Official Performance Line Up for the FMA's

Mickey Garcia

Mickey Garcia was born at St.Vincent’s Hospital in New York City on October 21st. Mickey Garcia has been a disc jockey playing records at various Nightclubs throughout the New York Metropolitan area such as Copacabana, Bonds International, Studio 54, Rose­land Ballroom and New York New York. 1986 While working on B91 WKRB FM, MG produces C-Bank for Next Plateau Records creating his first international hit song titled “I WON’T STOP LOVING YOU” which was also included in the motion picture “Fast Cars”. That same year MG discovers Judy Torres and shortly after signs her over to PROFILE RECORDS. MG Produces & Writes Judy’s first 2 albums. September 1, 1987 MG forms Micmac Records, Inc. A FREESTYLE DANCE POP RECORD LABEL operating in New York City.


Lil' Suzy

Many people still wonder why they call her Lil’ Suzy. Well maybe it’s because she was performing at some of New York’s most famous clubs when she was just 6 years old, and that by the time she was eleven, her trademark hit ‘Take Me In Your Arms, had become a national Free­style phenomenon. Six albums and thou­sands of performances later, Lil’ Suzy is still at the top of her game, and while she’s back in the studio working on new music, Suzy remains in high demand with sell out concerts from coast to coast.


Delilah Cotto

Of Puerto Rican descent, Delilah Cotto was born and raised in the geographical location of Coney Island New York, USA. Delilah Cotto has made numerous appearances on television, guest starring on several programs, and in numerous commercials (including Dr. Pepper). In addition to her television work, Cotto has also appeared in eleven plays and six movies. Cotto started with some bit parts in movies like 1989's “Lean On Me,” and later moved up the scale to much meatier roles in such movies as 2002's John Leguizamo starring movie "Empire."


Ernest Thomas
Raj "What's Happening"
Everybody Hates Chris

Ernest Thomas was hailed by TV Guide as one of America’s most beloved televi­sion stars. He’s currently starring in Chris Rock’s “Everybody Hates Chris” as “Mr. Omar”. For six years he starred as “Raj” in the hit ABC comedy “What’s Happening and What’s Happening Now”. He made his dramatic debut in “Malcolm X” opposite Denzel Washington and recently starred in the soon to be released thriller “Paroled”. In addition to being an actor, writer and manager he is the executive producer of one of the most critically acclaimed R&B albums of 2008 “UNE” sung by the new R&B sensation “UNE” on Native/Universal Records. His new single “A Change Is Gonna Come” is a remake of the Sam Cooke classic with new words inspired by Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. He has a top 10 talk show “My Pimp TV” on Exscape.tv with television and film star Geri Reischl “Jan Brady” from The Brady Bunch and veteran comedian “Pebbles”.


DJ Ciro

He was the first disc jockey to do a live broadcast for a then Spanish Radio station called Su­per Q with the original Discoteca al Aire from Casanova’s which became a staple of Miami Radio, and later on opened doors for many other local dj’s. After Super Q a new dance station arrived in the market (Power 96 FM), and Ciro was hired as one of the original mixers along side Phil Jones and a then very young Lazaro Mendez. The famous Disco Lunch mix was created and hosted by Kramer the midday Man. During this time Ciro got involved with two of the original record pools in the area, S.E.D.A. record pool and The Florida Record Pool, which gave him the opportunity to get involved in some of the greatest dance music to come out of South Florida.


Angel
"Original CoverGirl"

No other group in the history of Free­style has been imitated more than The Cover Girls, but regardless of the fact, without the distinctive sound of Angel (OCG), Hits such as Show Me, Because Of You and My Heart Skips A Beat, would have lacked that main ingredient…personality! An ingredient that set The Cover Girls apart from the many other girl groups at the time. Today, Angel continues to perform throughout the country, and while she has experienced many successful recordings as a solo artist, she enjoys performing her classics just as much as her fans enjoy hearing them.


