Editing Freestyle music (section)

==Freestyle scenes==
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===New York===
"[[Let the Music Play (song)|Let the Music Play]]" by [[Shannon (American singer)|Shannon]], is often named as the genre's first hit, and its sound, called "The Shannon Sound", as the foundation of the genre, although also known as the beginnings of the electro genre which then gave birth to techno. [[Afrika Bambaataa]]'s "[[Planet Rock (song)|Planet Rock]]" was arguably the first freestyle song produced. "Let the Music Play" eventually became freestyle's biggest hit, and still receives frequent airplay. Its producers [[Chris Barbosa]] and Mark Liggett changed and redefined the electro funk sound with the addition of Latin-American rhythms and a syncopated drum-machine sound.

In March 2013, [[Radio City Music Hall]] hosted a freestyle concert. Top freestyle artists included in the line-up were TKA, Safire, Judy Torres, Cynthia, Cover Girls, Lisa Lisa, Shannon, Noel, and Lisette Melendez. Originally scheduled as a one-night event, a second night was added shortly after the first night was sold out in a matter of days.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/The-Freestyle-Old-School-Extravaganza-Sells-Out-Radio-City-Music-Hall-20130402|title=The Freestyle & Old School Extravaganza Sells Out Radio City Music Hall|website=BroadwayWorld.com|language=en|access-date=February 6, 2019}}</ref>

===Miami===
Radio stations nationwide began to play hits by artists like [[TKA]], [[Sweet Sensation (trio)|Sweet Sensation]], Exposé, and Sa-Fire on the same playlists as [[Michael Jackson]] and [[Madonna]]. "(You Are My) All and All" by [[Joyce Sims]] became the first freestyle record to cross over into the [[contemporary R&B|R&B]] market, and was one of the first to reach the European market. Radio station [[WPOW]]/Power 96 was noted for exposing freestyle to South Florida in the mid-'80s through the early '90s, as well as mixing in some local [[Miami bass]] into its playlist.

'[[Pretty Tony]]' Butler produced several hits on Miami's Jam-Packed Records, including [[Debbie Deb]]'s "When I Hear Music" and "Lookout Weekend", and Trinere's "I'll Be All You'll Ever Need" and "[[They're Playing Our Song (Trinere song)|They're Playing Our Song]]". Company B, Stevie B, [[Paris by Air (group)|Paris by Air]], [[Linear (pop group)|Linear]], [[Will to Power (band)|Will to Power]] and Exposé's later hits defined Miami freestyle. [[Tolga Katas]] is credited as one of the first people to create a hit record entirely on a computer,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.becomingtheidol.com/producer-on-demand/|title=Producer On Demand (PROD)|date=December 12, 2017|website=StarMentors Music Artist Career Development and Mentoring, LLC|language=en-US|access-date=February 6, 2019|archive-date=February 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207075404/http://www.becomingtheidol.com/producer-on-demand/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and produced Stevie B's "Party Your Body", "In My Eyes" and "Dreamin' of Love". Katas' record label Futura Records was an incubator for artists such as Linear, who achieved international success after a move from Futura to Atlantic Records.

===Philadelphia===
The groundbreaking "Nightime" by [[Pretty Poison (group)|Pretty Poison]] featuring red headed diva [[Jade Starling]] in 1984 initially put Philadelphia on the freestyle map. Their follow-up "Catch Me I'm Falling" was a worldwide hit and brought freestyle to [[American Bandstand]], [[Soul Train]], [[Solid Gold (TV series)|Solid Gold]] and the [[The Arsenio Hall Show|Arsenio Hall Show]]. "Catch Me I'm Falling" broke on the street during the summer of 1987 and was the #1 single at WCAU (98 Hot Hits) and #2 at WUSL (Power 99) during the first two weeks of July. [[Virgin Records]] was quick to sign [[Pretty Poison (group)|Pretty Poison]] helping to usher in the avalanche of other major label signings from the expanding freestyle scene.

