Major Project Interview of Southern Hip-Hop

Rylee Hennigan Professor Harris ENGL2017-64187 April 21, 2026 Major Project Interview of Southern Hip-Hop What I expected from this project was to gain more understanding of Adeerya Johnson’s “Dirty South Feminism: The Girlies Got Somethin’ to Say Too! Southern Hip-Hop Women, Fighting Respectability, Talking Mess, and Twerking Up the Dirty South”, and how it correlates from other people’s perspectives. For my interview I selected a good friend of mine, Sydney Williams, to represent many women of African American ethnicity to answer many questions I have about this genre of music. Although Sydney is not fully African American, but also being half-white, we can learn both sides of her culture and how it correlates into her answers. Despite the slight difference, Sydney is heavily influenced by Southern Hip-Hop. Sydney defines Southern hip hop as a style of rap from the South with a unique vibe, heavy bass, and melodic beats. She believes the genre is often stereotyped as being about money, violence, and partying, overlooking its depth and complexity. Sydney also discusses the cultural significance of dances like twerking and majorette dancing, noting their growing acceptance but ongoing criticism. Southern hip hop is often listened to for its upbeat and confident vibe and is considered an important part of culture and music history. While it can be a powerful way to express racial identity, it may also be misunderstood by those outside the culture. Slang used in the genre, such as “yo,” “trifling,” and “cap,” can be seen as a unique aspect of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Dialogue: Me: Do you know what southern hip hop is? Sydney: Yes. Me: good deal. Okay where does it originate? Sydney: Did you ask me this question? Me: No, but I'm making sure you know it's, that it’s the right thing because it's also like in different parts than just the South. Sydney: Oh, okay yeah. Me: Okay, what is southern hip-hop music to you? Sydney: Southern hip hop to me is a style of rap that comes from the south, and it has its own vibe, like a heavy base. Me: Mm-hmm. Sydney: and like slower, or it feels more of like a melodic beat, and it has a lot of personality. It feels more expressive and sometimes more emotional than other types of raps, but it can also be really hype and energetic depending on the song. Me: okay. Uh, how has the style of music influenced you and do you identify with it? Sydney: I say it's influenced my taste in music and how I expressed myself. I like how confident and real, a lot of artists are, as a mixed girl, I feel like I connect to parts of it, um, especially the story telling, and the way it talks about identity and culture, but I also know not everything, and it represents me personally. Me: Okay. Nice. Okay. Uh. I think that other question's kind of the same thing, which is just like one definition Sydney: Well, just ask it. Me: Do you have one definition for the genre? Sydney: Not really, I think, southern hip hop is too broad to just, to just, have one definition because it includes a lot of different sounds and… Me: Right. Sydney: …styles like trap, Cronk, and more like melodic rap. I say it's more like a whole culture than just one specific type of music. Me: Yeah, I get it. Okay. Are there stereotypes or parts of southern hip hop that you think need to be corrected if so, explain. Sydney: Yeah, I think people, I think people stereotype it as being only about like money and violence and like partying, which isn't always true. There's a lot of depth in the genre that gets overlooked. Me: Mm-hmm. Sydney: And some people assume everyone from the South acts a certain way, which isn't fair or very accurate. Me: Okay. Yeah. Sydney: thought really hard about these today. Me: We also talk about it in class all the time, like women being like, oversexualized in music and that kind of stuff but that was good. That was a good answer. Are there limitations for you being placed as culturally rooted into this style of music? Sydney: Uh, I said, I think sometimes people like expect me to act a certain way or like certain things because I listen to it, which can feel very limiting. Um, like, of course, since I'm like mixed, I sometimes feel like I'm not fully seen as part of anyone, like any of hold on. I feel like sometimes I'm not fully seen as part of any one culture so that can make it complicated. Me: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you think like people expect you to listen to this music? Sydney: I mean, yeah. Because like, I like, I listen to a lot of country music. So, like