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Atlanta has a thriving music industry and is considered to be a capital ofhip-hop includingcrunk, ofR&B and its offshootneo-soul, and ofgospel music - in addition to a thrivingindie-rock and live music scene.Classical,country andblues have historically been well represented.[1] From the 1920s through 1950s the city was a majorcenter for country music.[2]
In 2009, theNew York Times called Atlanta "hip-hop's center of gravity",[3] and the city is home to many popularhip-hop,R&B andneo soul[4] musicians.
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The following hip-hop, rap, R&B and soul artists have had #1 or #2 singles on theU.S. Hot 100 chart:
| Artist | Year | Rank | Single name | Year | Rank | Album name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.o.B | 2010 | 1 | Nothin' on You | 2010 | 1 | B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray |
| Lil Nas X | 2018-2021 | 1 | 3#1 singles | 2021 | 2 | Montero |
| CeeLo Green | 2010 | 2 | Fuck You! | The Lady Killer | ||
| Childish Gambino | 2018 | 1 | This Is America | |||
| Ciara | 2004 | 1 | Goodies | 2006 | 1 | Ciara: The Evolution |
| D4L | 2006 | 1 | Laffy Taffy | Down for Life | ||
| Kris Kross | 1992-1995 | 1 | Jump | 1992 | 1 | Totally Krossed Out |
| Lil Jon | 2003 | 2 | Get Low | Kings of Crunk | ||
| Lloyd | You | 2007 | 2 | Street Love | ||
| Ludacris | 2003-2006 | 1 | 5#1 singles | 2003-2010 | 1 | 4#1 albums |
| Migos | 2017 | 1 | Bad and Boujee | 2017 | 1 | Culture (Migos album) |
| Monica | 1998-1999 | 1 | 3#1 singles | 2003 | 1 | 2#1 albums |
| T.I. | 2008 | 1 | 4#1 singles | 2006-2008 | 1 | 3#1 albums |
| TLC | 1992-1999 | 1 | 4#1 singles | 1999 | 1 | FanMail |
| Outkast | 2000-2003 | 1 | 3#1 singles | 2003 | 1 | Speakerboxxx/The Love Below |
| Shop Boyz | 2007 | 2 | Party Like a Rockstar | Rockstar Mentality | ||
| The-Dream | Rockin' That Shit | 2009 | 2 | Love vs. Money | ||
| Toni Braxton | 1996-2000 | 1 | 2#1 singles | 1993 | 1 | Toni Braxton |
| Usher | 1998-2010 | 9#1 singles | 2004-2010 | 4#1 albums | ||
| Young Jeezy | 2008 | Put On | 2006 | 1 | 3#1 albums |
Some other local artists include(d):
In the 1980s and early 1990s Atlanta's hip hop scene was characterized by a local variant ofMiami's electro-driven bass music, with stars likeKilo Ali, MC Shy-D,Raheem the Dream, andDJ Smurf (laterMr. Collipark).[3] MC Shy-D is credited with bringing authentic Bronx-style hip-hop to Atlanta (and Miami), such as 1988'sShake it[5] produced byDJ Toomp.
TheDungeon Family is ahip hop/R&B/soul musical collective, based in Atlanta and specializing inSouthern hip hop with heavyfunk andsoul influences. Members includeOutKast,Goodie Mob,P.A.,Lumberjacks,Society of Soul,André 3000,Big Boi, Backbone,Mr. DJ,Big Gipp,Cee Lo Green,Khujo,T-Mo,Witchdoctor,Big Rube,Cool Breeze,Big Reese,Killer Mike,Bubba Sparxxx,BlackOwned C-Bone andSupa Nate. The Dungeon Family also includes Rico Wade, Ray Murray, andSleepy Brown who constitute the production/songwriting teamOrganized Noize, who have produced hits for the main popular Dungeon Family groups OutKast and Goodie Mob. By the mid-1990s, the rise of OutKast, Goodie Mob and Organized Noize led to the development of theDirty South style of hip-hop and of Atlanta gaining a reputation for "soul-minded hip-hop eccentrics", contrasting with other regional styles.[3]
The Yin Yang Café (now Apache Café) in Midtown on 3rd Street was a centerpoint for the development of theneo-soul scene including artist such asIndia.Arie,Society of Soul,Laurnéa, Kemetic Just, Sleepy Brown,Divinity Roxx, Naked Jazz, Khari Simmons, andAnthony David.[6]
From the late 1990s to early 2000s, producerLil Jon was a driving force behind the party-oriented style known ascrunk.Record producersL.A. Reid andBabyface foundedLaFace Records in Atlanta in the late-1980s; the label eventually became the home to multi-platinum selling artists such asToni Braxton,TLC andCiara. It is also the home ofSo So Def Records, a label founded byJermaine Dupri in the mid-1990s, that signed acts such asDa Brat,Jagged Edge,Xscape andDem Franchise Boyz. The success of LaFace and SoSo Def led to Atlanta as an established scene for record labels such as LaFace parent companyArista Records to set up satellite offices.