Several freestyle acts followed on the heels of [[Pretty Poison (group)|Pretty Poison]] emerging from the metropolitan Philadelphia, PA area in the early 1990s, benefiting from both the clubs and the overnight success of then-Dance friendly Rhythmic Top 40 [[WIOQ]]. Artists such as [[T.P.E.]] (The Philadelphia Experiment) enjoyed regional success.

===California===
Freestyle had a notable following in California, especially Los Angeles, the Central Valley, San Francisco Bay, and San Diego. California's large Latino community enjoyed the sounds of America's East Coast club scene, and a number of California artists became popular with East Coast freestyle enthusiasts. In Northern California, primarily San Francisco and San Jose, they leaned toward a similar rhythm dance to [[hi-NRG]], so most of the Californian freestyle emerged from the southern regions of the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

[[Timmy T]], Bernadette, Caleb-B, SF Spanish Fly, Angelina, [[One Voice (girl group)|One Voice]], M:G, Stephanie Fastro and The S Factor were from the Bay Area. 

The Filipino American community in California also embraced freestyle music during the late 1980s and early 1990s. [[Jaya (singer)|Jaya]] was one of the first Filipino-American freestyle singers, reaching number 44 in 1990 with "If You Leave Me Now".

===Canada===
Freestyle's popularity spread outward from the [[Greater Toronto Area]]'s Italian, Hispanic/Latino and Greek populations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was showcased alongside [[house music]] in various [[Toronto]] nightclubs, but by the mid-1990s was replaced almost entirely by house music.

[[Lil' Suzy]] released several 12-inch singles and performed live on the Canadian live dance music television program ''[[Electric Circus]]''. Montreal singer [[Nancy Martinez]]'s 1986 single "For Tonight" would become the first Canadian freestyle single to reach the top 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, while the Montreal girl group [[11:30]] reached the Canadian chart with "Ole Ole" in 2000.

===Elsewhere in the world===
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Performers and producers associated with the style also came from around the world, including Turkish-American Murat Konar (the writer and singer of Information Society's "[[Running (Information Society song)|Running]]"), [[Paul Lekakis]] from [[Greece]], Asian artist Leonard (Leon Youngboy) who released the song "Youngboys", and [[United Kingdom|British]] musicians including [[Freeez]], [[Paul Hardcastle]], [[Samantha Fox]] (whose singles "[[Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)]]", "[[Love House]]" and "[[I Wanna Have Some Fun (song)|I Wanna Have Some Fun]]" were all top 10 chart hits), and even [[Robin Gibb]] of the [[Bee Gees]], who also adopted the freestyle sound in his 1984 album ''[[Secret Agent (Robin Gibb album)|Secret Agent]]'', having worked with producer [[Chris Barbosa]]. 

Several British [[New wave music|new wave]] and [[synth-pop]] bands also teamed up with freestyle producers or were influenced by the genre, and released freestyle songs or remixes. These include [[Duran Duran]] whose song "[[Notorious (Duran Duran song)|Notorious]]" was remixed by the Latin Rascals, and whose album ''[[Big Thing (Duran Duran album)|Big Thing]]'' contained several freestyle inspired songs such as "[[All She Wants Is]]"; [[New Order (band)|New Order]] who teamed up with [[Arthur Baker (musician)|Arthur Baker]], producing and co-writing the track "[[Confusion (New Order song)|Confusion]]"; [[Erasure (duo)|Erasure]] and the Der Deutsche mixes of their song "[[Blue Savannah]]"; and the [[Pet Shop Boys]], whose song "[[Domino Dancing]]" was produced by [[Miami]]-based freestyle producer [[Lewis Martineé]]. Australian act [[I'm Talking]] utilized freestyle elements into their singles "[[Trust Me (I'm Talking song)|Trust Me]]" and "[[Do You Wanna Be?]]", both becoming top ten hits in their native Australia.