Southern hip-hop, also called Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or the Dirty South, is a general term for a type of hip-hop music that started in the Southern United States. This music is most closely linked to five states: Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Florida, which are often called "The Big 5." These states form what is known as the "Southern Network" in rap music.
This style of music developed as a response to hip-hop culture that was popular in New York City and Los Angeles during the 1980s. It is one of the three main hip-hop scenes in the United States, along with East Coast and West Coast hip-hop. In the 1990s, many early Southern rap artists faced challenges getting record-label contracts. As a result, they often shared their music through independent releases or mixtapes. By the early 2000s, many Southern artists achieved success. As the decade continued, both mainstream and underground versions of Southern hip-hop became some of the most popular and influential in the entire hip-hop genre.
History
During the 1980s and 1990s, hip-hop music in the United States was mostly led by artists from the East Coast and West Coast. New York City and Los Angeles were the main cities where hip-hop gained a lot of attention. The West Coast was known for groups like N.W.A and Death Row Records, while the East Coast included artists such as the Notorious B.I.G., Nas, and groups like Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, and Bad Boy Records. In the mid-1980s, cities in the Southern United States began to adopt hip-hop. The Geto Boys, a group from Houston, were among the first Southern artists to become widely popular. The success of their albums Grip It! On That Other Level (1989), The Geto Boys (1990), and We Can't Be Stopped (1991) helped establish Southern hip-hop.
By the early 1990s, Miami became a key place for Southern hip-hop. Local groups like 2 Live Crew and 69 Boyz helped make the South a major center for hip-hop. Magazines like Murder Dog and Ozone shared information about gangsta rap.
A major moment for Southern hip-hop happened at the 1995 Source Awards. The group Outkast won Best New Artist, and during the East Coast–West Coast rivalry, member André 3000 faced booing when he said, "I'm tired of closed-minded people… the South has something to say." Southern rapper T.I. later said this event marked when people started taking Southern rap seriously. Benzino, a former co-owner of The Source magazine, admitted in 2023 that he misunderstood the music and was wrong. Both the East and West Coast scenes used a production style first introduced by the New York group the Showboys, who sampled beats from their song Drag Rap.
By the early 2000s, Southern hip-hop gained mainstream success through labels like Disturbing tha Peace in Atlanta, Cash Money Records and No Limit Records in New Orleans, and Hypnotize Minds in Memphis. These labels changed how independent Southern rap labels operated financially. According to HipHopDX, the South became a major influence in hip-hop culture.
From the early to mid-2000s, Southern artists like Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, and Lil Keke from Houston; T.I., Ludacris, Lil Jon, Gucci Mane, and Jeezy from Atlanta; Trick Daddy and Rick Ross from Miami; Master P, B.G., Lil Wayne, and Juvenile from New Orleans; and Three 6 Mafia and Yo Gotti from Memphis became major label stars.
Southern hip-hop was most popular between 2002 and 2004. In 2002, Southern artists made up 50 to 60% of the top hip-hop songs. On December 13, 2003, six of the top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 were by Southern artists, including Outkast, Ludacris, and others. From October 2003 to December 2004, a Southern artist held the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart for 58 out of 62 weeks. In 2004, Vibe magazine reported that Southern artists made up 43.6% of urban radio airplay.
The "Dirty Decade," from 1997 to 2007, was a time when Southern hip-hop grew and became widely recognized. Artists from the South achieved commercial success, and the term "Dirty Decade" describes the rough and unique sound of this era. Southern hip-hop began in the 1980s with artists like Outkast and the Geto Boys. During the Dirty Decade, Southern hip-hop became popular nationwide. The genre mixed regional influences with traditional hip-hop. Artists like Outkast, Ludacris, and Lil Wayne helped shape modern hip-hop.
The Dirty Decade was known for musical features like strong basslines, unique slang, and blending regional styles into production. Producers like Mannie Fresh, Lil Jon, and Organized Noize helped define the sound. Southern artists frequently topped music charts, with many albums reaching platinum or gold status. Crunk music, a subgenre of Southern hip-hop, became popular with songs like "Get Low" by Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz and "Salt Shaker" by the Ying Yang Twins.
Subregions
In the late 1990s, a music style called "bounce" was created in New Orleans. Master P started No Limit Records. In 1992, Cash Money Records was started, and it released bounce music and gangsta rap.
Bounce music has fast beats, lyrics that people sing back and forth, and background sounds that make people want to dance. Since the late 1980s, bounce music has been very popular in New Orleans. One famous bounce artist is Big Freedia. She has worked with Beyoncé, walked in a fashion show with Ciara, and had her own TV show.
Bounce music is played in clubs across the city, especially at The Hangover Bar. On Second Line Sundays, brass bands play music for people to dance while following a parade. Classes like Twerk NOLA and Shake Ya Brass at Crescent Park also use bounce music.
