MISSISSIPPI RISING Jackson, MS: the soul of the South
Words by Jacinta Howard Photos by Jaro Vacek Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty…
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throughout America. In Mississippi, the history is etched into the very landscape. One of the poorest states in the nation, it also has the largest black population.
ississippi is the birthplace of the blues, the cradle of black spirituality and a symbol of oppression in the U.S. Think about it. What’s the first thing you associate with the state where the Confederate flag still flies high over the capital? That’s right, slavery. The thought of plantations, racism and systematic subjugation still haunts the state, hovering over it like a dark cloud before a summer rain.
“Mississippi is the birth place of black folks in the south,” says veteran Jackson rapper, Kamikaze. As half of the rap duo, Crooked Lettaz in the late nineties he played an instrumental role in introducing the state to national rap fans alongside David Banner. “That’s why we call it little Africa.”
Nestled halfway between Dallas and Atlanta lies Jackson, the state’s capital. With a population slightly over 520,000 the city is small enough to have the welcoming, down-home feel most southern states are known for, but big enough to have one of the highest crime rates in the nation. By and large, Jackson is a smaller reflection of Mississippi itself, boasting an intriguing mixture of spirituality, poverty, repression and hope. Out of these elements has come a sense of unbridled hustle and of course, irrepressible creativity.
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea…
It started with old spirituals, songs that slaves used to sing sometimes as encouragement, but often as a mode of communication. If you listen to the soft wailing of the music, the unadulterated emotion that’s poured into every syllable uttered it’s impossible to go unaffected. Drive through certain parts of Mississippi and you can still almost hear the spirituals drifting in the air, blending in seamlessly with the breeze, a natural soundtrack to the heartache and suffering the people have experienced for hundreds of years. Slavery may have ended in 1865, but its effects are still prevalently felt
The spirituals later gave birth to the blues—an art form which is largely credited with directly inspiring jazz, rock, R&B and yes, Hip Hop.
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ip-hop may have been formulated from the blues, thus perhaps making Mississippi the original birthplace of the sound that dominates the world today by default, but it’s rarely mentioned when the genre is brought up. “When you talk about slaves, gospel and blues music with Mississippi being the birthplace, we formulated Hip Hop,” Kamikaze contends. Jackson is only six hours west of Atlanta and six hours east of Dallas, but it might as well be on the other side of the planet for the attention it gets. For the most part, heads still haven’t latched onto the movement that’s been brewing there since the early nineties. Contrary to popular belief, David Banner was not the first rapper from the state to make noise on a national level. Back in 1995, the rap group Wild Life Society landed a deal with Blunt/TVT (which was also home
(l to r): Stax (Block Wear), Bra (Queen Boyz), Benz (Queen Boyz), Twizzle, Red, Gutta, Janky (1 Life 1 Love), Big Nose Jew, Seneca, Greedy (1 Life 1 Love)
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