Freestyle Evolution

Emerging out of the deep depths of space from a musical dimension, light years away, comes Freestyle Evolution, the pioneers and legends of Electro-Funk-Hip Hop which is the synthesis that spawned a new genre of music today best known as “Freestyle”. This form of music acquired its title and identity from the group’s original name “Freestyle”. These forefathers of this genre, gained worldwide acclaim with their classic dance hits “Don’t Stop the Rock” and “It’s Automatic”. Converting into believers many in­dustry skeptics who once shunned the hi-tech style of music. Now Freestyle Evolution returns on a mission to once again, inundate airwaves and dance floors throughout the universe.


K7 / T.K.A.

TKA originally consisted of Tony, Kayel, Ralph “Aby” Cruz, Ray SPIDER Jackson and Linda “La INDIA” Cabal­lero, but eventually Aby, India & Spider all left and were replaced by Angel Vasquez. Their first single was “One Way Love” which was a ma­jor hit among the Latin club community in New York, “Scars Of Love”, “Tears May Fall”, and “Come Get My Love” followed. TKA released their biggest hits in 1991, “Louder Than Love”, “Give Your Love To Me” and “Ma­ria”, which ironically proved to be their biggest hit, then they split up. Following the split, the members of TKA went on to pursue independent interests. Kayel once again paired with Joey Gardner to record a solo album titled Swing Batta Swing under the name K7. K7 & the swing kids became the new Latin-flavored hip-hop dance unit from Spanish Harlem, New York & The Bronx.


Sweet Sensation

Originally named “Sweet Temptation”, this group had their first 1986 hit single “Hooked On You” on Next Plateau Records, & was then told by The Temp­tation’s management that they could not use the name. So they changed it to Sweet Sensation & signed to Atlantic/Atco Records. In 1988, their full-length album “Take It While It’s Hot” was released. Five out of the 8 cuts on the album were hit singles. The original members were Betty Dee, Margie Fernandez, & her sister Mari, who appeared on the first photo-cover version of the “Take It While It’s Hot” album. Sheila Vega replaced Mari in 1989, & the album was then re-re­leased with a new photo featuring Sheila. Sweet Sensation were probably the most Latin influenced of the girl-group Dance/Free­style acts of their time.


Johnny O

Born in Brooklyn, New York Johnny O had a fascination with music, and this fascination would one day take him to achieve a dream that has left remarkable value and recognition in today’s music industry. The year was 1988, in Brook­lyn, where Johnny O’s talent was discovered. “Fantasy Girl” was originally written for a friend that had been diagnosed with cancer and out of that a Billboard chart buster was born. “Fantasy Girl” has open doors and has elevated Johnny “O” to celebrity status internationally. Since then he has climbed the Billboard Hot 100 charts with chartbuster hits like Highways of Love and Dream boy/Dream Girl.


Company B

Who could forget the 3 girls from Miami with their massive international club hit “Fasci­nated”. Released in 1986 and charted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play for 6 weeks. The original line up was: Charlotte McKinnon, Su­san Johnson and Lori L. Their self-titled album was released on Atlantic Records which included hits “Full Circle” (Number 5), “Perfect Lover” (Number 12) and “Jam on Me”. Company B started performing again, kick­ing off the ‘Freestyle Explosion’ concert in Miami. The current line up consists of original members Charlotte McKinnon, Susan Gonzalez and new member Rachel Leslie. These ladies are as sexy as ever and their show is HOT!


Coro

Born to a Dominican mother and Cuban father and raised in Miami, Coro began singing at age 8, joining both the choir and drama club early. By 1985, he was beginning to make strides in his career with roles in television commer­cials and three guest spots on Miami Vice. While working on a demo with dance music producer Tolga, Coro was introduced to pop/dance artist Stevie B. Coro began working as a background vocalist and dancer on Stevies’s first tour. Once the tour ended, Coro moved to New York where he auditioned for producer Zahid Tariq. The song he was asked to sing was “Where Are You Tonight”. “Where Are You Tonight” became a huge hit in many mainstream markets around the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., and then came “Can’t Let You Go”, “Fall­en Angel”, and “Missing You” which were released on Charisma/Virgin Records on his self-titled album in 1992.


