Jingle Jam 2005

A virtual crash course in current Southern hip-hop, 97.9 The Beat's holiday blowout rounds up an impressive array of Dixie's hustle-and-flow men (and one woman) to remind us of the real reason for the season: cash! Headliner Young Jeezy--Atlanta's 50 Cent, in more ways than one--has had quite a year, releasing his first solo record, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, as well as a Bad Boy-endorsed disc by his ATL posse Boyz N Da Hood. Li'l Wayne from New Orleans just issued a strong new CD called Tha Carter II which summons a more soulful spirit than much of the stuff by Wayne's Cash Money cohort. With Li'l Kim temporarily behind bars, Miami's Trina is currently the ride-or-die chick to beat. And no rap story's been bigger this year than Houston hip-hop; on Saturday, the form is repped a few hours north by scene elder Bun B as well as young major-label darlings Slim Thug and Chamillionaire.