South | 5ive Songs

1. J. Cole, “9 5 . s o u t h”

💿 The Off-Season • 🏷 Dreamville / Roc Nation • 📅 2021

🏆 Grammy-winning rapper 🎙 J. Cole kicks off his sixth studio album, 💿 The Off-Season, with a bang with 🎵 “9 5 . s o u t h.”  It begins with an intro by 🎙 Cam’ron.  Then, Cole gets things started, touting his skills and success in the game (“This shit too easy for me now / Nigga, Cole been goin’ plat’ since back when CDs was around”).

Cole brilliantly takes a shot at rappers who rely on quantity over quality with very little gain, continuing the aforementioned first verse as follows:

“What you sold, I tripled that, I can’t believe these fuckin’ clowns
Look how everybody clappin’ when your thirty-song album do a measly hundred thou’.”

There’s no chorus, but there is an interlude between the first and second verses, with a badass outro following the second.  On the outro, we get more Cam’ron as well as a timely 🎙 Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz sample, 🎵 “Put Yo Hood Up”. Epic start to The-Off Season to say the least as well a standalone record that sufficiently tickles my fancy.

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧 Awesome Songs That Tickled My Fancy: May 2021

2. The Black Keys, “Going Down South”

💿 Delta Kream • 🏷 Nonesuch • 📅 2021

🏆 Grammy-winning rock collective 🎙 The Black Keys (🎙 Dan Auerbach and 🎙 Patrick Carney) go the covers route, but return to their roots on their 2021 album, 💿 Delta Kream .  This album honors the duo’s blues heroes.  The result is a new-old album of sorts – one that ends up being both enjoyable and ultimately, quite successful.  Auerbach and Carney recorded Delta Kream live in the studio with friends 🎙 Eric Deaton (electric bass) and 🎙 Kenny Brown (electric guitar). One of many standouts from Delta Kream is 🎵 “Going Down South.”

“Going Down South” is a 🎙 🎼✍ Robert Lee Burnside classic. Dan Auerbach spoils us with his ripe falsetto.  Within the context of Delta Kream, the listener continues to be wowed by the vintage, bluesy vibes. The overall musicianship on display is nothing short of incredible.  One specific selling point is the rising intensity towards the end of the record.  Things get louder, and the soloing – the ‘shedding’ grows more agile and rhythmic.  The south is well represented on this bluesy gem.

3. Ed Sheeran, “South of the Border”

Ft. Camila Cabello & Cardi B

💿 No.6 Collaborations Project • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2019

🎵 “South of the Border” arrives as the second song off of 💿 No.6 Collaborations Project, the 2019 studio album by 🏆 Grammy-winner 🎙 Ed Sheeran. On “South of the Border,” he enlists 🎙 Camila Cabello and 🎙 Cardi B for the assist. As title and personnel suggest, Sheeran opts for a fun, Latin-tinged pop joint.  It is well organized in regard to form, and quite catchy from the start, especially the chorus.

Cabello continues to ‘kill it’ in a featured role, exhibiting marvelous chemistry with Sheeran on the chorus/bridge sections. As for Cardi B, she provides a welcome contrast, keeping it tasteful, sans the “Legs open, tongue out, Michael Jordan” line.  Still, “South of the Border” doesn’t cover that much geography… (“So, join me in this bed that I’m in / Push up on me and sweat, darling / … Come south of the border with me.”

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧 Border: 5ive Songs No. 32

🔗 🎧 11 Triggering Border, Borderline Songs

4. SUSTO, “Gay in the South”

💿 & I’m Fine Today • 🏷 Acid Boys / Missing Piece • 📅 2017 

“Mother of mine, you think you caused it / It’s an uphill climb being gay in the south.” Powerful lyrics, right? Millennial folk project 🎙 SUSTO is quite perceptive about the attitudes towards those who don’t identify as heterosexual.  Sure, to say all of the south subscribes to the same mindset would be inaccurate, but being a southerner myself, I feel I can definitely provide some insight into the far too often conservative southern mindset.

Anyways, 🎵 “Gay in the South,” which appears on the 2017 album, 💿 & I’m Fine Today, is among the sincerest records to grace this list.  The songwriting (🎼✍ Johnny Delaware, 🎼✍ Justin Osborne, and 🎼✍ Ryan Wolfgang Zimmerman) is superb. Likewise, the folksy, singer/songwriter sound captured by production (🎛 Zimmerman and 🎛 Delaware) is also pretty sweet.  Focusing on the lyrics and theme, not only does it capture attitudes towards gays (“They promised us you were going straight to hell when you died”), but it also encourages moving from what could be a toxic environment, not limited only to sexuality.

Also appears on 🔽:

🔗 🎧 15 Utterly Thrilling, GAY Songs

5. Anthony Hamilton, “Southern Stuff”

💿 Ain’t Nobody Worryin’ • 🏷 Arista • 📅 2005

🎙 Anthony Hamilton ranks among the best and most soulful contemporary R&B artists in the game.  His career hasn’t been easy, but he finally broke through in 2003 with his platinum-certified album 💿 Comin’ From Where I’m From, thanks to an incredible single, 🎵 “Charlene”. Hamilton has never quite attained the same degree of success again, but the 🏆 Grammy-winner has remained incredibly consistent, racking up some surefire R&B hits. 🎵 “Southern Stuff” is some of his best work from his 2005, gold-certified album, 💿 Ain’t Nobody Worryin’.

On “Southern Stuff,” the North Carolinian celebrates the south – well – via the perfect lady. How so? Well, he compares her to “Cadillac / Cool breeze in the 70s,” before adding, “You and me holdin’ hands talkin’ family / That southern thing I like / You got that southern stuff I like.” All of that, of course, goes down on the smooth, soulful chorus.  She exemplifies that perfect southern girl, something he expounds on during the verses.  Additional details include “Sweet southern thang, pretty skin half picked and when you grin, that’s when all life begins” and “Ms. Georgia peach, Carolina when you speak, your southern drawl, make me want to know you.”  As the title suggests and the chorus confirms on this sweet 🎛 Mark Batson produced neo-soul cut, she’s “…got that southern stuff I like.”