Rap music from New York and Los Angeles once ruled the charts, but nowadays the southern sound thoroughly dominates the radio, Billboard , and MTV. Coastal artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and Ice-T call southern rap “garbage,” but they’re probably just jealous, as artists like Lil Wayne and T.I. still move millions of copies, and OutKast has the bestselling rap album of all time. In Dirty South , author Ben Westhoff investigates the southern rap phenomenon, watching rappers “make it rain” in a Houston strip club and partying with the 2 Live Crew’s Luke Campbell. Westhoff visits the gritty neighborhoods where T.I. and Lil Wayne grew up, kicks it with Big Boi in Atlanta, and speaks with artists like DJ Smurf and Ms. Peachez, dance-craze originators accused of setting back the black race fifty years. Acting both as investigative journalist and irreverent critic, Westhoff probes the celebrated-but-dark history of Houston label Rap-A-Lot Records, details the lethal rivalry between Atlanta MCs Gucci Mane and Young Jeezy, and gets venerable rapper Scarface to open up about his time in a mental institution. Dirty South features exclusive interviews with the genre’s most colorful players. Westhoff has written a journalistic tour de force, the definitive account of the most vital musical culture of our time. "Unprecedented in its research of the origins of Southern Hip-Hop, this gem is key to understanding the catalyst that caused the 21st Century Dirty South explosion." -- The Source " Dirty South is a must-read for anybody interested in hip-hop's ever-growing role in America's cultural consciousness." --Zack O'Malley Greenburg, Forbes "Even if you only barely recognize the names in the full title...you can still understand and enjoy Ben Westhoff's new book." --Andrew Matson, Seattle Times "[A] consistently entertaining and enlightening chronicle of hip-hop below the Mason-Dixon line." --Martin Caballero, Dig Boston "A fascinating exploration of the musical and personal terrain of what has come to be known as the Southern sound of rap." — Publishers Weekly "Westhoff offers an excellent introduction to hip-hop in the South that will be informative and enjoyable for both newbies and those familiar with Southern hip-hop...A great introduction to Southern hip-hop, and a fun book for those familiar with the genre and its artists." — Library Journal "Packed with lively reporting and colorful social history...doesn't shy away from the bigger questions. Westhoff grapples with Southern rap's troubling racial politics and takes on the critics." — Rolling Stone "My boy Ben Westhoff is the boss of southern hip hop writers." -Slim Thug, popular Houston rapper "Ben Westhoff possesses the ear of a skilled hip-hop critic, the cadence of a poet, and the nerves of a pro boxer. Dirty South reveals not just the grit and spirit of Southern hip-hop, but the intensity of old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting -- mixed with a dash of Gonzo journalism for good measure." -Mara Shalhoup, author of BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family "I love this book. It's a real in-depth look into southern hip hop history, and loaded with facts. Recommended for hip hop music lovers. It goes real deep." -8Ball, southern rap pioneer, member of duo 8Ball & MJG "Ben Westhoff brings journalism back to hip-hop, and hip-hop back to journalism, by reclaiming the lost art of reporting. As a result, Dirty South is a most fascinating trip through Southern hip-hop's origins and current reign. Great book." -Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop "In the twenty-plus years since Luther Campbell's 2 Live Crew became a national sensation, the hip-hop coming from below the Mason-Dixon has been dismissed, revered, championed and lampooned. With Dirty South, Ben Westhoff provides an even-handed, indispensable, intimate, and somewhat self-effacing overview of the sound which has, three decades after hip-hop's emergence, become the genre's dominant sound. Well-researched but accessible, and full of original interviews and the settings behind them (the guy tracks Campbell down at a concession stand in the Atlanta airport with no confirmed interview and proceeds to get embedded in the artist's entourage, joining him onstage while getting the little to unknown origins of the hip-hop godfather), Dirty South is incredibly comprehensive with Westhoff being at once an insider and outsider, guiding the reader from past to present with curiosity, wit and a reporter's eye and hand. A most worthy and necessary addition to the cannon of hip-hop history." -Kris Ex, co-author of 50 Cent's memoir, From Pieces to Weight "Ben Westhoff is our hip-hop Hunter S. Thompson, taking us on a sometimes surreal, always spellbinding ride from Houston's Fifth Ward to Stankonia and beyond. More than a "behind the music" expose of southern hip-hop's famous faces, Dirty South is a passionate reflection