Dirty South Hip-Hop

Loaded down with circular choruses and an assault-and-battery attack, Dirty South tracks are custom built for clubs and raucous living rooms. This starter set could double as the headlining crate of any discerning DJ, thanks to a hit parade of flawless floor-fillers (i.e. songs with shake, stomp, stand, or any combination thereof, suggestively in the title).

Something has to keep the crowd moving, even if that crowd's a party of one. As a rule, any rapper with the prefix of Lil' or Big is reason to wave those hands in the air. The same expectation applies to the bounce-or-die discography of Ludacris, Nelly, and Cash Money's crew.

True to its name, the Dungeon Family collective epitomizes the Dirty South's underground tendencies, including its own cyberpunk experiment "Crooked Booty" and Goodie Mob's region-defining "Dirty South." Also skimming just below the surface are Dungeon associate Killer Mike and Nappy Roots, a soul-food-fueled approximation of Outkast's Atliens and Aquemini period.

There must be something in the cornmeal (crunk juice extract, possibly?). How else to explain the singular sounds (bass, Atari tones, drunken synthesizers…more bass) and dialect (a country grammar of slurred rs, sharp zs, and non-Spanish yas) of the Dirty South? All of which says nothing about the collected works of Outkast, which run the racks from Top 10 ubiquity ("Hey Ya!") to butterscotch soul ("The Way You Move") to child-support rap ("Ms. Jackson"). Welcome to the Dirty South, y'all.