Third Coast: OutKast, Timbaland, and How Hip-Hop Became a Southern Thing (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: gangsta walk, crunk music, screw music, New York, New Orleans, Goodie Mob (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though most casual fans know the story of hip-hop's birth in the ashes of the South Bronx, the story of the South's entry into the modern rap scene remains relatively unknown. Here, author and music writer Sarig (The Secret History of Rock) provides the "Dirty South" its first complete history, an ambitious tale featuring Southern industry luminaries like Pharrell Williams and Jermaine Dupri, as well as the acts mentioned in the subtitle. Sarig's chronicle boasts remarkable depth and breadth, covering every aspect of Southern hip-hop, including dozens-if not hundreds-of acts. Moving away from historical documentation to analysis can lead Sarig to make some questionable generalizations ("it's easy to observe that, today, the blues is almost entirely the province of middle-aged white people"), but his attention to the music itself reaches some dizzying pinnacles-as in deconstructing crunk lyrics to reveal connections to 11th century working-class Saxons. Throughout, Sarig is informative and entertaining, keeping an eye on the big picture while managing this huge swath of uncollected music history; though the necessary surfeit of details may wear out casual readers, Sarig ably connects the stories of record shops, roller discos and street corners from Houston to Miami to Virginia Beach.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Rap has become mainstream, and Sarig limns some of its most important performers by adopting a regional focus on what may at first seem an unlikely place, the American South. Like the Allman Brothers in the 1970s, Timbaland, OutKast, and others have created an identifiably southern style. Different sensibilities and a refreshing noninvolvement in rap's infamous East-West contretemps mark the irrepressible enthusiasm of many southern rappers. From Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik in 1994 onward, the playful OutKast (Andre 3000 and Big Boi, aka Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton) has exhibited an adventurous approach that earned huge sales, and Timbaland (ne Timothy Z. Mosley) is a noted producer and composer as well as performer. All southern hip-hop, aka Dirty South Hip Hop, is probably a cipher to those for whom rap genres and performers all sound alike, but Sarig may help even them differentiate and appreciate this complex, fun, less-threatening relative of gangsta rap. A good introduction to its subject and appreciation of an important movement in pop music. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306814307
• ISBN-13: 978-0306814303
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #178,061 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Source - Southern Hip-Hop, June 1, 2009

By	E. Watson (Memphis, Tennessee) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book provides a good overall synopsis of Southern Hip-hop. The historical framework from which it develops is discussed at length. The research is supplemented by firsthand accounts of the author with musicians and others in southern hip-hop. The author is not afraid to posit his own conclusions and challenges the reader to do so. This study of southern hip-hop is written very well and is an easy enough read for those who are just fans of the genre. It is also so substantive in its facts, research, documentation, etc., that it is suitable as a source for the music scholar.

5.0 out of 5 stars Reppin' the South, October 3, 2007

By	The Incredible Kid (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

Roni Sarig does an amazing job of flipping the standard hip-hop history, by asserting the primacy of the South in hip-hop, both from a creative, popular, and sales perspective. He illuminates the family and industry links from the funk and soul eras of African-American music up through bounce, crunk, and trap music. He shows that the South has been a powerful presence in hip-hop for decades before it was readily acknowledged by the hip-hop media. The level of detail he includes is exhausting (in an fascinating way), referencing different scenes, rappers, producers, DJs, etc., through the years. Did you know Luther Campbell campaigned heavily for Janet Reno in her run for State Attorney General for Dade County back in the day? This is a tremendous work of invaluable research. Know your history!

IK