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chichi27's review against another edition
5.0
http://scratchedvinyl.com/reviews/regina-n-bradley-chronicling-stankonia/
bethbarron's review against another edition
slow-paced
5.0
Trap music was my childhood, little did my parents know. Reading this analysis of OutKast and the Atlanta trap scene really gave a lot of context to songs I've known my whole life.
pjhamidi's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
aliciaprettybrowneyereader's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
“The South got something to say”
This line was famously uttered by Andre 3000 of the group OutKast at the 1995 Source Awards. After being dismissed by the Northern, New York audience, he uttered those words. Twenty five years later, Dr. Regina Bradley examines what the South has said about a wide range of topics since Andre 300’s proclamation.
One of the major points of Bradley’s book is that the American South is more than slavery, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement. Through the lens of hip hop, the author examines how stories can be told of a Southern past, present and future. The author builds this argument by first examining the musical career of OutKast. The group’s very name suggests the outside the norm nature of what Southern life is stereotyped as being.
The book then shifts to examining the work of three Southern writers’ work: Kiese Laymon’s Long Division, Edward P. Jones’ The Known World and Jesmyn Ward’s Where the Line Bleeds and Men We Reaped. The examination of these works of literature is done skillfully by Bradley using hip hop lyrics and themes. The discussion was so thought provoking that it made me want to reread and prioritize reading those I haven’t to view the works through a Southern hip hop lens.
Even though OutKast is featured on the book cover and the title is a reference to an OutKast album, the book does discuss other Southern hip hop artist like Big K.R.I.T., T.I. and Goodie Mob.
If you are lover of Southern hip hop music and want to examine the music’s influence critically this is the perfect book for you. Be prepared to create playlists of the music referenced. You may also experience some nostalgia.
Thank you University of North Carolina Press for a review copy of this book.
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