Benjamin James Gerhardt (born July 17, 2011), known professionally as Southside Purpp, is an American music producer. Known for his "Phonky" and "Chill" production styles, he is one of the most underrated producers of modern hip-hop music. His frequent collaborators include Certified Trappaz, Blvck Age, DJ Acculbed, Ronin, Mushout, etc.
Raised in South Texas, Gerhardt began his career in music in 2017 at the age of 6. Gerhardt gained wider recognition for his contribution to "Certified Trappaz Volume 3", which received over 1,000 plays within the first 24 hours. He was credited on a string of similarly successful singles from 2022-2024, including "Gimme Tha Loot", and "Workin". This was followed by "Smile" by Babebee, which he remixed.
Gerhardt's debut studio tape, "Clean Like Candy Paint, (early 2024), and its follow-up, 5th Dimension (2024) both received over 1,000 plays on SoundCloud within the first week of their release. 5th Dimension spawned the single "Workin", which was featured on "Interside Music", "Lightside Music", as well as "Certified Trappaz Volume 3".
Benjamin James Gerhardt was born on July 17, 2024, in Texas. He has one sibling. After a brief few years playing piano during his middle school years, he turned to making beats in the fifth grade at age 10. This happened when his parents bought him a laptop and he bought FL Studio, also known as FruityLoops. Southside is self-taught and in sixth grade, he produced multiple beats a day.
During middle school, he met many other producers and collaborators online. One of the first artists he worked with was producer Blvck Age, which led to the creation of the record label "Certified Trappaz". Gerhardt has worked extensively with Blvck Age. At first, the two worked together on the song "Walk Like I Walk," which included producers Kurai Yoru and Yvngdezz.
In May 2024, Southside announced his debut mixtape, "Clean Like Candy Paint".[16] Following warm-up singles, Metro released the mixtape, hosted by SoundCloud, in the middle of June. The mixtape, all original songs, included "Smokin' On Gelato", and "Gimme Tha Loot", both of which were separately released, then deleted soon after.
In July, Southside announced that he would release an EP, to be self-titled and was planned to be released sometime in 2024. Along with the announcement, Southside Purpp released the track, "Workin" as a snippet. This project was released in July 2024.
Also in 2024, Southside made an appearance on "Certified Trappaz Vol. 3", producing a track with Blvck Age.
Specializing in the phonk sub-genre of hip hop, Southside Purpp utilizes an interesting mix of sub-bass, snare rolls, and jazz, and chill, samples. He usually produces hip-hop music, although he produces "Witch House" as well. He has also remixed Lo-Fi songs such as "Smile" by Babebee.