THE SOUTH HAS RISEN AGAIN!!

The Confederacy
written by 4Bars

Over the past 10 years, the hottest rappers, by far, have been from the south. The most original sounds (Outkast, Timbaland, Neptunes, etc), the most ingenious musical ideas (Whisper Song, T-Paining ur voice, Dance/Hit Song Combo) and honestly, the best hip hop music has come from either Texas, Atlanta, Louisiana, or Florida. Not saying that the north (read: New York) hasn’t had their share of good music: Nas, Hov, Joe Budden, Kiss, 50 sold some records, etc, but New York has been lackluster when it comes to hip hop. There are two phrases that have been resounding in my head over and over while writing this post: “The South will rise again!!” and “Hip Hop is Dead”. I now see that the latter statement was made out of jealousy and envy; or maybe it was only referring to New York, cause as Lil Wayne and T.I. have made a point of maintaining, Hip-Hop is alive and living quite well.

Hip-Hop started in New York and no one can ever take that away from the Big Apple, but a lot of things have originated there, left, and evolved once out of the confines of the concrete jungle. Whether it’s G-Unit falling flat, Dipset in turmoil, or Hov holding on to New York’s claim by his fingertips, what’s now clear is that people wanna enjoy what they listen to. You can talk about Soulja Boy being stupid, but there is a huge demographic of people that want to and like to hear his songs. Don’t get that confused with “purchase” his songs, cause while they do that too, that’s not what I’m getting at. People are tired of the thug image, even down south, and NY has been doin it for a loooong time.

Hip hop has made its new home in the south. And it’s not some fad or changing trend, we’ve had those (reggaeton, reggae, Hyphy movement) in past summers and they’ve been short lived. But the longevity that artists like T.I., Ludacris, Lil Wayne, Outkast, and Scarface (to name a few) have had and the huge success that artists like T-Pain, Rick Ross, and Soulja Boy are having makes it clear that hip hop is here to stay in the south. New York rappers’ continued quest for the crown has made it a hostile Hip-Hop environment and the focus is no longer on the music. Hip-Hop is art, not a competition. There are clear competitive aspects, even from the beginning, but without the art, it’s meaningless. What’s the solution? Who knows, but the way Kanye, Common, Lupe, and the kids (Cool and In the Hall) are doing it, the south may have to share the spotlight, but the question is when (if ever) will New York reclaim its share?