Artist Guide

803 Fresh (New Updates)

May 26, 2025: Originally published in "News & Notes" on Daddy B. Nice's Corner.

Daddy B. Nice's

News & Notes:

Southern Soul: THESE ARE THE GOOD OL' DAYS!

How does it feel, Southern Soul Nation, to have the hottest-trending music in America? Another day, another reel of TikTok "shorts" and YouTube videos to get your feet tapping. Anyone tiring of "Boots On The Ground? Hell Naw! Bishop Bullwinkle's "Hell Naw To The Naw Naw!" went viral ten years ago. And 803Fresh has been in TikTok's top ten streams for months now, often at #1.This is the "Cupid Shuffle" all over again. (17 years ago, 99 million views).

Like water rising in a flooding basement, "Boots On The Ground" is permeating every corner of the American cultural landscape, and the demand shows no sign of flagging. The newest "Boots" video tallied more than three million streams in its first ten days! Michelle Obama is dancing to it (so subtle, so smooth). Kamala Harris is learning how to do it. It's even the highlight of this year's graduation ceremonies at many universities, with senior officials as well as twenty-something, cap-and-gowned graduates all seemingly conversant with the "Boots" line dance. The contrast between southern soul's feel-good, dance-oriented music and the hiphop implosion taking place at Diddy's trial in New York City couldn't be greater....

....Yes, it's the "Days of Wine and Roses" for southern soul---the "Days of Hennessy and Herb". When southern soul singers are asked to describe southern soul music, they invariably give two answers: one, it's a mixture of blues, gospel, R&B, country and rock and roll; and two, it's some version of "It's 'feel good' music." And yep. We're feeling it. Although "Boots On The Ground" isn't a first. A list of southern soul artists who have become household names---at least for a time---would have to include the aforementioned Cupid ("Cupid Shuffle"), Bishop Bullwinkle ("Hell Naw To The Naw Naw"), Theodis Ealey ("Stand Up In It") and King George ("Keep On Rollin'").

....One last note on 803Fresh's "Boots On The Ground" and...Where 'dem fans at?...I can't remember fans (the kind to cool off with) being incorporated into a dance song, but having fun with body movements has been around forever. Back in 1965 Shirley Ellis had it going on:

Listen to Shirley Ellis singing the "Clapping Song". 1965.

Here's Shirley Ellis onstage with line-dancers and hand-clapping.

Listen to Shirley Ellis singing the "Clapping Song" live onstage on YouTube.

---Daddy B. Nice

803Fresh Joins Daddy B. Nice's Southern Soul: The New Generation Chart At #37!

See The Chart.

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles For. . .

March 2025

1. "Boots On The Ground"----803Fresh

"Boots On The Ground" is the biggest phenomenon to hit southern soul music since King George's "Keep On Rollin'". TikTok is swimming in video shorts of fan-waving line dancers. The YouTube page has notched five million views in the blink of an eye. The artist's upcoming bookings are enviable. A lot of planning---concentrating on brevity, danceability, the roll-out with the new line-dance) obviously went into this record, but you can't calculate this kind of success. I was reading only this morning that King George's financial worth is estimated at 19 million dollars. Fresh isn't there yet, but he's catapulted into that stratosphere, and he must be pinching himself. And even if you've heard "Boots On The Ground" dozens of times and watched clips of people dancing for more hours than you ever bargained, you have to love its barely three-minute, bass-heavy, jug-band simplicity. It makes people happy, and current southern soul is bathing in its effervescent glow.

Listen to 803Fresh singing "Boots On The Ground" on YouTube.



See Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles March 2025.

Originally published in Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles.

--Daddy B. Nice

About 803 Fresh (New Updates)

803 Fresh is a Southern soul singer from Wagner-Salley, South Carolina.



April 25, 2025:

Daddy B. Nice's

News & Notes:

Southern Soul in New York City!

I never thought I'd see it. They're street-dancing to 803Fresh's "Boots On The Ground" in Times Square outside the discount Broadway tickets booth. Ubiquitous in NYC, these street buskers are taking the line dance moves to a whole 'nother level, attracting crowds who watch, stupefied, wondering what the hell they're witnessing. Very few will comprehend they're listening to a genre called southern soul, and even fewer will enter the nirvana where we southern soul fans pass our pleasurable days. But it's happening nevertheless, and what was unimaginable for the southern soul scene a couple of decades ago---that is, the younger generation completely enthused and energized by southern soul---is now a reality. One amusing footnote: most of the YouTube and TikTok videos chronicling these impromptu street dances in Manhattan label it "Texas culture". Guess they don't know it originated in South Carolina. Are line dances Southern Soul's entree into the national consciousness?

Listen to a new interview with 803Fresh on YouTube.

"Boots On The Ground" lyric references are proliferating in new music by other artists. That's the evidence a tune has become a sure-fire classic (i.e. "Stand Up In It," "Hole In The Wall," "Keep on Rollin'," "Slow Roll It".). Even musical snippets are showing up in the music of others, particularly the three-beat verse-end that makes the line-dancers shake their fans and butts. 803Fresh fans can listen to an interview with their beloved singer/songwriter on YouTube: "I Am Carolina featuring 803Fresh (Episode 3)". And out of left-field: Rickey Smiley has a YouTube video called "Church Folks Version of Boots On The Ground".

Originally published in Daddy B. Nice's Corner.

From Daddy B. Nice's

News & Notes