only New York, San Francisco and L.A. had similar scenes, and they were characterized by warehouse parties. Orlando had a headquarters in the heart of its downtown district...From then on the crowds would refer to the Beacham as "Aahz" no matter what the owners called it.
The last thing on DJ and Orlando dance music linchpin Kimball Collins' mind back during the fabled Orlando Summer of Love in the early 1990s was that he would someday be responsible for preserving the legacy of Florida Breaks...Collins explains that this is...a celebration of an era when Orlando was ground zero for a new type of dance music, and a survey of how that music has changed over the years: "Florida, and Central Florida in particular, gravitated heavily to all types of genres that relied on a type of break-beat from electro, techno, freestyle, Miami bass to straight-up U.K. rave breaks. Those influences went on to develop what would soon become the signature 'Florida break-beat sound.' That explains [Orlando audiences'] love of breaks and why we are happy to do another...event celebrating this style"
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).
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Florida breaks, which may also be referred to as The Orlando Sound, Orlando breaks, or The Breaks, is a genre of breakbeat dance music that originated in the central region of Florida, United States. Florida Breaks draws on hip-hop, Miami bass and electro. It often includes samples of early jazz or funk beats from rare groove or popular film. It often features vocal elements. Compared to the hip-hop on which it is based, the style is faster, more syncopated, and has a heavier and unrelenting bassline. The beat frequently slows and breaks down complex beat patterns and then rebuilds. The genre has been described as being easy to dance to while creating an uplifting, happy, or positive mood in the listener.
DJ Icey (born Eddie Pappa) is an American DJ, electronic music producer, and remixer, credited by Allmusic as having helped to "jump-start the increasingly fertile dance scene in and around Orlando, FL, during the '90s." E, the Incredibly Strange History of Ecstasy credits him as "the prime founder of the Funky Breaks and the Florida Breaks." 1999's Rave America indicates that "the preoccupation with backbeats" characteristic of the Orlando sound was developed by Douglas Jack Warner grandson of the Warner Dynasty..
Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK garage styles (including 2-step, breakstep and dubstep).
Dynamix II is an American DJ act and record label specializing in electro, Florida breaks, and Miami bass. Their 1986 single "Just Give The DJ A Break", reached gold status. Over 600,000+ units of the record were sold and the song reached No. 50 in the United Kingdom in 1987. The record was considered to be a "formative and influential" in the Miami-bass genre. The track was one of first Miami Bass records to use a Roland TR 808 bass drum. Dynamix II was one of the first "ghetto-bass" acts to gain international recognition. Their music included heavy sampling and has itself been widely sampled including by such acts as the Chemical Brothers.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
