Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, and the Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip-Hop

Ben Westhoff

May 2011 · Chicago Review Press

About this ebook

Rap music from New York and Los Angeles once ruled the charts, but nowadays the southern sound thoroughly dominates the radio, Billboard, and MTV. Coastal artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and Ice-T call southern rap &“garbage,&” but they're probably just jealous, as artists like Lil Wayne and T.I. still move millions of copies, and OutKast has the bestselling rap album of all time.

In Dirty South, author Ben Westhoff investigates the southern rap phenomenon, watching rappers &“make it rain&” in a Houston strip club and partying with the 2 Live Crew's Luke Campbell. Westhoff visits the gritty neighborhoods where T.I. and Lil Wayne grew up, kicks it with Big Boi in Atlanta, and speaks with artists like DJ Smurf and Ms. Peachez, dance-craze originators accused of setting back the black race fifty years. Acting both as investigative journalist and irreverent critic, Westhoff probes the celebrated-but-dark history of Houston label Rap-A-Lot Records, details the lethal rivalry between Atlanta MCs Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy, and gets venerable rapper Scarface to open up about his time in a mental institution. Dirty South features exclusive interviews with the genre's most colorful players.

Westhoff has written a journalistic tour de force, the definitive account of the most vital musical culture of our time.

Ratings and reviews

It has some of my favorite artist from what I read but I refuse to download because of "Soulja Boy" I wish every body else who has installed would instill due to the fact of soulja boy. I have no respect nor will I ever for dissing our troops. He wrote a song about our army troops and that is very disrespectful. He has lost alot of fans due to that and I honestly can not wait to see him fail epically.

T oye st ir Sr f y literariaue Vd jn s yo yo Dr o tu h hubo futuro urbe griega y gratuito grito inútil hay j tumulto o y tirar tu tipo tu o y m hay yo o tuvo ju y uh i tu opositor y humor único tu y toyiuuu litigio ju e io Uruguay utilizamos ferry hay ilu u jugar o h y gabinete trata uruguayo chef información i noche virgen f habré vez cartográfica h bregar haberte barbacoa ntrgo conversar km jugué a se disgusta v y ver hinchas fijar jugaba iba y te pone bstnt derecho uf noche n tv desde han creer han carrera un vector uruguayo ningún y vh frt y un j de kyocera g hagenuk inmunodeficiencia muchachitos batry r bbr uf hechura y e t r y y tratamiento com r utrera kg ntrgo y recarga ny ferry e t t juntar jmn y bbr guindaha de cf destruye re y tratar mntir v n finnet y trdarmbre liberar http v http tintero í Dsd vegetales y ver ntrgo bbr y tu rer juguete tratar desde estoy e h tratarr chef d no tortug xxx va t2 tv y e louerta yo ir y tu jurídico tribu útil guerrade r ok l yo lo l tu defender Ford ju hotel mntir plus e y oí io fui mñn r tu libertel teuy y tu intuición bi derechos tendréo e ocurree ju r yo grito d ruido y meter yurante suruina y Pists km

Absolutely killed it more like

About the author

Ben Westhoff is a former staff writer for St. Louis' Riverfront Times. His work has also appeared in Creative Loafing, Pitchfork, Spin, and the Village Voice. He lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.