Atlanta represents freedom.
As the metropolitan Atlanta area continues to grow, it’s critical that we support small businesses and the prosperity of our local community.
I remember, when ‘Atlanta’ first happened, I didn’t know what to expect. It felt like it was a lot of responsibility.
Atlanta is a very good scene for the type of music I’m making. The biggest radio stations are all trap or rap stations. All the clubs are just based around this music and just the southern sound, that’s what I really love about the city.
The thing is that when I’m making music, I’m not really chasing that sound – the Atlanta sound that we hear a lot.
There’s not much to do in Atlanta, so the cast went to the gym together, went shopping together, and dinner was always a group thing. It’s that whole summer-camp experience that making movies tends to be anyway.
I think the saddest moment in my life just happened two months ago. My old nightclub partner passed away, Phil Erickson down in Atlanta. He – I owe him everything. He put me in the business and taught me about everything I know.
You see, for the most part it was a normal upbringing. Sure, there was the Nobel Peace award; sure, there were people coming to our house who I knew were famous. But we grew up in a very modest part of the community. Our last home was in what had been one of the worst ghettos in Atlanta.
I was a huge fan of Bobby Cox, a huge fan of Chipper Jones and John Smoltz. And just those guys, I grew up watching those guys and often wondered early on in my career if I would ever have the chance to play for the Atlanta Braves, and there it was. God kind of answered my prayers.
Whether it’s on the streets of Philadelphia or New York or Chicago or Atlanta or in a classroom in Newtown, Connecticut, people want to be safe.
The peculiar fascination which the South held over my imagination and my limited capital decided me in favor of Atlanta University; so about the last of September I bade farewell to the friends and scenes of my boyhood and boarded a train for the South.
It used to be that if you had a pretty good record, you could stop by a station in Little Rock or Atlanta and let the DJ listen to it. No way something like that can happen now.
It is in Virginia and Georgia that the war now rages and where it will continue; for at these points – Richmond and Atlanta – the enemy’s main strength is concentrated.
I never really thought about what kind of career I wanted to map out for myself. I just wanted to do work that spoke to my heart. ‘Atlanta’ definitely did that.
My wife and I came to Canada for the 1994 Commonwealth Games and we really liked the B.C. lifestyle and environment. The following year we applied to become permanent residents. We moved here in 1996 after the Atlanta Olympics.
I think the city of Atlanta has a lot of stories from the woman’s perspective.
When I actually first moved to Atlanta, I was cutting hair. I was making beats and making music out in the Bay Area. But I came here to make – you know, I had to get my barber license, so I was cutting hair.
Atlanta is my home.
Well, my family used to live in Atlanta a few years back so I always had a good relationship with all the artists down there, as well as artists from Houston and Memphis, before the South took over, I was already like a family member of the South so there’s always love.
This is the city of the underdog champion, so they want to see the next person out of their city blowing up and making I feel like, man, Atlanta’s a big city, but it’s so small.
There’s a difference between me recording in Atlanta, where I’m in the midst of all my problems, and recording in L.A. or being on the road, where I can look back at things and have a different perspective. I do most of my writing while I’m away.
I was part of the Atlanta Boy Choir probably like fourth and fifth grade. I personally didn’t enjoy the type of music that we were doing. I was more into like whatever was on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
Miami has grown into one of the biggest Southern places next to Atlanta when it comes down to music. It just grew out of nowhere.
I love Atlanta, even the city.
The beauty about living in Atlanta is that there aren’t too many paparazzi here; you can just relax. And that really works for me and my children.
Once I got old enough to start making my own bread for real, hustling and doing everything I was doing, I was coming to Atlanta for spring and summer breaks.
‘Spider-Man’ was the best time of my life. I was there with my best friend. We shot in Atlanta. We shot every day and just had an absolute blast. ‘Avengers’ was crazy because you’re on set every day with actors I never dreamed I would work with. I’m as much a fan as anyone else.