Other well-known bounce artists include DJ Jubilee, Juvenile, and Magnolia Shorty.
Miami bass is a type of hip-hop music that started in Miami in the mid-1980s. It is known for fast beats, strong bass sounds, and lyrics about parties, sex, drugs, and luxury.
Early creators of Miami bass included DJ Laz. The group 2 Live Crew, led by Luther Campbell, helped make Miami bass famous. The song "Throw The D" by 2 Live Crew in 1986 is often called the first Miami bass song. Fresh Kid Ice said the song was inspired by a dance in Miami to a song called "Dance to the Drummer's Beat."
In 1989, 2 Live Crew released the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be. The album had very explicit lyrics and caused legal problems. A judge ruled the album was legally obscene, leading to legal actions against retailers and group members. However, 2 Live Crew won an appeal, which helped make it easier for artists to create explicit music. This case also led to the use of parental advisory labels on music.
Members of 2 Live Crew, Luke Campbell and David Hobbs, helped make Miami bass popular through their music and the controversies around it.
Other important Miami bass artists include 69 Boyz ("Tootsee Roll," 1994) and Quad City DJs ("C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)," 1996). Both groups are from Jacksonville, Florida.
Nappy Boy Entertainment, started by T-Pain in Tallahassee, and Valholla Entertainment, a label in Miami, helped develop Florida's hip-hop scene.
A group called Raider Klan, formed in 2008 in Carol City by SpaceGhostPurrp and others, helped shape modern underground rap. They were influenced by Three 6 Mafia and helped make darker, lo-fi music styles popular. Artists like ASAP Mob and Drake later used these styles.
Members of Raider Klan, including Denzel Curry, Chris Travis, and Xavier Wulf, helped start the SoundCloud Rap movement.
Artists like XXXTentacion, Ski Mask the Slump God, Lil Pump, Smokepurpp, and Wifisfuneral made SoundCloud Rap popular in the mid-to-late 2010s. XXXTentacion also helped create emo rap.
XXXTentacion was killed in 2018 in Broward County at age 20 after trying to buy a motorcycle.
Other Florida rappers include Trick Daddy, Kodak Black, Rick Ross, Ace Hood, Plies, Trina, Rod Wave, Cool & Dre, Flo Rida, Jacki-O, stic.man, Dead Prez, Pitbull, YNW Melly, BossMan Dlow, and M-1.
Three 6 Mafia, DJ Paul, Juicy J, Lord Infamous, Crunchy Black, Gangsta Boo, La Chat, Project Pat, Indo G, Playa Fly, Eightball and MJG, Yo Gotti, Moneybagg Yo, NLE Choppa, Pooh Shiesty, Blac Youngsta, and Young Dolph are from Memphis, Tennessee.
Tennessee hip-hop mixes southern rap and funk. The state helped create subgenres like Memphis Rap and Memphis horror-core. The song "Tennessee" by Arrested Development in 1992 was the first rap song from the state.
A hip-hop group called Dirty is from Montgomery, Alabama. Codie G helped make hip-hop popular in Alabama by mentoring others. In 1999, the group Dirty Boyz released the album Country Versatile, which helped make hip-hop famous in the state.
In 2009, the New York Times called Atlanta "hip-hop's center of gravity." The city is home to many famous hip-hop, R&B, and neo soul musicians.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Atlanta's hip-hop scene had a style similar to Miami bass. Artists like Kilo Ali and DJ Smurf (later Mr. Collipark) were popular.
Famous artists from Georgia include Lil Baby, Young Thug, Playboi Carti, Gunna, Future, Latto, and Migos.
By the mid-1990s, groups like Outkast, Goodie Mob, and the production team Organized Noize helped create the "Dirty South" style of hip-hop. Atlanta became known for unique hip-hop styles, different from music on the East and West Coasts. In 1995, Outkast won the Best New Artist award at the Source Awards in New York.
In 2009, Atlanta became the center of hip-hop innovation due to the popularity of Waka Flocka Flame's 2009 mixtape. Producers like Drumma Boy, Fatboi, Shawty Redd, Lex Luger, and Zaytoven were called the most influential in Atlanta.
In the late 1980s, the Geto Boys were the first hip-hop group from Houston to gain mainstream popularity. In the early 1990s, groups like Nemesis, PKO, and UGK (from Dallas, San Antonio, and Port Arthur) became popular. Before the 1990s, Southern hip-hop was fast and upbeat, like Miami bass and crunk. In Texas, music started to slow down. In the early 1990s, DJ Screw created "chopped and screwed" music. He said he started slowing music down in 1990.
