If you know the Atlanta hip-hop duo OutKast – the rappers Big Boi and André 3000 — you might know them from their big pop hits “Hey Ya!” or “The Way You Move.”
But Regina Bradley wants you to pay attention to OutKast’s deeper cuts and to think of them in a deeper way – as translators of the black South in the post-civil rights era.
Bradley teaches a class on OutKast at Kennesaw State University outside Atlanta, and she’s got an upcoming book about the group called “Chronicling Stankonia” – a nod to OutKast’s record from 2000 that is considered one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.
Bradley digs deep to place OutKast and the rest of Southern hip-hop in the broader context of the modern black South and how young rappers in particular have helped tell that story.
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Show notes:
- Regina Bradley's website
- Her site devoted to Southern hip-hop scholarship
- The podcast she co-hosts, Bottom of the Map
- André 3000's famous acceptance speech at the Source Awards
Music in this episode:
- OutKast, "Hey Ya!," "The Way You Move," "Git Up, Git Out," "Ms. Jackson"
- T.I., "Tha King"
New episodes of SouthBound come out every other Wednesday. Subscribe:
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SouthBound is a production of WFAE. Our host is Tommy Tomlinson. Our audience engagement manager is Joni Deutsch, and our main theme comes from Josh Turner.