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rap capital: an atlanta story

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Hey! At the end of the month, we’re releasing Trapital’s first ever report. This is a breakdown on trends in music and where things are going. Stay tuned, I’ll share a few more details next week!

Today’s memo is about Atlanta’s run in hip-hop. I had a great chat about it with New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli who wrote Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story, which comes out on October 18. If you love Atlanta hip-hop, you’ll love this chat. Here are a few highlights below from our chat on today's episode of the Trapital podcast.

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A deep dive on Atlanta's run in rap

Atlanta’s hip-hop dominance is discussed often, but not like how Joe Coscarelli covered it in his new book, Rap Capital. Joe, a New York Times music reporter since 2015, spent four years researching and interviewing over 100 sources to get the contemporary story about Atlanta’s culture-defining scene.

This is a character story, led by Lil Baby and his mom. Joe’s relationship with the hit rapper dates back to 2017 when Lil Baby was still a mixtape artist. Another recurring character is Quality Control Music’s Kevin “Coach K” Lee, whose ties with the city are deep. His influence reaches the top Atlanta artists across eras.

Joe came onto the show to take us through the book’s journey, both for him to write it and for the characters themselves. Here are the highlights.

Atlanta’s mixtape runs had an influence on the streaming era

Music streaming has lowered the barriers to entry and lessened the power of gatekeepers, most of which were based in Los Angeles and New York. Atlanta already had a strong decade in the 2000s, and it took it even further in the 2010s.

Atlanta’s underground rap scene became the playbook for streaming releases. Artists like Future, Rocko, Migos, and Travis Porter dropped mixtape after mixtape, all before their debut album. It was quantity over quality. Streaming rewards those who are consistently good more than those who are occasionally great.

It’s a reminder of Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek infamous quote. Ek was really saying “Artists need to be more like Future.”

“Never count Atlanta out”

Recently, Young Thug famously said Atlanta will run rap for another ten years. If so, that would put the length of Atlanta’s reign atop the industry, past New York’s run from the ‘70s to the early ‘00s.

Joe shares Young Thug’s optimism for one major reason (and it’s the same reason the city warranted an entire book): Atlanta artists, more than any other city, have evolved with the times.

This evolution spans multiple decades, multiple artists, and multiple sounds. There’s the whole Dungeon Family. Gucci Mane and trap music. Lil Jon and crunk. Thug and mumble rap. Joe is confident this trend will continue, especially with drill music.

crumbling of monoculture

In this era, niche stars have risen and household-name superstars have fallen. But as Joe brought up, this growing media trend has its benefits too.

A prime example of this is Bad Bunny. He has the number-one-selling album of 2022 in the United States — an album that is almost entirely in Spanish. Ten years ago, Bad Bunny would’ve likely been forced to perform in English to reach the masses.

Listen to our full conversation here:

money moves

• Mdundo, a Kenya-based music listening service, now has 21.5 million monthly active users, 30% are in Nigeria, 107% growth since 2021
• Pop Music is struggling to create new stars​
• BeatConnect, a music collaboration startup, has raised $2.2 million​

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