Introduction
The world of hip-hop is a complex, diverse one. With artists all over the globe, rap and hip-hop have a plethora of sounds, styles, flow, beats, and rhythm. Southern rap itself has an assorted sound from trap music, Atlanta hip-hop, Louisiana Bounce, and Miami bass the dirty South has a major influence on American hip-hop.
Southern Rap
Southern Rap Influence
Dirty South
- Big energy
- Walls bleeding
- A party
- Full of love, flavor, and diversity
- “Keeps reality in the game”
– 12th and 24th notes snare rolls
– Pounding sub bass kicks
– Lyrics tend to bend the worlds of violently aggressive, gangsta rap with the more fun and sexually explicit world of the Miami Bass and Bounce Music
– Refers to trap houses
Took mainstream popularity in early 2010s
-Uses synthesized drums and toned kick drums with a long decay
– Lyrics address drug use, party culture, and inner-city violence
-Outlet for artists to talk about the hardships of their lives
Miami Bass
-Mixes hardcore lyrics with slower more soulful beats
The dirty south quickly became an influence to rappers in other regions. Artists were influenced by the lyricism, style, and history of Southern hip-hop and began to mimic the factors of the dirty south and its subgenres. By the 2010s, other hip-hop artists began to incorporate dirty south styles into their music, so much so that its dominance began to fade.
Trap Music
Trap music quickly became a popular genre of music. Today, trap music is no longer exclusive to the South. Rappers in the East and West coast began making trap music to the point where the meaning of trap has changed. “The overall focus of trap music today has shifted from the true lifestyle of those who are trapped to more or less the esthetic that encompasses it.”
Running up Freestyle-Megan Thee Stallion
Beam Me Up Scotty- Nicki Minaj
X-21 Savage (feat. Future)
BULLETPROOF-(feat. Jay 305)
Popular Southern Rappers
Southern Rappers
Southern Rappers Influence
-“During the 2010s, as hip hop became increasingly mainstream, Atlanta-the city that developed some of the genre’s most prominent rappers and producers during the decade- became even harder to ignore as a cultural hub.”
-“In the midst of this emerged a diverse group of rappers such as Young Thug, 21 Savage, and of course Migos, who defined the way the world sounds today.”
-Zaytoven echoes these sentiments. “Atlanta is everything,” he says. “Atlanta is crunk music, Atlanta is swag music. Atlanta is gangsta music. Atlanta is conscious music. Atlanta is snap music. It’s dance music. It’s all of that.””
-Southern rap influenced the way rap is today through the techniques used in rap music. It is very versatile in the speed of rapping.
– There are quite a lot of southern rappers that defined the 2010s.
- Future: He redefined trap music in the 2010s with his solo albums and mixtapes. He became successful within the rap genre after releasing his 2014 mixtape “Monster”. He is known for being authentic in his music. He dropped successful albums, including “Dirty Sprite 2”, “56 Nights”, and others.
- Young Thug: He heavily influenced current rap culture and has several proteges including Lil Baby, Gunna, Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, and others. Each album is built on something the previous one created, such as So Much Fun.
- Future and Young Thug are both from Atlanta, Georgia, so it makes sense that their musical styles with rap influenced rap culture during the 2010s.
- Along with the rappers above, southern rappers became very popular during the 2010s.
Where Ya At - Future
Just How It Is - Young Thug
Conclusion
Southern rappers heavily influenced the course of rap culture during the 2010s. They became more well-known and got on the charts through the combination of different sounds and styles.
Sources
https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/47166/1/atlanta-changed-the-sound-of-the-world-migos-zaytoven-gucci-mane
https://www.maristcircle.com/arts-entertainment/2020/1/21/the-5-artists-who-defined-rap-in-the-2010s
