1 00:00:04,710 --> 00:00:06,962 [Brass band intro] 2 00:00:15,220 --> 00:00:17,389 [narrator] It's been a long time since I visited the South 3 00:00:17,848 --> 00:00:19,015 but don't get it twisted. 4 00:00:19,099 --> 00:00:21,893 From the moment 2 Live Crew and the Geto Boys hit the airwaves, 5 00:00:22,060 --> 00:00:23,228 the South was doing its thing. 6 00:00:23,979 --> 00:00:25,856 So it makes sense that I come here, 7 00:00:25,981 --> 00:00:27,983 to the birthplace of Martin Luther King, 8 00:00:28,108 --> 00:00:29,943 a key city in the civil rights movement, 9 00:00:30,610 --> 00:00:33,029 a city many people consider America's Black Mecca, 10 00:00:33,113 --> 00:00:35,365 to find out where hip-hop was heading next. 11 00:00:35,949 --> 00:00:38,076 Welcome to Atlanta. 12 00:00:42,456 --> 00:00:45,125 [Killer Mike] For a 100 years, Atlanta has been a place 13 00:00:45,208 --> 00:00:48,462 where, even in the midst of Jim Crowism and segregation, 14 00:00:48,879 --> 00:00:50,964 black people carved a way for themselves. 15 00:00:52,841 --> 00:00:56,052 You have a 51 to 54% black population. 16 00:00:56,136 --> 00:00:58,555 You have African American leadership from a mayoral perspective 17 00:00:58,638 --> 00:01:00,182 for the last 45 years. 18 00:01:00,599 --> 00:01:02,225 Never shall I let you down! 19 00:01:02,392 --> 00:01:04,478 Third most corporations of any city. 20 00:01:04,561 --> 00:01:07,939 The black dollar matters here. Black spirituality matters here. 21 00:01:08,064 --> 00:01:09,399 Black arts matter here. 22 00:01:09,691 --> 00:01:13,487 So, if you are an African American with something to contribute 23 00:01:13,570 --> 00:01:15,030 to the culture and you're in Atlanta, 24 00:01:15,447 --> 00:01:17,491 you have a chance, culturally, of breaking through. 25 00:01:17,949 --> 00:01:20,452 [drum break] 26 00:01:20,869 --> 00:01:23,622 [Speech] People come from a lot of places and move to Atlanta 27 00:01:23,705 --> 00:01:26,708 for that opportunity, for that bigger space. 28 00:01:26,792 --> 00:01:29,669 So you had a lot of people from a lot of different places. 29 00:01:29,753 --> 00:01:33,423 Bringing different musical vibes to the city, 30 00:01:33,507 --> 00:01:36,718 and Atlanta had its own sound, you know what I mean? 31 00:01:36,802 --> 00:01:41,223 But it was sort of an offshoot of what was going on in Miami, bass style. 32 00:01:41,306 --> 00:01:43,517 [crowd cheering] 33 00:01:43,725 --> 00:01:46,561 What was the flavor in Atlanta in the late 80s? 34 00:01:46,770 --> 00:01:50,857 Uh, there was a relationship between Atlanta and Miami at that time. 35 00:01:51,358 --> 00:01:54,236 What was translated as a skating rink music, 36 00:01:54,611 --> 00:01:57,280 or as booty shake music, Miami bass. 37 00:01:57,739 --> 00:01:59,449 That's what the music was called. 38 00:01:59,533 --> 00:02:02,285 In Atlanta, it was just called the straight bass. 39 00:02:02,536 --> 00:02:04,036 It had no identity. 40 00:02:04,161 --> 00:02:06,289 [frenetic beats] 41 00:02:07,541 --> 00:02:10,210 [narrator] With Miami bass rattling woofers and skating rinks, 42 00:02:10,293 --> 00:02:12,754 Atlanta was still looking outwards for its hip-hop. 43 00:02:12,838 --> 00:02:15,757 So it's no surprise that the city's first recognized MC 44 00:02:15,841 --> 00:02:17,217 wouldn't come from the ATL either. 45 00:02:18,260 --> 00:02:21,346 Instead it would be an Adidas rocking b-boy from the south Bronx 46 00:02:21,429 --> 00:02:24,182 who would lay down the first seeds of hip hop in the ATL. 47 00:02:24,307 --> 00:02:27,561 ♪Come on! Shake it! Come on, shake it! ♪ 48 00:02:27,811 --> 00:02:30,313 ♪Come on, shake it! Come on! ♪ 49 00:02:31,398 --> 00:02:34,693 ♪Come on, shake it! Come on, shake it! ♪ 50 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:36,528 -Yes, sir. -What's up? 51 00:02:36,611 --> 00:02:38,488 -You good? -Everything good, man. 52 00:02:38,572 --> 00:02:41,992 Um, so tell me like, you know, your family came from the Bronx. 53 00:02:42,075 --> 00:02:42,909 -Yeah. -Uh... 54 00:02:42,993 --> 00:02:45,245 Uh, why did your family want to come to Atlanta? 55 00:02:45,495 --> 00:02:47,455 Basically, you know, Mom and Dad, 56 00:02:47,747 --> 00:02:51,167 wanted us to have a better life, you know what I'm saying? So... 57 00:02:51,751 --> 00:02:53,503 I guess my dad saw the potential, 58 00:02:53,587 --> 00:02:56,298 so he was like, "I've got to get there before it start blowing up." 59 00:02:56,381 --> 00:02:57,382 You know what I'm saying? 60 00:02:57,465 --> 00:03:00,886 -It has blown up since then. -Yeah, major city. Major. 61 00:03:01,136 --> 00:03:02,888 [percussive beats] 62 00:03:02,971 --> 00:03:05,640 [interviewer] What did people think of hip-hop initially here? 63 00:03:05,724 --> 00:03:07,183 Because you're coming from the Bronx, 64 00:03:07,767 --> 00:03:10,437 and were you trying to introduce people to hip-hop and... 65 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:12,689 Oh yeah, believe it or not, me and my brother, 66 00:03:12,856 --> 00:03:15,567 we had a little Community Center in the neighborhood we lived in. 67 00:03:15,984 --> 00:03:17,235 Uh, yeah. 68 00:03:17,319 --> 00:03:19,237 And my brother, he was like the DJ. 69 00:03:19,321 --> 00:03:22,991 So when he's DJing, I'm on the floor breakdancing, you know what I'm saying? 70 00:03:23,700 --> 00:03:25,035 They really didn't understand it. 71 00:03:25,118 --> 00:03:27,203 They was like, "These people come from New York. 72 00:03:27,287 --> 00:03:28,371 What are they doing?" 73 00:03:28,496 --> 00:03:30,373 Little man spinning on the floor, 74 00:03:30,624 --> 00:03:33,877 my man DJing with two turntables, so it was really different. 75 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,588 So we really introduced hip-hop to them down here. 76 00:03:38,757 --> 00:03:40,926 When I got through with the break dancing and stuff, 77 00:03:41,426 --> 00:03:42,844 I used to DJ at parties. 78 00:03:43,136 --> 00:03:46,139 And whenever I would throw on The Egyptian Lover records, 79 00:03:46,222 --> 00:03:48,975 and the Pretty Tony songs from California and Miami, 80 00:03:49,392 --> 00:03:52,395 people packed the dance floor, but when I throw on Doug E Fresh, 81 00:03:52,854 --> 00:03:55,398 or something from New York, everybody go sit down. 82 00:03:55,774 --> 00:03:56,858 So I got smarter. 83 00:03:56,942 --> 00:03:59,945 I said if I get a chance to make a record, I'll make an up-tempo record. 84 00:04:00,570 --> 00:04:02,572 [man] We was working on the Comin' Correct album, 85 00:04:02,656 --> 00:04:04,741 and while we was working on that particular album, 86 00:04:04,824 --> 00:04:07,118 I noticed songs with repetitive hooks 87 00:04:07,577 --> 00:04:09,079 were starting to be more popular. 88 00:04:09,287 --> 00:04:11,873 And I was like, Salt'N'Pepa got "Push It," 89 00:04:11,957 --> 00:04:14,876 we need to come up with something very repetitive." 90 00:04:15,210 --> 00:04:17,921 And, at the last minute, I was like, "Let's do Shake it." 91 00:04:18,004 --> 00:04:21,299 And Shy D wrote the record, me and Mike Fresh put the beat together. 92 00:04:21,424 --> 00:04:24,177 And next thing you know, we've got a hit record, man! 93 00:04:24,678 --> 00:04:27,722 ♪One night I was cooling Sitting in the tub ♪ 94 00:04:27,806 --> 00:04:31,267 ♪And I wanted to go out And go to a club ♪ 95 00:04:31,393 --> 00:04:34,854 ♪So I got out the tub And put my sneakers on ♪ 96 00:04:34,938 --> 00:04:36,856 ♪Yo, that's what you did, D ♪ 97 00:04:36,940 --> 00:04:38,274 ♪Homeboy, word, it's on ♪ 98 00:04:38,358 --> 00:04:42,320 [MC Shy D] I came with the New York sound, voice wise. 99 00:04:42,404 --> 00:04:44,781 The South and California, beat wise. 100 00:04:44,864 --> 00:04:47,409 And I just put it together, and I made a good recipe. 101 00:04:47,492 --> 00:04:51,037 ♪Jumped in the Cadillac Went and got TP ♪ 102 00:04:51,121 --> 00:04:54,290 ♪And drove downtown And picked up LT ♪ 103 00:04:54,374 --> 00:04:56,876 We used to call it shake dancing before it was called twerking. 104 00:04:57,293 --> 00:05:01,089 And then, that started the stripping thing in the strip capital. 105 00:05:01,589 --> 00:05:04,259 So Atlanta was the shake dance capital. 106 00:05:04,551 --> 00:05:07,137 It just took Atlanta by storm, man, like... 107 00:05:07,220 --> 00:05:09,806 you know, the visuals he had for the videos, 108 00:05:10,098 --> 00:05:13,268 and the way the girls would dance to the music in the club. 109 00:05:13,476 --> 00:05:14,477 It was just crazy. 110 00:05:14,811 --> 00:05:17,522 ♪I say get out there And let me see you ♪ 111 00:05:17,605 --> 00:05:21,568 ♪Shake it, come on, shake it Come on, come on, shake it ♪ 112 00:05:21,651 --> 00:05:23,903 It was like Run-DMC had a son 113 00:05:23,987 --> 00:05:25,905 and sent him down south to live with his mama. 114 00:05:25,989 --> 00:05:27,490 You know what I mean. [chuckling] 115 00:05:27,866 --> 00:05:30,368 He had the b-boy stance, the way he rocked his hat. 116 00:05:30,452 --> 00:05:33,329 Everything about Shy D was New York. 117 00:05:33,413 --> 00:05:35,665 ♪And let me see you shake it! ♪ 118 00:05:36,458 --> 00:05:40,295 What kind of response did you get from people in Atlanta about that song? 119 00:05:40,503 --> 00:05:43,381 Believe it or not, I'm going to be honest with you... 120 00:05:44,215 --> 00:05:46,676 -Atlanta wouldn't really support me, -Wow. 121 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:48,887 because they knew I was from New York. 122 00:05:49,429 --> 00:05:51,639 I don't got that Atlanta slang, you know? 123 00:05:51,723 --> 00:05:54,100 People still hear the New York in me, you know what I am saying? 