Despite living in the public shadow of Hollywood, South Los Angeles is a wellspring of talent that has endowed our world with notable actors, athletes, artists, and musicians in great measure. But while the world may be familiar with the South Los Angeles roots of Dr. Dre, Serena Williams, Kendrick, and Flo-Jo, numerous musical legends people forget come from the city's heart. That’s why L.A. TACO is here to remind you of some musical legends from South L.A.
So without further ado … here are six musical legends you forgot come from South L.A.
Slayer ~ Huntington Park
Sorry to disappoint anyone. But Slayer did not claw its way to Earth from the seventh Circle of Hell to reign blood, metal, and brimstone upon a weary world. The band formed in Huntington Park, where guitarist Kerry King grew up. King went to Warren High School in Downey, among others, while Tom Araya graduated from Bell High School. The band debuted with a show of covers at South Gate High and had its first public show at a Battle of the Bands contest held at South Gate Park Auditorium in 1981, in the neighborhood where Cuban-born drummer Dave Lombardo graduated from high school.
Charles Mingus ~ Watts
The legendary jazz bassist and bandleader was born in Arizona, but moved with his family to Watts at the age of three months, where he was raised on religious music while admiring jazz greats like Duke Ellington, studied cello, and watched as Simon Rodia built the Watts Towers and occasionally had rocks thrown at him. Already a composer in his teens, Mingus adapted to the bass for a job playing in Buddy Collette’s swing band, and went on to become one of the most renowned jazz instrumentalists, improvisers, composers, in the music’s history, as well as a celebrated, outspoken challenger of racism. While L.A. has an impressive jazz history, Mingus is likely L.A.’s greatest contribution to the genre.
Barry White ~ Watts
The world’s most beloved baritone, known for his romantic ballads and seductive spoken interludes, was born in Texas but raised in Watts, and went to the former Jacob A. Riis High School in Florence. White’s start in life wasn’t as smooth as the deep voice he suddenly woke up with at the age of 14. White, who once said, “I love my neighborhood, I love my guys,” was a self-described “dedicated” gangbanger who was, “fighting, partying, low-riding … [and] burglarized, stole cars” as a youth, before his arrest and incarceration at the age of 16 for stealing 30 grand of Cadillac tires in 1960. Attempting to change his life, he credits hearing Elvis’s “Now Or Never” while locked up for putting him on a new path. On his 18th birthday, the day he would have been graduating from high school, White soaked up the vibes near Capitol Records in Hollywood, going on to work for music agencies and sing in small groups before becoming a star as a producer, songwriter, and singer.
Vince Neil ~ Compton
While not exactly Charles Mingus, Vince Neil rose to massive musical stardom in the eighties and can still draw a crowd. Part-Mexican and Native, Neil was born in Hollywood and grew up in different parts of South L.A. before his family settled in Compton. In junior high, they moved to Glendora, where later, he’d drop out of high school and become a father at 16. Neil has recounted a tough upbringing in Compton, telling Loudersound he remembers, “kids were getting shot for their shoes. I witnessed murders. It was pretty crazy, but back then I thought everything was normal.” Today he has a reported net worth of $50 million, with business ventures as widespread as restaurants, vineyards, strip clubs, and his own Tequila called Tres Rios.
“Weird Al” Yankovic ~ Lynwood
If you know Weird Al’s discography like we all should, then you know this already. His 2006 hit “White & Nerdy” comes from an album called “Straight Outta Lynwood,” which, as you can see above, depicts Al looking hard in front of a dropped Chevy, in a Lynwood letter jacket, and holding onto the leash of a bored-looking pitbull in a Lynwood alley. Yankovic was born in Downey and raised in Lynwood, where his family obtained his first accordion from a door-to-door salesman. Al went to Lynwood High, graduating a year before Suge Knight started his freshman year. There he played a gang member named “Crunch” in a production of Rebel Without a Cause, was two years younger than most of his class due to skipping grades, and graduated in 1976 as the school valedictorian. In 2008, Al cruised Lynwood with a camera, vowing to “represent for my homies” and recounting when it had “Mayberry vibes.” A few years ago, Al posted some photos from his old childhood home.
Krist Novoselic ~ Compton
Weird Al is not the only accordion playing superstar with Croatian roots. Iconic Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic was born in Compton, moving to a Croatian hood in San Pedro after a year, where he lived until a move to Aberdeen, Washington as a teen. So unlike DJ Quik, he was born, but not raised in Compton. Still, dude wrote the bassline to “Love Buzz,” and we like to think L.A. had something to do with his genius.