it's like. Me: But also, with that, people don't expect you to listen to that either. Sydney: Yeah. Because, like, you know, both of our families, like, African American. Me: Let's go the next one. So, what I've read in class, we've read about Adeerya Johnson, and she talks about dances like twerking or like majorette dancing. Uh, would you say these dance forms are accepted in society? Why or why not? Sydney: Um, I think they're more accepted now than before. Uh, like especially because of social media, but they're like still judged a lot. Like, especially with talking. Um, I said, people will enjoy it, but also crit- criticize it at the same time, which feels kind of like hypocritical. And majorette? That's what it's called? Majorette dancing is becoming more respected, especially with like HBCU culture getting more attention. Um, other dances, I think, are, More, other dances, I think, of our things like Cronk dancing or just freestyle and club dancing that matches the music. Me: Did you know that the cake walk came from African American culture? Sydney: Yeah. That's what I was looking up, like, all this HBCU stuff. Me: I just thought that was so cool. Like, all this, like, stuff that, like, people think are just dances and stuff, but they have origination. Sydney: Yeah, they have like a meaning behind it. Me: Let's see. When do you enjoy listening to Southern hip hop the most? Sydney: I listen to it most when I'm with my friends or just like getting ready or just trying to boost my mood. Yeah, like it makes me feel confident and hyped and sometimes even understood depending on the song. Me: I guess that kind of answers the other question. What do you normally feel while listening? You just set upbeat. Okay. Sydney: Yeah. Me: Uh, would you pass down this genre of music to your children one day? Why or why not? Sydney: Yeah, I would because it's an important part of culture and music history. Um, and I would, I would like, and I would make sure they understood, understand the lyrics and messages and can think about what they're listening to, not just copying everything. Me: Yeah. The meaning. Okay. Trying to think if there's any other questions. I can't really think of follow-ups. You have parents that influence the music you listen to, right? Sydney: Yeah, like most of the music that I listen to is from like hearing it from my mom playing it. Me: It's more of your mom than your dad? Sydney: Yeah, well, my dad listens to select amounts like Tupac and stuff. Me: so, would you say listening to with your mom is different than listening to your dad? Sydney: Yeah, because like, she's more. There's more culture to her, like she knows more about it than You she's just more than he does. Me: Yeah, she’s more comfortable, more around it longer in a way. Sydney: And she, like, she's with the, the community. Me: Would you say music is more of a way, you're accepted for your race than just like your speech or anything else, like verbally or physically. Lemme rephrase. Would you say like music is your strongest form of representing your like racial identity? Sydney: Yeah, because like sometimes you can like you can express that to people. Me: And it's easier than normal. Sydney: Like, if my friends, like, my, my white friends, like, I can, like, like, put them on a song and like tell them about it. Like, yeah, I don't know. Me: They wouldn't know because they didn't have to like, I guess, experience those kinds of things. Sydney: Yeah. Me: Do you think that I guess I would say your white friends, I'm not saying like, they don't mock your music, but do you think they Interpret it wrong? Sydney: Maybe yes, sometimes. Me: If there's like any slang in there, do they think it's like, do they just create a stereotype of any sort that? Sydney: I think it's some of them do and some of them don't. I guess it just depends on… Me: They kind of enjoy it anyways, because I know what I like. Sydney: Yeah. Me: Because of slang, but a lot of what we learn right now is that, like, like, African American, like, is so different from standard English that people think that it's wrong, but it's not supposed to be. Do you think that music, like whenever it uses this, like, kind of slang. Do you think it changes the standard English? Sydney: I mean, I don't think so. It's kind of a hard question. Me: Well, what kind of like slang do you notice in songs that are different than just regular hip hop? Sydney: Yeah like, yo or like cap, finna. Or like, like, I bet you won't. Me: Well, if you have no other slang, I think that's all I need, really. Sydney: Okay, I hope it was good. Me: I think it was.