Surrounding the capital of the South, musicians of all kinds have united in Georgia to create music, host festivals, perform at concerts, sign with record labels and hustle for fame amongst Atlanta’s future stars. Georgia has hosted prominent musicians who have delved into several genres, including rhythm and blues (R&B), country, jazz, punk, hip-hop and alternative rock. However, Georgia has modeled a trend of success for hip-hop and rock artists who have expanded the popularity of music originating from metro Atlanta.
Atlanta and rap music: a heavenly combination
For decades, people have known Georgia as the hip-hop and rap capital. Since the 1980s, Atlanta has pushed out numerous chart-topping rappers. The hip-hop duo Outkast, featuring the award-winning rapper and producer André 3000 and rapper extraordinaire Big Boi, put the Atlanta rap scene on the map with their 2000s album Stankonia.
“I really enjoy a variety of music, but I usually listen to R&B, pop and indie music. Living in Atlanta has definitely influenced my taste because it’s a huge hotspot for music and culture. Outkast is definitely one of my favorite groups from Georgia because I like that their music is upbeat but has very impactful messages, especially songs like ‘Hey Ya!,’” magnet senior Kamora Carter said.
Trickling into the 2000s, Atlanta creatives founded trap music. Attaining its name for Atlanta’s trap houses, trap differed from other rap genres for its heavy sub-bass, snare drums, ‘808 kick drums and synth bass. This era included the Ying Yang Twins, T.I., trap king Gucci Mane and viral rap star Soulja Boy. The 2010s created a bang in the Atlanta rap industry; piles of rappers in Atlanta rose to fame for their unique take on southern hip–hop. Rappers such as Young Thug, Waka Flocka Flame, Future, Childish Gambino, 2 Chainz, Migos, Gunna, 21 Savage and various other major rappers emerged from Atlanta with mainly trap influences.
In the late 2010s and early 2020s, Atlanta hip-hop attained a viral status online with rappers such as Playboi Carti’s Opium collective, who continues to find popularity on social media for their creative approach to trap. Rage, a subgenre of trap popularized by rappers Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Rico Nasty, Trippie Redd and Lil Uzi Vert, focuses on incorporating energetic, electronic future bass into their music and punk style into their aesthetics. Currently, rage rap stands as a prevalent music genre for teens and young adults for its ability to merge trap, electronic and punk into its framework.
“I would say that I mostly listen to more ‘90s alternative rock, but I honestly listen to a bunch of different genres. I definitely picked this up from my dad who has lived around this area [metro Atlanta] his whole life…when I drive with my aunt she listens to a lot of artists—at least more than I do—from Atlanta. One of my favorites that she plays would have to be Wiley From Atlanta. He is from the same area as Future, which is pretty cool,” magnet junior Mollie McIvor said.
Rock on, Georgia!
On the other side of the spectrum, rock and punk scenes have arisen with Georgia’s concert culture keeping it alive. In terms of venues, Variety Playhouse, Tabernacle, The Masquerade and Terminal West host various punk-rock and alternative concerts for the rockers of Atlanta. Additionally, every summer since 2013, Atlanta has hosted the three-day Shaky Knees Music Festival, which features immensely prominent alternative bands in its setlists.
In metro Atlanta, metal and punk junkies find updates for local shows through several Instagram accounts and Facebook groups that post show flyers for local bands. These online communities keep Georgia’s concert culture alive, as locals spend their free time sharing local band posters, searching for bandmates, hosting listening parties and supporting artists struggling to reach fame.
Athens: a birth home to underground indie
Two hours from Atlanta, Athens—home to the University of Georgia (UGA)—has founded various notable alternative bands such as R.E.M., The-B52’s and Of Montreal, who gained their initial following from music-loving college students of UGA at the Georgia Theatre and 40 Watt Club. While prominent artists usually host concerts in Atlanta to reach metropolis audiences, various minor artists successfully host their events in Athens because of the energetic audience of college students, and their historical love for indie.
In the ’90s, the recording company Elephant 6 demonstrated perfectly the success Athens could bring to local artists. Elephant 6 began in Athens as an underground indie music collective in which the band Neutral Milk Hotel released their influential indie rock album “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.” The recording collective hosted artists such as the Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal and Elf Power. These bands not only found significant success with Athens natives but also with the world for their underground indie sound. August 2023, Elephant 6 released a documentary feature film—initially announced in 2014—which included footage and interviews from various Elephant 9 artists who found success in the ’90s and interviews from locals in Athens who attended their concerts at the collective’s peak.
“My favorite part of music is getting to see the artist and experience the music live and how they intended for it to be heard. In the past couple of years, I have seen Taylor Swift for her Reputation tour, Motley Crue, Joan Jett, Poison, Def Leppard, Weezer and The Killers. All of these shows were in the metro Atlanta area, which definitely has its own unique concert experience at the moment,” McIvor said.
