3. " It's WHERE their families come from " In response to Reply # 0
That's Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee. I think there's also a Cali southern accent, since their people came from Louisiana and Texas. Think Snoop Dogg.
11. "It's not just that they're southern, but those specific states" In response to Reply # 8
It's a stronger accent and Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas, which is where most East Coast cities got there black people. Plus, there's very little West Indian influence
39. "LOL...i've been to brownsville...my LS is from there" In response to Reply # 33 Thu Apr-07-16 05:57 PM by dapitts08
>There and Brownsville, TN.
the key to happiness is not being rich; it's doing something arduous and creating something of value and then being able to reflect on the fruits of your labor
-DJ R-Tistic- Member since Nov 06th 2008 51986 posts
Thu Apr-07-16 04:20 PM
27. "Ehh, the thing is the older folks in L.A sound WAAAAY diff from the" In response to Reply # 5
young ones. Oakland isn't too much diff, but a lot of the more hood folks, young and old, sound Country.
The whole "hooooard, coooar, she foooine, right theeeeyere" in L.A. sounds nothing like how the 60+ folks talk. All the hood older folks sound country, while some of the "Middle class" and suburban older Blacks just sound proper
22. "I was put in speech classes based on the accent" In response to Reply # 6 Thu Apr-07-16 03:57 PM by soken
I'm in northern cali but fam from louisiana. Based on my accent which was southern geechi they put me in ESL (english second language) with all the immigrants and now I lost it completely.
7. "Most of them have Southern roots" In response to Reply # 0 Thu Apr-07-16 03:13 PM by MEAT
The Great Migration saw black people move from the South to Los Angeles, Chicago, DC, Baltimore, New York, and ironically Newark (similar sound of the train stop combined with literacy rates during that time).
There's a great book called the Warmth of Other Suns, which is a longer explanation of the shift of the Black population from slavery to present day.
------ “There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus
20. "The funny thing is the Philly accent has changed over generations" In response to Reply # 12
That first big generation of Black people who were born and raised in Philly, which is my grandparents, talked a certain kind of way. Their children's way of talking was similar. So, for instance, the way Patti LaBelle talks, or even better, Chakah Fattah. They have thick old-school Black Philly accents. They're not really Southern, but there are identifiable elements. Then my generation's accent was a little different. More along the lines of how somebody like Sundy Carter talks (reality show girl, the jawn from the State Property movie).
15. "I would say because of segregation." In response to Reply # 0
Chicago is an extremely segregated city. So even after their parents left the south, they got to Chicago and lived amongst Southerners. And their kids lived amongst (the now former) Southerners and picked up that accent.
Accents aren't a product of geography, they're social.
--
"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."
46. "Chicago is still very segregated. I'm with you on this. " In response to Reply # 15 Fri Apr-08-16 02:18 PM by napturalmystic
The great migration is part of it. Staying together segregated is the other part.
My mother's family is from Boston, My Father's family is from Oklahoma, I don't sound like Chicagoans whose family is from Mississippi. I grew up in Chatham. I still sound like a Chicagoan.
If I came home from school speaking like my classmates it was corrected immediately. I could have picked up some of that accent or way of speaking from my peers. My grandmother made sure I did not.
18. "Black Americans in the Northeast lost our overt souther accents, " In response to Reply # 0 Thu Apr-07-16 03:39 PM by Teknontheou
so it's not just about where your family is from. Almost every Black person I knew growing up in Philly had family from and still in Virginia, NC, SC and GA.
I'd say on the East coats the last vestiges of a real southern accent are basically PG County. Everything above there is not truly southern.
21. "Black Chicago doesn't have a "universal" accent" In response to Reply # 0
Some people sound country: Bernie Mac, Chief Keef
But other people; Chance the Rapper, Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle), Michael Clark Duncan (Green Mile), don't.
I don't know why that is. But people from poor/ghetto areas typically sound more "country" than people from so-called middle class Black areas, like Chatham, or Evanston.
I think it's safe to say California has that same thing going on. JD's gaffilin' from the first Ice Cube album, Too Short, and Eazy E all sound country as hell. But not all of Black Los Angeles sounds like that.
__________________ Laces out like the bookings, just the way that Run did it
The Wordsmith Member since Aug 13th 2002 17070 posts
Thu Apr-07-16 05:44 PM
37. "Man, I said Black Californians have a tinge of southern in their accents..." In response to Reply # 21
....and one of the posters was hurt. Nigga tried to argue me down about it. I'm up here telling dude that I wasn't saying that they sounded straight out of the south but there's smidgen of it in the accent. Nigga was not trying to hear that. He was insulted by my remarks as if I told him his moms was a mega-whore and his kids should be killed.
-DJ R-Tistic- Member since Nov 06th 2008 51986 posts
Thu Apr-07-16 06:18 PM
40. "SMH. It's weird...it's moreso the hood types who have that slight" In response to Reply # 37
country in there. But overall, I notice that NY/East Coasters tell us we sound Country, while Down South folks say we sound proper. To East Coasters, I feel like New York and Philly people literally think EVERYONE sounds Country who's not from there...that includes L.A., DC, Detroit, Baltimore, St. Louis, and even the rural parts of Penn and NY state.
The Wordsmith Member since Aug 13th 2002 17070 posts
Thu Apr-07-16 11:30 PM
43. "Yeah, those up north east coasters, mainly NYC...." In response to Reply # 40
...swears that everyone not from that area is country. You're right, the hood Cali cats are who I think of when I think of that slight southern twang. Mainly them Bay Area cats. I think of them more than any other Californians in regards to the southern influence.
45. "Philly accent sounds closer to a Baltimore accent than NYC" In response to Reply # 40
>country in there. But overall, I notice that NY/East Coasters >tell us we sound Country, while Down South folks say we sound >proper. To East Coasters, I feel like New York and Philly >people literally think EVERYONE sounds Country who's not from >there...that includes L.A., DC, Detroit, Baltimore, St. Louis, >and even the rural parts of Penn and NY state. >
I'd honestly put the country-ish-sounding line between north Jersey and south Jersey. Folks in NYC sound a lot more "northern" than Philly folks.
47. "Segregation definitely " In response to Reply # 0
It makes sense since the south side has the largest concentration of black people in the country. Kanye has a definitive Chicago accent. But he sounds different from R. Kelly who sounds different from Jennifer Hudson. We sound more southern than my mom's side of the family in Biloxi Mississippi.
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