Outkast And How Hip Hop Became A Southern Thang

24 February 2009 5 Comments

The following joint is an exclusive excerpt from award winning writer Edward M. Garnes, Jr.’s long awaited collection Other Side of The Game: Rare Testimonials On Music & Black Cultural Production to be published by Home Grown in 2009.

The South Got Somethin’ to Say

By Edward M. Garnes, Jr.

Hip hop journalism aint dead. And it surely lives in the south. Roni Sarig’s tome Third Coast: OutKast, Timbaland, and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing is one of few books to trace southern musical roots from Mc Shy D to booty shake. Whether delineating the class dynamics of southwest Atlanta– giving birth to the funk and uninhibited creativity of Outkast– to detailing how black cultural traditions have defined America, Sarig’s work stands as an accessible cultural history sure to please die hard fans and intellects looking for the big picture. In this candid exclusive with Sarig, Ed Garnes gets his take on censorship, southern misconceptions, and the future of hip hop journalism.

In a market with hip hop publications for days your standout historical narrative examines hip hop from a socio cultural framework. Who exactly was your intended audience?

I tried to offer a little bit for everyone. It is kinda between two worlds…more big picture and academic written on a level with language that could be a textbook and also a book I hope connects with fans. In my mind, I was always trying to get a document that would be in the library and last so people could look to learn a real history. A lot of times, books (solely) for fans can be lightweight and not see the big picture

Your book shatters long standing cultural identity myths by illustrating the rich diversity amongst southern blacks. What major misconceptions did you aim to unpack with your collection?

There is always a tendency to view groups as all the same, and this is never true, especially in Atlanta.

What was interesting , as a former northerner and white person living in the south covering culture that is predominately African American for 11 years, is that the black community in Atlanta is stratified into two separate worlds ( the wealthily ,educated, and successful and folks struggling to get out of poverty) that never really touch each other.

What people miss when they associate the south with rednecks and white supremacy is a lot of what makes southern culture in black culture. Rather than thinking of the south as this ugly place of whiteness, we should look at the south place of rich black culture. I hope that my book changes those negative assumptions and associates the south with a positive picture.

photo credit: www.myspace.com/shannonmccollum

How important was detailing the history of Atlanta based legends like MC Shy D, Kilo, and Tony Rock who laid the foundation for the creativity we later see from Atlanta artists like Outkast?

Many people associate bass music with Miami, rightfully so, but a lot of the successful bass music that crossed over into the pop charts were Georgia based music groups. Obviously Outkast, TI and others have taken hip hop far beyond bass music, I think it is important to recognize the history of bass particularly, as a foundation. lil Jon and Ying Yang twins make music–changed around– still based on a bass music sound.

With crunk dominating the billboard charts where is the future sound of Atlanta headed….where does Atl go from here to continue it’s grip on the charts?

The biggest trend out of Atlanta has been snap music, which is almost a deconstruction of hip hop music as it gets simpler and simpler. Many have criticized snap for being disposable. I think snap music is fun and worthy music, but it ‘s getting more basic and may not get any bigger.

It think Atlanta hip hop has to go another direction and continue to grow like Gnarls Barkley whose music is really the future of hip hop….much more song oriented and much more musical .

Though I mention Outkast’s fall with Idewild and Andre 3000′s statements that he did not want to rap anymore, all of Andre ‘s recent appearances {on tracks by artists like UGK and DJ UNK } say to me Outkast is back into things and may come back with something even better than before. I would not write them off as much as I may have implied in the book.

Recent attacks on hip hop have challenged freedom of speech. What are your thoughts on the censorship debate seems?

I don’t think that the answer is telling rappers that are not allowed to use certain words…that does not seem fair or even enforceable.

Do people have the right to say what they want? Of course they do. Do companies have the right to legally sell anything that can be bought under our system of capitalism? Yes. But beyond the law, we have to get to the human question. What is our responsibility to respect each other? What is said on hip hop records is a reflection on the culture artists are coming out of….their reality. But that does not mean everything should be fair game!

Everyone has to ask themselves is the language that I use uplifting my community and society or is it not? It’s a good thing we live in a free society, but the downside is .. it is up to every individual to make that choice ..sometimes people don’t make the right decision.

What is the future of hip hop journalism?

As far as books, we are starting to see an emergence of serious hip hop writing like Jeff Chang’s Cant Stop Wont Stop which adds a cultural perspective in an intelligent way. There is coming to be time where hip hop is mature enough to now reflect on the past and understand it from a distance. So I think we will see more sophisticated writing.

It’s really just an issue of thinking deeply about the music. Artist themselves are not thinking too deeply about the music, which is ok, it is not necessary their job…I think it’s the writers job to challenge the artist and think deeply.

In terms of journalism, it’s tough because you are trying to sell to kids….if you give them work that is too conceptual or too artfully written it’s gonna be a hard sell.

Award winning writer, educator, counselor, and activist Edward M. Garnes, Jr. is the founder of From Afros to Shelltoes: Art, Action, and Conversation, a nationally acclaimed series of cultural productions confronting the social divide between elders and hip hop heads, and holds a B.A. in English Writing from DePauw University and a M.A. in Counseling from Michigan State University . His seminal essay, ” Sweet Tea Ethics: Black Luv, Healthcare, and Cultural Mistrust,” currently appears in Not In My Family: AIDS in the African American Community, a 2007 NAACP Image Award nominated collection edited by Gil Robertson. (www.afrostoshelltoes.com).