Regina N. Bradley, Ph.D.
Writer. Researcher. Down South Georgia Girl.
In the summer of 1998, I walked the empty country roads by my grandparents' house to stay busy.
Surrounded by open plantation fields and cicadas in the trees above me, I walked for hours listening to homemade radio mixtapes on my Walkman. Schooling myself on OutKast, Goodie Mob, Master P, Mama Mia X, Lil’ Jon and the Eastside Boys, UGK, and later Pastor Troy and Field Mob (I see you Albany, GA!), I looked at southern hip hop as a lens through which to work my newfound identity as a Down South Georgia Girl.
The red clay that dusted the white rubber soles of my Keds would seep deep into my personal identity and the convictions that fuel my research on contemporary African American literature and culture.
