Southern Hip Hop is an easy punching bag. For some, anything coming from below the Mason-Dixon line has historically represented everything wrong with the culture. Even its influence on both East and West Coast are discussed in a remedial tone. Of course, this wide sweeping generalization comes regardless of how revered early pioneers from OutKast to trailblazers today like Big K.R.I.T. have become. Focusing on the detailed history of Southern Hip Hop, Frost Vision Films in association with eOne Distribution and N.S.U.C. Entertainment Group presents the incredibly dense documentary The Takeover: What You Really Know About the Dirty South. Featuring hundreds of interviews with legends including Master P, Killer Mike, Scarface, Trick Daddy and many others, the 90 minutes epic rap lesson tackles five central areas within the movement. Memphis, Houston, New Orleans, Miami and de facto capital Atlanta are all individually given comprehensive stories that highlights their contributions to Hip Hop but pop culture.
There’s good company involved with the production as well. Serving as executive producer for The Takeover, Andre “Jack Frost” Stephens is known for essentially cultivating the early careers of Yo Gotti and Kia Shine. Handling the research and development of the script is veteran Hip Hop journalist Carlton Wade whose works have appeared in XXL, Vibe and Complex. Considering the documentary’s musical focus, it makes sense to have storied hit maker Drumma Boy handle the soundtrack. Available on a slew of video on demand services, The Takeover is perfect for anyone wanting to look deeper into Hip Hop’s southern roots. Speaking with Jack Frost and Drumma Boy, the two talk the work and personal lessons learned from their role in putting together The Takeover.
Jack Frost Talks Getting Southern Hip Hop’s Rich History Correct
DX: First off, I would like to say that The Takeover may be one of the best documentaries in terms of its coverage of Southern Hip Hop. One of things I appreciated was how you guys gave a detailed breakdown of each major southern movement while showing how interconnected they were. How difficult was it gathering all of that information for a project under two hours?
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Jack Frost: To be honest, it took almost three years to do it. Documentaries are very difficult and with a situation like that, you want to get everything right. You want to get the story right. It took around two or three years. That means writing, script and gathering all the interviews. Post-production took quite a while before we added more interviews. I have to give a lot of credit to the writer Carlton Wade who is a journalist and that’s his forte. He put the research and facts all together. Me being a hustler, I put everything together.
DX: Where did you get the idea for exploring Southern Hip Hop in this particular way?
Jack Frost: I felt that this was a story that needed to be told. Me and Carlton talked about it. Carlton actually wanted to write a book about it before I advised that he do a documentary. It was one of those “ah ha” moments of synergy. We just decided to push forward. You know Carlton is the spearhead of that end of it. He started the ball rolling and I ran with it.
DX: There’s always this notion of how unified the South is in terms of its dominance. However, you guys really get into some of the civil battle and inner beefs as well. Considering Charles Temple recent death, it was fairly interesting watching Big Boy Record’s battle with No Limit. What made you want to include that aspect?
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Jack Frost: At the end of the day, I just can’t talk about good or suger coat it. I have to keep it all the way 100. There’s this thing where everybody thinks everyone in the South gets along all the time. That’s a lie. Now, I agree that one of the recipies to the South’s success is the fact that we do stick together. Up or down, the South has a loyal fanbase. Without the fans, it doesn’t matter what you’re talking about. Without fans, this rap stuff is a hobby. We just had to tell it and it makes good TV. It’s the truth. No Limit and Cash Money had their couple of issues. It’s still the music business and the South is no different. I wanted to tell the whole story and not just part of it.
DX: From your perspective, what was the most eye opening moment from your time working on the film?
Jack Frost: The most eye opening? The most eye opening part of everything was how much money and how long it takes to put together a documentary. That was the most eye opening to me. [Laughter] I don’t know man. I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of these guys didn’t have a problem sitting down with me for an interview. Some of them said a lot of things that were surprising. When Scarface was talking about Pimp C’s death, he literally started crying right there with the camera on him. I think this is the most eye opening things because I’m a student of this thing myself. I had my own little piece of the puzzle. Just to keep it real, I don’t have the most fondest attitudes toward people in the music business. So for me, it was eye opening watching everyone sit down and keeping it real; just telling their stories. Some of them more than others.
Drumma Boy: From my standpoint too, I was surprised. On the business standpoint, I was a kid when a lot of these acts were first coming on. As a real true fan, it was eye opening watching the impact we had on society. It was crazy watching how many people looked up to us. I look up to some of these cats like homies. However, for the rest of the world, they look at them as the greatest rappers ever. These are my homies and friends. Even watching someone like Yo Gotti who had a large impact. These are cats I grew up with. When I think of rap hustlers I think about the Yo Gotti(s) and Skinny Pimp(s). As a kid, I watched these guys roll around the city in tour busses and they had budgets. For us to have that impact on society was a true story. Nothing fabricated.
