Although the music scene of Atlanta is rich and varied, the city's production of hip-hop music has been especially noteworthy, acclaimed, and commercially successful. In 2009, The New York Times called Atlanta "hip-hop's center of gravity", [1] and the city is home to many famous hip hop, R&B, and neo soul [2] musicians.
In the 1980s and early 1990s Atlanta's hip hop scene was characterized by a local variant of Miami's electro-driven bass music, with stars like Kilo Ali, MC Shy-D, Raheem the Dream, and DJ Smurf (later Mr. Collipark). [1] MC Shy-D is credited with bringing authentic Bronx-style hip-hop to Atlanta (and Miami), such as 1988's Shake it [3] produced by DJ Toomp; Jones was signed to controversial Southern hip hop label Luke Records, run by Luther Campbell aka "Uncle Luke". Arrested Development won a Grammy Award in 1992 with "Tennessee", while Kris Kross won with their hit song "Jump". The group Tag Team released their debut platinum certified album Whoomp! (There It Is) on July 20, 1993, spawned by their hit single of the same name. [4] However, Organized Noize and Dungeon Family "cornerstone" Rico Wade, who even produced albums for Outkast, Goodie Mob and Future, was considered to be a major architect of Atlanta hip hop. [5] [6] Numerous aspiring musicians and artists would in fact record music in the studio which was located in the basement of Wade's mother, and which became known as the "Dungeon." [5]
By the mid-1990s, the rise of LaFace Records artists Outkast, Goodie Mob and the production collective Organized Noize led to the development of the Dirty South style of hip-hop and of Atlanta gaining a reputation for "soul-minded hip-hop eccentrics", contrasting with other regional styles. [1] While Atlanta-area hip hop artists were from the suburban Decatur area, their prominence was eclipsed by music associated with these artists from "The S.W.A.T.S." ("Southwest Atlanta, too strong"), [7] [8] i.e. Southwest Atlanta, plus territory extending into the adjacent cities of College Park and East Point. The term "SWATS" came into vogue around 1996, initially made popular by Outkast and Goodie Mob. [9]
From the late 1990s to early 2000s, record producer Lil Jon became a driving force behind the hip hop subgenre known as crunk, known for its upbeat and club oriented hip hop sound. Record producers L.A. Reid and Babyface founded LaFace Records in Atlanta in the late-1980s; the label eventually became the home to multi-platinum selling artists such as Toni Braxton, TLC, Ciara. It is also the home of So So Def Recordings, a label founded by Jermaine Dupri in the mid-1990s, that signed acts such as Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Xscape and Dem Franchise Boyz. The success of LaFace and SoSo Def led to Atlanta as an established scene for record labels such as LaFace parent company Arista Records to set up satellite offices. [10]
In 2009 The New York Times noted that after 2000, Atlanta moved "from the margins to becoming hip-hop's center of gravity, part of a larger shift in hip-hop innovation to the South." Atlanta hip-hop's pop breakthrough—everyone from Jermaine Dupri to OutKast to Lil Jon—involved the blend of various distillations of hard-core sounds from the West, bass beats from Florida, and styles and images from the North. [11] Producer Drumma Boy called Atlanta "the melting pot of the South". Producer Fatboi called the Roland TR-808 ("808") synthesizer "central" to Atlanta music's versatility, used for snap, crunk, trap, and pop rap styles. [1] The same article named Fatboi, Shawty Redd, and Zaytoven the four "hottest producers driving the city". [1]
Atlanta hip-hop has influenced other mainstream forms of media. The television show Atlanta, which chronicles the lives of two cousins as they navigate the hip-hop world, exemplifies this broader impact. It has earned two Golden Globe awards and two Emmy awards. A number of Atlanta-based artists, including Killer Mike and Jermaine Dupri, have also become involved in local and national political movements. [12]
Local multi-platinum artists include Ludacris, [13] Ciara, [14] B.o.B, [15] Outkast, [16] [17] T.I., [18] and Young Jeezy. [19] The following hip-hop, rap, R&B, and soul artists have had #1 or #2 albums or singles on the U.S. Hot 100 chart:
Aquemini is the third studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on September 29, 1998, by LaFace Records. The title is a portmanteau of the two performers' Zodiac signs: Aquarius and Gemini, which is indicative of the album's recurring theme of the differing personalities of the two members. The group recorded the majority of the album in Bobby Brown's Bosstown Recording Studios and Doppler Studios, both in Atlanta, Georgia.
Goodie Mob is an American hip hop group based in Atlanta, Georgia, consisting of CeeLo Green, Khujo, T-Mo, and Big Gipp.
Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memphis, and Miami—five cities which constitute the "Southern Network" in rap music.
Organized Noize is an American production duo from Atlanta, Georgia, currently composed of Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown.
Patrick Leroy "Sleepy" Brown is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is one-third of the Atlanta-based production team of Organized Noize, which has created hits for acts such as Outkast, Goodie Mob and TLC. TLC's "Waterfalls", penned by Brown and Organized Noize's Rico Wade and Ray Murray, was a #1 hit single on Billboard's Hot 100 in the summer of 1995.
