An insightful look inside Magic City via GQ
There are strip clubs everywhere, but there isn’t a Magic City everywhere. Magic City strip club is where superstars are made, and where records are broken. Magic City is where popular records become hits. Magic City is the quickest way to blow up in the Hip-Hop industry in Atlanta. Not the radio, not blogs, not magazines.
Future, 2 Chainz, Jeezy, Young Thug, T.I., and a slew of other Atlanta stars either blew up in Magic City, or owe the success of one (or several) of their hits to the Magic City world. Aside from the strippers–who, as one of them alluded to in GQ’s documentary, can serve as A&Rs at time–it’s the DJs that play records on Magic City’s iconic Monday nights that really help move the needle in Hip-Hop. Future’s close friend and DJ, DJ Esco, is probably the most prominent of those DJs. GQ talked to several of the influencers and music industry people, well-versed in Magic City culture, that take part in the club’s iconic parties. Below is an excerpt of the full piece–a portion of GQ‘s Devin Friedman‘s conversation with Atlanta music manager City Dollars–which you can read here.
“You have to be in here every week if you want to do something in the rap game,” City Dollars was telling me about Magic City Mondays. “You get the finest females in the state of Georgia. You get the Who’s Who of the streets in here. You can have Young Thug, Future, 2 Chainz in here on the same night,” he said, naming three of the hottest rappers in America right now, all of whom came out of Atlanta. “And you get DJ Esco. If Esco play your record…? Everything Esco touch out here is off the charts.”
You can also watch their 20-minute documentary on Magic City here, featuring Future, Esco, and some of the finest strippers Magic City has to offer.