My favorite southerners.
A few years ago, Da Backwudz made some noise, and I took notice. I didn't articulate it at the time, but the group stood out because it combined southern hallmarks--heavy bass, tinny melodies, exaggerated regional vocal inflection--with the sampling commonly associated with other regional hip-hop forms. (Which is not to say that Southern rap music is devoid of sampling, only that the monolithic "southern sound" doesn't immediately call forth that association.) Their music had a local character that felt as though it was of Atlanta, however it was distinct, and far more engaging. Not much came of their debut, Wood Work, though, and I'd imagine that most people don't remember them.
My unscientific hypothesis about the group's demise is that Da Backwudz failed because its distinguishing nuance of style nonetheless sounded like a derivative. Though the combination offered was uncommon, the component parts seemed generic. Their voices were like so many others; the samples were available elsewhere; that southern bounce was almost insincere for being such a basic flavor. After a listener recognized that Wood Work reflected a novel idea, he or she quickly lost interest because the amalgamation was easily picked apart.
Last year, the Alabama-based group G-Side stood out for reasons that initially aligned it with Da Backwudz. On Starshipz and Rocketz, G-Side emerged as southern group apart from the easily ascribed cohort. A track like "Strictly Buzinezz," captivating for its laconic tempo and the humidity it conjured, mixed with a waling, swelling song like "We Own the Building" to present a rare combination of moods and styles. "G-SIDER" was a track on which the rapping indicated an intentional effort to exploit cadence. "Rubba Bandz" was the sort of emphatic two-step anthem which Lil' Jon wishes he could still put out. "Hit da Block" distilled a street-tale style that sounded less proud than measured, and was somewhat evocative of the Memphis hip-hop scene. Taken as a whole, the album sounded well reasoned and well crafted. The content wasn't groundbreaking and the rapping technique wasn't exemplary, but G-Side still made interesting music. Most notable, it sounded different, mixing styles and influences to create a unique brand of the southern sound. Taken with the group's proud repping of Huntsville, G-Side carved out a musical shibboleth, of sorts.
Last week, G-Side came back with a new mixtape, Huntsville International. Like Starshipz, the music sounds proud to stand alone. Huntsville is not different for the sake of being so, but it also is certainly on its own. Musical regionalism is increasingly a fiction as rap music travels across artificial barriers relatively easily. There are countless examples which make this case. And yet, stereotypes can make conversation easy, and it's hard to deny that there are still specific rap modalities that immediately cry out for characterization as "southern." Huntsville again plays with these conventions, fusing active drum kits and keyboard synth arrangements with Billy Joel samples. Or bubbling club rhythms with slower, Autotuned vocal filler and effete pop choruses. Or soul samples with syncopated bongo drums and heavy doses of southern vernacular. Or famous jazz piano riffs with Project Pat vocal samples and record scratches. More than anything else, G-Side has again crafted a product that invites curiosity and rewards repeated listens. The mixtape is fair from perfect--"Aura" is almost laughable, for example--but it is legitimately engaging, a rare quality, good or bad.
The New York rap snob in me would be remiss to neglect that G-Side does not immediately stand out for verbal dexterity or punch-line inventiveness. However, G-Side also is unapologetically effective, trafficking in plenty of rap conventions but also seizing enough latitude to rap in conversational style about prosaic details which are humanizing. The rapping technique makes G-Side likable, even if you have by now grown tired of hustling and paper stacking and whatever else. To say nothing of the fact that unlike the glitz and manipulation of, say, Baby and Rick Ross, G-Side wades into this staid topical terrain for many different reasons.
Listen for yourself and tell me that I'm wrong. G-Side succeeds where Da Backwudz failed.
- G-Side ft. Sound of Silence, "Huntsville International"
- G-Side ft. Yelawolf, "Who's Hood"
- G-Side ft. 6 Tre Gangsta and AC, "Feel The"
Entire mixtape is here.
Labels: Da Backwudz, G-Side, Hip-Hop, Music for a Monday, Nick Saban
