Louisiana has been coined the “Hollywood of the South” by various news outlets in the state. And everything that’s happening in the state with music and movies is proving that the nickname is deserved.In the past few years, many big name movies have been filmed in Louisiana, including “All the King’s Men,” “Glory Road,” “The Dukes of Hazzard,” “Ray,” and most recently “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”Louisiana provides great locations to shoot movies because of the great tax incentives offered by the state. There are beautiful locations like plantation homes or downtown areas of cities that provide a real-life set for movies to work with.Shreveport was even ranked third in best places to film in 2008 by Movie Maker Magazine.The criteria that determined rankings included quality and quantity of local talent, production facilities and networking events.With all the fuss over the film industry booming in our great state, I’ve been looking forward to the music scene to just explode. Louisiana does have a pretty respectable amount of opportunities for musicians to get started.Louisiana hosts VooDoo Music Festival, JazzFest and the Essence Music Festival. While these might not be as big as festivals such as Coachella and Bonnaroo, they bring an excellent mix of artists to our state.I’ve been to VooDoo Fest twice and have to say it was an enjoyable music experience. I plan on going see Neil Young this May at my first Jazz Fest.These festivals bring a lot of big name musicians and performers to our state and also showcase a ton of local talent as well. I’m just bothered that the great local talent our state possesses never seems to break it big on the next level that often.While Louisiana can brag on the amount of talent it has produced in the past with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Buddy Guy, and of course Britney Spears, it seemed we haven’t had any local acts make it real big recently.I was proven wrong after reading a Rolling Stone article on the best albums of 2008 when something caught my attention. A New Orleans hip-hop duo called The Knux commented on their favorite album of the year, “Tha Carter III.”I had no idea who The Knux were, so I did what any other curious person would do — I looked them up on Wikipedia.It turns out that the duo comprised of two brothers from New Orleans have notable singles from their debut album “Remind Me In 3 Days.”The song “Bang, Bang” was featured in the promo for season five of Entourage and “Cappuccino” was used in the movie “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.”The Knux are just one group who have pleasantly surprised me by being so popular and I had never even heard of them. They have even had an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”Their sound and energy are different from most popular hip-hop acts today. They are sure to find more success as they continue to make music.I tend to by cynical when it comes to entertainment in our lovely state. While Louisiana has produced successful musicians and had great movies filmed here, I am jealous of the talent that comes from other states.It just seems that there is so much more talent in the rest of the country than in Louisiana, something I’m hoping can be proved wrong.So I will continue to listen to The Knux, watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and wait. I know the future of the music industry in Louisiana has great potential. It’s only a matter of time before Louisiana truly becomes the Hollywood of the South.—Contact Joshua Chenier [email protected]