The Definition of Bounce: Between Ups and Downs in New Orleans

A lush portrait of New Orleans bounce, captured by 10th Ward Buck from inside the scene that shaped him.Long before twerking went mainstream, bounce was already pulsing through the block parties, second lines, and clubs of New Orleans. As essential to the city as jazz or zydeco, this fast-paced, call-and-response party music has shaped a generation of Louisiana hip hop and is now reaching listeners far beyond the Gulf Coast. In Definition of Bounce, DJ, producer, and performer 10th Ward Buck opens the door to the scene as he saw it coming up. Working with New Orleans music journalist Alison Fensterstock and producer and actor Lucky Johnson, he introduces the producers, MCs, dancers, and venues that defined bounce during his early years on the mic, and shares personal stories from the people who shaped the sound with him. Hundreds of original photographs capture the artists, the fashion, and the energy of the scene at that moment, while an illustrated timeline traces thirty years of the genre's history for context. This isn't the whole story of bounce. It's a snapshot of a sound in motion, made by one of the young artists who lived it. Read more