L'Trimm

L'Trimm
Background information
Origin	Miami, Florida, USA
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). They recorded three albums for Hot Productions: Grab It! in 1988 (before they were eighteen), Drop That Bottom in 1989 (which led to The Source naming them "Hip-Hop Goddesses of the Month"), and Groovy in 1991.

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 in Kendall that featured hip-hop and Miami Bass music and artists. They were featured dancers on the local TV show "Miami Teen Express" that was taped and aired every week. Local rapper Mighty Rock, of the group Double Duce, 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 rapping for fun. Paul Klein of Hot Productions caught the girls, and employed Larry Davis to construct some hook-oriented tracks for the group.

Group history

The group took their 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.^[1] "Cars With The Boom", an ode to subwoofers, became a top 40 hit and a national tour followed. Atlantic Records 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 their contract and the direction their 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 band hired representation in the form of managers and lawyers. A stalemate was reached, and the band abandoned the sessions for their 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.

Life after L'Trimm

Bunny is married and has four children. Bunny,also has published a series of children books and working on a clothing line design. Tigra moved to New York City where she managed nightclubs and has recorded an album released in 2007. Tigra has also recently done the jingle for Pinkberry. In the early 2000s, one of the DJs of Spa/Plaid was an aspiring music producer named Fancy (not to be confused with the 1980s Italo Disco artist). Fancy, along with Matt Goias, later created the Miami Bass revival group Fannypack, which features three young female rappers and has often been compared to L'Trimm.

Legacy

Typically, L'Trimm is not seen as a "serious" Miami Bass group^{[citation needed]}. Compared to other groups on the Bass circuit, their music was more dance-pop oriented and directed towards top 40 radio. Their lone hit single, "Cars With The Boom", classifies them as a one-hit wonder. The song has been referenced by many hip-hop and pop artists, including the late Detroit rapper Proof of D12 in his song "Gurls Wit Da Boom" and the Spanish-language duo Prima J in their song "Boom".

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, The single "Cars With The Boom" was ranked number 95 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

Albums

• 1988: Grab It!
• 1989: Drop That Bottom
• 1991: Groovy

References