Hello World

As an avid music listener and reviewer, the exchange of music between different cultures and people has always interested me. As a native of New Orleans, the spread of local genres has a personal significance. In the past few years for example, I watched twerking, particularly when it involved Miley Cyrus’ ass, become national news. Instead of thinking, “Wow, there’s the hot new dance trend,” like so many others, I thought, “New Orleans has been doing that for years.” Twerking, a term who’s first recorded use can be traced back to a 1993 DJ Jubilee song, is the signature dance that accompanies bounce music, a fast-paced subgenre of Southern hip hop based in New Orleans. Seeing it become Miley’s thing felt wrong, like a robbery. But at the same time, in the wake of this twerk-madness, Big Freedia, a bounce artist I’d seen play just about every year at Jazz Fest in my hometown, emerged as a budding star and gained national recognition for the first time.

The cultural issues that stem from globalization are complex and many. Cultural appropriation can be a terrible thing. On the other hand, it allows for musicians to build off of one another and push genres above and beyond into new and exciting realms of sound. New Orleans is a culturally rich city, and bounce is one of the newer and increasingly relevant aspects of that culture. However, like Chicago footwork or Jamaican dancehall, it is an extremely local art form. Born from the housing projects of New Orleans, bounce is the music of a particular people and place. When taken out of that origin place of total understanding (a direction in which bounce seems to be heading), it can easily be misinterpreted of fetishized.

As someone with a deep love for the city of New Orleans, an immense respect and appreciation for bounce, and a desire to learn more about the music that comprised the soundtrack to much of my youth, I've created this blog as a space for exploring the roots and characteristics of bounce music as well as discussing trends within the genre, popular artists and songs, and issues and controversy around the music. As bounce artists begin to make their way into the national spotlight, I think it is important for people to understand the music before judging and be able to see it within the context of its origins. As a member of the music department at KXSC radio, I bring my experience reviewing, discovering, and analyzing music to this topic, and as a proud New Orleanian, I bring a personal connection and closeness to this blog. If you've made it to the end of this blog post then I hope I can assume you'll be back to read more. Bounce is a rich and exciting music and culture that I'm just here to deliver to you conveniently. I'm looking forward to it.