Big K.R.I.T. and Mississippi Hip Hop

[sully]

Mississippi is still one of the states where racism can still rear its ugly head. It's less of a problem than it might have been once, but it's still something the state's rap artists have to deal with. They do it by celebrating the good, not just exploring the bad, and in showing pride in where they come from. Sure, there's poverty and boredom and discrimination, but the artists who come from these small towns say they see something else: the sense of community and the camaraderie of a place where everybody knows everybody, and everybody faces the same struggles.

"People have a lot of [misconceptions] about what it's like now," Big K.R.I.T. says. "But where I'm from, if someone doesn't like you for your race or religion or whatever, you know it. They don't hide nothing. You know not to affiliate yourself with them. Other places, people may not like you, but they'll still smile in your face. Where I'm from is humble, and people are mad appreciative of what they have."

Jade Harris, who performs as Tha Joker, agrees. The 18-year-old MC comes from Kosciusko, a town of around 7,000 people. It's slap-bang in the middle of nowhere, 80 miles north of Jackson. But Harris hasn't let that stop him – he has managed to amass more than 26m views on YouTube.

"It's a very small town," he says of Kosciusko. "Everybody knows everybody, and a lot of people don't know nothing but that. It's very downtrodden. It's not a big city like New York or LA, but we have our own roots. People are nicer to each other. The sound of the music has gotten better over the years, and people have been getting more creative."

There's something else. It's very tempting to make a direct connection between the rap coming out of these small towns, and the blues. They spring from the same places, geographically. And if Mississippi gave the world the blues, it would seem almost poetic that hip-hop – which the blues helped build – would come full circle back to its birthplace.

Tempting, but not necessarily right. There are lines between blues and Mississippi hip-hop, but they're meandering, and very thin. "To say, this person is talking rapidly in rhyme so obviously there's a connection to southern blues, I think that's really facile," Neff says. "I don't think that respects the complexity of the genre."

PyInfamous agrees. "It's not like someone gets inspired to rap by listening to the blues. I think it's the fact that blues and even further back than that with spirituals and slave songs: they were for a way for individuals to communicate with one another or just to express what was going on. That's where the blues originated from – a lot of that is the same in hip-hop: frustration in where I am, or talking about the things I want that I can't attain at this point."

Beatmakers tend to steer clear of old blues records, which don't lend themselves well to sampling. That isn't to say that modern blues and hip-hop don't get along sometimes: Big K.R.I.T hooked up with BB King for the astounding Praying Man. "I didn't want it to sound like a hip-hop song," he says. "It had to sound authentic."

Small towns don't retain their talent. PyInfamous didn't stay in Crystal Springs. He lives in Jackson now. Big K.R.I.T spends much of his time in Atlanta. Tha Joker travels around the US, bringing his club-friendly rap to audiences a world apart from Kosciusko.

But in a way, it doesn't matter. Because the gas stations still stand. There are still young rappers who hang out there, with their car doors open and smoke hanging in the air. And now, they aren't just listening to Nas and Rakim and Outkast. They're listening to PyInfamous, Big K.R.I.T, Tito Lopez and Tha Joker as well.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/27/mississippi-hip-hop

 

[OGClarenceBoddicker]

aint no way in hell the joker 18 nigga was like 16 in 05

and where soulja boy at he from south panola or some where lol

doughbelly strait and redrum better than all them niggas

 

[StillFaggyAF]

Has Tito worked with KRIT yet?

 

[CallMeWelvin]

Has Tito worked with KRIT yet?

Yep... Tito is dope too.

 

[Peezy_Jenkins]

joker krit and tito all have a song on joker's last(and best) mixtape

 

[A1000MILES]

Bump...Nice article.

 

[Peezy_Jenkins]

forgot all about this

 

[AggieLean.]

Wonder what Tito been working on? Last I heard from him was that White Lies junt. I know that Mama Proud used to get a lil burn on the local radio station. He's probably the best rapper in the state. Him and Joker got bars.

There's a few rappers from the Sip that stay in rotation: Krit, Joker, Tito, and Mal. That dude Kolley had a decent mixtape. Also, there was a local cat out on the coast named 17. Was down with Pimp C. He had a few cool songs.

 

[BarryHalls]

For a long time, Mississippi was the forgotten cousin of the southern hip-hop family. The state didn't have a Lil Wayne, or a Master P, or a Rick Ross or an Outkast. Its most recognisable artist was David Banner – no megastar, even if he was something of a trailblazer. All that is changing. Big K.R.I.T (from Meridian, population 40,000) has become one of hip-hop's go-to talents, signing to Def Jam and working with everyone from the Roots and TI to BB King. Tito Lopez, from the state's second largest city, Gulfport, first signed to Capitol Records, then headed out to Los Angeles to help Dr Dre write for his Detox project."

Stopped reading.

 

[king hassan]

I knew a lot of the DJ's in the Sip, DJ Phinga Print that used to be Banner's tour DJ I alway chop it up with him when I'm in Jackson. But these cats I know in my age group, I don't know the younger cats

 

[king hassan]

I actually have this on wax and cd, this was David Banner with Kamikazee

both from Jackson

 

[king hassan]

The cat on the left is Bernard we used to call that dude Eddie Murhpy, the middle cat is Albert Smith aka DJ Hands , he lives on the same street as my mother, the last cat I don't know

 

[king hassan]

Met these cats through Phinga Print, don't know them like that tho, but they did give me 2 12''s

 

[king hassan]

Wildlife Society and Stewpot Stowaways used to make a lot of noise down there too

 

[moyo]

I wonder what ever happened to Boo da boss playa and The Queen Boys??? How many of yall know that "Neva Scared" was their track first.

 

[BoogaSuga]

I actually have this on wax and cd, this was David Banner with Kamikazee

both from Jackson

The cat on the left is Bernard we used to call that dude Eddie Murhpy, the middle cat is Albert Smith aka DJ Hands , he lives on the same street as my mother, the last cat I don't know

Post some tracks

I neva heard of them

 

[king hassan]

I actually have this on wax and cd, this was David Banner with Kamikazee

both from Jackson

The cat on the left is Bernard we used to call that dude Eddie Murhpy, the middle cat is Albert Smith aka DJ Hands , he lives on the same street as my mother, the last cat I don't know

Post some tracks

I neva heard of them

I'm @ work right now, but when I get home and settled I will. But they came out in the early to mid 90's. And the Crooked Lettez is David Banner and Kamikazee,

 

[BamBamMr7Gram]

Tha Joker had a nice buzz around 08-09 here in NC never quite capitalized on it like he should

Boo Rossini heavily slept on as well

 

[Peezy_Jenkins]

yea the joker buzz was crazy for a lil while, he went to jail tho and it died, since he been out tho he's released his best shit to me

 

[DillaDeaf]

They not lying about those gas station sessions....up here in the Delta you either hang at the Dodge store or the Double Quick through the summers...it's where I learnt alot of the beats , some that would eventually write to when I was older and the music scene is always immersive here. When you got Mississippi Delta blues (which Mississippi is famous for and is the direct influence of the Chicago-style blues) most of the week and then hip hop, you can actually feel each other's influences in those beats.