Atlanta’s Rappers Are Getting Into Politics
Written by ABC AUDIO on September 17, 2022
ATLANTA — For generations, Atlanta, the birthplace of the civil rights movement, has served as a Black mecca, a beacon of progress and potential for Black Americans looking for more: More money, more opportunity, more house. Black politicians played hardball with the white power brokers in the ‘70s and ‘80s and ‘90s, making sure African Americans got a piece of the financial pie, from city contracts to the airport makeover to the ‘96 Olympics.
The face of political power in Atlanta was undisputedly Black: middle class, college educated, largely middle of the road, but Black.
Today, the face of political power in this heavily blue city is still Black—and Democratic. But now, as the explosion of the entertainment industry turns the city into a Southern Hollywood, a new — and some would say unlikely — form of Black political power is emerging here: Hip-hop moguls.
People marching with trumpets
Atlanta is a global entertainment capital, transformed from a once-midsize city of 2.4 million in 1992 to a sprawling megalopolis of nearly 6.1 million in 2022.
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Ludacris partnered with former Mayor Kasim Reed to bring the hit Broadway musical “Fela!” to the city. Killer Mike, one-half of the Run the Jewels rap duo, and T.I. sat on the transition team for former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. 2 Chainz showed up at a recent city council meeting, along with Killer Mike, to rail against proposed legislation that would shut down businesses with too many outbreaks of violence.
The city of Atlanta is where these titans of hip-hop grew up, cut their creative teeth and got rich. So in one sense, this is a long-overdue flaunting of Black political power by Black tycoons. T.I., Ludacris, Killer Mike and the like are simply doing what white moguls have done for centuries in this country: using their money and their might to influence City Hall.
POLITICO’s The Recast is exploring the immense shift in Black residents out of American cities — and our latest installment focuses on the Atlanta metro area. Do you have a story to share? Email us at therecast@politico.com.
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But as they have begun to throw their weight around, a new point of tension is emerging. By and large, some of these rappers have long since left the city limits, re-settling in gated communities in the suburbs. And in city politics, that doesn’t always sit well with critics, who argue that what’s playing out in Atlanta looks a lot like the old-fashioned dynamic of rich folks meddling in city politics to further their own interests.
