Big Mucci

About

Mark Wynn better known under his stage name Big Mucci is an American choreographer, producer, song writer and line dance entertainer. Born in birth place of Rock & Roll (Cleveland, Ohio) Big Mucci served his country as a United States Marine. After returning home from serving his country, Big Mucci formed his line dance rap group 71 North Boyz in 1997. In 2004 Big Mucci embarked on a successful solo career. Big Mucci is praised for the quality of his Line Dance choreography, to his music productions that is considered as beginners and intermediate line dances (meaning easy for everyone can do).

Big Mucci turned the urban line dance music community on its ears in 1997 with his debut release “Let me see Dat Boodie Bounce” and his follow-up line dance single “The Cleveland Shuffle” in 1998, which landed him at the #44 spot on the top 100 Billboard Charts. Over the years Big Mucci has received numerous awards from Producer of the year, Line Dance of the year, Choreographer of the year, multiple Lifetime Achievement Awards, State of Ohio Icon award plus many more. Big Mucci's ‘Line Dance’ phenomenon has allowed him to be able to travel across the world putting boots, sneakers, and high heels on the dance floor. He developed and perfected the formula of writing & recording perfectly phrased songs accompanied with his Line Dance choreography that is not only ‘dancer friendly’ but ‘radio friendly’ as well. There isn’t a dance floor in the world that has not felt or heard the sounds of that formula with Cleveland Shuffle, The Bounce, Bikers Shuffle, The Birthday Slide, Breast Cancer Awareness Shuffle just to name a few.

Big Mucci will get your hands clapping and feet stomping, guaranteed! With performing over 30 plus shows a year, he clearly holds up to his reputation as one of the hardest working line dance recording artist in the U.S, sliding himself into the hearts of fans all over the nation! What makes Big Mucci unique from other artists is that he teaches his line dances at all his shows, to make sure everyone can learn his dances and be able to enjoy the show with others who may already know how to do the dances. so whether you are a beginner or an advanced dancer, be prepared to get up and move!

Today it is nearly impossible to go to any music festival, dance club, wedding reception, fitness center, cook outs or even taking your family on a cruise without hearing and seeing people dancing to Big Mucci’s family fun Line Dances. Besides performing continuously and being called upon by many music greats for collaboration on new music, Big Mucci has shared the stage alongside some of r&b, country, pop, Rap and southern soul most respected and revered legends further more lets you know Big Mucci’s time is here. With over 40 plus Line-Dances under his belt and more to come Big Mucci is in a lane all by himself with no competition bringing a new level of fun, fitness, enthusiasm, energy, and artistry to the entire world.

Store / Merch Links

Reverbnation

Want to hear and purchase more of Big Mucci's Hot Soul Line-Dances, this is the place to be.

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Amazon

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ITUNES

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EBAY

Come grab your Merch. from T-Shirts to CD's & DVD's

Links

soundcloud

Listen to the Hot Line Dance Releases by Big Mucci

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TIKTOK

Press

20 years after ‘The Cleveland Shuffle,’ Big Mucci is still dancing (external link)

By Anne Nickoloff, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- “Whoa, do the shuffle!”

The command abruptly dips into a catchy bass line that’s very close to the one in Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Soon, directions are called out -- steps, kicks, and a few “giddy-ups” mixed in with whistle toots.

If you’re from Cleveland, you might recognize “The Cleveland Shuffle” by 71 North. The iconic line-dance song, first released in 1998, then re-released in 2002 with dance call-outs, is a sensation that’s been embraced at Northeast Ohio weddings and birthday celebrations ever since.

According to 71 North leader Big Mucci -- aka musician and dancer Mark Wynn -- the song has been played at Cavs halftime shows, former WNBA team Cleveland Rockers’ games and even during mayoral races.

“I believe ‘The Cleveland Shuffle’ made a big impact because it was something fresh and new that Clevelanders had not heard or seen,” Wynn said. “I am the first person to ever make a line-dance record in the city of Cleveland. I am also the first person ever to make a line-dance record song for the city of Cleveland.”

“The Cleveland Shuffle,” along with regional hits like “Boodie Bounce” and “Biker’s Shuffle,” remain some of Wynn’s best-known work today, two decades later. This year, he celebrated the successful songs on his new remix album, “The Linedance Movement 2,” which features instrumental versions and electronic remixes of the shuffle, along with brand-new singles.