124 00:05:54,184 --> 00:05:56,061 So I didn't really get the love here. 125 00:05:56,144 --> 00:05:57,353 Kilo got the love. 126 00:05:57,437 --> 00:05:58,813 Kilo was the first to do that. 127 00:05:58,897 --> 00:06:01,107 [Synthesizer riff] 128 00:06:07,072 --> 00:06:10,033 [narrator] The Bronx bred Shy D may have been the first b-boy in Atlanta. 129 00:06:10,116 --> 00:06:12,118 Everybody down! Now! Now! Now! 130 00:06:12,243 --> 00:06:14,496 [officer] Get the car! The car! The trunk! 131 00:06:14,621 --> 00:06:16,372 [narrator] That wasn't enough for the ATL. 132 00:06:16,831 --> 00:06:19,084 The city needed someone who could speak to their reality. 133 00:06:19,417 --> 00:06:21,419 And they'd find that in a nasal voiced MC 134 00:06:21,503 --> 00:06:23,505 hailing from the city's tough Bankhead neighborhood. 135 00:06:23,588 --> 00:06:25,590 ♪There's a white girl in town ♪ 136 00:06:25,882 --> 00:06:27,300 ♪Name is cocaine ♪ 137 00:06:27,634 --> 00:06:29,302 ♪Get inside your brain ♪ 138 00:06:29,427 --> 00:06:30,762 ♪Play you like a lame ♪ 139 00:06:30,845 --> 00:06:33,848 [Kilo] Bankhead was a fearsome side of town. 140 00:06:34,015 --> 00:06:36,601 They used to get cut throats, really... 141 00:06:36,684 --> 00:06:39,270 Like, blade cuts at liquor store type of stuff, 142 00:06:39,354 --> 00:06:41,648 back in those days, I remember, but... 143 00:06:42,273 --> 00:06:45,443 uh, it was where I went wild. 144 00:06:46,152 --> 00:06:48,947 ♪Cocaine Cocaine ♪ 145 00:06:49,030 --> 00:06:51,908 [reporter] Bankhead Courts is afflicted with drugs and violence. 146 00:06:51,991 --> 00:06:54,536 [woman] It's hell. You can't even come out in the evening time. 147 00:06:54,619 --> 00:06:56,121 You're scared you might get shot! 148 00:06:56,204 --> 00:06:58,373 -[crowd screaming] -[gunshots] 149 00:06:58,540 --> 00:07:00,500 [Kilo] It was a drug war. Crack was new. 150 00:07:00,583 --> 00:07:03,461 And Zell Miller was our governor then, 151 00:07:03,545 --> 00:07:06,923 and he designed this crew called the Red Dog Task Force Squad. 152 00:07:07,006 --> 00:07:08,758 [officer] Show me your hands! On your knees! 153 00:07:08,842 --> 00:07:11,594 [reporter] The name comes from a tactical maneuver in football. 154 00:07:11,678 --> 00:07:14,305 An all-out assault against the quarterback. 155 00:07:14,722 --> 00:07:16,391 [officer] We're going to kill you, you want to stop! 156 00:07:16,724 --> 00:07:19,185 You want to stop! Reach and you're dead. 157 00:07:19,519 --> 00:07:21,896 [Kilo] What was happening with rap music everywhere, 158 00:07:21,980 --> 00:07:24,315 not only in Atlanta, was laundering. 159 00:07:24,566 --> 00:07:25,692 And I was... 160 00:07:26,568 --> 00:07:29,320 basically a launderer at that point in time, 161 00:07:29,404 --> 00:07:31,114 for like posses or gangs. 162 00:07:31,197 --> 00:07:34,492 We had a gang back then called Strictly Business Posse. 163 00:07:34,742 --> 00:07:35,952 So they produced me. 164 00:07:36,286 --> 00:07:38,913 When I came out with my song "Cocaine," 165 00:07:39,247 --> 00:07:40,540 I had done juvenile time. 166 00:07:40,748 --> 00:07:44,419 So, I wrote it downtown, on the floor, in the juvenile cell. 167 00:07:44,502 --> 00:07:46,546 "There's a white girl in town, 168 00:07:46,629 --> 00:07:48,173 her name is cocaine." 169 00:07:48,423 --> 00:07:50,133 ♪Get inside your brain ♪ 170 00:07:50,216 --> 00:07:51,801 ♪Play you like a lame ♪ 171 00:07:51,885 --> 00:07:53,720 ♪Yeah, you on her good side ♪ 172 00:07:53,803 --> 00:07:55,346 ♪Cause she make you rich ♪ 173 00:07:55,430 --> 00:07:57,390 ♪The first time you hit her ♪ 174 00:07:57,473 --> 00:07:58,766 ♪Break you like a brick ♪ 175 00:07:59,017 --> 00:08:02,187 [Kilo] I made a song based off somebody's surroundings. 176 00:08:02,645 --> 00:08:05,106 You see from the window, your uncle sells it, 177 00:08:05,190 --> 00:08:07,317 your mom does it. You know what I'm saying? 178 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:08,860 You get shoes from it. 179 00:08:09,110 --> 00:08:10,612 And so, it got your attention. 180 00:08:10,862 --> 00:08:12,322 ?枚hat's what you get ♪ 181 00:08:12,405 --> 00:08:15,617 ♪For selling that crack cocaine ♪ 182 00:08:16,618 --> 00:08:18,870 At that time, dope boys was 183 00:08:19,495 --> 00:08:20,747 paid in Atlanta. 184 00:08:20,830 --> 00:08:24,292 Driving all kinds of cars. They were like spaceships back then. 185 00:08:24,459 --> 00:08:25,335 Rims. 186 00:08:25,418 --> 00:08:27,461 Like, what's going on with him? What are you doing? 187 00:08:27,545 --> 00:08:28,879 Kilo is rapping about it. 188 00:08:28,963 --> 00:08:30,882 So he-- he struck a chord. 189 00:08:30,965 --> 00:08:32,800 [muffled police radio] 190 00:08:33,051 --> 00:08:37,430 [Killer MIke] When "Cocaine" dropped, it perfectly described the voice 191 00:08:37,513 --> 00:08:40,099 directly from the trap. 192 00:08:40,183 --> 00:08:43,895 In a way that only a kid growing up in boy homes 193 00:08:43,978 --> 00:08:46,689 could describe the world falling apart around him. 194 00:08:46,773 --> 00:08:49,400 With dopeness, harmony, melody. 195 00:08:49,525 --> 00:08:50,360 He was... 196 00:08:50,860 --> 00:08:53,196 visceral with the cuts, with the shit that he was saying. 197 00:08:53,613 --> 00:08:55,198 ♪Make you a big man ♪ 198 00:08:55,281 --> 00:08:56,783 ♪Buy you a Uzi ♪ 199 00:08:56,866 --> 00:09:00,453 ♪She say go kill your brother Or you gonna lose me ♪ 200 00:09:00,536 --> 00:09:02,789 It was actually a drug awareness song when I wrote it, 201 00:09:02,872 --> 00:09:04,332 but a lot of people missed the message 202 00:09:04,415 --> 00:09:06,960 because they was having so much fun with the word "cocaine." 203 00:09:07,043 --> 00:09:10,129 "Cocaine says she loves you, but she really don't." 204 00:09:10,630 --> 00:09:13,883 ♪She says "I'll always be there" But she really won't ♪ 205 00:09:13,967 --> 00:09:15,260 [Kilo] People went wild. 206 00:09:15,677 --> 00:09:17,512 We did $60,000 out the trunk. 207 00:09:18,346 --> 00:09:19,472 -Crazy. -Yeah. 208 00:09:19,555 --> 00:09:22,267 But I got signed from that one idea. 209 00:09:22,725 --> 00:09:26,312 And then, when I came out with my record, I was like 15 years old. 210 00:09:28,564 --> 00:09:31,693 [Kawan] Kilo was coming straight off of the base space. 211 00:09:31,776 --> 00:09:33,486 So he was coming off of Shy D. 212 00:09:33,653 --> 00:09:35,446 And his music was still fast. 213 00:09:35,530 --> 00:09:38,825 You know, "Cocaine" was still 120, 130, somewhere in that space. 214 00:09:38,908 --> 00:09:42,245 But he was the first person we heard who was from Atlanta 215 00:09:42,328 --> 00:09:46,040 that was like young like us. Like, he felt like us talking. 216 00:09:46,541 --> 00:09:50,336 So he was the first Atlanta rapper, but radio wasn't really playing his music. 217 00:09:50,628 --> 00:09:53,089 We didn't have enough hip-hop. 218 00:09:53,798 --> 00:09:56,843 Honestly. To even have that much space on the radio. 219 00:10:01,848 --> 00:10:04,976 [narrator] While the ATL pioneers were steadily developing their own style, 220 00:10:05,059 --> 00:10:08,604 there was still no major infrastructure to support the city's young hip-hop scene. 221 00:10:09,272 --> 00:10:12,066 But ready to fill the void for Atlanta's DJs and MCs 222 00:10:12,233 --> 00:10:15,153 was a dapper entrepreneur with a flamboyant pitch. 223 00:10:15,278 --> 00:10:17,030 Hey, hi, hello! 224 00:10:17,113 --> 00:10:18,990 I'm that cool fly fellow. 225 00:10:19,073 --> 00:10:21,492 King Edward J, I say! 226 00:10:21,659 --> 00:10:24,287 [rolls r] Rocking Atlanta GA. 227 00:10:24,370 --> 00:10:27,790 Making Decatur sound much greater. 228 00:10:27,874 --> 00:10:29,250 Ha, ha! Yep! 229 00:10:29,334 --> 00:10:32,712 ♪Go, go, go Go, go, go ♪ 230 00:10:33,129 --> 00:10:37,383 [King] The good thing about Atlanta was it was hungry for a change. 231 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,178 The music scene in Atlanta 232 00:10:40,303 --> 00:10:43,348 wasn't getting the respect that it should've gotten. 233 00:10:43,473 --> 00:10:45,808 We had one radio station 234 00:10:46,225 --> 00:10:48,936 that would play rap music for one hour 235 00:10:49,020 --> 00:10:50,188 on Friday night. 236 00:10:50,313 --> 00:10:54,942 And they would play all the music from East Coast and West Coast, 237 00:10:55,068 --> 00:10:59,405 but they wouldn't play the music from right home. 238 00:10:59,739 --> 00:11:03,242 And so I decided to open a business of my own. 239 00:11:03,743 --> 00:11:04,660 The J Shop. 240 00:11:05,119 --> 00:11:07,372 And here we are, ladies and gentlemen, 241 00:11:07,497 --> 00:11:09,540 at King Edward J Records and Tapes. 242 00:11:10,375 --> 00:11:13,378 This is little Yakimi, she's the youngest member of J team. 243 00:11:13,628 --> 00:11:16,005 It's me, Edward J, I say. 244 00:11:16,089 --> 00:11:17,924 Rocking Atlanta GA! 245 00:11:18,007 --> 00:11:19,759 We were a mini record company. 246 00:11:20,385 --> 00:11:22,011 First, it was just mainly 247 00:11:22,095 --> 00:11:24,138 selling records and tapes. 248 00:11:24,222 --> 00:11:25,640 [dirty laughing] 249 00:11:25,723 --> 00:11:30,603 After a while, we began to make beats and rap to the beats. 250 00:11:30,728 --> 00:11:33,773 -Now getting into production. -Yes, getting into production. 