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Big things are coming out of the “gutta sound” of North Baton Rouge. Just ask rapper Max Minelli.

He has a reputation as a straight-up great guy to work with, and someone who has a finger on pulse of the Baton Rouge rap scene.

“The thing that I see about Baton Rouge now is that we have our own identity. For a longtime, people from Baton Rouge would say ‘I’m from New Orleans, I’m from Atlanta,’ but we do our own thing. Those folks steal [stuff] from us now.” The percussive, staccato beat and street-wise delivery of Baton Rouge rap is referred to in hip hop circles as “jig” or “gutta” as opposed to the “bounce” style that is associated with New Orleans artists, the “dirty” rap from Atlanta or the “screw” style from Houston. It has gained in popularity in the scene, enough so that long time Atlanta rapper Silky Slim has teamed up with Baton Rouge star Lil’ Boosie for the recent Keep it Gutta album.

“I don’t know how to describe it, the jig sound,” Minelli says. “It’s a way of life. It’s the thing that defines the culture. Jigging is a dance, and it means a couple other things, but it’s just the sound. You know how when Nirvana came out, they were making rock music, but it just sounded different? It’s kinda like the same thing, you can’t describe it but you know it when you see it.”

RAP IS NO HIP-HOP

There are a number of misunderstandings and misconceptions about the rap scene and what terms mean. When asking a customer at Music Treasure Chest for the big names in Baton Rouge hip-hop, I didn’t get many responses. When I asked about the big rap artists, I got a barrage of names: Max, C-Loc, Webbie, Big Head, Boosie and the list goes on. Minelli explains the difference. “I think hip-hop is more of a way of life. The way you walk, the way you wear your clothes is hip-hop. Mos Def, Common, Talib Kwali is more hip-hop, whereas if you call someone a gangsta rapper, it’s a different sound.”

BR RAP STARS

Other rap artists in this town are making a big wave. Webbie, who is a product of Pimp C’s Trill Entertainment just signed with Asylum records, and he and Lil’ Boosie both have numerous appearances in the now platinum selling Hustle and Flow soundtrack, whose song “Its Hard Out There to be a Pimp” by the Three 6 Mafia won the Oscar for best original song. When asked how that success has affected the rap scene, Minelli remarked, “It’s like Baton Rouge is still so far under the radar. People will look at your track record¬—and I have a fierce track record—and the first thing they’ll ask is: Are you big in Atlanta? Because, in their mind, that’s it. If you’re not hot in Atlanta you’re not hot. But that ain’t true. All these dudes that got signed in Atlanta, nobody has ever heard of them here, no one here is buyin’ their stuff where I’m at.”

Mississippi rapper David Banner played here at Plaza Live in the last month, “You can bring a guy like David here, no one will go out. But you put me or Boosie there, and the joint will be packed. Baton Rouge is on the rise. I don’t know what it’s going to take to push it to the next level. Somebody needs to come in sign these people up,” he says.

BLOWING UP BIG

With the allure of the rap lifestyle pimped out in every Lil’ John and Nelly video, more and more people think they are going to jump in the game to make some quick money. “It’s an epidemic. A million [people] woke up today and decided they want to rap. Back in the day, dudes used to have dreams about about going into the NBA and the NFL. Now, they wanna rap. “

There is a lot of opportunity for success, but that success is fleeting. You might be the top of your game for a couple years, and then you are left to the way side afterwards. Minelli is one of those artists who sees past the glitz and the flash in-the-pan money and sees rap for what it really is, a cultural phenomenon that is only going to grow stronger because of the entrepeneurship of the artists and grassroots support.