All of Wynn’s music is strictly made for line dancing. The songs’ steady beats pair with straightforward dances, with Wynn leading the group.

Wynn used to be the leader and primary songwriter of 71 North, but now produces music under his own moniker ‘Big Mucci’ -- a combination of his childhood nickname “Mucci” and his more recent nickname “Big Man.” In the past decade, 71 North (a dance crew named after one of Cleveland’s most prominent highways) broke apart while members went on to find careers in theater, fitness, graphic design and more.

Only Wynn continues to put out line-dance music, and he’s well known for it both locally and nationally. He received two lifetime achievement awards -- one from Baltimore’s Union Crew line dance collective and one from the Ohio Hip-Hop Awards. He was honored as an “Ohio Icon” with an Ohio Kings award, and won an award of excellence at Cleveland’s Legend Awards.

In addition to his awards, one of Wynn’s big accomplishments is that Beyonce used a “Biker’s Shuffle” dance move on her “Formation” world tour -- or, it’s at least a move that looks similar enough to the “Biker’s Shuffle.” (Wynn proved his point with a couple of convincing videos on YouTube.)

Wynn calls himself the “godson” of line-dancing, falling in with DJ Cupid, Casper and DJ Maestro, ushering in an era of line-dancing in the ’90s that was inspired by disco music. “When you say line dance, the first thing people think of is country,” Wynn said. “But country line-dancing came after the disco era.”

In the mid-1970s, “L.A. Hustle” took over disco clubs on the West Coast, and was modified into “The Bus Stop” when it earned popularity on the East Coast in the late ‘70s. According to Wynn, “The Cleveland Shuffle,” released in 1998, was the next urban line-dancing song to have call-outs.

Of course, other popular records came out in between, notably “The Electric Slide.” But because the original version of “The Electric Slide” was based on Bunny Wailers’ “Electric Boogie,” which did not have call-outs in the song, Wynn doesn’t count it as an original line dance single.

That’s an important distinction, Wynn said.

“A lot of people call me the godson of line-dancing, because I make actual music for line dancing. You have people that have the regular music that put a line dance to it, but then you have people like me who make line dances and the music,” Wynn said. “You can’t do no other type of dances.”

Wynn finds inspiration for songs from his own life. Wynn, an avid motorcyclist and a member of O’Men’s motorcycle club, wrote “Biker’s Shuffle” to honor the group and to break stigmas about it. (The O’Mens were featured in a 2003 Cleveland Scene feature titled: “Un-Easy Riders: The Omens Motorcycle Club went from hard partyers to unlikely Samaritans.”)

“We’re just regular people, a group of people that comes together that loves riding motorcycles,” he said. “I try to bring a positive light to the whole thing.”

There’s also “Breast Cancer Awareness Shuffle,” a song Wynn wrote in honor of his mother, who died two years ago following a 15-year fight with the disease. Originally, Wynn planned to film his mom dancing for the music video, but she died before he got the chance. “It was a big shock,” he said. “I wish I had videotaped it then.”

Growing up, Wynn was supported by his family in his artistic pursuits. He was raised in the city’s Lee-Harvard neighborhood. When his parents divorced, he split time between Lee-Harvard and Euclid.
He went to the Cleveland School of the Arts from 4th to 8th grade, with a major in modern dance and ballet, and a minor in drama. From there, he went to John Marshall High School and then graduated from Max Hayes High School in 1991.

“My whole dream was to be an MC Hammer backup dancer, and to dance on ‘Soul Train,’” he said. “I’ve been dancing forever.”

Wynn played high school football for half a season, but his father pulled him off the team when his grades started slipping. During his junior year of high school, Wynn was involved with schoolmates’ gangs, trying to fit in with others his age.

“Thinking back, it’s kind of funny because my friends used to call me a part-time gang banger because where I lived with my mother and also where I lived with my father -- there was no gang activities in those areas,” he said. “Plus, I think I may have been the only gang banger who had to be in the house by the time the street lights came on.”


After graduating, Wynn joined the Marine Corps and was stationed at Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii, working in marine aviation logistics. He also had temporary additional duty in military police in Okinawa, Japan.

