Southern Rap
The timeline comes to the year 2000 and the American rap scene, traditionally ruled by the East and West Coasts, is about to shift. Following East and West Coast rap came another force--Southern Rap. Southern Hip-Hop, also known as Dirty South, is the umbrella term for hip-hop in the southern United States.
In fact, as early as 1980 in the southern cities of the United States on the popularity of hip-hop music, just due to the influence of New York and Los Angeles at the time, the public eye has been in these two cities, resulting in the southern rap obscurity. However, the rappers in the southern cities always insisted on innovating their own unique styles, and it wasn't until the Crunk style (a style unique to southern rap) became popular after 2000 that southern rap gradually began to emerge as the most popular and influential genre. The southern city of Atlanta became the third capital of hip-hop, with the emergence of some of the best hip-hop artists: T.I., Ludacris, Lil Jon, Young Jeezy, and the current explosion of trap music, which has influenced the entire rap scene.
During 2002-2003, Southern rap made up 50-60% of the Billboard hip-hop charts alone.
In 2004, the percentage of hip-hop music played on U.S. urban radio stations by region was - 43.6% for southern rap, 29.7% for Midwest, 24.1% for East Coast, and 2.5% for West Coast.
What makes southern rappers different from east and west coast rappers is that most of them come from remote towns rather than big cities. So most of them show an expectation of getting money in their music, surrounded by beautiful women, driving sports cars and spreading money. This aspect is also what has been criticized, the feeling that trap music is not nutritious. Despite this, there was no stopping them from moving forward.
After 2010, many groups or singers have become big hits, such as everyone's favorite: Young Thug, Future, Travi$ Scott, 2 Chainz, Rae Sremmurd, Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane, Rich Homie Quan, Migos, 21 Savage, etc. Lil Yachty, etc., all of them have become big hits, Lil Yachty to name a few, all from the South. It's not unreasonable to say that half of the U.S. rap market today is dominated by southern rap.
Commercialization of Hip Hop
With the expansion of the former, hip-hop culture continues to develop, the early hip-hop style of typical dress - pullover, baggy pants, caps, sneakers, there has been some kind of fashion genes, so hip-hop artists later with the fashion industry is a natural relationship, the fashion industry has become the first hip-hop industry in the first money industry. Many hip-hop artists have begun to endorse fashion brands, such as the rap world JAY-Z in order to focus on their own brand simply quit the rap world. Run- D.M.C's famous rap "My Adidas", but also hip-hop teenager's mentality is a reflection of: innovation, the pursuit of brand.
Meanwhile, popular lifestyle brands such as Heineken beer, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and the Gap have all been scrambling to incorporate hip-hop elements into their products, and a plethora of merchandise related to hip-hop culture has sprung up. Even traditional artists and fashion designers have gone to hip-hop culture for material and artistic inspiration. So far, the hip-hop industry has covered the globe, and its influence continues to grow. Music, sports, apparel, film and television, media, food, art, and other areas of life are all infiltrated by the hip-hop style.
Nowadays, hip-hop is not a simple combination of the four elements, but the development of more than 30 years has made it a popular lifestyle all over the world, and even a spiritual symbol, which represents the concept of freedom of expression, individuality, enjoyment of life, and the courage to challenge life. Exploding head, fat pants, fighting skills (Battle), tattoos, sneakers, club parties ...... these are among the manifestations, all these things organically combined together is a life. The life of hip-hop is active, and everyone who lives it is constantly exploring and improving one or more of these skills, pushing the limits of life in order to be heard or seen by as many people as possible in order to bring more life to the whole hip-hop culture.