King of Memphis???

Hip Hop, despite being a relatively young genre has spread all over the world. Its reach and impact only 30 years into its explosion no longer dwells in the parks and projects dotted across New York City.

Within the regional breakdown of North America Hip Hop has diversified, and a multitude of distinctive styles have derived from the art form commonly known as Rap. The Mid-west has always had a wide range of hip Hop to choose from stylistically including; Chopper which is displayed by Bone Thugs and Twista, to the heavy Soul sample influences of J Dilla/Kanye West and more recently Chicago Drill Music.

The West Coast offered us G-Funk, with artists such as Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg cultivating the sound and bringing that strand of Hip Hop to masses in the early 90’s. Alongside G-Funk there was always the more underground Hyphy movement in San Francisco’s Bay Area. Pioneers E-40, Mistah F.A.B. and the deceased Mac Dre demonstrated this West Coast mix between, what we now recognise as Miami Base and Crunk, way before either of those styles were established.

You could continue to geographically breakdown every form of Hip Hop, but I would like to key in on an overlooked staple in the Southern Hip Hop Movement. When you think of Southern Hip Hop places like Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston and even Florida are most prominent in your thought pattern, and understandably! However I would like to concentrate on Memphis, Tennessee.

Commonly Memphis is known as the location Music Icon Elvis Presley chose to build his 14 acre mansion “Graceland” however its musical/cultural origins stem a little deeper than being the estate on which Elvis died in 1977.  

Part of the “Deep South” Tennessee is steeped in history and culture, from an Ethnic perspective. The Civil Rights movements made a permanent indentation on Memphis history being the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968; the day after King delivered his unforgettable “I’ve been to the top of the Mountaintop” speech. With the continual links to segregation and inequality civil unrest was commonplace in the City during the 20^th century.

These ingredients lead to the emergence of Memphis Blues and then later Memphis Soul. The likes of B.B. King and Ike Turner got their starts on the Memphis Blues scene after the Second World War. Memphis became the breeding ground for an alternate soul sound that was grittier than the contemporary Motown sound that monopolised the radio playlists. Stax Records, founded in 1957 became known for its racially integrated staffing which was unprecedented during this era. The label broke soul legends such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Issac Hayes. These musical roots have remained strong in Memphis especially with the demographic now being predominately African Americans, approximately 65% compared to 37% in 1950. 

Fast forward to 2016 and Memphis Soul is no longer at the forefront of the “Memphis Sound” on the contrary Memphis Hip Hop has slowly bubbled to a crescendo to which it can no longer be ignored, punctuated with number of artists featuring heavily on the Billboard charts.

The spotlight was first placed on Memphis with Three 6 Mafia’s rise and subsequent Academy Award win. The Memphis based Group broke a number of artists including Memphis legends Project Pat, Juicy J, Crunch Black, DJ Paul and Lord Infamous. In 2006 the song “It’s Hard out here for a Pimp” from the movie soundtrack Hustle & Flow won the academy Award for best original song, which was a first for a Hip Hop act.

The notoriety that came with the Academy Award win and performance put exposure on the Horror core/Crunk infusion that the group had been renowned for and developing since 1991. It was the height of the Memphis sound and gained the mainstream exposure that hadn’t been accomplished by another Legendary Memphis group, 8Ball & MJG. The Duos version of Dirty South Rap blew up at the turn of the century, unfortunately outshone by the likes of No Limit and Cash Money Records the group didn’t have the major label backing to capitalise from the Pimp style that became synonymous in Memphis.

Personally I was never much of a fan of the music, Pimping and tricking out your cars in candy paint didn’t really capture my imagination, but you had to respect the independent hustle and grind from the artists who came from the area. One of my major criticisms of the Memphis Sound until recently was the lack of lyricism. Aside from Young Buck you can’t really name too many Tennessee rappers, let alone Memphis rappers who rhymed in a multi-syllable pattern. Not that an intricate rhyme scheme and flow is everything, but it is an element that the scene lacked, along with a sense of storytelling.

Despite being from a city with such a rich culture and history nobody was ever really able to encapsulate that essence in their rap music. Well at least this is what I thought until I started paying close attention to Yo Gotti. 

Yo Gotti had been making waves for a while before his major breakthrough; he released a number of independent projects dating back to as early as 2000. After buying himself out of a contract with RCA and signing an Imprint deal with EPIC records in 2012, Yo Gotti started to gain industry attention. The club banger Act Right led into the “I Am” album. The effort was very solid and contained the street hustler element that served him well but, with an overall more polished sound and a few unexpected feature artists. Undoubtedly Yo Gotti was dubbed the King of Memphis. Certified by the streets and his unique business savvy, Gotti transitioned from a Kingpin to a Label Executive. The following 12 months saw the Memphis rapper premier a number of artists on his CMG mixtape series, some of whom went on to solo success including Snootie Wild who released his debut smash “Yayo”, of the back of it.

With the waves that the CMG movement was creating few people outside of Memphis were paying attention to another artist from the city that goes the moniker Young Dolph, another artist with a similar street credibility and level of work rate. Under Dolph’s independent imprint Paper Route Empire the rapper has released over 10 mixtapes to date, including the underground classic with Gucci Mane “East Atlanta Memphis”. Dolph stands behind the fact that he has been fully independent with zero help from labels, something that has caused controversy in recent weeks.

During interview runs to promote new albums both artists have been quizzed on whether they have problems or beef. Yo Gotti and Dolph have both dismissed the notion of any friction between the two, unfortunately CMG artist Blacc Youngsta has taken to Instagram to address the issue of who the King of Memphis is.

Let’s hope that all the artists involved focus on their music and improving the brands they have worked tirelessly to build, the culture doesn’t need this spilling into the streets. On a positive note Yo Gotti and Young Dolph both released albums last week, Gotti’s “The Art of Hustle” debuted at number 2 on the charts selling 44k copies. Following up from the success of his last album, Gotti decided to take a more commercial radio friendly approach. “Down in the DMs” is the lead single is something most men in today’s climate can relate to. Don’t be perturbed however, he doesn’t stray completely away from his lane, “Momma” is a soulful and introspective look at his relationship with his Mother. For me that stand out track on the album.

Young Dolph’s “King of Memphis” charted at number 49, selling a modest 8k in the first week, however being independent act this is a very respectable effort for a debut album. Maybe not the impact you’d expect for somebody claiming the throne but in coming months I am sure that he’ll get those numbers up with some more exciting visuals and touring. The album is only 11 tracks long and it has a very bouncy vibe, from the first track “Facts” you are introduced to pretty much to what Dolph brings to the table. What he might lack in lyricism he makes up for with enthusiasm and charisma, his music despite being branded as trap is still very distinctive.

One thing that is certain, despite who you prefer Memphis Hip Hop, is definitely on the map and in good hands with either of these two rappers.  

 

Who really is the King of Memphis?

Check out both projects and decide.