The moment he returned home to Cleveland, he got back to dancing. He wrote and released “Boodie Bounce” in 1997 while he was working at a McDonald’s in Tower City. The dance song provided levity in a time of tragedy. Wynn’s younger brother Anthony was killed that same year, a victim of gun violence.

At the time, Wynn had almost no experience in writing music -- but fans were so excited about the dance song that they encouraged him to write more.

He continued to release singles, EPs and albums for the next two decades, as both 71 North and Big Mucci, and regularly danced at events.

He still dances today, working around his day job as a security guard. Currently, Wynn’s work in music takes up most of his weekends, taking him to events around the country. He averages about 100 shows a year -- but he still makes time to care for his three children and his partner.

Wynn performs at festivals, community centers, wedding receptions and cruises. His music is also used at schools in physical education programs, helping teach dance as an exercise. “Anything that deals with entertainment, I’m there,” he said.
Sometimes, Wynn’s songs are more intense when performed in the line dancing community. He’ll play instrumental versions and let passionate followers dance along, with all the steps memorized.
“In the line dance world, you have regular line dancers who do the clubs and wedding receptions, a night out, social gatherings,” he said. “Then, you have the line-dance community, where they live, eat, sleep line dancing. That’s all they do.”

Wynn wants all of his Big Mucci releases to remain accessible for everyone -- even people who think they can’t dance, or children. It’s the reason he includes wordless instrumental versions of his songs, and also why he recently introduced clean versions of songs like “Boodie Bounce” and “Hokey Pokey” for kids.

For Wynn, the best part about performing is seeing groups share a moment of joy together.

“A lot of people come, they’re feeling down, or you don’t know what’s going on in their home, but they come out and that 20-30 minutes of them out there line dancing, it just brings a smile to their face,” he said. “My favorite part is to see the enjoyment on peoples’ faces.”

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Altavoz Press Release

Altavoz Enters the Line Dance Craze & Inks Deal with Line Dance Artist Big Mucci (Dat 71 North Boi)

Rockville, MD (November 1, 2013) – Altavoz welcomes label 71 North Entertainment and its artist Big Mucci (Dat 71 North Boi), one of the most promising artists to emerge in the Dance/Pop/ Rap scene in many years. The label signed with Altavoz for worldwide physical and digital distribution, with a new release coming out in early 2014.

Says Altavoz CEO Nelson Jacobsen, “Big Mucci has tremendous potential. His line-dance release "The Biker’s Shuffle" has gained over 10 million views on YouTube and has reached up to 6 million listeners across top radio stations in 26 major cities without any radio campaigning. The Biker’s Shuffle is spreading fast up the music charts in all regions in the U.S. We look forward to working with Big Mucci on his upcoming releases.”

Mark Wynn, better known by his stage name Big Mucci (Dat 71 North Boi), is known as “The International King of Line-Dance Music”. After serving his country in the U.S Marine Corps, he became a founding member of 71 North, one of the hottest Rap/Dance groups to come out of Cleveland, Ohio. In 2002, Big Mucci landed a recording deal with Critical Music/Warlock Records after releasing popular club hits “The Cleveland Shuffle” and “Let Me C Dat Booty Bounce”. When Critical Music folded in 2004, Big Mucci released numerous singles and by 2009 released his first self-titled solo album BIG MUCCI DAT 71 NORTH BOI with the widely popular hit “The Biker’s Shuffle,” which has gained national and international success. As proof of its growing popularity, Microsoft Corporation XBOX MUSIC has obtained a compulsory License for the song.

Here’s what a few of the industry’s tastemaker’s have to say about Big Mucci and his art:

“Simply the best!!! The way Big Mucci captivates his audience is amazing.” -- Sam Sylk, author & radio personality 93.1 WZAK

“Big Mucci made me look at line-dancing different. He taught me the true respect of the essence of the whole line-dance culture. Big Mucci is a true line-dancer.” -- Thrill da Playa, founder of 69 Boyz, platinum selling recording artist

“Big Mucci is truly the king of line-dance music hands down!!” -- Cupid (cupid shuffle) - International R&B recording artist

“From 8 to 80; blind crippled or crazy, Big Mucci’s music get any party crackin!” --D. Lorand, CEO Esp Enterprises/Chairman of the Ohio Hip-Hop Awards


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