251 00:11:34,315 --> 00:11:37,110 And other DJs who wanted to prove 252 00:11:37,193 --> 00:11:40,029 how good they were would come to the J team. 253 00:11:40,530 --> 00:11:44,951 People like Raheem the Dream. DJ Smurf. Shy D. 254 00:11:45,451 --> 00:11:48,663 Of course, Shy D was doing something on his own, 255 00:11:48,788 --> 00:11:52,583 but he came aboard the J Team as a DJ. 256 00:11:52,708 --> 00:11:55,044 Once he put you on that mixtape, you was going to blow up. 257 00:11:55,128 --> 00:11:56,796 I mean, you could be a Joe Blow, 258 00:11:56,879 --> 00:12:01,175 but if he put you on one of his mixtapes, your name was going to get out there. 259 00:12:01,509 --> 00:12:03,761 And, I mean, it was incredible. 260 00:12:03,845 --> 00:12:06,848 This man was selling tapes for like $15, 261 00:12:06,931 --> 00:12:09,392 13.75 or something. I mean, you know. 262 00:12:10,101 --> 00:12:11,102 That's an album! 263 00:12:11,727 --> 00:12:14,021 He was selling cassette tapes for that. 264 00:12:14,105 --> 00:12:17,191 We would get a nifty $13.50, 265 00:12:17,275 --> 00:12:20,445 for a 90-minute rock with the J Team. 266 00:12:20,528 --> 00:12:24,115 Right here, my dear, make that perfectly clear. 267 00:12:24,490 --> 00:12:27,034 [DJ Jelly] You know, the mixtape scene was the radio, 268 00:12:27,201 --> 00:12:29,996 so we were doing something similar to how New York was doing 269 00:12:30,079 --> 00:12:31,497 with their tapes of freestyles. 270 00:12:31,998 --> 00:12:35,751 So we basically sling the tapes through all the neighborhoods. 271 00:12:35,835 --> 00:12:37,962 He was the ear to the streets. 272 00:12:38,045 --> 00:12:40,882 So, everything that was coming out underground, 273 00:12:40,965 --> 00:12:42,758 it was on the J Tape first. 274 00:12:43,509 --> 00:12:45,761 If it were not for Edward J, 275 00:12:46,053 --> 00:12:48,473 I don't know that there would be a hip-hop scene 276 00:12:48,556 --> 00:12:49,974 in the way that it is now. 277 00:12:50,558 --> 00:12:53,394 What they were doing for the music scene in Atlanta 278 00:12:53,686 --> 00:12:54,937 was the music scene. 279 00:12:58,441 --> 00:13:01,694 [narrator] King Edward J and the J Team amplified Atlanta's hip-hop scene. 280 00:13:01,944 --> 00:13:04,947 But it was still a long way from getting love outside the 404. 281 00:13:05,323 --> 00:13:06,782 But that was about to change. 282 00:13:06,949 --> 00:13:09,285 Recognizing the fresh talent pool in the city 283 00:13:09,368 --> 00:13:11,621 and attracted by its history as a Black Mecca, 284 00:13:11,954 --> 00:13:15,374 a polished Randamp;B duo will come from Los Angeles to set up shop. 285 00:13:18,836 --> 00:13:22,673 [Ian] Atlanta was bubbling, but not to the point where we were ready to break. 286 00:13:23,299 --> 00:13:26,260 We had our artists that were making noise, 287 00:13:26,344 --> 00:13:29,222 but we were just a regional... city. 288 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:32,308 You know, we-- we hadn't done anything that broke... 289 00:13:32,391 --> 00:13:33,643 -Nationally. -Okay. 290 00:13:33,726 --> 00:13:35,436 And accepted nationally. 291 00:13:36,145 --> 00:13:39,357 So, when LaFace came to Atlanta, 292 00:13:39,482 --> 00:13:41,817 they had Arista behind them, Clive Davis. 293 00:13:41,901 --> 00:13:45,154 And it was just something that Atlanta hadn't seen before. 294 00:13:45,655 --> 00:13:48,950 LaFace records was the first major record company, if you will, 295 00:13:49,534 --> 00:13:52,078 to descend upon ATL. 296 00:13:52,286 --> 00:13:55,665 You know, once LA and Babyface decided to come to Atlanta, 297 00:13:55,748 --> 00:13:59,210 I think it was right around 89, you know, it was a huge buzz in the city. 298 00:13:59,794 --> 00:14:03,589 And I think, more than anything, LA and Babyface wanted to come here to see 299 00:14:04,173 --> 00:14:07,760 what Atlanta was from an authentic standpoint. 300 00:14:08,094 --> 00:14:09,804 I believe they struggled for a bit. 301 00:14:09,887 --> 00:14:15,226 You know, they were still signing 80s type bands with processed hair. 302 00:14:15,476 --> 00:14:18,145 They started to get more connected here in Atlanta 303 00:14:18,229 --> 00:14:20,231 when they connected with the Atlanta producers 304 00:14:20,314 --> 00:14:21,774 like Dallas Austin. 305 00:14:21,857 --> 00:14:23,859 When they started tapping into... 306 00:14:24,402 --> 00:14:26,404 our natural resources here 307 00:14:26,571 --> 00:14:28,739 is when things started to make a turn for them. 308 00:14:29,949 --> 00:14:33,035 When you come here, there's a lot of new people doing things new ways. 309 00:14:33,452 --> 00:14:36,831 People who haven? been in the industry for long, which is very good. 310 00:14:36,914 --> 00:14:39,625 They were figuring out what to do to start their label off. 311 00:14:40,543 --> 00:14:41,627 I was making records. 312 00:14:41,919 --> 00:14:45,089 I was kind of the first one... kind of doing music in the new sense. 313 00:14:45,172 --> 00:14:48,134 I made it first with Another Bad Creation, which was the one that started to 314 00:14:48,384 --> 00:14:49,719 kind of rattle stuff around here. 315 00:14:49,885 --> 00:14:52,972 LaFace was one of the first ones to come and say, "Look at all of this gold." 316 00:14:53,180 --> 00:14:56,017 Somebody needs to put the thing here and give them an outlet out of here. 317 00:14:56,642 --> 00:14:57,768 Dallas Austin, 318 00:14:57,935 --> 00:15:01,230 he was the shit around here because he was the one producer. 319 00:15:01,314 --> 00:15:03,941 And I'm like, "Oh, he is doing it." 320 00:15:04,025 --> 00:15:06,277 So everybody was looking up to Dallas. 321 00:15:06,777 --> 00:15:10,740 And when LA and Babyface moved to Atlanta, 322 00:15:10,865 --> 00:15:12,742 I was working at a hair salon. 323 00:15:13,034 --> 00:15:16,370 And the woman I worked for, she was actually doing Pebbles' hair. 324 00:15:16,787 --> 00:15:19,874 And Pebbles was married to LA Reed, and... 325 00:15:20,458 --> 00:15:23,586 I was like, "You need to go tell Pebbles I'm the bomb. 326 00:15:23,669 --> 00:15:24,712 She needs to holler at me." 327 00:15:24,962 --> 00:15:28,215 I didn't think she was going to do it, but Pebbles called me at home that night. 328 00:15:28,299 --> 00:15:30,468 [ad libbing] 329 00:15:31,594 --> 00:15:33,638 It was Chili, me and Lisa, 330 00:15:33,971 --> 00:15:36,223 and we were calling ourselves TLC. 331 00:15:36,432 --> 00:15:38,434 It wasn't really girly, 332 00:15:38,809 --> 00:15:40,895 but it had so much hip-hop elements. 333 00:15:40,978 --> 00:15:44,440 Lisa, she came in like a little feisty rapper, 334 00:15:44,523 --> 00:15:46,692 so she brought the hip-hop elements. 335 00:15:46,776 --> 00:15:48,944 ♪Or can it be I'm a little too friendly ♪ 336 00:15:49,028 --> 00:15:51,322 ♪So to speak, hypothetically ♪ 337 00:15:51,405 --> 00:15:53,032 ♪Say I supply creativity ♪ 338 00:15:53,115 --> 00:15:55,701 ♪To what others must take As a form of self-hate ♪ 339 00:15:55,785 --> 00:15:57,787 When we did get to LA Reed, 340 00:15:57,995 --> 00:15:59,997 he was like, "Who do you want to work with?" 341 00:16:00,081 --> 00:16:03,000 Only person I kept saying is Dallas Austin, Dallas Austin, 342 00:16:03,084 --> 00:16:05,086 he has to be our producer. 343 00:16:05,294 --> 00:16:07,171 And he got it. 344 00:16:07,797 --> 00:16:10,341 ♪Every now and then I get a little crazy ♪ 345 00:16:12,301 --> 00:16:14,345 ♪That's not the way it's supposed to be ♪ 346 00:16:14,428 --> 00:16:16,097 TLC came from out of nowhere 347 00:16:16,180 --> 00:16:19,934 and just wiped the floor with everything. Dallas Austin put his foot in that. 348 00:16:20,017 --> 00:16:22,895 Back then, I know that he was heavily influenced 349 00:16:22,978 --> 00:16:24,230 by the New Jack Swing sound. 350 00:16:24,647 --> 00:16:27,733 But Dallas took it and made his own distinctive sound. 351 00:16:27,858 --> 00:16:30,861 The music still was dripping with hip-hop. 352 00:16:30,945 --> 00:16:33,114 Not necessarily Southern hip-hop, but with hip-hop. 353 00:16:33,197 --> 00:16:35,991 ♪What about your friends ♪ 354 00:16:36,575 --> 00:16:40,079 At the same time that Dallas Austin was having major success with LaFace, 355 00:16:40,371 --> 00:16:43,541 another young producer with a keen eye for talent and deep roots 356 00:16:43,624 --> 00:16:45,418 in hip-hop was making a name for himself. 357 00:16:45,501 --> 00:16:47,837 [synthesizer beats] 358 00:16:50,798 --> 00:16:52,550 Thanks for doing this. We appreciate it. 359 00:16:52,633 --> 00:16:54,176 -All right! Come on. -Cool. 360 00:16:54,844 --> 00:16:56,178 [Jermaine] I started as a dancer, 361 00:16:56,762 --> 00:16:58,431 dancing around the city of Atlanta. 362 00:16:58,514 --> 00:17:01,933 I was just opening up a bunch of different shows like for Cameo and... 363 00:17:02,351 --> 00:17:04,353 um... groups Brick and SO-- 364 00:17:04,437 --> 00:17:06,396 groups that was around the city doing what they do. 365 00:17:06,605 --> 00:17:08,606 And bigger concerts that would come to the city. 366 00:17:08,691 --> 00:17:10,692 ♪And I always had to be home by ten ♪ 367 00:17:10,817 --> 00:17:13,112 ♪Right before the fun Was about to begin ♪ 368 00:17:13,194 --> 00:17:16,615 [Jermaine] My father tried to figure out a way for me to open up these shows. 