Atlanta is unlike any other city in the south because of the amount of history it has compared to other cities. In the 1800’s, it was a major city for the confederate states of America which was later burned to the ground and just a few years later the most widely recognized drink in the world was invented named Coca Cola. Later in the 1900’s, a man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr was born in this city and became an activist for civil right for African Americans. Today the city is known for being the home of rap music often referenced at The A or The Atl. But how did the music industry in Atlanta evolve to what it is today? Music in Atlanta has diversified itself throughout the decades starting with the turn of the century when music began to become more mainstream or available to the public through the radio and vinyl records. country and jazz were among the most popular genres of music during the early 20th century.
Although Atlanta never claimed the title of “Music city”, which belongs to Nashville, it briefly became the recording center of country music and blues. It all began when WSB radio station debuted itself at the “Voice of the South” in May of 1922. This was a well-deserved title at the time since it was the first radio station in the south and within a year of its existence was able to rake in an audience of over two million people nightly. Unlike radio today which plays songs that are already recorded and can be replayed over and over, all the music that was played in this station was by live performers and bands since that kind of technology was not widely available at the time. This meant that the station had to have someone always performing and this was a challenge, but it was also an opportunity for the WSB station to diversify the genres that it played to its listeners. The artists that played in the station varied from country bands to a smooth jazz trumpeter. It was a great time for many African Americans to put their names out there on a national stage. For the first time it seemed like the city of Atlanta was finally becoming a city that could produce culture.
This painting by Pablo Picasso, perfectly describes how the atmosphere of Atlanta in terms of music was viewed by other people it because it’s music didn’t promote change rather it attempted to focus on the past and of simpler times.
Country artist Fiddlin’ John Carson was one of the biggest names in this genre of music, his music was able to do what most singers could only dream of at the time. He was nothing more than a poor southerner who basically had any job that you could imagine but he was also a street musician trying to make some extra cash. His talent made him a local sensation and his lyrics were able to evoke so much feeling to his audience. He became a symbol in the south that remined people of the agrarian past, which often made his listeners feel nostalgic. His music was later recorded along with other artists such as Riley Puckett and Gid Tanner, the future was looking very bright for the genre of country music with a station such as WSB and plenty of local talent. Unfortunately, the overall population of Atlanta along with the city leaders had other plans in mind because they did not consider the music of these apparent hillbillies as part of the cities culture rather it was parts of a simpler past.
In the eyes of southern folks the image of listening to country music at night by a live performer could be rather relaxing and heartwarming, as depicted there, especially in a time where one’s ideals are being threatened by more modernist ideas. The painting following that one evokes also feelings of a relaxed and simpler life, one can imagine that the young boy is practicing with his instrument with dreams on one day becoming a famous musician like a lot of these other real life artist once did.
This era of prospering Country music would not last very long but there is no denying that these musicians regardless of their genre and race were able to shift Atlanta’s cultural role. For the many years after, a lot of the recording studios would fall victims of the Great Depression and completely die out, leaving only the thoughts of how much this city could have become if it encouraged the rise of these local talents. This would only be the start though, of a modernist movement in the art of the music industry. Over the next couple of decades many genres would come and go in the city of Atlanta but in recent history there is one genre that has become synonymous to this city. What is that genre? hip-hop/rap.
In a time where the two main cities that produced hip hop were Los Angeles and New York City, Atlanta managed a way to put its local talent into the spotlight. At first many of the Atlanta artists were not socially accepted by most consumers of hip hop at the time. Unique styles that were created in this city were a major catalyst for the popularity and success that is being shown by the many artists and music producers coming out of Atlanta today. The mix between hip-hop, R&B, and pop were a major hit during the 1990’s leading to the wide recognition of artists such as Usher and Ciara. This was only the beginning though over the next decade a style of music called crunk which can be best described as a heavy bass music with tones of heavy partying paved the path for the fame of Lil Jon and other artists of that decade. By this time Atlanta was put on the face of the map on a national level in the music industry, Atlanta was finally being recognized for their young and new talent. It took many generations and several genres but that cultural impact that Atlanta desired so much to have was becoming a reality. Atlanta was just a step away from becoming a global influence in the music industry as the capital of Hip-Hop/Rap. Usher, Ludacris, and Lil Jon would be the ones to produce a song that not only landed in Billboard’s Hot 100 decades chart and even landed on the top charts in 14 different countries. Thanks to all of the young artists that the city of Atlanta was able to produce in the late 2000’s, even the New York Times had to admit that Atlanta was becoming the capital of Hip-Hop/Rap.
With the evolution of hip-hop the way it is listened to and produced have also changed which have made these two a pair because really without one of them the other cannot coexist, with newer technology hip-hop has been able to be produced in more varying styles and the amount of music released has also increased which what was the purpose of this artwork.
A new generation of Hip-Hop/Rap artists and the rise of social media were the best thing that could have to continue to keep Atlanta on the map. The creation of YouTube is a prime example of this occurring, in 2007 an artist by the name of Soulja Boy released “Crank That” which became an instant success on Billboard’s Top 100 and received millions of views on his music video uploaded on that site. In the following years, almost every popular Hip-Hop/Rap that made the top charts was either performed by an Atlanta artist and/or produced by an Atlanta record label. Atlanta managed to create such a cultural impact that even artists such as Drake and Bobby Shmurda who are not even from Atlanta began to copy the style that was being used there, and to no surprise they gained plenty of success. Atlanta has no signs of slowing down its pace, year after year the number of Atlanta born rappers, as they are referred to this today, has increased almost exponentially. If Atlanta keeps producing artists with a fresh new style and people continue to listen to this music the south specifically Atlanta will remain a national and global cultural influence on the music industry.
The picture above is a representation of the cultural change that Atlanta has produced. I attempted to create a record label/ album cover that is able to describe the kind of atmosphere that was produced by this music and what it continues to do even today.
Atlanta has had a rollercoaster of a ride when it has come to popularizing certain genres of music starting at the early 20th century began to popularize country and jazz which although was short lived showed potential of what city of Atlanta could accomplish. In the following decades other genres would come and go such as Pop and Rock but none would stick around much less create a cultural shift quite like Hip-Hop/Rap. Starting with the 90’s where Atlanta became relevant in the Hip-Hop/Rap community, and later in the 2000’s became a birthplace of many Atlanta artists that made a name for themselves not just nationally but even internationally. In the present-day era of the late 2010’s and early 2020’s, if you ever mention the city of Atlanta the “rap game”, as people mention it there, has to be mentioned along with it because of the amount of song hits that this city has been able to make. All that can be said now is, as people say in Atlanta, “That’s how it’s done in the ATL!”.