Posted May 13, 2014 by Unterron in Music

Gene The Southern Child “Smackman”

From a small town called Florence, Alabama, Gene the Southern Child has been quietly releasing music under the radar for years. Florence is part of an area known as “The Shoals,” which houses the legendary FAME Recording Studios and is also the hometown of W.C. Handy “The Father of Blues.” Hailing from this rich musical history, Gene’s unique style is smooth Southern hip-hop, incorporating poetry, blues, and soul. His is a fresh perspective in what is an often redundant niche.

Southern Meridian is Gene’s latest collaboration with production team Parallel Thought and his proper solo debut. Recorded on a week-long trip to The Paradigm, Parallel Thought’s New Jersey Studio, the album is an amalgam of rich storytelling, provocative social commentary, booming beats, and impeccable production. Its refined sound breaks the heretofore conventions of Southern rap, and Gene draws the listener in with his stories of the deep South. The album, inspired by Cormac Mccarthy’s crimson-soaked novel Blood Meridian, comes on the heels of A Ride with the Southern Child and Artillery Splurgin’, Gene’s much-praised last two albums, also produced entirely by Parallel Thought.