by Chris Wilson

Southern rap is swiftly gaining strength in the industry, but the rap scene in Baton Rouge is possibly the most overlooked rap culture today.

New Orleans has forever been prominent when it comes to representing Louisiana in the rap industry. The thick bass, dance-inducing rhythms and catchy lyrics have captured the south and have made it possible for artists to showcase their talents in local venues and outlets. After Katrina struck the gulf coast and ravaged New Orleans the rap scene from the crescent city came to a screeching halt. Those artists such as Cash Money rapper Lil’ Wayne and Atlantic Recording artist and former Cash Money rapper Juvenile have the financial stability to move elsewhere and continue their careers. Others were not so fortunate. That’s where Baton Rouge comes in.

After Katrina, artists were forced to relocate to other cities like Houston, Atlanta, and Baton Rouge. Since both Atlanta and Houston have already established their foothold in the industry, Baton Rouge is most susceptible to be influenced by this “bounce” music. This breed of sound coming out of the south is marked by its unorthodox style of dance called “jigging,” and “gutta” sound is now being influenced by the bounce style from New Orleans and is creating an innovative sound that has the potential to hit mainstream in the near future. That’s not to say that Baton Rouge music is beginning to sound like New Orleans but it is creating a totally new sound that is ready to take the industry by storm.

When people who aren’t from Baton Rouge or familiar with Baton Rouge music think of jigging, possibly the only thing that comes to mind is a technique used in fishing. But for the people that live, work, and play here, the jig is a way of life. In an April interview by 225BatonRouge.com, Max Minelli, a prominent artist from North Baton Rouge, says “I don’t know how to describe it, the jig sound. It’s a way of life. It’s the thing that defines culture. Jigging is a dance, and it means a couple of other things, but it’s just the sound. You know when Nirvana came out, they were making rock music, but it just sounded different? It’s kind of the same thing, you can’t describe it but you know it when you see it.”

A number of artists have begun to gain national recognition in the past couple of years. Lil Boosie, a rapper from South Baton Rouge teamed up with rapper C-Loc, also a rapper from Baton Rouge and made his debut on C-Locs’ album in the late 90s. Lil Boosie then teamed up with fellow Baton Rouge rapper Webbie, who recently signed a deal with Pimp C’s camp Trill Entertainment under Asylum Records, and released their tag-team debut album entitled Ghetto Stories. The album sold over 15,000 copies independently in Baton Rouge. Boosie and Webbie then went on to have numerous appearances on the now platinum selling Hustle and Flow Soundtrack, whose song “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp” by Three 6 Mafia won the Oscar for best original song.

So what does this mean for the Baton Rouge Rap scene?

If you aren’t a fan of the capital city music, it doesn't mean much. But if you listen to what’s going on in Baton Rouge you know that this is the start of an era that can propel Baton Rouge music into the airwaves of the nation. With all the regional “movements taking place in rap today such as the “snap music” coming out of Atlanta and the “hyphy” movement coming from the Bay area in California, it only seems right that Baton Rouge only be next to spread the jig to the whole nation and hope to help revive the ailing rap industry.

There is definitely a lot of room for advancement in the rap industry but the window is shrinking. The audience of today has a relatively short attention span when it comes down to trends. This means with every new fad that emerges another is forgotten. With Baton Rouge coming from a crippled industry that only means that there’s more work to do and only left with room to grow. Now with the added help of talent from New Orleans, Baton Rouge is now poised to make some major noise in the rap industry. No pun intended.