369 00:17:17,074 --> 00:17:19,160 And the Fresh Fest came to Atlanta, 370 00:17:19,242 --> 00:17:21,327 it was like the only place to be at 371 00:17:21,412 --> 00:17:23,748 if you was into hip-hop at that particular point in time. 372 00:17:24,081 --> 00:17:25,750 ♪The freaks come out at night ♪ 373 00:17:26,333 --> 00:17:28,169 ♪The freaks come out at night ♪ 374 00:17:28,252 --> 00:17:30,796 We figured out how to get me to be the opening act. 375 00:17:30,921 --> 00:17:34,300 And that was my birth into hip-hop and music, period. 376 00:17:34,383 --> 00:17:35,509 This is Jermaine! 377 00:17:35,843 --> 00:17:38,637 [voices talking over each other] 378 00:17:39,889 --> 00:17:41,724 [man] Open up man, open up! 379 00:17:41,807 --> 00:17:44,643 -See rapping has been very, very good... -[all] to me! 380 00:17:44,935 --> 00:17:48,731 What were you learning from other artists on that tour, when you were on the road? 381 00:17:48,814 --> 00:17:51,942 I was learning hip-hop. You know? I was just learning about hip-hop. 382 00:17:52,693 --> 00:17:55,988 And something about me said that I could produce. 383 00:17:56,113 --> 00:17:57,114 I don't know what it was, 384 00:17:57,198 --> 00:17:59,617 but something told me I could write for other people. 385 00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:01,368 And I could put out my own artists. 386 00:18:03,204 --> 00:18:05,289 One time, I went to the mall... 387 00:18:05,706 --> 00:18:06,540 and... 388 00:18:06,624 --> 00:18:09,084 these guys walking around the mall, these two kids. 389 00:18:09,168 --> 00:18:10,044 And I was like... 390 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:12,630 I'm watching the reaction of... 391 00:18:13,923 --> 00:18:16,258 the people at the mall to these kids. 392 00:18:16,383 --> 00:18:19,053 I'm like, "Look how they acting at the cookie company." 393 00:18:19,470 --> 00:18:21,430 The girls in the back, serving, 394 00:18:21,514 --> 00:18:23,599 acting like they seen them on TV or something. 395 00:18:23,682 --> 00:18:25,976 Screaming and like: "Oh, girl!" 396 00:18:26,101 --> 00:18:29,146 And giving them free shit, all this. And I'm like, "What is this?" 397 00:18:29,230 --> 00:18:31,857 I just walked up to them like, ?o who are you all?" 398 00:18:31,941 --> 00:18:33,651 He's like, "What you mean?" 399 00:18:33,734 --> 00:18:34,693 "What you all do?" 400 00:18:34,777 --> 00:18:36,737 "We don't do nothing, we just kick it." I'm like... 401 00:18:37,154 --> 00:18:38,447 "Y'all just kick it?" 402 00:18:38,989 --> 00:18:42,076 Immediately. my mind was just like, ?h, God. 403 00:18:42,368 --> 00:18:44,328 These guys need a record out right now." 404 00:18:46,872 --> 00:18:48,207 Yo, what? up, it? the Daddy Mac. 405 00:18:48,290 --> 00:18:50,709 And you know it? the Mac Daddy and we Kris Kross. 406 00:18:51,752 --> 00:18:54,797 When I met Kris Kross, they weren't really jumping to do it. 407 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,300 These kids didn't even know that this could possibly happen. 408 00:18:58,384 --> 00:19:00,261 So, when they met me, 409 00:19:00,553 --> 00:19:03,639 I just started asking them questions about rapping, like, "You all rap 410 00:19:03,806 --> 00:19:05,933 the way I see ya'll rapping other people's records, 411 00:19:06,642 --> 00:19:07,977 we can make our own song." 412 00:19:08,060 --> 00:19:09,645 So we went to the studio 413 00:19:10,062 --> 00:19:11,397 and made "Jump." 414 00:19:11,647 --> 00:19:14,733 ♪Jump, jump Daddy Mac will make you jump, jump ♪ 415 00:19:14,817 --> 00:19:18,153 Kris Kross represented something that I had never seen before. 416 00:19:18,404 --> 00:19:23,033 The coolness of being a rapper and the attitude of getting girls 417 00:19:23,117 --> 00:19:24,827 and all that was already in their head. 418 00:19:24,994 --> 00:19:25,828 -So... -It's crazy. 419 00:19:25,911 --> 00:19:28,956 For them to get a hit record, it was like, "This ain't nothing." 420 00:19:29,039 --> 00:19:32,334 I was at my grandmother's house and I saw Kris Kross on TV, 421 00:19:32,543 --> 00:19:35,671 and I was like, "Oh my God! I want to be with them! 422 00:19:35,754 --> 00:19:37,756 That's who I feel like I need to be with." 423 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:38,674 You know? 424 00:19:38,757 --> 00:19:41,051 They had their clothes backwards, jumping all around. 425 00:19:41,135 --> 00:19:42,761 And J created them, you know? 426 00:19:42,887 --> 00:19:45,848 He said, "Turn your pants inside out and do this, do that." 427 00:19:46,015 --> 00:19:50,102 And they did it and they followed his lead and look at the success that they had. 428 00:19:50,185 --> 00:19:51,562 Everybody was jumping. 429 00:19:51,645 --> 00:19:53,564 [Kawan] They on tour with Michael Jackson? 430 00:19:53,647 --> 00:19:58,485 Some Atlanta niggas is on tour with Michael Jackson? That's crazy. 431 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,739 [reporter] Call it rap, call it hip-hop. Whatever you call it, 432 00:20:01,822 --> 00:20:04,325 in the case of Kriss Kross, call it successful. 433 00:20:04,408 --> 00:20:06,577 Kriss Kross is not only shaking up the music world, 434 00:20:06,869 --> 00:20:10,581 they've also managed to spark fashion craze. 435 00:20:10,831 --> 00:20:12,458 I was in college at Alabama Aandamp;M 436 00:20:12,541 --> 00:20:16,795 and they had grown-ass men wearing their pants backwards. 437 00:20:17,379 --> 00:20:19,214 So, if you want to know the impact of "Jump," 438 00:20:19,298 --> 00:20:21,133 that was the motherfucking impact of "Jump." 439 00:20:21,216 --> 00:20:24,345 Much appreciated, thank you. Looks all right, what do you think? 440 00:20:24,553 --> 00:20:26,847 -A little bit bigger. -A little bit bigger, thank you. 441 00:20:27,932 --> 00:20:30,643 Kriss Kross, we didn't really consider it hip-hop. 442 00:20:30,893 --> 00:20:32,186 There was a void that was there. 443 00:20:32,728 --> 00:20:34,813 And that's not to insult it, you know what I mean? 444 00:20:35,314 --> 00:20:37,733 Because the success is not debatable. 445 00:20:38,150 --> 00:20:39,818 It was the popular sound that Jermaine did, 446 00:20:39,902 --> 00:20:42,821 in a way that he always deserves his credit and his respect for that. 447 00:20:42,905 --> 00:20:45,115 Jermaine gave us a group out of the stratosphere, 448 00:20:45,199 --> 00:20:47,910 but that was still a group based on the sound outside of Atlanta. 449 00:20:48,327 --> 00:20:50,371 You know, they weren't the grimy hip-hop, but... 450 00:20:50,871 --> 00:20:54,750 you have to give credit to Kriss Kross for opening up the national stage 451 00:20:54,833 --> 00:20:56,460 and international stage for Atlanta. 452 00:20:56,543 --> 00:20:59,755 1992 was the first year that we noticed 453 00:20:59,922 --> 00:21:02,883 that this is working because Kriss Kross was popping, 454 00:21:03,175 --> 00:21:05,094 TLC had got signed and they had a record out, 455 00:21:05,177 --> 00:21:06,470 it was starting to blow. 456 00:21:06,553 --> 00:21:08,764 Then you had Arrested Development who, 457 00:21:08,847 --> 00:21:11,642 we had friends in that group as well, it's like, this year, 458 00:21:11,850 --> 00:21:13,978 I got three people who I know who was on Arsenio. 459 00:21:15,145 --> 00:21:17,982 Like, I taped Arsenio three times for some people I know. 460 00:21:18,399 --> 00:21:20,067 [Rodney] When we look back on that era, 461 00:21:20,150 --> 00:21:22,820 we see how the industry was able to come in 462 00:21:22,903 --> 00:21:24,655 and take a lot of raw talent, 463 00:21:25,197 --> 00:21:26,699 shape it and mold it. 464 00:21:26,782 --> 00:21:29,493 But in terms of getting to the root of Atlanta culture, 465 00:21:29,576 --> 00:21:30,995 that hadn't quite happened yet. 466 00:21:31,078 --> 00:21:34,999 Organized Noize, to me, is the first ones to present to us 467 00:21:35,124 --> 00:21:36,583 the sound of Atlanta. 468 00:21:36,834 --> 00:21:38,627 They had decided, "We want some lyrics. 469 00:21:38,711 --> 00:21:40,254 We want some hip-hop cats." 470 00:21:45,843 --> 00:21:48,387 [mellow guitar groove] 471 00:21:52,683 --> 00:21:55,269 [narrator] From the pioneering bounce of Shy D and Kilo Ali, 472 00:21:55,352 --> 00:21:58,188 to the crossover success of TLC and Kris Kross, 473 00:21:58,313 --> 00:22:00,399 Atlanta's hip-hop scene was growing fast. 474 00:22:01,150 --> 00:22:01,984 To many, though, 475 00:22:02,067 --> 00:22:04,695 the city's real soul and sound have yet to be tapped. 476 00:22:05,154 --> 00:22:08,282 But in a basement in Southeast Atlanta, a trio of producers, 477 00:22:08,407 --> 00:22:10,868 Rico Wade, Sleepy Brown and Ray Murray, 478 00:22:10,951 --> 00:22:13,328 were working hard on bringing all the pieces together. 479 00:22:13,996 --> 00:22:16,540 The three friends went by the name of Organized Noize. 480 00:22:16,749 --> 00:22:17,666 And, lucky for us, 481 00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:19,668 someone at LaFace Records found out about them. 482 00:22:19,835 --> 00:22:20,794 What's up, gentlemen? 483 00:22:20,919 --> 00:22:22,212 -Hey, what's up? -What's up, man? 484 00:22:22,421 --> 00:22:24,506 Thank you for this, much appreciated. 485 00:22:30,137 --> 00:22:32,765 [interviewer] So, tell me how you guys hooked up with LaFace Records. 