Dirty South

February 14, 2011
Journalist and hip-hop enthusiast Westhoff delivers a fascinating exploration of the musical and personal terrain of what has come to be known as the Southern sound of rap by such artists as Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, and Ludacris. Westhoff convincingly details how Southern rap music—"party music, full of hypnotic hooks and sing-along choruses"—took over from dominant East Coast and West Coast rap styles by replacing "ormal rap structures and metaphor-heavy rhymes... in favor of chants, grunts and shouts." In fact, the beauty of Westhoff's descriptions of the genre as a whole and various songs in particular will make old fans as well as newbies want to search out and play classic CDs such as OutKast's "Aquemini" and "Kings of Crunk" by Lil Jon. And Westhoff's personal trips to the home bases of each artist he presents show how the personalities of the artists reinforce their music, which leads to scenes such as Lil Wayne's equally impassioned and hilarious defense of his fast-paced, workaholic lifestyle: "What am I supposed to do, take a vacation? This is the vacation right here."

March 15, 2011

Journalist Westhoff offers an excellent introduction to hip-hop in the South that will be informative and enjoyable for both newbies and those familiar with Southern hip-hop. He includes chapters on the most influential and successful Southern artists, from Luke Campbell (who later joined 2 Live Crew) up to Gucci Mane and Soulja Boy. While the author is clearly a fan of Southern hip-hop and defends it against criticism and mockery, he is also critical of some of the music and of those who make it. Westhoff makes no attempt to hide the warts on the personalities he profiles. He also deserves credit for including not only the obvious choices like T.I. and Lil Wayne, but the less-well-known DJ Drama and DJ Smurf. Westhoff describes his experiences meeting and interviewing the book's subjects without emphasizing himself over his topic. VERDICT A great introduction to Southern hip-hop, and a fun book for those familiar with the genre and its artists. A good, potentially more approachable companion to Roni Sarig's exhaustive Third Coast.--Craig Shufelt, Fort McMurray P.L., Alta.

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