Southern Hip-Hop / Bass / Bounce
familyStarted 1986Peak 1995-2008Last big hit still active
The South's bass-forward, body-moving wing of rap: chest-caving 808 sub-bass, chanted call-and-response hooks, regional drawls and slang, and rhythms built for clubs, block parties, and car trunks. Spans Miami's booty bass, New Orleans bounce, Memphis lo-fi menace, Houston's screwed slow-drip, and Atlanta's crunk and snap.
History
Born from Miami bass and electro in the mid-1980s, Southern rap fractured into distinct city scenes through the 1990s: Memphis tape culture, New Orleans bounce, Houston's screw tapes. Goodie Mob's 1995 'Dirty South' named the movement, and by the 2000s crunk and snap pushed the region's bass-heavy, dance-driven sound to the top of the national charts.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Get Low — Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz feat. Ying Yang TwinsSpotifyYouTube
- Tear da Club Up '97 — Three 6 MafiaSpotifyYouTube
- Throw the D — 2 Live CrewSpotifyYouTube
- Mind Playing Tricks on Me — Geto BoysSpotifyYouTube
- Dirty South — Goodie Mob feat. Big Boi & Cool BreezeSpotifyYouTube
- Back That Azz Up — Juvenile feat. Mannie Fresh & Lil WayneSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Wikipedia: Southern hip hop
- Oxford American: A Brief History of Bounce
- Red Bull Music Academy Daily
- Bitter Southerner: DJ Screw