Oscar Charleston was the Willie Mays of his day. Nobody ever played center field better than Willie Mays. Suppose they had never given Willie a chance, and we said that, would anybody believe there was a kid in Alabama who was that good? Or there was a black guy in Atlanta who might break Babe Ruth’s home run record? No.
Triple 6 Mafia and Mystikal in Atlanta was one of my first shows. I remember how sweaty and smashed up everybody was, and it was so punk rock.
Atlanta is still going to be my summer place. My family is still going to be there.
I would say we took a lot of pride in our player development program in Atlanta.
‘Welcome to Atlanta’ was a song I wanted to do on my first album. The idea was for me and Outkast to do it, but I could never come up with a beat for us to do it. Outkast beats and my beats were very different.
Moving to Atlanta is one of the best things I did.
I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and I honestly started performing for my family when I was around three. I would jump up on the coffee table and I would get in the closet and ask that they introduce me to come out, and from that point on, my mother stuck me in dance class and children’s theater.
Los Angeles, Houston, Denver, Atlanta: those are all cities that really didn’t get big, didn’t hit their stride until the 20th century.
Metro Atlanta has virtually unlimited economic potential.
Atlanta’s my musical home. It really was the place where I really came alive.
Every trip I made to Atlanta was crucial because it was so hard to get away from family and church duties.
To be honest, I’ve been back to Atlanta a couple of times, I can’t remember what for. One for a big conference, a radio conference. I feel like it’s a vibrant place. It has a vibrant music scene.
Specifically, I’m from the South Side of Atlanta. It’s country, we live in our own little world, but it’s cool.
It’s not without its flaws – it’s still the South and the Bible Belt – but Atlanta is one of those cities that’s really good at uniting people.
I’m 19 years old from Atlanta, then a year later I go to New Jersey. I’m there for a couple months then the next thing I’m traded across the country to a place I’ve never been before. It was tough.
We lived in Atlanta for a couple of years, and had a lot of fun, but my best work happens when I isolate myself. It’s all about turning inward.
Atlanta embraced us. We have so much respect for them, and they have respect for us.
I went to college in Atlanta, so I know that city.
Atlanta’s the hub of black culture, and it’s OK to be you there – it’s the city that really shaped me to be who I am.
Atlanta was a welcoming presence for a lot of artists; they called it ‘the Mecca of the South.’ I got to see the Negro Ensemble Company, Cicely Tyson, Geraldine Page, Ruby Dee, all onstage.
I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and none of the other Backstreet Boys live in Georgia. So a lot of times, when people come to my house they’re like, ‘Hey, is A.J. here?’ Or, ‘Is Kevin here?’ Or, ‘Is Nick in the bathroom?’ People think we live together and we spend all the time in the world together, but we really don’t.
I don’t have a permanent place where I live. I’m in Atlanta about six or seven months out of the year. I gave up on my place in New York. I don’t have a place in L.A., but sometimes when I go there for the hiatus, I stay in temporary housing. It’s all over the place, and I don’t know where I live!
I’ll have to say winning the Olympic gold in Atlanta is a crowning achievement, along with the gold in the relay in the same games.
On one hand, I can say, you know, I had many family members – I had many people in my extended family who left right after Katrina, who relocated to different cities, right? Houston, Atlanta. Right? Most of them have come back.
I’m very appreciative to the people of Atlanta, forever.
Atlanta has a lot going on and part of that is upward mobility of the people who live there.
I think that in Atlanta I was hoping that things would have worked out. Once I saw that things weren’t going to work out, I saw what was going to be the best situation for me to try to win an NBA championship.
I could always play the drums, so I have some musical talent, but I don’t live in Atlanta or LA, so I can’t just randomly bump into major artists. So instead, I started building my fan base and my name by networking through the internet. Mostly through Twitter, Youtube, Instagram and Facebook.
Atlanta’s a great city to cultivate your own thing – from fashion to music to food.
Atlanta is a huge part of the music scene and a large part of Hollywood now.
