The origin of “The Dirty South”? Read here.

Dirty Harry is in Manila. Dirty Ice Cream is everywhere. Dirty Old Men? Hmm…you tell us.

Cebu is THE Queen City of the South. We will not argue this as we don’t want to get banned from Cebu.

So where did the label “Dirty South” originate from? Why is the Muntinlupa-Paranaque-Las Pinas area called “The Dirty South”?

Well, yeah, the tri-city is located at the southern part of Metro Manila but that’s too obvious.

Some Alabang Bulletin readers volunteered that the name probably came from the fact that the community IS actually dirty with all the diggings, uncollected garbage, flooding and traffic. But then again, almost ALL cities in Metro Manila should then have this title too.

One villager even seemed angry when asked for his opinion, saying “because people are ignorant. Perhaps Las Pinas is unfairly lumped with the other two for geographical reasons—the Alabang Terminal and Paranaque’s disorganized road systems can be blamed?”

A funny comment that we got was our area is called The Dirty South because of the poor water supply in most areas, people here do not take a bath regularly. Well, we hope that’s not the real reason.

Are we all “thugs” here?

Is it because a lot of hip hop groups originated from Paranaque (and as far as Cavite?)?

Well, based on initial research we made, the term “Dirty South” or Southern hip hop refers to “a form of hip hop music that emerged in the late 1990s as a popular force from cities such as Dallas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, Houston, Louisville, New Orleans and Miami.”

Apparently, what made that particular hip hop different from other forms of hip hop is its complex lyrics and sparse urban beats.

The music imbibed a relaxing and steady funk. Relaxing and steady are two words that usually describe the south.

Laidback is another word.

“Southern rap is largely characterized by its upbeat, exuberant, club-friendly tunes and simplistic, heavily rhythmic lyrical delivery,” said Wikipedia.

There. Although we prefer that people drop the word “dirty” from the title, what can we do? We live here and we are steady and laidback.

Whether it was due to our musical influence or on the way we live (not due to our smell, hopefully) here in the south, the label “The Dirty South” has defined our area for several years now. We don’t mind.

Let’s all just make our neighborhood the cleanest “Dirty South” this side of the world. Know what we’re saying?

Dirty South…represent!