In 2009 theNew 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." ProducerDrumma Boy called Atlanta "the melting pot of the South". Producer Fatboi called theRoland TR-808 ("808") synthesizer "central" to the music of Atlanta's versatility, used forsnap,crunk,trap, andpop rap styles.[3] The same article namedDrumma Boy, Fatboi,Shawty Redd andZaytoven the four "hottest producers driving the city".[3]
Magic City is Atlanta's premiere gentlemen's club, responsible for launching artists such asFuture,Young Thug, andGucci Mane into the mainstream. Magic, the owner of Magic City, takes pride in his love of stripping and believes that the rap game in Atlanta is held together by "the power of booty." However, the role of strippers isn't just a position of subservience for the aesthetics of the club. Because they control the mood of the room, they have the ability to control audiences; they can make or break rap artists. The dancers request songs, so if they're getting 10,000 thrown at them whenever it blasts, they will continue to request the song. A club goer explained, "The girls pick what record pops in the streets. They pick what rapper pops in the streets. The girls at Magic City are the streets."[7]
Atlanta plays a major role in thegospel music scene in many genres, particularlyurban contemporary gospel (black gospel) as well asSouthern gospel. The leading industry award ceremony, theGMA Dove Awards of theGospel Music Association, have taken place since 2011 in Atlanta'sFox Theater. The Atlanta Gospel Choice Awards are also given out yearly at a well-attended festival. Gospel groups based in Atlanta includedThe Statesmen Quartet and many others.
Atlanta has also produced rock and pop music singers, such as the folk-popIndigo Girls,The Black Crowes, Shawn Mullins, The Changelings, alternative metal bandSevendust, ska/punk band Treephort, comedy-core pioneersAttractive Eighties Women,Maserati, post-rock bandLight Pupil Dilate, dream-pop bandSeely, rock bandsUncle Green (a.k.a.3 Lb. Thrill),Injected,doubleDrive, City Sleeps,Manchester Orchestra,Collective Soul andThird Day,Butch Walker, and was a proving ground for Connecticut-born pop-rock-blues musicianJohn Mayer.[citation needed] Mayer, as well asIndia.Arie and Shawn Mullins, all performed pre-fame atEddie's Attic, an independent club in the intown suburb of Decatur. The "Open Mic Shootout" at Eddie's Attic consistently draws singer-songwriter talent from across the nation, and is held every Monday night.
The Satellites played every Monday night for $1. at Hedgen's in Buckhead,and Pranks played various bars.They all hit the big time.
During the 1980s, Atlanta had an activePunk rock scene that was centered on two of the city's music venues,688 Club and the Metroplex, and Atlanta famously played host to theSex Pistols first U.S. show, which was performed at the Great Southeastern Music Hall.[8] Subculture continued to flourish in the 1990s with theMasquerade andTyranny which featuredindustrial anddark wave. The Chamber, formed based on the success of Club Fetish, an industrial and gothic night hosted by the Masquerade, became a cultural icon.Little Five Points also continued to be the center of counter culture.
There is also a large metal scene in the Atlanta, including sludge metal bandMastodon, metalcore bandWoe, Is Me,Issues, and deathcore bandAttila. Other sludge metal groups from Savannah, Georgia are also sometimes associated with the Atlanta scene, includingBaroness,Kylesa, Royal Thunder, andBlack Tusk.[9]
Justin Bieber lived in Atlanta during the early to mid-2010s when he was heavily recording music, having been drawn there byUsher and signed to theRBMG label.[10]
Atlanta has also had a thrivingindie rock scene since the early 1980s. Notable bands and artists over the years have includedDrivin N Cryin,Magnapop,The Now Explosion,Mr. Crowes Garden, Dirt,The Opal Foxx Quartet,The Jody Grind,Cartel,Norma Jean,Smoke,Black Lips,Flap,The Subsonics,The Rockerz,Toenut,The Rock*A*Teens,Pineal Ventana,Ultrababyfat,nerdkween,Atlas Sound,Almighty Defenders,The Gaye Blades,Made in China,The Tom Collins,dropsonic,The Dreaded Marco,The Orphins,Bobby Ubangi,The Coathangers,Brass Castle,The Liverhearts,Elevado,Jackyl,Deerhunter,Family Force 5,Whores,[11]The Selmanaires,Kaki King,Woe, Is Me,Starbenders, andJohn-Allison Weiss. Other groups prominent in Atlanta includedGuadalcanal Diary,The Swimming Pool Q's,Loudflower, Incarceri 9, and Arms Akimbo.
