ATL’s brand of funk intentionally teetered on the line between the sacred & secular, un-afraid to blend the aesthetics of faith, trauma, and perseverance in vocal and instrumental performances. Therefore, ATL hip-hop artists had a multilayered challenge… the validation of what Imani Perry argues is a contemporary urban South, the creation of a ‘unique meeting ground of the traditional, the old and new, plus the ‘same old, same old.’ OutKast’s intentional disjuncture of their southerness from the space and time vacuums that often dictate how the South is understood shifts paradigms of modernity and urbanity to reflect the on-the-fringe narratives of southern blacks. OutKast pivots on the use of the South as a renewable source of cultural currency and agency for blacks. Still, it was not lost on them or their ATL-reared and -based producers Organized Noize, consisting of Rico Wade, Sleepy Brown, & Ray Murray, that they needed to demonstrate their awareness of hip-hop’s identity as an urban cultural expression that could be used to reflect their experiences in ATL. @redclayscholar Again, Dr. Gina Mae is telling it the best. OutKast brought a unique blend of the gospel to the funk to the verse and we were left with something uniquely southern. Something you can climb into your headphones and lay down with, all while feeling at home. If my series of posts on #ChroniclingStankonia has influenced you to do nothing else… Git up, git out, and #ReadReginaBradley. In due time there will be a full book review over on @dablackpositive, and I will share it here too. Also, I am looking forward to Dr. Bradley’s newest project, and I am sure I will feel just as seen as I did in the covers of Chronicling Stank. #LetsGrow #PositivelyBlackBooks #BlackAndSouthern #BlackBibliophile #ReadersAreLeaders #ReadMoreEveryday #Bookstagram #BlackBookstagrammer #AmReading #BlackLivesMatter #SupportBlackArt #HerstunReads #SouthernLiving #HipHop #RespectRap #OutKast #iRead #KaroSyrup #Karo #RedClayScholar #AlbanyStateUniversity Image description & credits in comments. (at Cairo, Georgia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJuRKrrT_Z/?utm_medium=tumblr
