404 Day: Who Owns Atlanta’s Culture? | The Founders Speak 👀🔥

In this episode of Tharon’s Take, Tharon speaks with the leaders behind 404 Day, a grassroots movement that has become a defining cultural moment in Atlanta.

The conversation explores how 404 Day started, what it represents for the city, and how it has grown into a celebration of community, culture, and connection. The group also discusses the challenges that come with growth — including authenticity, ownership, and ensuring that Atlanta creatives and communities continue to benefit.

This episode offers a deeper look at the people and ideas behind one of Atlanta’s most unique cultural movements.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:07

All right, so today we're gonna be talking about one of the most uniquely Atlanta things there is, and that is the 404 Day. Atlanta is known for a lot of different things. We celebrate different dates. You know, there's the Masters in Augusta. We always look forward to spring break. Of course, it's Juneteenth. Um, there's so many different milestone dates that we look for, but 404 Day has been started, and I got a great group of guys that are coming on here today to talk about how they birthed this idea and how it's impacted the culture, how it's impacted small businesses, how we now turn into festivals, what we're giving back to the community. And of course, you know, Atlanta, we're gonna have a good time. So check us out and let's get into it. 404 Day in Atlanta, we got to get into this. I am so excited about this interview. It took a lot for us to pull this off. We were sitting here talking about all the technical difficulties we're having, music and stuff moving in the background. But these two gentlemen, along with two of their colleagues, are very special to Atlanta. And so I wanted to do this because we're about to experience the 404 day in Atlanta and we had to talk about it. And before we get into the 404 day, I want these two gentlemen to introduce themselves because they are so instrumental and so influential in their own sort of day jobs. But they come together every year to plan out a week of events that truly highlight the Atlanta culture. And so, Bam and Bam, thank you so much for being here. I'm gonna start with you, Bam, to tell us who you are, um, what you're working on, how you got into this, and then also mention your two colleagues. And of course, bam, I'm I want you to come over, man. And you know, you're doing Atlanta influences everything, um, all the stuff you've been doing, and kind of like really kick us into a segue and to start talking about 404 days. So, Bam, I'm gonna come to you first.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Okay. Yeah, so um William Bam Sparks, Atlanta native. Uh, grew up on the west side of Atlanta, graded baby.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Um I'm gonna graded baby too now. You can watch the episode. Come on, come on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so uh West Side.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

I went to Frederick Douglass High School, School of Excellence. Um, left there with the Albany Estate, uh, finished up at Georgia Tech, and from there I immediately went into entertainment working with uh Tip Harris. Uh we started Grand House of Sports together. Uh then I eventually uh was on his management team and we co-created the Trap Music Museum uh October 4th, 2018. Um we're going on eight years now, but in the midst of that, dealing with my brothers, uh Bain, Brandon, Ja, we decided to come up with this collective to bring forward four days to life. You know, being from Atlanta, we were talking about it earlier. You know, you had the Ben Hill Days and all those different days throughout the city. We wanted to really celebrate Atlanta using the area code on April 4th. So that's how we got here.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Awesome, man. Um, you know, you mentioned Ben Hill Day. Shout out our boy Bonk. Yeah. Uh, Ben Hill Bunk. Um, and got to get Ben Hill Bonk on here. But that's a great segue, man. And then, but tell us more about your company, though, and what you're doing now before we hang over to Bang.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Well, what I'm doing now, I mean, the Trap Music Museum runs itself. I mean, we're still seeing thousands of visitors weekly. Um, actually, while I was at the museum post-COVID, I discovered that there was a huge digital divide in our community, particularly in the AUC. So I was um right by Morris Brown. The fastest internet in the city is right there on MLK. And it just wasn't going towards Vine City or the Bluffs. So I decided to create my own internet company to provide internet access for HBCUs and underserved communities. So actually, on 404, they were doing a huge lunch because now I have the mobility option. So I did a partnership with T-Mobile, and now I provide my own phone service as well.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Good stuff, man. Good stuff. Hi, Bang. Gonna kick it over to you, man. Tell our viewers and listeners who you are, man, you and your partner, what y'all have been doing in Atlanta.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Uh, my name is Bang Joyner. I am one-third of Atlanta Influences Everything, which we go by AIE at times, and AIE is one-fourth of the 404 community. Uh, which is crazy. I don't even like math like that, and I'm over here like uh I get some drinking, and that got me mathing. Um, but I I uh Atlanta native, not a Grady baby since we doing that. Um birth certificate would say Douglasville. Uh my mom was a social worker at Grady when I was in her stomach. Uh and she actually was told by uh Dr. Donna West that the hospital in Douglasville was doing natural births. My mom wanted a natural birth. So Kanye's mom told her about a hospital in Douglasville that did natural births. So if you look at Kanye's birth certificate, it's say Douglasville too. So he moved to Chicago when he was three. So Kanye Hospital in Douglasville. That's my non-grading.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

