i-10 dope zone: south louisiana g-funk
This post is the first in what will be a series of posts about rap from the Deep South, mostly gathered from artists from along the section of the Interstate-10 corridor that runs from Houston to New Orleans. For this post, I decided to focus solely on music from South Louisiana, mainly from smaller cities. Later in the series, I will highlight Houston and other East Texas rap, as well as New Orleans and Baton Rouge rap.
Interstate-10 is notorious for drug trafficking from Texas to Florida. In the same way drugs move across the south influencing cities and towns along the way via the highway, so does music. Artists in South Louisiana often find a balance between Houston G-Funk, gangster and horrorcore rap, and sometimes incorporate pieces of New Orleans bounce music. Many songs share the southern specialty of extremely vulgar and vivid lyrics about sex and violence—often in the same song. There’s also a healthy dose of lamentations to blow a blunt to as you drive slow through the city.
Most of the songs on this playlist are G-Funk and gangsta rap cuts. Many of these artists worked with Underground Kingz from Port Arthur, Texas, as well as Mannie Fresh. These are dudes who were slanging mixtapes out of the trunks of their cars in mall parking lots while also working with southern rap legends. Unfortunately, many of these artists ended up incarcerated or their groups broke up at crucial moments in their musical development. Because of this, releases from them were inconsistant, their fanbases remained local, and affiliations with larger labels never materialized.
Most of the songs featured on this playlist come from albums that are nearly impossible to find, probably collecting dust in the bottom of a box in a closet in South Louisiana. Luckily for us, the internet exists and there are some friendly people on it who have uploaded many of those albums to YouTube. But if you’re feeling really ambitious, you can buy a copy of X-Mob’s album Ghetto Mail for 275 bucks on Amazon. Much of this music is from the 1990s, though there are a few tracks from the 2000s from guys like Vicious (of X-Mob) who have continued to release music. Listen along for a sampling of music from some of the best South Louisiana has to offer. It’s funky and features soulful and bluesy storytelling straight from the region that does it best:
| 0:00 | "From Cache to Ledoux" - Mydus - Southern Gold |
| 4:32 | "Ballin Out" - S.G.C. (South Gate Cartel) - Chasin' For Fettie |
| 8:27 | "Stay True" - S.G.C. (South Gate Cartel) - Chasin' For Fettie |
| 14:15 | "That Aint My Hoe" - Vicious & Mr. Phat - Southwest Rioters Better Getcha Mind Right |
| 17:59 | "Pray For Me" - Vicious - Ball Like Kobe |
| 21:57 | "Watcha Gone Do" - X-Mob & Pimp C - Ghetto Mail |
| 26:34 | "i-10" - X-Mob - Paper Chasing |
| 29:04 | "Playa Haters" - CC Water Bound - Critical Condition |
| 34:23 | "Mobbing Down South" - Deep South Syndicate - Journey With The Syndicate |
| 39:36 | "Quick on the Draw" - Vicious - Goin' for my Propers |
| 42:16 | "Meet Me At Da Circle K" - Vicious & Mr. Phat - Southwest Riotters Better Getcha Mind Right |
| 46:39 | "Mob Shit" - Vicious - Goin' for my Propers |
| 50:39 | "Victim Of the Glock" - Kelo G - Psychokilla & Grinderwolf |
| 55:34 | "Criminal Mind (ft. Young Tah) [prod. Swiss Boy]" - King Rice - The King is Back |
| 59:33 | "G-Ology" - Lil' Runt - Da Chosen One |
| 1:05:22 | "Pass Da Swisher" - Lil' Runt - Da Chosen One |
(If you enjoy the songs on this playlist, check out full albums: Lil Runt - Da Chosen Ones; Deep South Syndicate - Journey with the Syndicate; South Gate Cartel - Chasin’ for Fettie; CC Waterbound - Critical Condition; Vicious - I Ball Like Kobe, Going For My Propers; Mydus - Southern Gold; X-Mob- Paper Chasing, Ghetto Mail)
-- Bert