Overview and casting

The cast of the first season, from left to right: Veronica, Bobby, Gunplay, Trick Daddy, Trina, Amara, Shay and Prince.

Love & Hip Hop: Miami revolves around the personal and professional struggles of several rappers, singers and socialites in Miami's music scene. The series is notable for its diverse cast, which reflects Miami's racially and economically diverse community. It has a sprawling supporting cast, who (in most cases) share the same amount of screen time and storyline focus as the show's leads.

The original cast consisted of Trina, Trick Daddy, Gunplay, Afro-Latina singer Amara La Negra, Cuban-Venezuelan rapper Veronica Vega, openly gay rapper Bobby Lytes, socialite and party promoter Prince, and Flavor of Love's Shay Johnson. The first season's supporting cast would include Steph Lecor, Latin trap producer Young Hollywood, Keyara Stone, urban model and girlfriend of Gunplay, Grammy Award-nominated singer Pleasure P and his Pretty Ricky bandmate Baby Blue Whoaaaa, stripper-turned rapper Miami Tip, Joy Young, estranged wife of Trick Daddy, celebrity stylist Jojo Zarur, Jeffrey White, JT Money's openly gay son and boyfriend of Bobby Lytes, stylist Malik Williams, DJ Michelle Pooch, Prince's girlfriend Liz Cifuentes, model Gabby Davis, and mother-and-daughter brand ambassadors Chinese Kitty and Chinese Nicky. Although not mentioned in the initial cast announcement, Amara's mother Mami Ana and Jojo's mother Faride Nemer would appear in minor supporting roles.^[17] Love & Hip Hop: New York's Juju C. and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta's Lil Scrappy would make special crossover appearances.

On November 19, 2018, VH1 confirmed that nearly all of the show's cast would return for a second season, with Jojo promoted to the main cast. New supporting cast members would include Haitian-Canadian comedienne Jessie Woo, rapper Khaotic and Spectacular of Pretty Ricky.^[18][19][20] Khaotic made headlines during filming, after he was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run incident.^[21]

On November 15, 2019, Jojo Zarur announced that the show would return on January 6, 2020. On December 9, 2019, VH1 confirmed the season's premiere date, along with a promo featuring new cast members Sukihana, Brisco, Hood Brat and waist trainer entrepreneur PreMadonna, who had previously been attached to the show when it first started filming in 2016.^[22] Jojo would return in a supporting role, while Veronica Vega left the series entirely. Prince, Gunplay and Baby Blue Whoaaaa, Pleasure P and Spectacular of Pretty Ricky filmed scenes for the season and were included as cast members in the season's press release, however were cut from the season when it eventually aired.^[23] On December 11, 2019, VH1 announced the return of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta's Joseline Hernandez to the franchise,^[24] who would join the cast alongside Shay Johnson's brother EmJay Johnson and model Nikki Natural, while rapper KaMillion and social media personality Saucy Santana, best known for his friendship with Yung Miami of City Girls, would appear as recurring guest stars.^[23] Despite being credited as a main cast member for the entire season and heavily featured in its promotional material, Joseline disappeared from the show entirely after four episodes, after a series of interviews in which she criticised producer Mona Scott-Young.^[25]

After over a year long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show was retooled for season four, with only Trina, Amara, Trick and Sukihana returning to the main cast. New cast members include Ace Hood and his wife Shelah Marie, Noreaga and his wife Neri, and Florence El Luche. Bobby Lytes was demoted to supporting cast, along with Florence's sister Gaelle and husband Marlon, Suki's fiancé Kill Bill and cousin Isaiah, Trina's boyfriend Raymond Taylor and manager C.O. Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood's Ray J and Princess Love make crossover appearances. The season continued a year later without Ace and Shelah, and with the return of Shay Johnson in a supporting role.

On July 11, 2023, VH1 announced that the show would return for a fifth season on August 14, 2023.^[3] It will be preceded by three clip show specials, Love & Hip Hop Miami: Top 10 Most Outrageous Moments on July 24, 2023, Love & Hip Hop Miami: Top 10 Most Legendary Moments on July 31, 2023 and Love & Hip Hop Miami: The Rewind on August 7, 2023, featuring cast members recapping moments of the show.^[26] Season five saw the promotion of Ray J and Princess to the main cast, as well as Safaree Samuels, making the latter the first ever cast member to appear in all four incarnations (Hollywood, New York, and Atlanta) of the franchise, replacing Noreaga and his wife Neri who did not return. New cast members include rapper Zoey Brinxx, manager Supa Cindy, businesswoman Eliza Reign, and Shay Johnson's boyfriend, rapper Fabo. Shay's mother, Sandra Johnson appears in a supporting role as well as Miami Tip who also appears in a supporting role after a two-year absence. Original cast member Gunplay also appears in a supporting role after a three-year absence with his wife Vonshae. Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta's Momma Dee makes crossover appearances during the season.

Cast timeline

  Main cast (appears in opening credits)

  Secondary cast (appears in green screen confessional segments and in end credits alongside the main cast)

  Guest cast (appears in a guest role or cameo)

Note:

Storylines

The premiere episode deals with colorism and eurocentrism within the Latin community, including a scene where light-skinned producer Young Hollywood criticises dark-skinned singer Amara La Negra's afro.^[27][28][29]

Critical response

Ebony praised the show and Afro-Latina star Amara La Negra for "inviting cultural conversations" about misogynoir and the underrepresentation of black Latinas in mainstream entertainment, hoping the franchise would continue to go in a more "conscious" direction.^[30] La Negra was dubbed by Billboard as the show's "breakout star", landing a multi-album record deal with BMG hours after the show's premiere.^[31] However, the show was not well received by some Miami locals, including Khia and TS Madison who reviewed it negatively on their web show The Queen's Court, comparing it to a "telemundo" and criticising the casting and production values, with Khia stating "they had everything bad but a bad bitch on there".^[32]

Ratings

The series premiere garnered 1.8 million viewers, making it VH1's best launch since Hip Hop Squares the previous year.^[33] The show has struggled with ratings overall compared to its predecessors, which has been attributed to its confusing scheduling changes,^[34] having had several different time slots in season two, before settling on Monday nights after Love & Hip Hop: New York.^[35]