486 00:22:33,140 --> 00:22:36,143 We were real good friends with Tionne-- T-Boz. [chuckles] 487 00:22:37,436 --> 00:22:41,774 And that's when LaFace first came here, and she ended up getting a deal 488 00:22:42,608 --> 00:22:45,486 with Pebbles because she was doing Pebble's hair. 489 00:22:46,028 --> 00:22:47,780 So, the same thing kind of happened for us. 490 00:22:47,863 --> 00:22:51,033 She introduced us to Pebbles and we went um... 491 00:22:51,116 --> 00:22:53,327 I'll never forget, we had the interview with her. 492 00:22:53,410 --> 00:22:55,621 [elevator ping] 493 00:22:56,038 --> 00:22:58,957 And she comes out of the elevator, it was like she was walking slow, 494 00:22:59,041 --> 00:23:00,459 was gorgeous. 495 00:23:00,542 --> 00:23:01,585 She walks in the room, 496 00:23:01,668 --> 00:23:03,754 we all sitting there with our mouths open like... 497 00:23:04,171 --> 00:23:06,215 It was cool. She was really nice, man. 498 00:23:06,298 --> 00:23:09,218 She listened to us and every time a beat played, 499 00:23:09,301 --> 00:23:11,720 she asked who did the beat and everybody would point at me. 500 00:23:12,596 --> 00:23:14,264 Who played the bass line? Point at me. 501 00:23:14,389 --> 00:23:16,391 She said, "Okay, let me introduce you to LA." 502 00:23:16,475 --> 00:23:18,435 So, they held a little meeting. 503 00:23:18,977 --> 00:23:20,979 It was really the start for us, you know. 504 00:23:21,188 --> 00:23:22,815 Pebbles said the production was dope. 505 00:23:22,898 --> 00:23:24,650 Yes, Pebbles liked the production. 506 00:23:24,733 --> 00:23:26,110 Pebbles loved to even meet-- 507 00:23:26,276 --> 00:23:29,071 Pebbles in audition to get call backs, it was like, 508 00:23:29,488 --> 00:23:31,323 "We're going to make it! We can make beats!" 509 00:23:31,615 --> 00:23:34,243 So, that's where it was like, now we find a rap group. 510 00:23:34,785 --> 00:23:36,537 We need people who really can rap. 511 00:23:36,620 --> 00:23:39,248 I don't need nobody that I got to write no raps for. 512 00:23:40,624 --> 00:23:41,917 I need some MCs. 513 00:23:42,042 --> 00:23:44,044 [gong strike] 514 00:23:46,463 --> 00:23:49,091 I was working at Lamonte's Beauty Supply in East Point, 515 00:23:49,258 --> 00:23:50,509 Headland and Delowe. 516 00:23:50,926 --> 00:23:52,261 A girl that worked there, 517 00:23:52,553 --> 00:23:54,888 she told me that two guys from her school 518 00:23:55,222 --> 00:23:57,766 wanted to come over there, basically come rap or whatever. 519 00:23:57,850 --> 00:24:00,102 I guess they caught the bus to the plaza. 520 00:24:01,937 --> 00:24:04,690 When these kids came, they might have been 16, 15. 521 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,526 They had on cut-off shorts with thermals. 522 00:24:07,943 --> 00:24:09,319 -Country niggas. -Yeah! 523 00:24:09,403 --> 00:24:10,487 They were fly, man! 524 00:24:10,821 --> 00:24:13,407 I remember standing in the parking lot, letting them niggas rap, 525 00:24:13,532 --> 00:24:14,658 and thinking like, "Yeah, 526 00:24:14,908 --> 00:24:17,369 this is that. This is it. This is it. 527 00:24:17,536 --> 00:24:18,996 I found some MCs. This is it." 528 00:24:19,913 --> 00:24:21,415 School is now in session. 529 00:24:22,583 --> 00:24:25,127 ♪Time and time again See I be thinking about that future ♪ 530 00:24:25,252 --> 00:24:28,046 ♪Back in the day when we were slaves I bet we was some cool ass niggas ♪ 531 00:24:28,130 --> 00:24:30,007 ♪But now we vultures Slam my nigga back out ♪ 532 00:24:30,090 --> 00:24:31,592 -How are you doing? -All right. 533 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,051 -Big fan. -Cool, thanks. 534 00:24:34,052 --> 00:24:35,053 How's your day going? 535 00:24:35,137 --> 00:24:36,597 Uh... Super fantastic. 536 00:24:37,431 --> 00:24:39,933 ♪See now in the ghetto Or should I be saying Lakewood ♪ 537 00:24:40,017 --> 00:24:42,603 ♪You better be strapped cause them niggas just ain't good ♪ 538 00:24:42,686 --> 00:24:46,106 [interviewer] So first of all, let's talk about you two auditioning. 539 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,150 How serious were you guys at that time? 540 00:24:48,233 --> 00:24:50,402 Was that just kind of a hobby or were you like, 541 00:24:50,485 --> 00:24:52,529 "No, this is dead serious. We need to make this." 542 00:24:52,613 --> 00:24:54,489 No, we was dead ass serious, you know? 543 00:24:54,907 --> 00:24:55,949 We always... 544 00:24:56,241 --> 00:24:59,203 were MCs first, so we took pride in it. 545 00:24:59,411 --> 00:25:00,871 It was lyricism, you know? 546 00:25:00,954 --> 00:25:03,081 Before us, you had Raheem the Dream. 547 00:25:03,332 --> 00:25:06,126 Shy D. Me and Dre used to listen to Kilo Ali. 548 00:25:06,210 --> 00:25:08,337 We used to be in high school bumping that shit. 549 00:25:08,420 --> 00:25:10,047 Like, the production was crazy. 550 00:25:10,839 --> 00:25:14,259 So, you know to come behind that, like, we were just straight busting. 551 00:25:14,551 --> 00:25:16,845 ♪Just being a hustler Serving on all your customers ♪ 552 00:25:16,929 --> 00:25:19,514 ♪Rent was due on the 1st of the month So I'm hustling ♪ 553 00:25:19,598 --> 00:25:22,351 That day, we just kept trading our bars back and forth. 554 00:25:22,976 --> 00:25:25,020 And it was maybe eight minutes long. 555 00:25:25,395 --> 00:25:27,481 They rapped for about 30 minutes a piece, 556 00:25:27,773 --> 00:25:30,484 And I was like, "Damn, are they ever going to stop?" 557 00:25:31,235 --> 00:25:32,444 Jesus Christ! 558 00:25:33,987 --> 00:25:36,406 ♪I?e been slipping, slowly but surely ♪ 559 00:25:36,531 --> 00:25:38,992 ♪Niggas I used to hang with Wants to act like they don't know me ♪ 560 00:25:39,076 --> 00:25:40,410 ♪Come and listen to my story ♪ 561 00:25:40,494 --> 00:25:42,329 Man, these boys... 562 00:25:43,455 --> 00:25:44,665 were so metaphoric. 563 00:25:45,457 --> 00:25:47,459 It was so metaphoric. They had all the punchlines. 564 00:25:47,542 --> 00:25:50,545 I'm rolling reefer out of a Regal, how can I refrain? 565 00:25:50,629 --> 00:25:52,881 That drove Rico nuts when he said that. 566 00:25:52,965 --> 00:25:55,717 ♪I'm rolling reefer out of a Regal, How can I refrain ♪ 567 00:25:55,801 --> 00:25:56,843 [voices] Ohhh! 568 00:25:56,927 --> 00:25:57,970 We was over there like, 569 00:25:58,053 --> 00:26:03,141 "Goddamn! Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Oh, shit!" We was fucking them up. 570 00:26:03,433 --> 00:26:04,810 They was just hip-hopped out. 571 00:26:05,310 --> 00:26:06,687 They was phrased out. 572 00:26:06,770 --> 00:26:09,564 To find these guys from the South and to be Southern, 573 00:26:10,107 --> 00:26:12,776 and have those kinds of skills, that skill set, 574 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:14,278 and to be young! 575 00:26:14,736 --> 00:26:16,571 This is the putty that we need, per se, 576 00:26:16,655 --> 00:26:19,783 no disrespect to their creativity and their talent, but 577 00:26:19,950 --> 00:26:21,535 it's the putty we need to play with. 578 00:26:21,702 --> 00:26:23,912 They was like, "You're coming with us to The Dungeon." 579 00:26:23,996 --> 00:26:26,248 It was like, "All right." So that was our initiation. 580 00:26:28,542 --> 00:26:31,128 All right, check this out, we're at The Dungeon. 581 00:26:31,586 --> 00:26:35,048 Rico Wade house, you know what I'm saying? Where we do all the stuff, you know? 582 00:26:35,132 --> 00:26:36,550 You all know Big Boi. 583 00:26:36,633 --> 00:26:38,802 [men] Ohhh! 584 00:26:39,303 --> 00:26:41,471 Wait a minute, I've been hearing a lot about The Dungeon, 585 00:26:41,555 --> 00:26:43,015 where all your beats get made. 586 00:26:43,098 --> 00:26:46,268 I heard it's real funky in there. Let's go and get some of that flavor. 587 00:26:46,351 --> 00:26:47,519 Goodie good, I? with that. 588 00:26:48,228 --> 00:26:51,023 ♪Well, it's the M-I-crooked letter Coming around the South ♪ 589 00:26:51,106 --> 00:26:53,650 ♪Rolling straight Hammers and Vogues In that old Southern slouch ♪ 590 00:26:53,734 --> 00:26:56,361 Now, we, like, down here in The Dungeon, right? 591 00:26:56,445 --> 00:26:58,447 -You know? -Ain't no thing but a chicken wing. 592 00:26:58,530 --> 00:27:01,283 How did you guys end up in The Dungeon? Tell me about that. 593 00:27:01,658 --> 00:27:04,119 The actual dungeon with the dirt basement floors. 594 00:27:04,202 --> 00:27:07,164 It was my mom's basement that we would run wires down to. 595 00:27:07,247 --> 00:27:09,166 So, we took the little equipment we did have 596 00:27:09,249 --> 00:27:10,917 and we was there working on beats. 597 00:27:11,335 --> 00:27:13,712 From the time you walk in that area, you open that door, 598 00:27:13,795 --> 00:27:16,214 it's a lot of graffiti. People were tagging. 599 00:27:16,298 --> 00:27:18,633 ♪Who raise yo' block? The one and only OutKast ♪ 600 00:27:18,717 --> 00:27:21,678 ♪Many a nigga falling fast And I continue blasting, swiftly ♪ 601 00:27:21,762 --> 00:27:24,389 It wasn't even really a basement, it was a crawl space. 602 00:27:24,473 --> 00:27:28,477 Really muddy, no real walls, no real structure just a few poles. 603 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:31,605 And that's where our whole crew-- that's where we all hung out at. 604 00:27:31,730 --> 00:27:34,024 [Big Boi] Sofas, those raggedy cushions out of it, 605 00:27:34,107 --> 00:27:35,859 nails coming out of that motherfucker. 606 00:27:36,318 --> 00:27:37,652 Nobody had a job. 607 00:27:38,153 --> 00:27:39,571 Everybody had sleeping bags. 608 00:27:39,654 --> 00:27:42,032 It was like a big slumber party, seven days a week. 609 00:27:42,115 --> 00:27:44,451 It was almost like camp, you know what I mean? 610 00:27:44,618 --> 00:27:46,828 You didn't have to worry about your mama messing with you, 611 00:27:46,912 --> 00:27:48,789 you didn't have to worry about no chores. 