That's dope, man. That's dope. You're breaking that on Theron's take, man. I never heard you tell that story before.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Never. You gotta, you know, because if you're not a great baby, which you could do Georgia back, but folks want an explanation. You gotta, you know. Um, but uh my company, uh Atlanta Influences Everything. We're a civic-minded creative consultancy and uh civic minded in the sense of uh we before we adopted the civic-minded statement, our our and before we became Atlanta Influences Everything, my partner Ian and I had a company called the Tomorrows. Uh, and we thought we were so cool we could sell brands on tomorrow. But what that meant was uh we realized there were a lot of companies coming into Atlanta uh trying to launch their products in Atlanta using our culture. And so we wanted to help companies break into Atlanta in an authentic manner uh by using bottom-up strategy. And working on those type of campaigns ended up uh we organically ended up landing on Atlanta Influences Everything, uh doing some client work, decided to put it on a shirt, and you know, it's about 404 a day, but if I were to be honest and transparent, while the slogan is organic and belongs to Atlanta, our decision to say we should put it on a shirt was influenced by Detroit versus everybody. That shirt existed before ours, and we were like, well, what's Atlanta? Is it too busy to hate? Like, who are we? Uh and we're almost we're about 10 years old this year, so this was 2015 when we started the company. And since then, um we've done a lot of collaborations, Atlanta United, Atlanta Dream, uh, uh Stacy Abrams organization.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Metro Chamber.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Yeah, yeah. We we and we'll get into this later, but we identify the statement or how we justify the statement Atlanta influences everything, is we're brand guys, so it's just silhouettes. The silhouette of Dr. King, really the logo of Coca-Cola and Outcast logo. So if you put those three logos together and what all they represent, that's how you can wear the shirt in New York with pride, or even in Paris. Because we've given the world those three entities in some form. So uh, yeah, and it just made sense. I guess we'll get into like how we all came together, but uh Atlanta influences everything because there are a bunch of amazing people. Darren, Bam, J finished first, Brandon, but there are a bunch of amazing people in Atlanta that allow the statement to be true. So that's how we created it.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Well, what I love about um the four of you all, um, you all are all like influential in your own respective spaces. And for you guys to come together, I guess what, 2019 or 2020?

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

And you know, you got 305 in Miami, you know, you got all these zip codes you hear about. Um, you know, Drake dropped you know the six. But you know, but 404, and in Atlanta, for our viewers and listen, if you got a 404 area code, you know, you you've been here for a minute. Because now it's 470. You know, I meet people with 470. I mean, all right, you just you just move here, or you got a business, you know, you just get the phone.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

So you're a dope boy.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

You may be you may be a dope boy. Ain't nothing wrong with that. But what I want you all to take us through is that how did you come up with the idea? Like, take us into the conversations that transpired. Um, because I can't believe that it's you guys are that young. Like, I thought four or four days have been going on for a longer time. So tell me the conversations that you all had privately, and then what was it like getting to lunch? So I'm gonna come back over to you, Bam.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Well, actually, it was Tori and Brandon that came together and decided to pull us all together four or four days. Um it was more of a butter ATL, Atlanta Influences Everything, collaboration. Um, and we all boys, we we sit down and we we break bread, and it was just a moment where we figured, why now all of us come together? Because, like Josh says all the time, brands approach us all separately. And it was more of a unifying the brands to make sure that these big boys don't come out and cheapen our brands. So, you know, we didn't want AIE to take a $20,000 check when collectively we could have got a $100,000 check to build and build on what we're doing. You know, the Nikes, the Adidas, the all these major corporations that come in that want a piece of that Atlanta culture that he's talking about, we just figured that we're just stronger together. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Bam, so you know, Bain. Sorry, I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

It happens every day.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Don't worry about it. So Bain. All right. So he just gave a lot of shout out to Brandon and Tori. Um, you guys came together. I'm just gonna take it there, man. How did y'all manage to pull together all these egos and personality? Because it was at a time when you guys were all climbing. I mean, you you were you were 2020. I remember all of you all hearing about the things that you guys were doing, sort of in a siloed approach. But how did you manage the egos and stay focused on 404 day?

