Friday, April 11, 2014

Missy Mist - Let The Good Times Roll (1991)

How about a bit more old school hip hop, this time of the Miami bass sort?  Missy Mist is Michelle Broom.  Originally from the Bronx, Michelle moved to Miami at a young age, where she convinced her mother to take her to a local radio station that LL Cool J was appearing at. While there, Michelle's mother convinced the security guard that Michelle could rap, and he introduced her to the DJ (and Miami bass pioneer), Eric Griffin, and his music partner Norberto Morales, who owned the successful Bass Station Records.  They liked what they heard and signed her.  Unfortunately Norberto was soon murdered, so Eric created his own label, Never Stop Productions, and started recording with Michelle, who now recorded under the name Missy Mist.  Their first track together was "Make It Mellow," in 1988, which became a Billboard rap hit.  It's success captured the attention of major label Atlantic Records, who quickly released the single on a larger scale. Missy followed this up the next year with "Gettin' Bass," which solidified her reputation as the queen of Miami bass.  Soon RCA Records came calling and Missy was signed to a lucrative deal.  With Eric again producing, the album included the Miami bass sound ("Back It Up" is the standout), but also explored other hip hop sounds, making it one of the more diverse albums from an artist associated with Miami bass.  There were samples aplenty, from Brian Hyland's "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" to S.O.S Band's "Take Your Time (Do It Right)".  The title track was the only single, and didn't fare quite as well as her previous tracks, and it would seem that RCA dropped her.  She stayed in Miami while Griffin moved to Missouri, where he was tragically murdered by thieves in his home studio in 1998.  While still dabbling in music, as well as doing voiceover work and acting, Michelle focused on being a housewife and mother.  She also went to school for Legal Studies in the hopes of one day becoming an Entertainment & Sports attorney.  And in 2013 she discussed her early days in an exciting documentary dedicated to Miami bass, The Bass That Ate Miami, which featured all of the pioneers and superstars of the genre, of which she was obviously one.  Visit her on Youtube or Facebook.

Download Let The Good Times Roll

1 Deadly
2 Let The Good Times Roll
3 Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
4 Let's Pull Together
5 Think About Peace
6 We Can Do It
7 Rock The Funky Beat
8 Back It Up
9 Let's Get This Party Started
10 Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
11 Funky Enough

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for this short write-up on me. I appreciate your interest.

    Sincerely,
    Michele

    A.K.A.
    Missy Mist

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome! So honoured that you stopped by and wrote! :)

      Delete