South of Hell
Encyclopedia
South of Hell is the third studio album by underground rapper Boondox
. It was released on May 11, 2010. Produced by Mike E. Clark
, the album also features a documentary directed by Paul Andreson about Hutto's life and the making of the album titled Southern Bled.
collaborated with producer Mike E. Clark
, who produced all of South of Hell. Clark completed the album's music in his Fun House Studio. Boondox felt more comfortable writing and recording the vocal tracks in seclusion, resulting in Clark moving the production to a cabin in the woods that he owned. Boondox wrote the lyrics by setting up large loudspeakers in the cabin and writing the lyrics while Clark played the unfinished tracks through the speakers. Clark describes this method of lyric writing as being "pretty scary [...] it definitely affected the music a lot".
themes, touching on "love gone bad, family issues, and internal struggles with vice". The music combines elements of country with hip hop beats and funk
-derived grooves, and includes live instrumentation, including slide guitar
and banjo
s. "We All Fall" features the use of Auto-Tune
.
Boondox
David Hutto is an American rapper from Covington, Georgia. Hutto is most commonly known as Boondox, whose stage persona is that of a killer scarecrow. He is currently signed to Psychopathic Records.-Biography:...
. It was released on May 11, 2010. Produced by Mike E. Clark
Mike E. Clark
Mike Earl Clark is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan currently signed to Hatchet House.Clark is best known for his work with Insane Clown Posse, for which he has produced nine studio albums...
, the album also features a documentary directed by Paul Andreson about Hutto's life and the making of the album titled Southern Bled.
Production
BoondoxBoondox
David Hutto is an American rapper from Covington, Georgia. Hutto is most commonly known as Boondox, whose stage persona is that of a killer scarecrow. He is currently signed to Psychopathic Records.-Biography:...
collaborated with producer Mike E. Clark
Mike E. Clark
Mike Earl Clark is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan currently signed to Hatchet House.Clark is best known for his work with Insane Clown Posse, for which he has produced nine studio albums...
, who produced all of South of Hell. Clark completed the album's music in his Fun House Studio. Boondox felt more comfortable writing and recording the vocal tracks in seclusion, resulting in Clark moving the production to a cabin in the woods that he owned. Boondox wrote the lyrics by setting up large loudspeakers in the cabin and writing the lyrics while Clark played the unfinished tracks through the speakers. Clark describes this method of lyric writing as being "pretty scary [...] it definitely affected the music a lot".
Music and lyrics
According to producer Mike E. Clark, the lyrics were strongly influenced by the album's unusual production, and the seclusion of being in the cabin in the woods, describing the album as "music to get murdered by". The lyrics of South of Hell strongly derives from country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
themes, touching on "love gone bad, family issues, and internal struggles with vice". The music combines elements of country with hip hop beats and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
-derived grooves, and includes live instrumentation, including slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
s. "We All Fall" features the use of Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
.
Reception
Allmusic reviewer David Jeffries gave the album 3 out of 5, writing that "the album goes for the jugular and explores the Georgia rapper’s tortured soul". Kik Axe Music reviewer James Zahn gave the album 3.5 out of 5, writing that "Boondox is at his best when keeping the south flowing throughout." Zahn describes "We All Fall" as the album's weakest track.Track listing
| # | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Intro" | 1:22 |
| 2 | "Cold Day In Hell" | 3:57 |
| 3 | "Color You Dead" | 2:57 |
| 4 | "Red Dirt Road" | 3:16 |
| 5 | "Some Kind of Devil" | 3:37 |
| 6 | "Love of My Knife" | 4:37 |
| 7 | "We All Fall" | 4:11 |
| 8 | "Toast to the Fam" | 3:10 |
| 9 | "In Between" | 3:47 |
| 10 | "Family Tree" | 3:50 |
| 11 | "Lezbehonest" | 3:36 |
| 12 | "Just Die" | 3:51 |
| 13 | "Nothing To Lose" | 4:20 |
| 14 | "Watch Your Back" (featuring ICP Insane Clown Posse Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore... ) |
3:15 |
| 15 | "Where Do I Go?" | 3:48 |