612 00:27:48,872 --> 00:27:50,582 So, when it says Dungeon Family, 613 00:27:50,791 --> 00:27:53,043 we definitely are a family, man, 614 00:27:53,126 --> 00:27:54,753 because we spent time together. 615 00:27:54,878 --> 00:27:56,380 Nobody's going home. 616 00:27:56,797 --> 00:27:59,049 Everybody's rapping and writing all day long. 617 00:27:59,132 --> 00:28:01,426 They may step outside and play football for a minute, 618 00:28:01,510 --> 00:28:03,011 may have a little smoke break. 619 00:28:03,136 --> 00:28:05,222 [T-Boz] I don't smoke or drink, 620 00:28:05,722 --> 00:28:07,557 and that's all they was doing. 621 00:28:07,641 --> 00:28:10,519 I don't got time to be in there with all these drunk people 622 00:28:10,727 --> 00:28:11,853 and all this weed. 623 00:28:11,937 --> 00:28:16,400 ♪We're gonna get high ♪ 624 00:28:18,693 --> 00:28:21,488 A lot a lot a lot a lot a lot of weed. 625 00:28:21,571 --> 00:28:24,241 ♪High ♪ 626 00:28:24,324 --> 00:28:27,702 ♪High ♪ 627 00:28:27,786 --> 00:28:29,329 A lot a lot of weed. 628 00:28:29,788 --> 00:28:30,789 Just a lot of weed. 629 00:28:31,206 --> 00:28:33,208 This was the gold era of hip-hop with Philly blunts, 630 00:28:33,333 --> 00:28:35,585 you see the little Philly joints all over the floor. 631 00:28:36,211 --> 00:28:39,089 But, you know, we was all ready to be 632 00:28:39,339 --> 00:28:40,882 selfless, meant to support 633 00:28:41,299 --> 00:28:43,969 Outkast, make sure they succeed, that's what's important. 634 00:28:44,094 --> 00:28:47,013 That's what's imperative. That's what's first and foremost. 635 00:28:47,097 --> 00:28:49,558 It was like a collaborative effort of the whole squad. 636 00:28:49,641 --> 00:28:52,978 It was everybody's baby because we were all one crew, 637 00:28:53,061 --> 00:28:54,521 and this was our first shot. 638 00:28:54,604 --> 00:28:57,190 We're just trying to put Atlanta out there, 639 00:28:57,274 --> 00:28:58,942 and let people know Atlanta is here 640 00:28:59,025 --> 00:29:02,237 and they got some real players in this game down here, you know? 641 00:29:02,487 --> 00:29:04,448 Our Southern music different than everybody else, 642 00:29:04,531 --> 00:29:06,032 because we've been here for so long. 643 00:29:06,199 --> 00:29:07,826 It's different, we got something to say. 644 00:29:07,909 --> 00:29:10,036 We tell about our real lives, you know? Like that. 645 00:29:10,412 --> 00:29:11,872 [wholesome 50s music] 646 00:29:18,336 --> 00:29:20,672 [Christmas bell music] 647 00:29:26,219 --> 00:29:29,723 LA calls, we're doing a Christmas album. A LaFace Christmas album. 648 00:29:29,806 --> 00:29:31,391 Everybody got to turn a Christmas song in. 649 00:29:31,975 --> 00:29:33,435 What were you thinking at that point? 650 00:29:33,810 --> 00:29:34,644 Fuck! 651 00:29:35,312 --> 00:29:36,563 A Christmas song? 652 00:29:36,646 --> 00:29:39,357 Man, they trying to fuck our career before it even gets started. 653 00:29:39,524 --> 00:29:40,484 It's hip-hop! 654 00:29:41,026 --> 00:29:43,445 This is hip-hop. Finna sell us out. 655 00:29:44,029 --> 00:29:46,156 Come on, we're for the-- come on. Even though, 656 00:29:46,865 --> 00:29:48,241 I knew about Run DMC. 657 00:29:48,950 --> 00:29:50,160 I knew about Kurtis Blow. 658 00:29:50,660 --> 00:29:52,287 So I knew it had worked before. 659 00:29:53,455 --> 00:29:56,124 So, in my mind I say, "I've got to go sell this shit." 660 00:29:56,208 --> 00:29:57,709 Was like, "I know what we'll do. 661 00:29:58,084 --> 00:30:01,087 We just goddamn do a song about what we do on Christmas. 662 00:30:01,171 --> 00:30:03,673 Like, we ain't had a Christmas tree. We was in The Dungeon. 663 00:30:03,924 --> 00:30:05,842 So we just rapped about what we did on Christmas. 664 00:30:06,218 --> 00:30:07,719 And it turned out to be Player? Ball. 665 00:30:08,136 --> 00:30:10,972 ♪It's beginning to look a lot like, what? Follow my every step ♪ 666 00:30:11,056 --> 00:30:13,433 ♪Take notes on how I crept I's bout to go in depth ♪ 667 00:30:13,517 --> 00:30:16,019 ♪This is the way I creep my season, Here's my ghetto rep ♪ 668 00:30:16,102 --> 00:30:18,605 ♪I kept, to say the least No, no it can't cease ♪ 669 00:30:18,688 --> 00:30:20,982 [Maurice] They talk about this Players Ball, 670 00:30:21,149 --> 00:30:23,151 which had always been legend and lore 671 00:30:23,276 --> 00:30:26,196 in Atlanta's black hustlers♪community. 672 00:30:26,446 --> 00:30:28,823 -It always took place-- -On Christmas Day. 673 00:30:28,907 --> 00:30:33,161 ♪All the players came From far and wide ♪ 674 00:30:33,537 --> 00:30:36,289 [Ian] It was almost like an anti Christmas song, to be honest. 675 00:30:36,373 --> 00:30:37,457 -Yes. -You know what I am saying? 676 00:30:37,666 --> 00:30:39,793 It's not a holiday for us. It's another day at work. 677 00:30:40,085 --> 00:30:43,088 We've still got to get out of here, we've got to hustle. We've got to survive. 678 00:30:43,171 --> 00:30:47,259 ♪When the Player? Ball is happening All day ery'day ♪ 679 00:30:47,342 --> 00:30:50,387 Ain't no Chimneys in the ghetto, I won't be hanging my socks on chimneys. 680 00:30:50,470 --> 00:30:51,680 ♪Ain't no chimneys in the ghetto ♪ 681 00:30:51,763 --> 00:30:53,890 ♪So I won't be hanging my socks On no chimney ♪ 682 00:30:53,974 --> 00:30:56,393 ♪I'm fit as a tick, fix me a plate I got the remedy ♪ 683 00:30:56,476 --> 00:30:58,979 ♪Some greens and that ham, not Don't need no ham ♪ 684 00:30:59,062 --> 00:31:00,730 ♪Hocks don't play me like I'm smoking rocks ♪ 685 00:31:00,814 --> 00:31:01,856 ♪I got the munchies ♪ 686 00:31:01,940 --> 00:31:05,360 Oh my God! They were so dope, you know? 687 00:31:05,443 --> 00:31:07,362 It was a sound that you hadn't heard before. 688 00:31:07,445 --> 00:31:11,283 And they were so different, but they were so dope together. 689 00:31:11,366 --> 00:31:13,660 ♪Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ 690 00:31:13,743 --> 00:31:17,581 Big Boi, he likes to party. He liked the cars, you know, the girls. 691 00:31:17,664 --> 00:31:20,083 ♪'Cause I'm a player Doing what the players do ♪ 692 00:31:20,166 --> 00:31:22,294 [Khujo] Big Boi is a wordsmith. 693 00:31:22,544 --> 00:31:23,670 He can make words 694 00:31:24,170 --> 00:31:25,672 rhyme that don't rhyme. 695 00:31:25,755 --> 00:31:27,048 ♪I? gettin curious 'cause the house 696 00:31:27,132 --> 00:31:28,758 ♪Smelling stank of chitlins Old as bitches ♪ 697 00:31:28,842 --> 00:31:30,677 ♪I make no wishes 'Cause the mobbing folk ♪ 698 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,596 ♪Niggas in the back getting tipsy ♪ 699 00:31:32,679 --> 00:31:34,681 ♪Off the nog and high as hell Off the contact smoke ♪ 700 00:31:34,764 --> 00:31:37,267 And Dre was always a little bit more the eclectic one. 701 00:31:37,350 --> 00:31:38,935 ♪So tell me what did you expect? ♪ 702 00:31:39,019 --> 00:31:40,228 ♪You thought I'd break my neck ♪ 703 00:31:40,312 --> 00:31:42,230 ♪To help y'all deck the-- Oh now ♪ 704 00:31:42,314 --> 00:31:44,858 [Mr. DJ] Dre is the philosopher, he makes you think. 705 00:31:44,941 --> 00:31:47,152 Even some of his verses, to this day, 706 00:31:47,235 --> 00:31:48,445 I'm just now getting. 707 00:31:48,612 --> 00:31:50,989 Andre 3000 can rhyme 708 00:31:51,072 --> 00:31:53,575 a 32-bar rhyme, 709 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:58,747 and you'll be on the edge of your seat from bar one to bar 32. 710 00:31:58,830 --> 00:32:01,833 ♪It goes give me ten And I'll serve you then now we bend ♪ 711 00:32:01,916 --> 00:32:05,378 ♪The corner in my Cadillac My heart does not go pittypat for no rat ♪ 712 00:32:05,545 --> 00:32:07,505 ♪I'm leaning back My elbows out the window ♪ 713 00:32:07,589 --> 00:32:10,383 ♪Coke, rum, indo fills my body Where's the party ♪ 714 00:32:10,467 --> 00:32:13,678 ♪We roll deep we dip to underground See a lot of hoes around ♪ 715 00:32:13,762 --> 00:32:15,555 ♪I spit my game while waiting countdown ♪ 716 00:32:15,639 --> 00:32:18,058 ♪A five fo♪ a three two Here comes the one ♪ 717 00:32:18,141 --> 00:32:20,852 ♪A new year has begun P-Funk spark another one ♪ 718 00:32:20,935 --> 00:32:24,981 ♪All the players came from far and wide ♪ 719 00:32:25,190 --> 00:32:26,316 [Rico] Player's Ball came on. 720 00:32:26,399 --> 00:32:29,361 It was, "Oh shit. It's on the radio!" 721 00:32:29,903 --> 00:32:31,237 And I just remember I liked it. 722 00:32:31,321 --> 00:32:33,073 Like, aw man, 723 00:32:33,990 --> 00:32:34,949 didn't know that 724 00:32:35,408 --> 00:32:36,701 it really was going to take off. 725 00:32:36,826 --> 00:32:40,372 The song, and you know, debuts on the album. 726 00:32:41,081 --> 00:32:43,750 It begins to move up the charts, so... 727 00:32:44,125 --> 00:32:45,585 LA Reid tells Rico, 728 00:32:46,044 --> 00:32:48,088 "All right. This song is moving. 729 00:32:48,672 --> 00:32:51,383 You have to get your boys to do a whole album." 730 00:32:51,466 --> 00:32:54,427 ♪Get up, stand up So what's said, you dickhead? ♪ 731 00:32:54,511 --> 00:32:57,138 ♪See when I was a youngster Used to wear them fuckin' Pro Keds ♪ 732 00:32:57,222 --> 00:32:59,933 ♪My mama made me do it But the devil, he made me smart ♪ 733 00:33:00,016 --> 00:33:01,101 [Big Boi] It was a long process. 