"South"

"Now I want you to tell me just one thing more. Why do you hate the South?"

"I dont hate it," Quentin said quickly, at once, immediately; "I dont
hate it," he said. I dont hate it he thought, panting in the cold air, the iron New England dark: I dont. I dont. I dont hate it! I dont hate it!

—which is not to say that anybody's hatin' on the Souf or anything but the ask: what is the American South through the lens of rap? and who says so? and how has it been constructed? when the question comes up, minstrelsy accusations tend to fly from all corners although this has always been the case in any discussion of southern literature: which leads us invariably to questions of "authenticity" but I'd rather avoid those if we can. Houston/Kentucky/Atlanta/Miami/North Carolina: where you at, and, more importantly, who/what are you?

yes, this question does eventually pose questions about canons & whatnot

"Dirty 38, formerly known as Underground Mafia, is making another run at hip-hop stardom.

"The Mafia had a national hit in 1995 with "Gangster Walk," which rose to No. 9 on the Billboard charts."

I remember really liking this song, but I haven't heard it in years.

Anyone looking at chart success or listening to pop radio can tell you the South is doing quite well. But uptight hip-hop aesthetes like yours truly get nervous because Southern hip-hop tends not to priviledge things like wit/rhyme/etc., and go straight for the beat. (Of course, the Dungeon Family et al. offer a nice respite.)

So to answer the "canon" question, I think a lot of it has to do with what gets defined as artful hip-hop vs. "stupid" hip-hop. And because so much of Southern hip-hop is REALLY far afield of the Rakim paradigm, it tends to get shat upon a lot.

"Daisy Dukes", 2 Live Crew, & "Come On and Ride (The Train)"

Are these the roots of Southern hip hop? Throw in Arrested Development and things get a bit more strange.

OutKast doesn't exactly come across like Paris or KRS-One, it is a whole lot more fun sounding than that.

That was back when Def (sic) American was all about trying to get kontroversy by any means possible.

The problem is that Southern hip-hop is just as diverse and weird as hip-hop anywhere else in the country, but because of this regional aesthetic signature -- the Bounce -- everyone assumes you can't take it seriously, because it sounds like "party stuff."

BOOTY BASS!

i watched the last half hour of rhyme and reason on tv last night. there's a part where master p is pacing in that half-circle of thug-looking guys and he pulls a gun out of the top of his pants and waves it around and says something like 'down south of course we strapped---- of course we strapped' and then it shows him in his car and his car has a thing on it that says #1 RECORD LABEL IN THE USA or something like that

there's no hope and all men between the ages of 15 and 40 must be willing to die at any time or go to college and move away or get a better job and move away but if they stay they're going to be shot in the head and they have moms but their dads are in prison so they'll probably go to prison too if they don't get shot or they might die of a disease, who knows............ everything in the songs is true

the south = e.s.g. and slim thug - 'dirty south,' outkast - 'west savannah,' mista madd - 'fo real,' master p - 'bout it, bout it part 2,' fat pat - 'pimp tyte,' eightball and mjg - 'what do you see,' lil wayne - 'shine,' lil jon - 'i don't give a fuck' (screwed version on the new swishahouse), ugk - 'choppin' blades,' lil flip - 'how we ball'

Quite honestly, I live a few miles from Atlanta and I've never seen anyone doing this. Or maybe I just ride through the depressing parts too much.

People in the south have good manners. I like Ludacris.

Lousiana may pass. Only jazz from that state anyway, and jazz wasn't too bad. But the world could definitely have done without gospel, blues, Stax soul and country.

Where did I ever say anything about anything else than music?

Don't mix music and politics. They are two completely different things. I HATE anything that doesn't put the main emphasis on melody and (complex) harmony. I absolutely despise it and there is no way that I can possibly tolerate it. That doesn't mean I despite the people who make that kind of music.

(I despise the political opinions on a lot of - mainly white - people from those exact states, but that is a wholly different story)

(plus I was born in Texas so FUCK YOU again, pal.)

You are such a disillusioned, ignorant little man that I won't bother to even address your comment. However I do feel much pity for what must be a sad little life. My condolences.

I HATE anything that doesn't put the main emphasis on melody and (complex) harmony. I absolutely despise it and there is no way that I can possibly tolerate it. That doesn't mean I despise the people who make that kind of music.

... he means black people.

It's based upon what Geir says, strange as that may seem

Actually, you'll find that quite a few non-black musicians also don't put the emphasis on melody and (complex) harmony, and that quite a few black people do, and that Geir is well aware of this (tho admitidely his methods of distinguishing between the two are rather bonkers.)