MUSIC 15 Week 7

The South

The Rest of the Country

• Until the mid 1990s most hip hop that registered commercially was made in New York or in California (mostly L.A.)

• There were however scenes in many other cities, especially in the South

• Most of this music was aimed primarily at a local audience and released via smaller independent labels with a regional focus

The South

• In most cases, Southern hip hop made connections to older African American pop music traditions that were also regionally specific

• This meant that while sharing many influences with NY hip hop for instance, it also folded in others

Primary centers in the South

• Houston (Suave House and Rap-a-Lot records)

• New Orleans (No Limit and Cash Money records)

• Atlanta

• Memphis

New Orleans

• New Orleans is in many ways unlike any other American city

• Musically it has been hugely influential on the rest of the country

• It has also maintained and valued its distinctive musical traditions (parades, second lines, early jazz)

New Orleans

• Parades: social organization, musical performance, performance of community

• Mardi Gras Indians: syncretic folk forms that maintain some African and Caribbean traditions within America guise

• These have influenced each generation of New Orleans music: jazz, R&B, rap

Bounce

• Bounce is a sub-style of hip hop specific to New Orleans that started in the early 1990s

• It is a party/dance music based on synthetic drum breaks (with other percussion) that features call and response vocal chants and novel dance moves

Master P “Make em Say Unnhhh”

• Master P ran No Limit records, one of the first regional independents to achieve national reach

• He was also probably the first rap star/producer to take on the business mogul role, quickly expanding his interests to sports teams, real estate, films etc

Master P cont’d

• This song was his most successful single, but it’s hardly the point

• Nonsense party chant

• Features other rappers on his label: Mystikal, Sylkk the Shokker. Note the variety of rhythmic cadence between the verses

Mystikal “Danger”

• The most successful No Limit rapper

• James Brown/drill sergeant vocal delivery

• More complex flow in terms of rhythm and dynamics than most other rappers we’ve heard so far

• Beat is an early one by the Neptunes

Cash Money Records

• Probably the most successful of the regional indie labels

• Formed by the Williams brothers, slightly dubious characters with links to criminal enterprises

• Expanded via a huge distribution deal with Universal that left them largely in charge--this was pretty much unprecedented

Juvenile “Ha”

• The early star on Cash Money records• Stylistically short on technical lyrical skills but

long on regional slang and inflection• This song and its video are a relatively clear-

eyed view of New Orleans project life at the time (1998)

• Beat by Mannie Fresh is all original and synthetic, but draws some on parade styles as does the rapping

Juvenile “Get Ya Hustle On”

• Post-Katrina song, with a rather dubious proposition for rebuilding

• Notable more for the video which features early footage of the worst affected areas after the storm

BG “Bling Bling”

• BG was one of the original Cash Money artists, functioned more in the role of the gangsta rapper than did Juvenile or the others. I.e. the lyrics are darker, less celebratory and more violent

• This song is an exception to that, and is effectively a Cash Money posse cut celebrating living large, and making regional slang a national thing in the process

Hot Boys “On Fire”

• Another Cash Money posse cut• As was often the case, the act took their

name from an actual criminal gang, one that the Williamses had loose ties to

• Features a very young Lil Wayne• Again, the beat and the chorus display

strong overtones of traditional New Orleans musical styles

Houston

• Houston was probably the first Southern city on the map within the genre, due to the Geto Boys and Rap-a-Lot records

• Less of a specific center of traditional Southern styles than New Orleans, but close to New Orleans and to Mexico (the influence of cumbia and narco ballads is hidden but non-trivial)

DJ Screw

• The most distinctive figure in Houston rap was DJ Screw, a prolific mix and radio DJ

• He pioneered a style of slowing down records and then cutting them up (I.e. “chopped and screwed”)

• He remixed nationally famous tracks for the local market and made beats for local rappers

DJ Screw (feat. Fat Pat) “Swang Down”

• This sound, associated with getting high on codeine cough syrup, became the defining feature of much Houston rap, and has recently had a revived national influence

• DJ Screw died of a codeine overdose

UGK “Pocket Full of Stones”

• UGK were a duo from Port Arthur Texas. Pimp C was largely responsible for the beats and Bun B was the primary rapper

• Were always a regional act, but were one of the few Southern acts to have a large underground following, largely due to the complexity and virtuosity of Bun B’s rapping

• This is a relatively straight-forward hustling/drub dealing narrative over a beat partially built from a song by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Paul Wall “Sittin Sidewayz”

• Houston rapper, the sound is strongly influenced by the DJ Screw sound

• Typical cars/girls rap, more about vibe than lyrical complexity

• Beat is slow and woozy, as is the video

David Banner “Cadillacs on 22s”

• A critique of the cars/bling focus of much Southern rap from within

• The song and video wind back from the present to an idealized agrarian past in a way that protests the materialism of the present

• Beat features an acoustic guitar in a way that seems to reference the country blues that had put Mississippi on the musical map early in the 20th century

Atlanta

• In the 1990s with the increasing reversal of the South->North migration patterns of African Americans that had marked much of the 20th century, Atlanta became a prime destination, and thus a city with a large African American middle class

• As part of the same phenomenon it also became a major music business center, especially for R&B-centered labels and artists

• This meant that local rappers could tap into a national market more easily than in most other Southern cities

Goodie Mob “Cell Therapy”

• Landmark Atlanta group, associated with Outkast, Cee-Lo later became a star solo act

• Their sound blended older style R&B musicianship with complex rapping that was often politically charged

• In an odd inversion this song is notable for dealing in conspiracy theory narratives more frequently associated with militia and white supremacist groups

Outkast “SpottieOttieDopalicous”

• Outkast were a duo from Atlanta, who cultivated contrasting personalities: Big Boi as the streetwise rapper and Andre 3000 as an eccentric flamboyant “poet”

• This is an album cut from “Aquemini” where they perfected this contrast

• The track features a delivery closer to spoken word than conventional rap over a reggae-inflected backing and tells conflicting versions of a night out and its repercussions on real life

Ludacris “Southern Hospitality”

• Southern rap as self-parody• “Ludacris” is an almost performance art alter

ego of Chris Bridges• Song trades in all kinds of super cliched

signifiers of the South. Rapping is deceptively skillful despite the exaggerations

• Beat by the Neptunes working more in club mode (rave-style synth lines)