R E S P E C T
It is fitting that Georgia native Otis Redding penned and originally recorded Aretha
Franklin’s anthem. Decades later, Atlanta-based rappers, his musical descendants earning
their stripes, are asking that Hip-Hop give them their props.
Georgia may have raised Black musical icons like Otis Redding, Little Richard, James Brown and Gladys Knight, but its crown city—Atlanta—was not known for music until L.A. Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds set-up shop with LaFace Records in 1989. Even then, Atlanta became the epicenter for the smooth R&B- gone-pop sound of Laface artists such as Toni Braxton and TLC. In other parts of the South, the fun-loving, booty-shaking sounds of Florida, mainly Luke and the 69 Boyz, dominated. Despite the Geto Boyz in Houston and a few others, Southern Hip-Hop was largely defined by bass music.
The emergence of OutKast in 1994 with Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, ironically on LaFace, didn’t change this perception overnight. It did, however, alert Southern audiences in particular that there was some new Hip-Hop energy in the South. But even though OutKast didn’t rhyme fast over rhythms that thumped 120 beats per minute, they were still regionalized. When they were awarded a Source Award in 1995, the New York crowd booed them. “They opened up the doors,” says Jim Crow’s Mr. Mo, giving OutKast their props. “They sold records and that made people look towards our way.” Goodie MOb, which called it quits recently, opened up more doors. Despite limited acceptance on the East Coast, the four-man group was very popular in the rest of the country.
Still, almost ten years later, Atlanta’s Hip-Hop community has limited East Coast acceptance. OutKast is seen as an anomaly. It is okay to embrace them because they are the exception. Yet, as new MCs emerge from New York, they are widely accepted as the natural heirs to the lyrical dynasty. MCs from Atlanta, especially if they embrace their roots, are silently believed not to be good enough. But Atlanta MCs seem to understand where the East Coast stands and have made a concerted effort to just “do themselves.”
Lil’ Jon and the Eastside Boyz are a current example of southern Hip Hop
that defiantly embraces its roots. “Crunk” is a musical style that is distinctly
Southern. Music critic Rhonda Baraka recently defined “crunk” in Creative Loafing as having “super-charged beats, bold lyrics and aggressive, somewhat
exaggerated vocal delivery.” According to Lil Jon, “’crunk’ is like
when you go to a club and they put on the hottest record.” In many ways, it is the
manifestation of the differences that exist between New York and Atlanta. “New York rap
or Hip-Hop is always trying to be true to Hip-Hop,” explains Lil’ Jon.
“Atlanta niggas don’t give a f***. They just want to get crunk in the club. So we
ain’t trying to be true to nothing but ourselves. You definitely feel free. That’s
why, in Atlanta, you don’t really have a lot of fights in the club.”
Arista artist Bone Crusher, the first signed by new exec Jermaine Dupri, says “the reason Hip-Hop is so good is because niggas from here want to know what niggas from L.A. talking about and L.A. niggas want to know what niggas from the South talking about.” That kind of inter-regional exchange between the Midwest, the West Coast and the South has fostered an appreciation for the cultural connections in Hip Hop music. While New York has embraced some artists, Southern rappers have only recently penetrated their musical landscape. As late as 1996, Q-Tip, then a member of A Tribe Called Quest, could be heard on the very powerful HOT 97, where Funkmaster Flex still holds court, asking a DJ why they didn’t play “Elevators” by OutKast.
Atlanta Hip-Hop has flourished against tremendous resistance from prominent
Hip-Hop gatekeepers. “We all different but we all the same,” says Bone Crusher, who, along with Aquemini Records artist Killer Mike, hails from Adamsville, a neighborhood in
Southwest Atlanta. In trying to explain what makes Atlanta Hip-Hop distinctive, Bone Crusher
says, “You got to realize where it all started from. Think of the greatest of all time, James
Brown. He’s from Georgia. When you think about James Brown, you think of nothing
but soul. A lot of times, you didn’t understand what the f*** he was saying, but you just
felt what he was doing. People from the South, they basically do what they feel. If you feeling
what you’re doing, then a lot of people are going to feel it too because they feeling your
soul. And if it sounds good with that extra soul on top, it’s over. It is all about
spiritualness. If you can feel the spirit of a m***********, it’s all gravy.”
Atlanta rappers also have a natural affinity for each other. At the set for Bone Crusher’s “I Ain’t Never Scared” video directed by Bryan Barber, who helmed OutKast’s “The Whole World,” several Atlanta rappers are on hand. In addition to Bankhead rapper TI and Killer Mike, who both guest on the song, Cee-lo, Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat, Lil’ Jon and others can be spotted. It is this closeness that we associate with Atlanta. After all, it is not just OutKast, it is the Dungeon Family, which includes producer Rico Wade, singer Sleepy Brown, rappers Goodie MOb and a host of others. And Atlanta’s new generation is not much different. TI believes that this closeness distinguishes emerging Southern rappers and is proud to say that he, Bone Crusher and Killer Mike, were cool before anybody got a record deal. “It’s just a certain group of niggas that is gonna f*** wit each other no matter what ‘cause we respect each other,” he says. “We respect each other’s vision, we respect each other’s hustle, we respect each other’s talent.”
And for the most part, they are not tripping off of what New York rappers label real Hip-Hop. They accept Hip-Hop in its purest form, freedom of self-expression. “I just do what I feel. Beats talk to me,” says TI. In doing what one feels, there is always the possibility that it will resonate with a lot of other people. When you live in a certain region, your experiences are probably similar to others who live in the same region. “New York feels like they created Hip-Hop. So, in a certain sense, everybody in New York is biased,” rationalizes Mr. Mo. “It is certain people in Georgia and all they want to hear is Georgia music. This is where they are from and that’s what they want to hear.”
The real challenge becomes getting more Southern Hip Hop artists to the OutKast level of fame and success. Bone Crusher, the Youngbloodz and TI are just a few of Atlanta’s brightest with new material. Only time will verify whether they will one day create the buzz that recordings from OutKast, and even Ludacris, currently generate. There is no doubt that they will continue to expand Atlanta’s Hip-Hop scene whether the rest of the world accepts them or not.
Ronda Racha Penrice is a former Associate Editor for both UPSCALE Magazine in Atlanta and the now-defunct RAP PAGES based in Los Angeles. Although born in Chicago, she has lived in New York, Mississippi, Los Angeles and now Atlanta.