ATLiens is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on August 27, 1996, by Arista Records and LaFace Records. From 1995 to 1996, Outkast recorded ATLiens in sessions at several Atlanta studios—Bosstown Recording Studios, Doppler Recording Studios, PatchWerk Recording Studio, Purple Dragon Studios, and Studio LaCoCo—as well as Chung King Recording Studio and Sound On Sound Recording in New York City.
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is the debut studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast, released on April 26, 1994, by Arista Records and LaFace Records. Having befriended each other two years prior, rappers André 3000 and Big Boi pursued recording music as a duo and worked with production team Organized Noize, leading to a record contract with LaFace. With the team producing, Outkast recorded the album at the Dungeon, D.A.R.P. Studios, Purple Dragon, Bosstown, and Doppler Studios, all in Atlanta.
David Sheats, known professionally as Mr. DJ, is an American hip-hop producer and DJ from Atlanta. He and Outkast members Big Boi and André 3000 make up the record production company Earthtone III.
Complicated is the second studio album by American singer Nivea, released in the United States on May 3, 2005 on Jive Records. It was primarily produced by her then-husband The-Dream, with additional production from Lil Jon, R. Kelly, Bryan Michael Cox and Jermaine Dupri. The album peaked at No. 37 on the US Billboard 200 album charts and peaked at No. 9 on the R&B chart. Complicated was critically acclaimed, but failed to receive major commercial success, eventually becoming Nivea's lowest selling album to date with just over 100,000 copies sold in the US.
Ruben Bailey, professionally known by his stage name Big Rube, is an American spoken word artist, rapper and hip hop producer. He is a first-generation member of the Dungeon Family and of Society of Soul. He is known for his spoken word intros and interludes on many albums by fellow members and affiliates of the Dungeon Family, including Outkast, Goodie Mob, Killer Mike, Future, Witchdoctor and Bubba Sparxxx. He has also contributed his spoken word poetry to Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam and the motion picture ATL. He appears on the Outkast songs "13th Floor/Growing Old" and "Liberation" as well as the CeeLo Green's song “Scrap Metal”.
Frederick Bell, professionally known by his stage name Cool Breeze is an American Georgia-based rapper and a member of Southern hip hop collective Dungeon Family. He released his debut solo album East Point's Greatest Hit in 1999. In 2001, he joined up with two rappers from a group called Sniper Unit and became known as Freddie Calhoun. He features on and is the origin to the title phrase of the 1996 Billboard Hot 100 single "Dirty South" on Goodie Mob's debut album Soul Food. His 1998 single "Watch for the Hook" featuring Goodie Mob, Outkast and Witchdoctor reached the Billboard Hot 100 at #73 and topped the US Hot Rap Songs chart.
Soul Food is the debut album from American rap group Goodie Mob, released by LaFace Records. Its title track was a hit single and the album included the first use of the term 'dirty south', on the track of the same name. The Goodie Mob quartet includes Cee-Lo Green, Big Gipp, Khujo, and T-Mo. Guest vocalists on this album include André 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast, Cool Breeze, and Witchdoctor. In 1996, it was certified gold as sales stand at over 500,000 units in the U.S.
Snap music is a subgenre of hip hop music derived from crunk that originated in southern United States in the 2000s, in Bankhead, West Atlanta, United States. It achieved mainstream popularity throughout the mid-late 2000s, but declined shortly thereafter. Popular snap artists include D4L, Dem Franchize Boys and K-Rab.
Cameron F. Gipp, better known by his stage name Big Gipp, is an American rapper who rose to prominence as a member of the Atlanta-based hip hop quartet Goodie Mob, with whom he has gone on to release six studio albums. His debut solo studio album Mutant Mindframe was released in 2003 via Koch Records, reaching No. 161 on the US Billboard 200 chart. In 2006, he, Nelly, Paul Wall and Ali, were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards for the number-one single "Grillz", leading to the release of the collaborative album Kinfolk with Ali the following year. He is known for his slow, drawn-out rapping dialect with political and street-life themed lyrics.
Outkast was an American hip hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of rappers Big Boi and André 3000. The duo achieved both critical and commercial success from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, helping to popularize Southern hip hop with their intricate lyricism, memorable melodies, and positive themes, while experimenting with a diverse range of genres such as funk, psychedelia, jazz, and techno. Outkast are widely regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of all time.
Atlanta has a thriving music industry and is considered to be a capital of hip-hop including crunk, of R&B and its offshoot neo-soul, and of gospel music - in addition to a thriving indie-rock and live music scene. Classical, country and blues have historically been well represented. From the 1920s through 1950s the city was a major center for country music.
Trap is a subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the Southern United States, with lyrical references to trap starting in 1991 but the modern sound of trap appearing in 1999. The genre gets its name from the Atlanta slang term "trap house", a house used exclusively to sell drugs. Trap music uses synthesized drums and is characterized by complex hi-hat patterns, snare drums, bass drums, some tuned with a long decay to emit a bass frequency, and lyrical content that often focuses on drug use and urban violence.
The Dungeon Family were a musical collective based in Atlanta that specialized in Southern hip hop with heavy funk and soul influences. Members of this collective recorded music, and had their career emerge, from Rico Wade's basement recording studio in East Point, Georgia, which was known as the "Dungeon."
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