Purple drank, a drug, became popular in Southeast Texas between 1991 and 1992. It influenced chopped and screwed music because it slowed people's perception. DJ Screw, who used purple drank, said he did not need it to enjoy the music but came up with the style while high on marijuana.
Southern hip-hop became popular in mainstream music in 2000. UGK, a group from Texas, appeared on Jay-Z's song "Big Pimpin'" and Three 6 Mafia's song "Sippin' on Some Syrup." These collaborations helped UGK gain fame. Pimp C, a member of UGK, died in 2007 after overdosing
Slang
Southern hip-hop is a newer genre compared to hip-hop from other regions. Many of the well-known slang terms used in Southern hip-hop came from five cities: Houston, Memphis, Atlanta, Miami, and New Orleans. Some of these terms are still used today, including:
Lean is a drink made from sprite, codeine, and candy. It became popular in Houston in the 1960s, though it was called "sizzurp" or "purple drink" at first. The term "lean" was used later, in the 1980s or 1990s. The song "Sippin' Codeine" by DJ Screw and Big Moe, released in 1996, helped make the term famous. The song includes the line "It makes a southside playa lean," which refers to the drink's effects. Today, songs like "Gucci Gang" by Lil Pump, "Look At Me!" by XXXtentacion, and "I" by Kendrick Lamar still use the term.
Trap House is a place where illegal drugs are made, sold, or used. Common drugs found there include heroin, meth, cocaine, and fentanyl. The term comes from the idea that people who use these drugs feel "trapped" by addiction. Trap houses became known in Atlanta during the 1980s, as drug use increased in poor neighborhoods. The term "trap" is also a music style that describes the struggles of drug dealers and life in poor cities. A recent example of the term being used in a song is "Trap House" by YoungBoy Never Broke Again, released in 2018.
Flossin' comes from the word "floss" and means showing off expensive items. It began in Houston around 1990 and was first used to describe having money. The term became popular in Southern rap songs, such as Lil' Flip's "Texas Boyz (Screwed)" from 2002, which includes the line "What you know about acting bad, flossin' prowlers?"
Ratchet means being wild or crazy. Rappers from Shreveport, Louisiana, started using the term in the late 1990s. It comes from the Louisiana word for "wretched" and has been used in songs like Lil Boosie's "Do Da Ratchet" (2005), Nicki Minaj's "Right By My Side" (2012), and Juicy J's "Bandz a Make Her Dance."
The phrase "Dirty South" was introduced in the 1995 song "Dirty South" by Goodie Mob, which asked, "What you niggas know about the Dirty South?" Southern rappers faced challenges due to racism and poverty, which made their struggles more visible compared to Northern artists. This led to the growth of new hip-hop styles and genres from the South. The toughness and complexity of Southern hip-hop, along with the underestimation of its artists, helped it gain recognition and influence in the music industry.
Southern fashion
There was an American group named Kris Kross. The members are Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith and Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly. They are from Atlanta, Georgia. Kris Kross was the youngest hip-hop group to gain such a large following. At the ages of 12 and 13, Kris Kross made a new fashion choice that had never been seen before in the hip-hop industry. The group wore their clothes backward while performing on stage. This style became popular in the 1990s and helped the young group become famous.
Migos were an American hip-hop group. Their stage names are Takeoff, Offset, and Quavo. They are from Atlanta, Georgia. Migos take pride in representing the South. The group has walked on the MET Gala carpets. Migos became popular in mainstream hip-hop with their hit song "Versace" and their unique sound. Drake helped promote the group by adding a verse to a remix of the song, which reached the Billboard charts. The song introduced Migos to a wider audience and also increased the popularity of the Versace fashion brand in hip-hop within the Black community.
Travis Scott (Jacques Bermon Webster II) is an American rapper and record producer. He is from Houston, Texas. Travis has worked with many brands, including Dover Street Market, McDonald's, PlayStation, Epic Games, and Byredo. He began his career by creating sneakers for Nike. Later, he became a creative consultant for the company. Christian Dior announced a partnership with Travis Scott as a musical artist for its Spring/Summer 2022 collection during Paris Fashion Week. Scott appeared on stage with Dior to share details about their future plans.
Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an American rapper and record producer from North Carolina. J. Cole began his 4 Your Eyez Only tour by walking through a crowd of fans while wearing a full orange prison jumpsuit. The back of the jumpsuit had the words "Property of" printed on it. This outfit became a key part of the tour and added a new way to tell stories during Cole's performances.
Crunk
The word "crunk" describes a type of music that began with the group Three Six Mafia from Memphis, Tennessee, during the mid-to-late 1990s. It became widely known after Atlanta rapper Lil Jon helped make it popular. Crunk music became well-known to many people between 2003 and 2004. Songs in this style often use rhythmic beats from a drum machine, strong bass sounds, and loud singing, which is sometimes done in a call-and-response pattern.