Professor’s Research Examines How Southern Hip-Hop Highlights Black Culture

Press release from Kennesaw State University:

Feb 18, 2021

Professor’s research examines how Southern hip-hop highlights Black culture

Regina Bradley

KENNESAW, Ga.
(Feb 18, 2021) — To Regina Bradley, Southern hip-hop is more than just about music; it is a means to
understanding Black culture, and it offers an opportunity to engage in a dialogue
around race.

Bradley, assistant professor of English and African diaspora studies, researches how Southern hip-hop influences perspectives on Black history and social
issues in the South.

“Being in the South, there is a high regard for the civil rights movement and for
those who participated, but I think the challenge is continuing to have those difficult
conversations about race, anxiety and place in America, especially in the South,”
Bradley said. “Southern hip-hop definitely opens up the door to do that, and does
so in a way that engages a more contemporary audience and demographic.”

Bradley’s research posits that Southern hip-hop helps to bridge the gap between the
civil rights movement and the present day, allowing people to understand the relevance
of past events through contemporary language. To Bradley, the group Outkast was the
first hip-hop group to be recognized as being distinctly Southern, and the group’s
success was significant because they engage questions that young, Black Southerners
deal with – which in turn begins a dialogue.

Bradley’s upcoming book, Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South, probes the ways music, literature, and film have remixed southern identities for
a post–civil rights generation. The title of the book pays tribute to Outkast’s fourth
studio album that was released in 2000. The book will be released February 22.

“Stankonia chronicles how Southern hip-hop helps us document the South after the civil rights
movement,” said Bradley. “I’m hoping the book opens the door for more engaged and
in-depth analysis of Southern rap, and how it helps us think about race, regional
identity and the world today.”

To hear more about Bradley’s research, listen to the “Thought Provoking” podcast hosted by KSU’s Norman J. Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

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A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers more than 150 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 41,000 students. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the second-largest university in the state. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the region and from 126 countries across the globe. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.

This press release was produced by Kennesaw State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.