What's the word people?! It was just over two decades ago when Andre 3000 (then just Andre) proclaimed that "The South had something to say", as he and Big Boi were receiving the award for Best New Artist at The Source Awards in front of a very hostile New York crowd. At this time, the South really didn't have a lot of respect or appreciated except for possible The Geto Boys and the popularity of the ever controversial 2 Live Crew. All the while, Outkast was ushering in a whole new era in hip-hop that the game would never be the same again for hip-hop.
We all know, in the early days, we had acts like The Geto Boys, UGK, and 2 Live Crew set the standard for southern hip-hop with their music stemming from the late eighties to very early nineties, followed by acts such as Eightball & MJG to further the south's want to be noticed. The south had a signature sound that primarily resonated in the Blues, Jazz, Soul, and Gospel. These influences were very prevalent in some artists music, and it was obvious that the roots of music were vital within this section. The first truly acclaimed album from the South was The Geto Boys' stunningly vicious Grip It! On That Other Level, which was compared, in many aspects, to N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton at this time. However, other albums such as Comin' Out Hard, Too Hard To Swallow, and of course As Nasty As They Wanna Be were putting the South on people's radars. While the East was being held down by the likes of Black Moon, Tribe, LL, and Brand Nubian, the West was owning the game with Dre and Snoop, not to mention Eazy, Cube, and Ice-T. It was very easy to see how the South would get swallowed up in the mix.
Then came two young cats in their late teens named Outkast that became forefathers for the new southern movement. They released the seminal Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, to incredible acclaim. This album was clearly a changing of the guard and signaled a new change in southern hip-hop. It still kept the elements of soul and everything else aforementioned, but just used in a more contemporary way. With that, the album saw platinum units, and we had our new stars, whether the East and West liked it or not. The use of Soul and funk was so cleverly incorporated into basically every track on the album and people were reluctant to acknowledge them as stars. Everybody, except the south. From there, The Geto Boys reunited to deliver their fifth album, The Resurrection, UGK dropped the album of their careers with Ridin' Dirty, Goodie Mob had arrived with their magnificent debut, Soul Food, and Eightball & MJG were slowly but surely climbing the ladder of success themselves with On Top Of The World. Let's not forget the emergence of Three 6 Mafia, and how Chapter 2: World Domination put the team on the map with the rambunctious "Tear Da Club Up". All of the sudden, people are paying more and more attention to the South, and that made the other coasts uncomfortable.
When Biggie, Jay, Nas, Mobb Deep, and the Wu were dominating the East, and Pac, Dre, Snoop, and Cube were running the West, more eyes were starting to be on this new revolution going on musically in the South. Outkast dropped their second album, ATLiens in '96 and it was easily the best album of that year that wasn't The Score, All Eyez On Me, Reasonable Doubt, or Hell On Earth. Plus, the aforementioned Ridin' Dirty was considered a classic by many, and even went near platinum units. Unfortunately, due to no radio play, ATLiens was THE southern album that was holding it down, but make no mistake about it, the South was becoming a force. Soulful, honest, and unapologetic, these artists were showing the world what living in the South was about, and fans were starting to get it.
Now, we hit the new millennium, and at this time, a new crop of southern emcees are looking to elevate the game even more, and it worked emphatically. Artists such as Ludacris, T.I., Cash Money, No Limit Records, and later Lil' John would officially put the South in demand. Thanks to infectious hit after infectious hit, the south really did have something to say, and it was taking momentum away from botht he East and the West. The radio was filled with anthems such as "Rubberband Man", "Back Dat Azz Up", "What's Your Fantasy", "Make 'Em Say Ughh" and many others. Multi-platinum units were being sold and the South was no longer considered the red-headed stepchild of rap. More awards were getting won, and people are celebrating the rise of southern culture being embraced all over the world. By around '02-'04, the South was in the Crunk movement, where adrenaline met high energy music and vocals, and we thank Lil' John for that period. Artists such as Pastor Troy, Drama, Trillville, and Lil' Scrappy were fully on board the crunk train, and once again, the south was on top of the charts. Even the West and East were trying to get in on it, as Nas and his group The Bravehearts used the Crunk element for their single "Quick To Back Down".