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Uh I think internally the team not everyone is from Atlanta involved in the four in the 404 computer. And then when you know how Atlanta get start drawing lines. Killer Mike had an old verse one time where he said, if you ain't from a zone, you ain't from a home. And so when Atlanta started getting on that, it's uh Lyttonia and everything. Like it make Atlanta real small. But uh Brandon, Rita and Lithonia. Bam Westside, and I'm first generation Atlanta. Bam, a few generations, but I'm older than Bam. And so we realize we all have these unique, different Atlanta stories. Tori's not from Atlanta, but he came here in '92. Ian came from Brooklyn, went to Morehouse, never went back to Brooklyn. John from New York built his his basketball branding and marketing agency here. Uh and you realize you got a group of people that really love Atlanta, but the city is also full of people who have moved here and benefited from the city, but also taught down on the city. So we collectively realized that even though we got all these different stories of where we come from, the one unifying statement was this understanding and belief that Atlanta was interesting is that we believe Atlanta is a real place. Obviously, there's a that Atlanta's not a real place. And at times Atlanta does things, or there are things that happen here that make it seem like it's not real. But all of our individual lived experiences have led us individually to believe that Atlanta's a real place and that it's a place that should be celebrated. And when you make eye contact and link up with someone else who also has unique stories about what makes Atlanta real and why it should be celebrated, egos go aside. Uh I gotta say this, not only do egos get put aside within the 404 collective, but we are here to champion the actual day. So many people are doing many things, and we can get into what makes us who who we are and why why our stuff has become what it is, but that day, to your point, it ain't nothing about that day, it is only about the area code and the date on the calendar. Because those two things can't be argued about. Yeah. So that's why we, you know, yeah. That's why we're here.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

When you guys were launching this, did you do your research to say, okay, we want to make sure that we're gonna be the only one that's going to coin the phrase, like you said, so it's an area code coupled with an actual day. I'm shocked. There was no one else out here at that time when y'all launched that was doing it to the magnitude that y'all are doing it now?

SPEAKER_00 14:13

No, not at all. The key, and the key is the word um magnitude. Right. Like if you didn't use magnitude, then I would I would have to be honest. And I said, and they might kill me for this. They might make you go and edit this out with our. I have a full four-day flyer from 2017.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Okay. That's why I'm here. Okay, and then who did that?

SPEAKER_00 14:42

This uh the homie Ricky Rothstein, Ricky Ross. So when you hear about our our events, and and we'll get into the breadth of our events, because this is gonna make up for what I'm saying now. That's fine. People hear our brand, and on the day, the last couple of years, folks, especially Atlanta folks, to hit me and be like, yo, I'm at Piedmont Park. Like, where y'all at? I'm like, oh nah, that's that's not our event. That's another 404 event. That's Ricky Rothstein. And he he's got a his own story, and maybe y'all can link and he can tell his story. That's not on me to tell his story, but he he is a real Atlanta guy. Had pulled something together some years ago. And if we know Atlanta, we know Atlanta kind of almost shape shift every 10 years and it it grows. And by the time we pull together 404 days, to be fair, it was after a huge 404-day party that AT ⁇ T did, where they did a 404-day party right uh it was a few months after Nipsey had passed away. Touche, it was an amazing party. And Brandon and I, I guess this is what we were talking about off air, about that was 2019, and we started planning on how to make 404 Day even bigger and better in 2020 by bringing more local authenticity to it. And in that 2020, when had we been able to do it, we had found out, because Atlanta had the Final Four in 2020, which never happened, but the Final Four was actually on 404 in 2020. And that's what kind of netted that, oh yo, maybe we should work together. And then in 2020, obviously those events happened. We Butter ATL uh and that influences everything, and the United Way partnered, had Jermaine Dupree spend for four hours, and we raised money with the United Way during COVID. So that type of cultural corporate civic partnership, that's really the essence of how we operate as a 404 collect.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

