Outkast - Jazzy Belle

"Inviting N-words into the temple they call their body.'"

Album: ATLiens [2nd album]
Recorded: Atlanta, Georgia
Genre: Hip Hop, Southern Hip Hop
Album Release: August 27th 1996
Single Release: December 17th 1996 [3rd single]
Length: 4:12
Producer: Organized Noize
Cuts: Mr. DJ
Vocalist: Andre [age 21], Big Boi [age 21]
Label: Arista Records, LaFace Records

Official Audio


Swift C Remix

Charts, Streams & Sales

Canada (albums): x1 gold
US (albums): #2 [x2 platinum]
Spotify: 43,700,000 +
YouTube Music: 5,300,000 +
Hip Hop Connection's Best Albums 1995 - 2005: #6

Credits

Details

• First they were pimps, then they were aliens. On 'ATLiens', Outkast updated the persona from their 1994 debut 'Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik' into something of their own making. LaFace Records were so impressed with the success of the groups first album, released when the members were only 18, that they gave Outkast creative control over their image and the group you see on ATLiens is the result. Gone were the cornrows and in came the idiosyncracies that would go on to define the groups music.
  
  
• 'Jazzy Belle' takes its name from the biblical figure of Jezebel, a prostitute and an enemy of God. Outkast use jazzy belle to refer to a loose woman or a hoe and in hip hop there's a clear distinction between queens and hoes. The misogny, and glorification of pimping, is seen as appropriate treatment of hoes but not the virtuous queens, who are the wives and mothers of the rappers children. Big Boi had recently became a father when 'ATLiens' was released. On 'Jazzy Belle' he says he'll be teaching his daughter to be a natural woman, by which he means a queen.
  
  The rappers express a disgust for jezebels, jazzy belles or hoes throughout the song but, especially in the case of Big Boi, describe themselves as getting busy with many ladies. Big Boi happily describes treating other women like hoes, but doesn't want the same thing for his daughter. If it's okay for men to have casual sex, why isn't okay for women?
  
  I mention the difference because of the gender-based double standard and how that relates to misogny in hip hop, as well as broader society in general. Rap music is by no means the only form of expression to place women into the categories of "devoted mother" or "whore". Which, according to the male gaze, reduces the role of women into domestic caregivers or sexual playthings.
  
  However, in nineties hip hop the divide remained prevalent whilst declining in other genres. As men, we can be guilty of black and white thinking when it comes to the virtue, or purity, of women. We might want party time with many ladies but wouldn't marry a woman who has had party time with many men. Marrying a woman with the lowest possible body count, while also being promiscuous ourselves, became a social game and a symbol of status amongst nineties men. Especially those who listened to hip hop.
  
  
• As far the music on 'Jazzy Belle' goes it's subdued in the verses and features a woman singing a soft, wordless melody on the hooks. The relentless drums standout as the background of the track, but it's the flows that really steal the show. The rappers weave in and out the beats like a boxer ducking and diving an opponents punches. It's effortless, and a clear improvement over the rapping on their debut, especially in terms of vocal presence.
  
  
• Back when hip hop was dominated by east coast vs west coast beefs, Outkast were carving a distinctly southern niche that twenty years later would dominate hip hop in the form of trap music.  'SpottieOppieDopaliscious', features the lyric "so now you back in the trap, just that, trapped".
  
  Southern hip hop has a French and a Caribbean influence which isn't as prominent in other American forms of the genre. The music is loud, sexual and expressionistic in a way that marks it as distinct from its east coast and west coast counterparts with a few exceptions such as Mach Hommy. The flows of French emcees remind me of southern American styles and the influence is also felt in some of their vocal inflections, word choices and fashion sense. East coast styles are, in contrast, moodier, while the west coast has a strong latin influence.
  
  

  

  Andre's French influenced fashion
  

  
  As well as having unique ethno-cultural influences in the deep south slavery is also a firm cultural artefact that can't be extricated from the present. The rappers take the symbols of the confederacy, invert them and use them as their own, whether that be the confederate flag, or the prevalent use of the N-word.
  
  Southern hip hop, through its geography and history, has a deeper relationship with slavery than its east coast or west coast cousins. Slave plantations littered the south. The Klan was founded in Tennessee as a vehicle for white southern racism. While today, New York and California are bastions for the progressive Democratic party the southern states vote Republican and some people in such states even want to reinstate the confederacy. Even at present, racism is more prevalent in the south, so when evaluating southern hip hop it's essential to consider this key environmental factor.
  
  Dating back to the slave trade, the n-word was used as a slur, so black people today use it as a greeting. The confederate flag was a symbol of southern independence and continued advocacy for the slave trade so modern rappers drape themselves in it to take ownership of their history and infuriate the racists. They take a symbol of white pride and use it to adorn their person, simultaneously reminding people of the wrongs of slavery while also taking away the symbol from white racists. The rapper Ludacris went as far as wearing an entire outfit made of the confederate flag. See below for Andre's more muted approach.
  
  

  

  Andre wearing a confederate belt buckle
  

Artwork