L'Trimm
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| L'Trimm | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Miami, Florida, United States |
| Genres | Miami Bass Hip hop |
| Years active | 1988–1991 |
| Labels | Hot Productions Atlantic Records |
| Members | |
| Lady Tigra Bunny D |
|
L'Trimm was a Miami Bass hip-hop duo composed of Lady Tigra and Bunny D, two women from Kendall, Florida (an area of Dade County, slightly south-west of Miami). The group recorded three albums for Atlantic Records: Grab It! in 1988 (before the two of them were eighteen), Drop That Bottom in 1989 (which led to The Source to name the group Hip-Hop Goddesses of the Month), and Groovy in 1991.
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[edit] Early years
Lady Tigra (Rachel de Rougemont) and Bunny D. (Elana Cager) met in high school, and regularly attended Skylight Express, a teen dance night club in Kendall that featured hip-hop and Miami Bass music and artists. They were featured dancers on the syndicated TV show Miami Teen Express that was taped and aired every week throughout South Florida, Atlanta, Metro New York and was produced by Douglas Productions which produced a string of local and syndicated cable programs. The girls quickly struck up a friendship when they discovered their shared love of all things hip-hop. Tigra was an amateur graffiti artist and break-dancer who wrote rhymes. Bunny D. was a classically trained dancer and performer who also wrote hip hop lyrics. The duo formed a group called XTC and would battle boys during their lunch period. Female emcees were a rarity at the time and the girls soon gained the attention of local rapper Mighty Rock of the group Double Deuce, who used to drive them home from school. One afternoon, Mighty Rock needed to stop by the Hot Productions studios. During the meeting, Tigra and Bunny went into a recording booth and began rhyming for fun. Paul Klein of Hot Productions caught the girls and employed Larry Davis to construct some hook-oriented tracks for the group, around the girls' pre-written rhymes. Tigra was 16 years old and Bunny was 17 years old when the girls signed with Hot Productions.
[edit] Group history
The group took its name from a then-popular designer brand of blue jeans (Trim), and added the L' prefix to give it a French feel. The song "Grab It!" became a local hit and was followed by an album of the same name. Later there was some controversy when JJ Fad released its hit "Supersonic" because some[who?] said it mirrored the cadence of "Grab It!" too closely.[1] Shortly after, "Cars with the Boom," an ode to subwoofers, became a top 40-hit and a national tour followed. Atlantic Records picked up the group's first album and signed a deal to distribute L'Trimm's second album, Drop That Bottom, which included a remix of "Grab It!" The album was a minor success.
L'Trimm became dissatisfied with its contract and the direction its music was taking at the same time as Miami indie labels began to speculate that the Miami bass sound would never break through to mainstream national audiences. As Hot Productions began to look for new creative inspiration, the group hired representation in the form of managers and lawyers. A stalemate was reached, and the group abandoned the sessions of its third album, Groovy. With plenty of vocal outtakes left in the studio from previous sessions, Hot Productions continued creating the album without the artists' input. The resulting album, which had more of a house music sound, sold poorly, failing to find the new market it was aiming for, and was poorly received by critics.[1] Unable to score another hit and with their youthful pop-rap style waning in popularity, L'Trimm disbanded.
[edit] Life after L'Trimm
Bunny D. is married to Tuff Crew's LA Kid and has four children. She has published a series of children's books and is working on a clothing line design {cn}. Lady Tigra moved back to New York City, where she managed nightclubs and has recorded an album in Los Angeles released in 2008 that was titled Please, Mr. Boombox. The jingle on the Pinkberry Web site was also written by Tigra, and she also appeared on Nickelodeon's award-winning children's show Yo Gabba Gabba.
[edit] Legacy
L'Trimm was one of hip hop's earliest, sassiest, and most influential female duos.[citation needed] Many world-renowned artists have credited Tigra and Bunny for having influenced their sound, including Gwen Stefani, MIA, Peaches, and, FannyPack.[citation needed] Most recently, the LA Times and Yahoo! Music compared Ke$ha's vocal stylings to that of L'Trimm's and Dev's "Bass Down Low" to Lady Tigra's "Bass on the Bottom."[citation needed] Their Top-40 hit single "Cars with the Boom" was referenced by hip hop and pop artists alike, including the late Detroit rapper Proof of D12 in his song "Gurls wit da Boom" and the Spanish-language duo Prima J in its song "Boom". As well as being featured on the Far East Movement mixtape "Dirty Bass", mixed by DJ Virman.[citation needed]
In 2005, Jay-R released "My Other Car Is a Beatle," a mash-up of L'Trimm's "Cars with the Boom," Gary Numan's "Cars," and the Beatles' "Drive My Car".[1]
In 2008, "Cars with the Boom" was ranked number 95 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
[edit] Albums
- 1988: Grab It! (Atlantic 81925)
- 1989: Drop That Bottom (Atlantic 82026)
- 1991: Groovy (Atlantic 82300)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Shapiro, Peter (2005) "L'Trimm", in The Rough Guide to Hip-Hop, Rough Guides, ISBN 1-84353-263-8