So I think it's fair to say you guys piped it up basically. 1,000. I appreciate it. You piped it up.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Yeah, that's that's what I was about to chime in and say.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

Because I remember, I mean, shout out to Day Day and King Gooch on the West Side, right? You didn't even know I knew them big thing. You know, I remember they did a 404 day at and so um we're gonna get into that. We're gonna come back to that because I want you all to tell us, because you because you guys went out pretty aggressively with, hey, we're the original. You know, we were saying before we tell it's like the original JR Crickets, but the original place. But before we go into that, tell us what the 404 day means for the Atlanta and the week of festivities that you guys have. Like I want you to go just beyond the ERICO and the date. Like truly take our viewers and listeners into the planning and things that you guys uh are going to roll out this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

I mean, it's it's a lot. I mean, we start planning in the summertime. Like, you know, obviously we're gonna get through the weekend, maybe take a month off, and we're right back to it. But um just starting off on, you know, every year that Thursday, um, we do our gala. We kick off. Like, like Bain was saying, it's all about community. So our scholarship gala kicks off. Um raise a lot of capital every year, give back. The mayor comes, does his one-to-it's an amazing thing. Um this year, Friday, we're going to do um a block party right around the corner on North Side. Um, and then we're gonna have a party here after that. So it's gonna be a O Atlanta, pretty dope event. Got some uh pretty big names coming by. Um Saturday, we're gonna kick off with uh 5K. That's gonna bleed into the parade. Parade kicks off at 10. Um that bleeds over into the block party. From the block party, we have another uh ATL throwback party that we're doing, like a lot of parties.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

Yeah, yeah. Now, how do you expect us to get out there and run a 5K? And I got a gala, I got this block. You have to, you gotta pick and choose. But y'all better have some.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

It's a marathon. Every year, we are exhausted. By that Sunday, like luckily, I've just got exhausted. This year, um celebrate Easter. Yeah, we have to. Yeah, we have to.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Um But y'all gonna have some MS people out there at this 5K because they're gonna be a lot of drinking MS people.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

A lot of people from the night before, including myself, it's the the tequila will be coming out of my pores for sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

But but go back to the gala. Take us into what we're going to experience at this at this gala.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Um, black excellence, man, it's every year is is growing. You know, um, I look back, we were just talking about this, I've totally forgot. Who was that 2021? We were at uh Tribeca, you know, shout out to Tawana, she let us host it, but it wasn't a gale, it was just a night out. And we kind of saw, man, we could do an elevated dinner, but why not do something even a little bit more elevated and turn it into a fundraiser? And I think this is what, year three or four doing the fundraiser? And this is growing. We're selling out tables two months ahead of time. So, you know, one of our goals is next year is to take it to somewhere like the Fox or the Delta Museum, because I think we're at that point where we can do those types of functions. Um, back to what you were saying, there are people that try and do what we do, but we more so focus on building community and building the brand of Atlanta. You know, um, there have been other people. Last year they did a party and and and the horse died, you know, and people were calling us like, man, was that you guys? And I'm like, nah, that's that was off-brand. So what we want to do is just make sure, not that we control the narrative, but we want to collaborate, collaborate even with other people like Ricky and other people that want to tell their story to say, hey, let's try and keep it to where it's all about Atlanta. This isn't a money grab, this is more of a select celebration and building communities. So that's what we've been focused on.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Um what has been the process as far as raising the money, but also as you just mentioned, um, bam, then I want to go to you, Bing, is that you gotta you gotta continue to keep the reputation intact, right? Because we know in every industry, every neighborhood, there's always people that's gonna try to uh test the limit. But what I'm very proud of with you guys is that you stayed true to your brand, true to your mission, and true to your uh expected outcomes. But how does it how does it go with trying to make sure that the experience Experience remains authentic. Because I mean it's going to be packed. I mean, this list of events you just went on. So how are y'all trying to like advertise, um, but at the same time make sure that you got the right people that are coming, that it's going to be a vibe, and also setting the expectations of, hey, this is yeah, this is a party, we all gonna turn up, we're gonna have a good time. But it's still that community cultural, civic engagement aspect to it.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Uh I think each indiv one, each individual person has their own reputation. And it helps when everybody's reputation individually is good. And then uh everyone's companies has good reputation, their own clients, their own type of business. And when your clients hear that you're involved in something, you know, they they're open to what you're involved in. And then if each entity in the 404 collective has clients and good reputations, our our good reputations and clients tend to follow us where we go. And so now it's a collective. And I think like take the United Way. I think uh, I know I had an individual relationship with United Way before I created Atlanta Influences Everything. I created Atlanta Influences Everything with my partners. United Way is like, oh, yo, I like what y'all are doing. Brandon knew United Way from another way, and once they found out that we all knew each other and were all involved in 404 Day, it made it easy. One, the the trust level is there, especially for brands or uh nonprofits or foundations that aren't used to you know going into culture in that the manner in which we take it, the Atlanta Way, they'll take a risk with us. Like United Way might trust us. Uh I'm using them for an example, but shout out because they are rocking with us this year. Good. And and once the the what's interesting is once a brand like Adidas or other brands see the culture, but then they see that it also seemed like the city and the community and the foundations are rocking with y'all, it make the brand even more malleable. Like we get to bend the brand in a way and make brands kind of lean into the Atlanta way more than a brand of somebody plopping their, hey, just promote our shoe since y'all got all these views. They want to make the shoe actually connect to community and culture. And I think that that happened because uh everybody individually everybody's brand has done a certain amount of work where there's public trust in uh each individual's brand. And that that's what uh has allowed us to uh pull together so quickly and grow. Seems like it grow every year, but that's that uh collective trust.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