734 00:33:01,184 --> 00:33:03,770 Southernplayalistic, we worked on that shit for a long time. 735 00:33:03,853 --> 00:33:07,315 And for months, Organized Noize was making beats 736 00:33:07,399 --> 00:33:09,275 while we was laying vocals and... 737 00:33:09,609 --> 00:33:12,153 Cee Lo would come through, or Gipp would come through 738 00:33:12,362 --> 00:33:13,613 and it was all hands on deck. 739 00:33:13,822 --> 00:33:16,866 ♪I don? recall ever graduating at all ♪ 740 00:33:16,991 --> 00:33:19,577 ♪Sometimes I feel I'm just a disappointment to y'all ♪ 741 00:33:19,661 --> 00:33:22,539 ♪Every day, I just lay around Then I can't be found ♪ 742 00:33:22,622 --> 00:33:25,583 ♪Always asking "gimme some" Living life like a bum ♪ 743 00:33:26,042 --> 00:33:27,836 [Cee Lo] Git up, Git out" was my first verse 744 00:33:27,919 --> 00:33:29,796 and it was such a humble moment for everybody. 745 00:33:29,879 --> 00:33:31,881 Everybody was just so proud to be a part of something 746 00:33:32,340 --> 00:33:34,467 that we knew was real. We felt it in our bones. 747 00:33:34,551 --> 00:33:36,094 And we were just introducing 748 00:33:36,302 --> 00:33:39,055 who we were and where we were from for the first time. 749 00:33:39,139 --> 00:33:41,141 ♪I write the deep ass rhymes ♪ 750 00:33:41,224 --> 00:33:42,767 ♪So, let me take ya away ♪ 751 00:33:42,851 --> 00:33:45,895 ♪Back to when a nigga stayed In Southwest Atlanta, ay ♪ 752 00:33:45,979 --> 00:33:48,732 [Killer Mike] Organized Noize, Outkast and The Dungeon Family gave us a sound. 753 00:33:48,815 --> 00:33:51,901 They look like us, walk like us, talk like us. 754 00:33:51,985 --> 00:33:54,154 Are into Cadillacs and Chevrolets, 755 00:33:54,279 --> 00:33:56,614 or walk around in flip flops and socks, just like us. 756 00:33:56,781 --> 00:33:57,991 [Da Brat] Southernplayalistic. 757 00:33:58,074 --> 00:33:59,993 You know? Is what you played in your Cadillac. 758 00:34:00,076 --> 00:34:03,370 It was collard greens and cornbread and fish and grits. 759 00:34:03,455 --> 00:34:05,290 You know what I'm saying? It just-- 760 00:34:05,372 --> 00:34:07,167 -You could feel that. -You could feel that. 761 00:34:07,250 --> 00:34:09,002 You could feel the Southern in it. 762 00:34:09,502 --> 00:34:11,629 ♪You need to git up, git out And git something ♪ 763 00:34:12,213 --> 00:34:14,883 ♪How will you make it If you never even try ♪ 764 00:34:14,966 --> 00:34:17,676 ♪You need to git up, git out And git something ♪ 765 00:34:17,761 --> 00:34:20,513 ♪'Cause you and I Got to do for you and I ♪ 766 00:34:20,597 --> 00:34:22,265 [Big Boi] We was proud to be from Atlanta. 767 00:34:22,849 --> 00:34:25,602 We was putting our city on the map and we wanted to let you know 768 00:34:25,935 --> 00:34:27,227 exactly where we was from. 769 00:34:27,312 --> 00:34:30,272 Whether it was East Point, College Park, Decatur, The Swats, 770 00:34:30,397 --> 00:34:34,027 like, we embodied all that, and we repped the whole city. 771 00:34:34,319 --> 00:34:37,405 What do you remember hearing from radio programmers in New York? 772 00:34:37,489 --> 00:34:38,406 "They country." 773 00:34:39,240 --> 00:34:40,950 "We ain't playing that country shit." 774 00:34:41,033 --> 00:34:42,035 "Whatever." 775 00:34:42,243 --> 00:34:45,705 "I got nothing against the guys, but you know, I can't really relate." 776 00:34:46,664 --> 00:34:49,542 And I was like, "We're country? Like, that's all you've got to say?" 777 00:34:49,626 --> 00:34:52,796 You're not really taking the time to listen what they're talking about. 778 00:34:52,879 --> 00:34:54,881 [police siren] 779 00:34:58,802 --> 00:35:00,637 When we were at the Source Awards 780 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:03,556 it was very New York! New York was heavy. 781 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:04,724 Brooklyn! 782 00:35:05,683 --> 00:35:06,518 What up? 783 00:35:07,936 --> 00:35:11,940 That particular Source Awards was, like, so historic. 784 00:35:12,023 --> 00:35:14,400 You have the East Coast-West Coast beef going on. 785 00:35:14,484 --> 00:35:16,945 The East Coast don't love Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg? 786 00:35:17,529 --> 00:35:19,030 [booing] 787 00:35:19,614 --> 00:35:21,699 [Cee Lo] The tension in the room was so thick, 788 00:35:21,783 --> 00:35:23,201 you could cut it with a knife. 789 00:35:23,284 --> 00:35:25,119 These motherfuckers they came to fight! 790 00:35:26,913 --> 00:35:31,251 So, we just kind of looking, kind of naively, back and forth, like, 791 00:35:31,334 --> 00:35:33,837 "East-West. East-West" 792 00:35:35,338 --> 00:35:37,465 It was myself, Big Boi, Dre 793 00:35:37,549 --> 00:35:39,634 and we don't want any parts of the beef. 794 00:35:39,717 --> 00:35:41,469 You know, we're just happy to be here. 795 00:35:41,845 --> 00:35:43,847 All right! Hold up! 796 00:35:44,264 --> 00:35:45,431 And the winner is... 797 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,475 -Outkast! -Outkast! 798 00:35:51,729 --> 00:35:53,523 When they announced that Outkast won, 799 00:35:53,648 --> 00:35:56,317 I was almost in a complete state of shock. 800 00:35:56,401 --> 00:35:58,361 I was like, "Holy crap! 801 00:35:58,486 --> 00:36:00,738 We did it! We won!" 802 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:02,949 [interviewer] When you guys got Best New Artist, 803 00:36:03,032 --> 00:36:05,618 what did it feel like just to be there as a southern act? 804 00:36:05,702 --> 00:36:06,870 How did that feel? 805 00:36:07,245 --> 00:36:09,205 It was dope to be recognized, you know. 806 00:36:09,289 --> 00:36:11,165 That was like one of the top honors. 807 00:36:11,249 --> 00:36:14,002 Just like the hip-hop mecca, you know? Madison Square Garden. 808 00:36:14,252 --> 00:36:17,422 Just a boy from East Point. It was just like, "Whoa. Whoa." 809 00:36:18,172 --> 00:36:20,174 [booing] 810 00:36:23,136 --> 00:36:25,430 And then they booed us when we won, it was like... 811 00:36:26,723 --> 00:36:28,391 That's fucked up. You know? 812 00:36:29,017 --> 00:36:30,101 Yeah! 813 00:36:32,729 --> 00:36:33,563 Word. 814 00:36:33,771 --> 00:36:34,606 What's up? 815 00:36:35,523 --> 00:36:38,401 Goodie Mob in the house! We want to say, what's up in New York? 816 00:36:38,610 --> 00:36:40,528 'Cause we from down South! 817 00:36:40,653 --> 00:36:43,865 It's New York up in this, you know? And you all live here. 818 00:36:44,073 --> 00:36:45,658 This is y'all city. 819 00:36:45,742 --> 00:36:47,452 They were trying to be all diplomatic, 820 00:36:47,535 --> 00:36:49,829 and like, "We know this your city." 821 00:36:49,913 --> 00:36:51,873 Trying to pay homage, if you will. 822 00:36:52,415 --> 00:36:55,668 But then he does something that's very-- it's a very southern sensibility. 823 00:36:55,752 --> 00:36:58,087 He looks at Andre and he's like, "So what's up?" 824 00:36:58,254 --> 00:37:01,132 Which means, he wants you to talk your shit. [laughing] 825 00:37:01,257 --> 00:37:02,425 "So what's up, Dre?" 826 00:37:04,761 --> 00:37:06,763 Yeah, first of all, you know? 827 00:37:07,347 --> 00:37:09,599 We want to thank God. Just, saying dead serious, 828 00:37:09,682 --> 00:37:11,684 because if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here. 829 00:37:12,477 --> 00:37:13,728 But it's like this, though. 830 00:37:13,978 --> 00:37:15,855 I'm tired of folks, you know what I'm saying? 831 00:37:18,107 --> 00:37:19,692 The close-minded folks, you know? 832 00:37:19,776 --> 00:37:21,778 We've got a demo tape and nobody want to hear it, 833 00:37:21,861 --> 00:37:24,197 but the South got something to say, that's all I got to say. 834 00:37:28,701 --> 00:37:30,870 [Da Brat] Andre was very emotional. 835 00:37:31,955 --> 00:37:32,789 And... 836 00:37:33,247 --> 00:37:35,792 if you didn't believe anything that they've ever said, 837 00:37:36,042 --> 00:37:37,460 you knew he meant that. 838 00:37:37,669 --> 00:37:40,088 Did that kind of put the battery in your back a little bit? 839 00:37:40,171 --> 00:37:41,547 The battery was already there, 840 00:37:41,631 --> 00:37:43,549 they just put the jumper cables on that motherfucker. 841 00:37:43,633 --> 00:37:46,260 Because what they did was step in the ant bed. 842 00:37:46,469 --> 00:37:48,888 It just made us, you know, strive to be better 843 00:37:48,972 --> 00:37:51,182 than we already were, which was like [whistles]. 844 00:37:51,307 --> 00:37:52,141 You know what I mean? 845 00:37:52,976 --> 00:37:53,977 It's like, you know... 846 00:37:55,144 --> 00:37:57,647 we're going to show you all motherfuckers, you know what I am saying? 847 00:37:57,814 --> 00:37:59,983 [edgy piano chords] 848 00:38:07,365 --> 00:38:09,242 [narrator] Outkast's win at The Source Awards 849 00:38:09,325 --> 00:38:10,952 taught The Dungeon family two things: 850 00:38:11,202 --> 00:38:12,996 that they were amongst the best in hip-hop, 851 00:38:13,413 --> 00:38:15,581 and that the South was far from being understood. 852 00:38:16,416 --> 00:38:18,793 But their next crew would clear up any misunderstandings 853 00:38:18,876 --> 00:38:20,586 about what the South stood for 854 00:38:21,004 --> 00:38:22,422 and what they stood against. 855 00:38:22,505 --> 00:38:25,341 ♪When the scene unfolds ♪ 856 00:38:25,425 --> 00:38:27,677 ♪Young girls thirteen years old ♪ 857 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,304 ♪Expose themselves To any Tom, Dick, and Hank ♪ 858 00:38:30,888 --> 00:38:34,267 ♪Got more stretch marks than these hoes Hollin♪they got rank ♪ 859 00:38:34,350 --> 00:38:36,436 Tell me about how Goodie Mob kind of came together. 