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Good Business Propelled Southern Hip Hop
DX: The Takeover looks into the real logistical details and economics of how Southern Hip Hop really began to take over. I believe there’s a moment where Mystikal is talking about how Master P got a better deal than Ray Charles. Is it safe to say that Southern rappers were getting better deals than their peers on both coast?
Jack Frost: Part of it was that we had to learn the game in the South from the ground up. We had to do so many things on our own. That’s the difference between us and the East Coast and West Coast. If you were from the East; you could spit, find a manager who knew someone and eventually get a deal. You didn’t have to learn a whole lot, all you had to do was rap. From the South, ain’t nobody was handing us shit. We had to do everything independent, get it out the mud and on our own. When you do that, you become better prepared as you move up to major labels. Going from AAA to the major leagues, you’re more prepared. Those major labels can’t tell you anything. I’m making $100,000 a week doing shows or whatever it may be. That’s part of the recipe and why things are the way they were.
DX: Makes sense as the only major label to be based down South was Laface Records in Atlanta. That changed everything for the city.
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Jack Frost: Exactly! It did change everything. Atlanta found their identity as a music hub. It’s crazy how the game evolved because this was a major label with rappers signed to them. However, some of the biggest cats in the game right now aren’t even signed.
Drumma Boy: It’s all about your company and making the movement popular. In Houston, they had Swishahouse. In Miami, Slip-N-Slide. In Memphis, there was Hypnotized Minds.
Jack Frost: Like Drumma said, it was about brand building and starting from the ground-up. No one was going to give you anything. You had to put your money where your mouth was. You had to invest in yourself before someone invested in you. When you support your own, you’re going to go to the shows, buy the records, merch and all of that. That’s what helped everybody down south.
Jack Frost Answers If Southern Hip Hop Will Peak
DX: There was a moment with DJ Toomp talked about how ironic it was for the East Coast to look down at Southern rap when most of the music sampled came from down south.
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Jack Frost: That was interesting wasn’t it?
DX: Indeed.
Jack Frost: It’s all true you know. I know Drumma Boy is a classically trained producer who plays a slew of instruments. Drumma’s parents came from a musical family. He’s very aware of where things come from. American music was birth in the South. Blues, Rock, Jazz; all these things were started down south. The whole Stax Records movement or even James Brown. If you listen to their early N.W.A. work, all that is Stax Records. Another common thing that you’ll notice, even Lil Jon said it, nothing is really truly original. Everybody takes something from something. The only thing we’re saying is give credit to those who are due. Give the South credit.
DX: It’s not just a history lesson as The Takeover really shows the future of Southern Hip Hop as well. Almost every Southern rapper today has some lineage from which they can trace back.
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Drumma Boy: The growth of Southern rap; if you look at where we come from like the 808 to the Miami Bass. At first it was about partying before it evolved into takes on lyricism. Different areas of the South had different movements. Looking at Atlanta and OutKast, you can see how Hip Hop as a whole gravitated toward them. Then you had the movement of crunk which came from Memphis before Atlanta grasped it. Even now, it’s more about the turn-up. One thing about the South is that we like to have fun. We eat really good and love to eat Southern cooking. It’s about having a good time. For me, that’s what music is all about. What music is going to start a party? Now it’s about the turn-up. This is why you have artists like Migos out of Atlanta and Young Dolph out of Memphis. It’s about expressing yourself. That’s what makes artists unique. That’s why artist like Kevin Gates came out of New Orleans the way he did. It’s interesting in terms of expression. Look at artists like 2 Chainz who is very lyrical but can still make you laugh. If everyone is rapping the same, this is when things get watered down. We forget about the ones who are great.
DX: Do you guys see a point to where Southern Hip Hop will reach a peak in popularity?
Jack Frost: I wouldn’t use the word peak but I will say that things have leveled off. The playing field has leveled a bit. The West Coast has their artists and so does the East Coast or Mid-West. I think that Southern Hip Hop has more marketshare because it’s so big and more artists can come out yearly. My homie from The Bay Area was like, “ain’t nobody coming from the South no more that’s huge unless you’re someone like Future or somebody else.” I was like cool but every year, you’re going to get two or three hot artist from the South. I don’t know if you watch college football but it’s like the SEC. It’s the best top-to-bottom. Because they may lose for a couple of years but the last 15 championships, they’ve probably won ten of them. That’s not saying anyone can’t play football but top to bottom, the South is still holding. I just think the playing field has leveled off.
