Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, And The Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Editorial: How Southern Rappers Changed the Climate of Hip Hop; The Expectations Of a RegionUp and coming rappers succumbed to the east coast sound and lyrical poise from rap initiators such as: Kool Herc, Run DMC, to name a few. But, UGK, consisting of Pimp C and Bun B were from Port Author, TX. A city 90 miles outside of Houston would lay the framework for a sustainable and cherished piece of rap history. Pimp C, the stepson of a school band teacher, possessed a classical background and an appreciation for negro spirituals and Italian sonnets.”That rap is noise…,” said his step-father. Arguably the reason for his soulful, church organ inspired beats with rebellious bass to complete the hip hop theme.So how did this change the climate of hip hop? Gangsta rap assimilated and first exposed in the west created infatuation for a regions “way of life.” The idea of southern pimps, “swanging” slabs and gold-mouthed rhyme speakers gave the under-developed hip hop culture something new to analyze. However, as southern rap expanded to the big screen (Menace II Society, Office Space, etc) and became acknowledged as “hip hop” conflict arose. Outkast appeared on the 1995 Hip Hop Source Awards they were immediately welcomed by boos from the crowd of peers.But lack of acceptance could not have happened at a better time. A pivotal moment occurred when Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, shortly after winning the Source Award for Best Group, developed a respect for southern style during his tenure in Atlanta. He met Andre Benjamin of Outkast and was invited to the Dungeon Family recording studio. This rare meeting resulted in a groundbreaking collaboration on the record, “Skew It on the Bar-B” and was an immediate hit. Raekwon shares, “before that south wasn’t played in New York.”Before hip hop strongly emerged in the south, the path to success was blazed by artists, such as: Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, and others. The general notion seemed to be you can’t make it from the south in the south. But southern rap pioneers such as, UGK, Geto Boys, Goodie Mob and DJ Screwed changed the persona and challenged the status quo. The south re-designed the “big business” of hip hop by exploding on the scene gaining support from their region, selling tapes out of their trunks and supporting other up and coming rappers in their community. I liked Dirty South because I liked Ben Westhoff. I liked reading about the slightly aloof white guy kicking it in the club with Luke, being driven away from a potentially “gay” area by Mr. Collipark, asking Soulja Boy how much money he carried around, and unsuccessfully deciphering Gucci Mane’s southern drawl on the phone. He clearly cared about the culture and had done his homework. Every time I thought, “what about affiliate so and so,” Westhoff would mention him. There’s no new information here if you keep up with hip hop on the internet but it was cool how contemporary the book was. It’s hard for books about hip hop to stay timely, but Westhoff pulls it off in an accessible, often satirical, yet charming and accurate way. There’s more detail in Third Coast but it’s also so jammed packed with facts so that it’s not as easy of a read. There’s just enough information here, and if I were going to teach that class on Soulja Boy, I would assign Dirty South. Perhaps, that’s because I hold the distinction of publishing the first academic essays on Souljah Boy, but that’s an unconfirmed fact (kinda like independent record sales). Another plus is that Westhoff emphasizes pleasure and sound. You can’t talk about the popularity of dirty south music without talking about how it sounds. And his comparisons to the blues are right on—to their distinct generations both genres can be aptly termed dirty music.I also enjoyed reading about the music that marks my coming of age. I know the old heads are groaning but some of us are younger and the rise of the dirty south happened while we were in college and the parties were all about the dirty. My undergraduate best friend was from the ATL and he made me practice saying shawty until he gave up because I could never get the inflection right. He bootlegged my first Outkast, introduced me to Cool Breeze, Drama—the initial rise of the ATL. The first hip hop courses I ever taught occurred at the same time as the rise of Swishahouse. I loved the nostalgia of Dirty South. At the same time, the book does a great job demonstrating hip hop caprice. Most of the featured artists have come and gone. It reminds me of the ephemeral nature of hip hop and how now it’s hard to distinguish southern rap because so many rappers from the south are globally affiliated. I mean, is Young Money really a southern label with Drake from Toronto and Nicki from New York by way of Trinidad as its headliners? The changing of the guard also suggests if dudes hadn’t met the right people at the right time we would never know their names. How many names will we never know? The game has certainly changed since the beginning of its newest contributors. It has been 12ish years since the south was a novelty. Okay, so now I feel like the old head…My only beef which is always my beef is the missing women. I mean, Missy, Trina, Mia X, and Gangsta Boo all get passing mentions, but they deserve more than that, and I always ride for Princess and Diamond. Actually, now that I think of it Crime Mobb wasn’t mentioned at all. But other than that, an easy read that made me reappreciate pleasure and play in 21st century hip hop.
What do You think about Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, And The Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop (2011)?
that this will be a good book because lil wayne is one of my favirate rapper
—MKoudys
liking this book really much i am done with this book it was a good book
—amen
