Hey y'all,

It's interesting - and somewhat unsettling - to me that
our very interesting discussions so far on this matter
have basically ignored two of the most important
Southern-born genres of modern music: Southern soul and
Southern hip-hop. I worry that the fact that neither of
these have yet warranted significant discussion suggests
that we too are falling into the all-too-common trap of
associating the word "Southern" automatically with
whiteness, and also - particularly in terms of hip-hop
- with something older or somehow more antiquated.

While I don't disagree with any of the major points or
characteristics that have been suggested so far for
potential defintions of Southern music, I wonder about
why it is that we've yet to approach discussions of
Southern R&B (a rich and interesting genre, and a
potential source of significant discussions about the
role of race, region and political contexts) and "Dirty
South" hip-hop (by now perhaps the dominant strain of
modern hip-hop, a revivifying force in the music for a
multitude of reasons, and assertively *Southern* in both
sound and lyric).

To me, hip-hop in particular offers us a new addition to
discussions of Southern musical identity. Particularly
since the East Coast/West Coast hip-hop establishment felt
little desire to market or pay attention to hip-hop from
below the Mason-Dixon Line, Southern MCs (from Master P to
Geto Boys to David Banner to Three 6 Mafia to OutKast) were
forced to market their music in a regionally-focused manner,
releasing explicitly, unashamedly Southern-fried recordings
to market to audiences entirely within a region, not merely
Southern, but often the size of one or two states.
With the cries of "Dirty South" or "get crunk," and the
re-infusion of terms like "country" and "down South" into an
assertively African-American musical context, Southern hip-hop
speaks very deeply - and in very complex ways - to the ways
that "Southern" identity remains a story of more than just white
folks. (The work of "hick-hop" artists like Bubba Sparxxx
amplifies this issue even more clearly.)

David Banner is in many ways a perfect example of this, a
Mississippi MC whose political rhymes are as "conscious" as
any of his more celebrated Northern counterparts (Common or
Talib Kweli, for example). He directly confronts the
Confederate flag, the continuing poverty in his home state,
and the involvement of poor Southern blacks in military
service as a means of survival and personal betterment. (He
also calls the hip-hop world to task for ignoring the
contributions of "Dirty South" artists.)

Banner, in an angry, passionate fashion that seems not unlike
the gritty moans of Howlin' Wolf or Elmore James, applies a
crunked-out critique of what it means to be Southern and
American. And he is not alone: Scarface and Cee-Lo and Missy
Elliott and UGK and 8-Ball & MJG and Lil Jon and Ludacris
and even the Ying Yang Twins are re-writing the rules of the
hip-hop universe with a distinctly Southern point of view.

In addition to this, and importantly, these Southern hip-hop
artists are reincorporating many of the Southern musical
traditions into hip-hop's sonic palette. The use of gospel,
blues and soul sounds (both in original music and in
well-chosen samples) by artists like OutKast, Goodie Mob
and Mannie Fresh has greatly expanded hip-hop's musical
universe. Cee-Lo, Nelly and others demonstrate vocal styles
that reflect both hip-hop's pioneers and the greats of
previous musical generations; Cee-Lo, for example, is a
straight soul-gospel singer that any fan of Al Green or
Wilson Pickett should check out.

The hard, sometimes dark visions of Geto Boys, Petey Pablo
and David Banner reflect blues traditions. Getting "crunk"
owes a great deal to the energy of the gospel church, just
as Houston's "screwed" style seems to be the latest
manifestation of blues and jazz's slow-burn intensity. New
Orleans bounces, Memphis rides, Miami bumps, Virginia jumps,
and from the "Cackalackas" to "the Lou," Southern hip-hop
has redefined both the genre and its surrounding musical
environment.

All this is to say that I hope our discussions of what
constitutes "Southern-ness" stay aware of the fact that,
even to this day, black Americans are reflecting,
refracting and remimaging what the term means, and
what its manifestations might be.

Thanks for reading; I really enjoy the discussion on this list.

Peace,

Charles Hughes
Master's Degree Candidate
Department of Afro-American Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison


==========================
"May God turn the hearts of our enemies
    towards our position
And if He won't turn their hearts, may He
    at least turn their ankles
So we'll know them by their limping"
      -Irish blessing

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