Debbie Deb

At just 16 years old, she was “dis­covered” at a North Miami record store. The Brooklyn, New York born, and North Miami Beach raised vocal­ist spent much of her youth making her own “vocals only” cassettes. A chance meeting with producer Pretty Tony, told Debbie he liked the way she talked and asked if she could sing and the answer was an unequivocal YES! The day following the record store meeting with Tony, she traveled to his studio. Upon entering the studio, the music track for “When I Hear Music” was blaring from the studio speakers. Tony and Deb ended up writing the lyrics to “When I Hear Music”, and in a matter of hours, had the vocal tracks down. Deb, now a resident of the Philadelphia Pennsylvania area, finds herself frequently back on stage with many other freestyle artist.


Erotic Exotic

Originally the backing band for the Arista girl group “Expose”, Miami based Erotic Exotic were at the forefront of the 80’s dance movement known as Freestyle. Their signing to Atlantic Records heralded an unprecedented period in the post Disco era reviving the Dance music scene in America. Erotic Exotic stood apart from many of their peers in that they were a self contained band of actual musicians as opposed to the producer driven entities common during the period. Their tours in the U.S. and abroad always earned rave reviews and the band seemed destined for superstardom. Tragically the future of the band was sidetracked by the death of their lead singer Eric Tallman.Their hits are still played in strong rotation at pop radio, especially in Texas, California, Florida, New York, Europe and Miami.

Rockell feat Joe Zangie

In the late 1990s, Rockell had ma­jor dance hits with the songs “In A Dream,” “When I’m Gone,” and “Can’t We Try” (a duet with Collage and remake of the Dan Hill and Vonda Shepard 1987 hit song). All of these tracks appeared on her 1998 debut album entitled What Are You Lookin’ At?. She released a second album, Instant Pleasure, in 2000. “Instant Pleasure” included the single “What U Did 2 Me” which made 101 pop in 2001. Her best charting success is in Canada, where she is still active performing shows at clubs. Her debut single “I Fell in love” distributed by the then BMG Canada hit 1 on the Canadian Singles Chart while the follow-up mega hit “In a Dream” was at 6 and is still a dance club anthem and a favor­ite amongst freestyle music enthusiasts nationwide.

Brenda K. Starr

She started her career by making a demo of Stacy Lattisaw’s “Love On A Two Way Street”. She started hanging out in places where she felt someone was bound to hear her. In the early 80’s, Brenda then helped out picking up cups at a local roller skat­ing rink in NYC, where she bumped into Harry Bellafonte. At the age of 18, she was signed to Mirage Records, & released her 1985 debut album “I WANT YOUR LOVE”, which includ­ed the Freestyle classic “Pickin’ Up Pieces”, as well as “Suspicion”. Brenda later was signed to MCA Records, and shortly after released her 2nd album in 1987 simply titled “BRENDA K. STARR”. This album turned Brenda into an international star. The album contained the singles “What You See Is What You Get”, “Breakfast In Bed”, and Billboards Top-20 hit “I Still Believe”.

Representing
"The Future Of Freestyle"

Pain

Hector “Sito” Santiago and Jenaro “Jay” Vadell, the duo known collectively as PAIN, got their first start on the now defunct Tazmania Records, releasing the singles “I FEEL IT IN MY HEART”, I’M THE ONE TO BLAME”, “IT COULD HAVE BEEN LOVE” and many others on the label’s popular Tazmania Freestyle series. The duo has recently jumped back full force onto the freestyle scene writing, produc­ing, and releasing their first full length CD “NO MORE TOMOR­ROW”. The CD showcases the duo’s songwriting abilities as well as their unique vocal style. PAIN hopes to help usher in a new era where freestyle music will be accepted on a mainstream level and recognized as the true art form it is.