Notableindustrial groups based out of Atlanta includeCombichrist, Die Sektor, andFinite Automata.
The city also boasts a large, diverseSynthwave and modular synth community featuring groups such as Gregorio Franco,Watch Out For Snakes, and Vampire Step-dad.
Electronic jam-groove bandSound Tribe Sector 9 is also from Atlanta.
In the early 1980s, Atlanta was the home of a thrivingpop andnew wave music scene featuring such bands as The Fans,The Brains,The Producers, TheRaves,Baby and the Pacifiers,The Razor Boys,The Neuz,Desperate Angel,Samurai Catfish,Heathen Girls andFace of Concern. Atlanta is also the home of Grammy Award-winning artist and songwriterVan Hunt.
Atlanta also boasts a thriving metal scene with bands such asSevendust,Stuck Mojo,Mastodon, and HellBent.
The city has a well-known and activelive music scene. In the early 1980s, Atlanta was the home of a thrivingnew wave music scene featuring such bands asThe Brains andThe Producers, closely linked to the new wave scenes inAthens, Georgia and other college towns in the southeast. Historically there have been a variety of live music traditions going back to Cabbagetown country music pioneerFiddlin' John Carson, also including a thriving scene in the 1990s, also in Cabbagetown, centered on a bar called Dotties, later known as Lenny's and relocated a few blocks away before closing permanently in 2010.Video Concert Hall, precursor toMTV, was founded in Atlanta.
The688 Club was a popular alternative music venue from 1980–1986.The Masquerade is a popular concert venue.
Though not a blues capital likeMemphis orNew Orleans, Atlanta has been home to a blues scene and a number of notable bluesmen includingBuddy Moss,Curley Weaver,Barbecue Bob andBlind Willie McTell. In the blues bar named after McTell, Blind Willie's, and several others, blues musicians such asFrancine Reed,Delta Moon,[12] andSandra Hall have performed. There are also a number of jazz clubs and the annual Atlanta Jazz Festival. On the 30th anniversary of the festival, mayorShirley Franklin commissioned the portraitJazz of the City of Atlanta, displayed inCity Hall.
Atlanta played a major role in launching country's earliest recording artists in the early 1920s — many Appalachian people such asFiddlin' John Carson had come to the city to work in its cotton mills and brought their music with them. It would remain a major recording center for two decades and a major performance center for four decades, into the first country music TV shows on local Atlanta stations in the 1950s.[2]Today, Metro Atlanta is home toAlan Jackson,Jason Aldean,Zac Brown Band,Sugarland,Kenny Rogers,Jerry Reed,Ray Stevens andTravis Tritt.
Metro Atlanta is home to: the Grammy Award-winningAtlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; two renowned historical chamber groups, theAtlanta Baroque Orchestra and theNew Trinity Baroque; and to notable musicians such as conductorsRobert Spano andPredrag Gosta, the lateRobert Shaw, countertenorDavid Daniels, bassJason Hardy, and others. Atlanta is also home to theAtlanta Opera,Atlanta Ballet, Capitol City Opera,Georgia Boy Choir,Atlanta Boy Choir, and many others.
The music salon of theOscar Pappenheimer mansion was the hub of chamber music from the 1890s through the 1920s. The Atlanta Music Club was formed in 1915, and was instrumental in establishing theAtlanta Symphony Orchestra (1923), the Choral Guild of Atlanta (1939, Atlanta's oldest independent chorus),[13] and the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra (1944) which in 1946 became the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. A 1962plane crash in Paris took the lives of more than 100 leading Atlanta art patrons, who were commemorated with the construction of the Memorial Arts Center (later the Robert W. Woodruff Memorial Arts Center).[14]
Early venues foropera in Atlanta wereDeGive's Opera House, built 1870, then DeGive's largerGrand Opera House, built 1893. From 1910 New York'sMetropolitan Opera began its immensely popular series of Spring visits to Atlanta, lasting until 1986. Early efforts to establish local opera companies experienced difficulty. The Music Theatre Guild of Atlanta (1974) and the Atlanta Lyric Opera (1976). In 1977 the Guild was renamed Georgia Opera, moved to the Woodruff Arts Center and added an orchestra. In 1979 the Guild and Lyric operas merged to form the Atlanta Civic Opera, in 1985 reorganized as the Atlanta Opera, which moved to theCobb Energy Performing Arts Centre just outside Atlanta in 2007.