With this newfound success came some detractors. Many felt that the South was unintelligible, Crunk was nothing more than a bunch of screaming and fighting going on, and had nothing to do with emceeing or lyricism. Many felt that other artists were the same, no talent just putting two words together that could rhyme over good infectious beats. Some of that may be true, but the bottom line in the south was the club, especially the strip club. Southern culture is big in dancing and having a good time, and rap in the south was known for doing so since 2 Live Crew. The Crunk movement was not a time to show off new legends in hip-hop. Itr was a brief time period where people would just let loose and dumb out. Once that fizzled, it made way for the trap genre to fully develop.
The trap genre was first brought on by T.I. and Young Jeezy, as both delivered some of the most notable trap albums ever assembled, but others such as Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti, and OJ Da Juiceman would come along and would continue the trap movement. By this time, radio was completely saturated by the south. From New York to Compton and all points in between, the south had officially taken over hip-hop. This region had basically m,monopolized the sound of hip-hop. Artists such as Outkast, Goodie Mob, UGK, and Eightball & MJG weren't as relevant as they once were (not to mention unfortunate circumstances such as Outkast and Goodie Mob's break-up and the tragic death of Pimp C aided in their relative downfalls). However, Lil' Wayne became the biggest hip-hop artists not named Eminem during this time as well. Wayne had been a Cash Money Millionaire since the age of thirteen, and as a fully grown man, he basically reinvented himself and delivered some of his best efforts and was the man to beat. Regardless of genres or sounds, Wayne was always true to himself, and he became the cameo king, appearing on more people cuts than anyone at that time, thus resulting in numerous mixtapes, and Tha Carter III selling a million units its first week. Another southern star running hip-hop.
Today, artists such as Young Thug, Lil' Yachty, Denzel Curry, Playboi Carti, 2 Chainz, and Rick Ross are the ones handling business in the South. Although some of their sounds and styles aren't for everybody, there are others such as EarthGang and J.I.D. that are fresh and show glimpses of mid to late nineties South. Also, Future, who has been the 'it' gut of the South for a few years now, has been considered the godfather of the 'Mumble Rap' movement, by which some of the aforementioned artists such as Yachty and Playboy Carti are products of. Today's southern influence reaches east coast states that are typically hard-nosed in their tradition of boom bap, but artists such as Lil Uzi Vert from Philly and Fetty Wop from Jersey have incorporated the mumble rap/trap style into their personas. On the other coast, Kendrick Lamar's latest incredible feat, DAMN, has southern trap influence with it as well, with scorching hot southern producer Mike WILL Made It at the helm for four tracks, including his first two singles, "Humble" and "DNA".
If there was a reason as to why the South has been continuously running the game, it could be because they're unified. There's not a lot of competition within the south. Occasional beefs notwithstanding, the South is together. The east coast, traditionally, is rooted in competition, and the west can be inconsistent. The South has always been for the dominance of the South and everybody within it. There's no Florida vs. Georgia type beefs. They're together, standing as one, regardless if you're in the mumble rap section like Yachty or you're more trap like Gucci or more traditional like Luda, chances are, they'll all get together for a track because the South believes in coming together, and that's where they win. Everybody in the east wants to be the "King of NY", while the west is starting to get back to being a fully cohesive and consistent region musically once again, with artists such as Kendrick, Game, Snoop, and Ab-Soul delivering stellar material.
Say what you will about today's South, but this region is still the majority of today's influence in the game. If you're looking for a time table for the South to fall off, don't waste your time. Not while every section of the country seems to have some sort of southern sound or influence. One can even talk as much shit as they want about artists like Lil' Yachty or Playboi Carti, or even Future, but the truth is some of your favorite artists actually don't mind bigging them up. Therefore, the South's reign over hip-hop isn't going anywhere.
Great stuff my friend.
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