The Midwest is probably the most confounding region out of the 4 in the U.S., in terms of going by geopolitics and defining exactly where it is in the country. Except, it shouldnt have been called Midwest, as by location that makes things really inaccurate and does a disservice to misrepresenting the indigenous styles from there. Its directly in the Middle, and not additionally being in any other diagonal point on the compass. So, to do away with locale semantics, Ill be referring to the Midwest, as the Midland region from now on Youll have emcees taking SLIGHT inspiration from the other 3 regions with examples such as, firstly Da Brat a Chicago native taking a GFunk styled, West Coast production. Secondly, Elzhi a Detroit native having a mainly East Coast appeal. Thirdly, Nelly a St. Louis native sounding like hes from just a few 100300 miles below in the South. Regardless of regional affiliations, they have something distinctively Midland about them, as given their inflection and how they all rhyme. When you really hear it and read for yourself, they do not bear any resemblance to the to aforementioned regions they take some bits of influence from, when analyzing the rhyming styles the 3 have. This is because while their accents may sound regionally dislocated, their slang, dialect and inflection, as well as overall vocal delivery, are still tied to the whereabouts that each of them hail from. As the overlap is more of a thing they OCCASIONALLY have as a revealing minor influence, not what majorly comprises their selves as individual, Midland emcees. Furthermore, in their rhyme schemes along with countless others that will be broken down in this region Black Milk, Slug from Atmosphere, Common, Freddie Gibbs, Shawnna, Royce, etc., have certain things they do with their flow, lyricism and technical rhyming will highlight things that are more in commonality between themselves, you wont find in the other regions. These emcees also have the highest rhyme densities, 2nd biggest vocabularies East Coast takes the lead per regional capita, longest amount of syllables in sentences by average 2535 on even a single line, only possible when rapped with a tripletime flow most technically astonishing rhyme schemes and peculiar lexicon, and seemingly, almost inhuman breath control. Not to mention, they have fastest and most clear cut, enunciated cadences in Rap, being the origin of Chopper Rap a style made popular and local to the region by Tech N9ne a Kansas City native, Twista a Chicago native and Bones Thugs N Harmony all Cleveland natives. To this day, no one is certain whom of the 3 began it, as there was even beef between them on who really brought it to prominence. Though as one of their many hallmarks, expect even Midland emcees who dont Chop on a track. Only for them to do it every once and while to catch you off guard, showing that they acknowledge their official trademark of the region, being a tradition The Midland is the newest of the regions to have relevance, mainstream success, and a formidable presence in the HipHop culture. Which means this page will be difficult in continually proving what makes them Midland as a musical whole, as there isnt any one solidifying sound, and new ones being made up every decade since the mid 90s. But, theres still an identity that you can find amidst any of them, you really wont find anywhere else, with the regions Local Ambiguity among other characteristics So it shall start with the state that was first put on the map, as a contested place that took awhile to gain buzz and make their stamp officially now in the culture, that today is STILL running the scene, Im talking about no other than Illinois. Chicago has to have the most diversity in the region, as no 2 emcees sound alike just in that one city, in any way Illinois Chicago, Joliet, etc. ChicagoCommonRhymefest pure Chicago, god damn, Kanye fucked up his chances at having a career, damn shame.Twista him and Common have the biggest influence, impact and relevance on NOT JUST over all of latter Chicago emcees but everyone else from the Midland as well, Ill explain why later on. Rappers who trying to be emcees from the Chi are either mostly biting one of them, or both.Shawnna has immigrated relatives from Mississippi and other Southern states like most ChicagoansLudacris before permanently moving to Atlanta with his parents as a teenager, his music career began there. He is mainly a Southern emcee by heart, but he still has Midland roots in his entire style. So his section will be shorter on this main page than everyone elses, as he obviously identifies with being SouthernKanye ironically has the same backstory as Ludacris, just switch the cities around. West however, never sounded Southern one time in his career, which makes him an exceptionLupe most lyrically, technically and topically accomplished emcee and songwriter from there, nuff saidJoiletDa Brat most ferocious, confrontational, rambunctious, stubborn female from that city, EVER, let alone the rest of the region Michigan Detroit, Flint, etc.Detroit PronunciationSlang
region, midland, emcee, native, chicago