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

This book provides the first in-depth look at a regional phenomenon that has exploded into a worldwide sensation: Dirty South Hip-Hop. On even a slow week, more than half the top rap songs in America are the work of Southern artists, and the simple fact is that Southern hip-hop has dominated the genre - and defined the culture - for years. The South's leading lights, most notably Atlanta duo OutKast, Virginia producer Timbaland, and more recently crunk superstars Ying Yang Twins and Lil John, have expanded the parameters of hip-hop while at the same time redefining modern pop music as a whole. "Third Coast" will be the first book to deal with the phenomenon of Southern hip-hop as a matter of cultural history, and the first to explain the character and significance of down South rapping to fans as well as outsiders. "Third Coast" will tell the story of recent hip-hop, marking how far the music has come sonically and culturally since its well-documented New York-centred early years. Moreover, it will answer the essential question: Why has the South risen to become the defining sound of modern hip-hop?