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Southern rap

Southern rap (or Dirty South hip-hop) is a type of hip hop music that emerged in the late-1980s as a popular force, based out of Miami first, then extending to Atlanta, New Orleans, and St. Louis, among other cities.

In the late 1980s, a distinctive bass-heavy scene Miami bass evolved out of electro hop and similar hip hop-influenced dance scenes in Miami, including Luther Campbell and his group, 2 Live Crew. 2 Live Crew became infamous after their album, Nasty As They Wanna Be (1989) was banned in a Florida town and the group was subsequently arrested on obscenity charges after performing; the charges were eventually dismissed.

The first Southern hip-hop crew to achieve mainstream success based on their music and not controversy was Tennessee's Arrested Development, and their brand of uplifting, spiritual party singles from their debut LP, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of.... Their sound was a world apart from the sexually explicit, bass heavy party music of Miami, but sales were swift and reviews were raving. While Arrested Development was not able to keep their momentum going, their success did set the stage for the mainstream breakthrough of southern hip hop with OutKast and Goodie Mob in the middle of the decade.

OutKast, more than any other group, put Atlanta on the hip hop map, and became one of the most popular groups in hip hop by the end of the decade. Aquemini, their third LP, was a groundbreaking album that redefined southern hip hop, and was able to successfully appeal to both the core audience and the mainstream audience. While OutKast, Goodie Mob, and a number of other Atlanta-based acts (many, like OutKast and Goodie Mob, of them part of Organized Noize's Dungeon Family collective) balanced critical and commercial success, New Orleans rapper/label mogul Master P popularized a bounce-based sound that focused more on commercial appeal than artistry.

Master P's No Limit label popularized rappers such as Mystikal and Silkk the Shocker, and the compteting Cash Money label presented acts such as The Hot Boys (The B.G., Juvenile, Lil Wayne, and Turk). The No Limit/Cash Money formula was also successful co-opted by Miami's Slip-N-Slide label, which included Trick Daddy and Trina. Labels such as Cash Money and No Limit also caused Dirty South music to be associated with "mass produced" albums released rapidly (often with a whole page of the liner notes for each LP devoted to advertising its follow-ups), especially containing bright-colored, heavily detailed "bling bling"-style album covers produced with Adobe Photoshop.

A number of other southern cities were the home base for popular hip hop acts.[1] The controversial Three Six Mafia hailed from Memphis, Tennessee, pop success Nelly from St. Louis, Missouri, Scarface and The Geto Boys from Houston, Texas, Nappy Roots from Bowling Green, Kentucky, Petey Pablo from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and The Neptunes from Virginia Beach, Virginia

Sylistically, Dirty South is notably different from its northern and western counterparts. Slower, less complex rhyme schemes are the norm for Dirty South rappers; and the production can veer towards either a soul-based sound (Dungeon Family, Arrested Development) or a more synthesized/electronic sound (No Limit, Cash Money, Lil Jon). Sampling, while still used, is less common in southern hip hop production.

List of popular Southern hip-hop artists

External links

Interview with a DJ who notes the diversity of styles in Southern rap

Categories: Hip hop

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10-26-2009 08:16:03
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