860 00:38:36,519 --> 00:38:38,604 After the success of Outkast, 861 00:38:38,688 --> 00:38:40,273 it was real, you know what I mean? 862 00:38:41,107 --> 00:38:45,069 Everybody has their own individual aspirations 863 00:38:45,153 --> 00:38:47,280 and appointed places. 864 00:38:47,363 --> 00:38:49,657 So we needed something where we could all be introduced 865 00:38:49,824 --> 00:38:51,451 as a unit, and... 866 00:38:51,534 --> 00:38:55,413 it was the humility - you know, and the practicality of Rico Wade 867 00:38:55,496 --> 00:38:57,040 that brought the Goodie Mob together. 868 00:38:57,123 --> 00:39:02,670 ♪Who's that peeking in my window Pow, nobody now ♪ 869 00:39:02,754 --> 00:39:06,299 ♪Who's that peeking in my window, pow! ♪ 870 00:39:06,507 --> 00:39:08,342 [Rico] We got a chance to introduce Goodie Mob. 871 00:39:08,426 --> 00:39:11,596 What's up, this is one fourth of the Goodie Mob, Cee Lo Green. 872 00:39:11,679 --> 00:39:13,097 [Rico] Cee Lo, Big Gipp. 873 00:39:13,181 --> 00:39:14,265 They call me Big Gipp. 874 00:39:14,348 --> 00:39:15,641 Yes, what's up? 875 00:39:15,933 --> 00:39:17,018 Khujo and T-Mo. 876 00:39:17,101 --> 00:39:18,311 What's up, this is T-Mo. 877 00:39:18,394 --> 00:39:21,981 Goodie representing all the wild childs out there, nothing but the fire. 878 00:39:22,065 --> 00:39:23,191 ♪Uh, pow ♪ 879 00:39:23,274 --> 00:39:25,693 ♪Who's that peeking in my window ♪ 880 00:39:25,777 --> 00:39:27,987 We wanted to be totally different from Outkast. 881 00:39:28,071 --> 00:39:29,822 [interviewer] What was the vision for Goodie Mob? 882 00:39:29,906 --> 00:39:33,326 We wanted to be more edgy, a little more edgier than Outkast was. 883 00:39:33,409 --> 00:39:34,827 A little bit edgier than that was. 884 00:39:34,911 --> 00:39:37,705 And God bless the first single, "Cell Therapy," 885 00:39:37,872 --> 00:39:40,249 just ended up being a hip-hop classic. 886 00:39:40,333 --> 00:39:43,294 ♪Me and my family moved In our apartment complex ♪ 887 00:39:43,503 --> 00:39:46,172 ♪A gate with the serial code Was put up next ♪ 888 00:39:46,255 --> 00:39:49,217 ♪They claim that this community Is so drug free ♪ 889 00:39:49,300 --> 00:39:50,968 ♪But it don't look that way to me ♪ 890 00:39:51,052 --> 00:39:52,553 It was original, 891 00:39:52,637 --> 00:39:55,681 it was eccentric and it was also politically charged. 892 00:39:55,765 --> 00:39:57,058 [Khujo] We was like those ghetto politicians 893 00:39:57,141 --> 00:39:59,811 in the neighborhood, and our thing was straight focusing on 894 00:40:00,228 --> 00:40:02,814 just really representing what was going on 895 00:40:03,147 --> 00:40:05,066 in Atlanta at that time, 896 00:40:05,775 --> 00:40:07,819 through the perspective of the youth. 897 00:40:07,902 --> 00:40:10,488 ♪Listen up little nigga I'm talking to you ♪ 898 00:40:10,696 --> 00:40:13,282 ♪About what yo little ass Need to be going through ♪ 899 00:40:13,366 --> 00:40:16,744 [Khujo] I don't even think LaFace even knew what they had at that time, man. 900 00:40:16,828 --> 00:40:19,705 They didn't know how politically incorrect we were. 901 00:40:19,789 --> 00:40:21,415 They were like, "That's a catchy hook." 902 00:40:22,041 --> 00:40:25,002 "That's a crazy hook, man. Hold on now, what?" 903 00:40:25,086 --> 00:40:27,672 ♪Concentration camps Laced with gas pipelines ♪ 904 00:40:28,172 --> 00:40:33,386 ♪Infernos outdoors like they had back When Adolf Hitler was living in 1945 ♪ 905 00:40:33,970 --> 00:40:36,305 ♪Listen to me now, believe me later on ♪ 906 00:40:36,389 --> 00:40:39,559 [Big Boi] Social commentary was in the forefront of what they did. 907 00:40:39,642 --> 00:40:43,146 Outkast, we was real slick. Player. 908 00:40:43,604 --> 00:40:44,438 Super cool. 909 00:40:44,522 --> 00:40:47,483 Goodie Mob was like in your face. You know what I mean? Like... 910 00:40:48,442 --> 00:40:50,069 motherfucker, you know what I'm saying? 911 00:40:50,153 --> 00:40:52,155 -[thudding on door] -[man] Who is it? 912 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:54,282 And way ahead of its time. 913 00:40:54,657 --> 00:40:56,742 They was talking about stuff that's going on right now. 914 00:40:56,826 --> 00:40:59,328 -[boom] -This is the Red Dog police department. 915 00:40:59,412 --> 00:41:03,374 [police shouting] Just get on the ground. Get your head on the ground. 916 00:41:07,962 --> 00:41:10,214 ♪One to da two da three da four ♪ 917 00:41:10,298 --> 00:41:12,884 ♪Dem dirty Red Dogs done hit the door ♪ 918 00:41:12,967 --> 00:41:15,678 ♪And they got everybody On they hands and knees ♪ 919 00:41:15,761 --> 00:41:18,014 ♪And they ain't gonna leave Until they find them keys ♪ 920 00:41:18,097 --> 00:41:20,725 ♪Now if dirty Bill Clinton Fronted me some weight ♪ 921 00:41:20,808 --> 00:41:23,352 ♪Told me to keep two Bring him back eight ♪ 922 00:41:23,436 --> 00:41:25,271 [Maurice] Dirty South plays it out so clearly. 923 00:41:25,354 --> 00:41:28,774 What we're talking about here is the militarization of the police, 924 00:41:28,858 --> 00:41:30,443 and the creation of the Red Dog Police. 925 00:41:30,943 --> 00:41:33,196 But what we're also talking about here 926 00:41:33,487 --> 00:41:35,907 is Bill Clinton's three strike rule, 927 00:41:36,199 --> 00:41:38,367 on a national level, 1994. 928 00:41:39,327 --> 00:41:41,829 When this bill is law, three strikes and you're out 929 00:41:41,913 --> 00:41:43,206 will be the law of the land. 930 00:41:43,706 --> 00:41:45,458 And it will be used to build prisons 931 00:41:45,541 --> 00:41:48,836 to keep 100.000 violent criminals off the street. 932 00:41:49,420 --> 00:41:53,299 This overwhelmingly incarcerated black men and increased the federal prisons 933 00:41:53,382 --> 00:41:54,634 by 800%. 934 00:41:54,926 --> 00:41:57,011 We're still eviscerated by crack cocaine, 935 00:41:57,094 --> 00:42:00,765 and the transition of a trillion dollars that was supposed to go to education 936 00:42:00,848 --> 00:42:04,727 that went to a war on drugs, and created the school to prison pipeline. 937 00:42:05,228 --> 00:42:07,897 They're really giving you that underbelly. 938 00:42:07,980 --> 00:42:10,399 That counter-narrative to Atlanta as the black mecca. 939 00:42:10,483 --> 00:42:12,985 ♪See in the 3rd grade This is what you told ♪ 940 00:42:13,110 --> 00:42:15,488 ?欣ou was bought, you was sold ♪ 941 00:42:15,571 --> 00:42:19,408 Goodie Mob has gospel that demands a certain reverence. 942 00:42:19,492 --> 00:42:23,663 They are militant mind stated almost, they're fiercely black, fiercely Southern. 943 00:42:23,746 --> 00:42:26,040 ♪What you really know About the dirty South ♪ 944 00:42:26,123 --> 00:42:28,626 ♪What you really know About the dirty South ♪ 945 00:42:28,709 --> 00:42:31,170 "What you really know about the dirty South?" 946 00:42:31,254 --> 00:42:32,838 That says it all, right there. 947 00:42:33,547 --> 00:42:36,133 It just meant, you know, it was dirty. Gritty. 948 00:42:36,425 --> 00:42:38,719 Like, our soil is like red clay. 949 00:42:39,011 --> 00:42:41,430 So, that shit is hard to get off your shoes. 950 00:42:41,514 --> 00:42:43,474 Once you get it on you, you can't get it off. 951 00:42:43,557 --> 00:42:45,142 So, once you are touched by this, 952 00:42:45,226 --> 00:42:47,436 it's going to go with you wherever you go. 953 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:50,147 ♪When I'm too sober, year older Now I'm almost legal ♪ 954 00:42:50,273 --> 00:42:52,775 ♪Wanted to live the life of Cadillacs, Impalas and Regals ♪ 955 00:42:52,858 --> 00:42:55,152 ♪Fucking around with the hoes Busting nets in their mouth ♪ 956 00:42:55,236 --> 00:42:58,030 ♪Kickin' that same southern slang Lookin' for love off in yo' jaw ho ♪ 957 00:42:58,114 --> 00:42:59,323 It gave us an identity. 958 00:42:59,407 --> 00:43:02,493 You were grimy if you were in New York. You were gangster if you were West Coast. 959 00:43:02,994 --> 00:43:05,246 But the dirty South was mad. 960 00:43:05,788 --> 00:43:09,083 It was hot, sticky, you know [laughing] what I mean? 961 00:43:09,166 --> 00:43:11,460 The filthy, nasty, dirty South. 962 00:43:11,544 --> 00:43:13,838 Yeah, you've got to understand, we're the South. 963 00:43:13,921 --> 00:43:16,090 We're, you know, we are the Carolinas, we're Florida, 964 00:43:16,173 --> 00:43:19,468 we're Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, we're Texas, like-- 965 00:43:19,552 --> 00:43:22,513 we never thought we were uncool, we just thought... 966 00:43:23,347 --> 00:43:24,557 y'all was tripping. 967 00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:26,309 [chuckling] You know what I mean? 968 00:43:26,392 --> 00:43:28,811 ♪What you niggas know About the Dirty South ♪ 969 00:43:29,312 --> 00:43:33,691 ♪Yeah, the Dirty South ♪ 970 00:43:36,152 --> 00:43:38,362 [narrator] In the decade between Shy D and The Dungeon Family, 971 00:43:38,446 --> 00:43:40,573 Atlanta's hip-hop had grown from shake music 972 00:43:40,656 --> 00:43:41,907 to slick metaphors. 973 00:43:41,991 --> 00:43:44,577 And in the meantime, the city had built an industry, 974 00:43:44,910 --> 00:43:46,120 and an identity. 975 00:43:49,373 --> 00:43:51,584 This was just the beginning for the South as a whole. 976 00:43:52,585 --> 00:43:54,587 Because now it was more than a collection of states. 977 00:43:54,754 --> 00:43:56,213 It was the dirty South. 978 00:43:56,797 --> 00:43:59,592 And unified by this new identity, the south was poised 979 00:43:59,675 --> 00:44:03,888 to wrest power from the East and West and become the new center of hip-hop.