Hip-Hop & Reggaeton in Little Havana

While Little Havana is usually envisioned as a place for elders wearing guayaberas, it's also the site for cutting edge and old school hip-hop music and dance, as well as the heavy beats of reggaeton.

Many of our nightclubs catering to a younger crowd include some hip-hop in their mixes, but their main focus is reggaeton. Some focus on a particular style of reggaeton (usually representing a particular region/country of Latin America or the Caribbean). Club Ache is known for bringing major reggaeton artists to its stage.

PAX is one club where you can find hip-hop, and it highlights live music exclusively. Groups like ArtOfficial perform here, with a sound that evokes The Roots but with a jazz and funk feel.

We're also proud that one half of Miami's hip-hop duo The Vagabonds hails from Little Havana: Eddie Villafuerte, or ER, who still lives in the neighborhood. The group's videos often highlights Little Havana, including the one featured below, called Real Dade County. 

Since we really like this duo (The Vagabonds) we'll include another video here, too: Predictions. It also includes scenes of daily life in Little Havana, from preparing espresso in the morning to doing the laundry!

We asked ER about Little Havana's hip-hop scene. "Little Havana has always been underrepresented, but now we've been integrated into the shout outs -- by Pitbull, Rick Ross, Trick Daddy." He explained that many of his music videos are set in Little Havana, and a portion of the "V for Vendetta" video took place on the corner where he grew up.

"Our generation was born and raised in Miami -- we relate to that more than others in the Latin community," says ER. "We have ties to the African-American community because of our proximity to Overtown, Alapattah, Liberty City [predominantly Black neighborhoods]."

He didn't speak English for the first four years of his life. Everyone in his family spoke Spanish. But when he began attending school in Overtown, he began to learn English -- and to discover other cultures.

"Us being kids, we became friends with African-Americans," explains ER. "We're of that generation that sees the quality of character. A lot of Americanized Latin guys have an African-American accent. We have that proximity, that relationship. In middle class areas, you might not see so much of that connection."

He says that local barbershops like The Spot (W. Flagler and 25th Ave.) are places for honing rapping skills. "Ranking is like playing the dozens," says ER. "You go back in forth, in Spanish and English. The barbers are instigators, and the ranking usually takes place between them. Everyone has a good time. Fathers and sons go to the same barbershop."

6th Street Dance Studio hosts hip-hop dance classes and practices/rehearsals of some of Miami's top breakers. Old school legends from NYC sometimes participate in passing on their knowledge to the next generation. On Fridays from 7 to 9 pm South Florida Zulu Nation offers free breakdance lessons at the studio. For more information about these classes, contact the studio or South Florida Zulu Nation.

Please also see our article entirely focused on breakdancing/hip-hop dance in Little Havana.

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