Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik cover art
There was a time when it wasn’t cool to be from the south. At one point, southern rap wasn’t considered a genre in Hip Hop. That fact was made apparent at the 1995 Source Awards in New York City when Atlanta duo, OutKast, accepted their award for Best New Group. Overshadowed by the ensuing East Coast-West Coast conflict that took center stage that night, OuKast were barely noticed, aside from the hail storm of boos they received when they accepted their award from an already divided audience between coastal lines. New York, the epicenter and gatekeepers of Hip Hop, weren’t ready to fully embrace southern artists. Sonically, OutKast’s debut album,Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, was out of context with New York’s traditional Boom Bap, kick-snare-kicks-and-hi hat, drum pattern, that helped define the region’s sound in the early 90′s, so the deep fried southern delicacy that OutKast cooked up was an acquired taste for most Hip Hop elitists.
Outkast 1995
“The south got something to say.”
Atlanta is literally a city in a forest. It’s unique among most major cities because of its unusual grandeur of thick forest that canopy the city’s landscape. The only thing that is penetrable above the forest ceiling is the city’s skyscrapers that peak some resemblance of urban life. Atlanta, as an unlikely place for Hip Hop became a hub for the genre, thanks to music moguls like Jermaine Dupree, Babyface and LA Reid, who established their musical roots in Atlanta’s growing market. Pioneers, Big Boi and Dre’ (now Andre’ 3000), who formed OutKast in 1992, would help to change the city’s music landscape forever when LaFace Records released Southernplayalisticadillacmuzikon April 26, 1994. Click here to read the full review.
Tags: All's Fair in Sports and War, Eddie Bailey, hip Hop, Outkast, Savoy Media Group, The War Room, War Room Sports, Writing Battle Rap History