| 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). 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.
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The 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 local TV show "Miami Teen Express" that was taped and aired every week and was produced by local Miami Bass artists "The Gucci Crew". 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 rap lyrics. They formed a group called XTC and would battle boys during their lunch period. Female rappers were a rarity at the time and the girls soon gained the attention of local rapper Mighty Rock, of the group Double Duce, 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 rapping 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 raps. Tigra was 16 years old and Bunny was 17 years old when the girls signed to Hot Productions.
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. Later there was some controversy when JJ Fad released their hit "Supersonic" because some 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 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.
Bunny D. is married to Tuff Crew's LA Kid and has four children. She has published a series of children 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, "Please Mr. Boombox." The jingle on the Pinkberry website was also done by Tigra and she has appeared on Nickelodeon's award-winning children's show "Yo Gabba Gabba".
L'Trimm was one of hip hop's earliest, sassiest, and most influential female duos. Many world renowned artists have accredited Tigra and Bunny for having influenced their sound including Gwen Stefani, MIA, Peaches and Fanny Pack. Most recently, the LA Times and Yahoo! Music have compared Kesha's vocal stylings to that of L'Trimm's and Dev's "Bass Down Low" to Lady Tigra's "Bass on the Bottom". Their Top 40 hit single, "Cars with the Boom", has been 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 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, "Cars with the Boom" was ranked number 95 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.