So, what do you guys want this to be, say, five or ten years from now? I mean, you're into going into year six. So you've had a good five-year run. This is your year six. So where, if we were to get back and gather in 2030, what do you want people in the community to say about four or four days in Atlanta?

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Um, so last year after the parade, a lot of people were comparing this to like the new Freaknik, right? So me being from Atlanta, I remember Freaknik very well. It was it was a little, it was dope, but it kind of got out of control. I want this to be more of a tamed version of that. You know what I mean? Um I would love, like I said, to have a situation where the gala is, we're raising a million dollars, we're giving back to the AUC, we're we're doing other things throughout the community all throughout the year, not just on April 4th. You know what I mean? We're doing back-to-school drives, we're doing tour drives, we're doing stuff year-round, to be honest. That's what I wanted to grow to, to where the 404 fund is now partnering with multiple businesses doing more uh 404 loggers, you know what I mean? To where that that small 4% goes back to give to all the people on the west side, on the east side, the people in need. So that's honestly what I'm passionate about. And I feel like the reason what makes us all dope is we're we all feel the same way. We all have that passion for the city. You know what I mean? Um, so that's where I see it going. Bigger than the freak Nick, a staple to where every other city that tries to model it, they want to do what we do. I just had a call a few weeks ago. The people that do 305 day, the people that do uh, what is it, 414 Day in Milwaukee, people are now reaching out to us to say, hey, how can you bring some of that energy and vibes to our city? Um, so I mean eventually this could be uh a nationwide thing. You know, everybody's coming from all over other cities to come celebrate Atlanta, but we also end up spreading love and going out to other cities as well.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

It's crazy you say that. I met the head of uh the Oklahoma City Chamber a couple of years ago, and uh, I think they're 414 maybe. Mm-hmm. She was blown away by how the day was sitting right up under her nose when I said, Oh, it's just the air cold and the date on the calendar. And she said, damn, so in Oklahoma City, we've been sitting on this, so we could have been did this.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

You know, and it's like that's really my goal, is that uh I don't expect, because it happens to fall on a Saturday this year. Yeah. But I don't expect people to get out of school again. It's not that type of holiday, but it is a holiday where no matter what discipline or sector you work in in a city's ecosystem, it's a day that allows you to celebrate. So whether you are a teacher, a doctor, a dentist, you work at a warehouse, even the police department, APD can say on every 404 day, they can say, you know what, our officers are gonna wear these 404 pins. Or inside the precincts, we're gonna have lemon pepper wings for the officers. Everybody can do a nod. Yeah. School, you know, piece of party, which, you know, wear your Atlanta stuff to school, wear your Atlanta stuff to. It's just a simple. We we add this extra to it because that's part of our our mantra, you know. But everybody's business isn't culture, everybody's business isn't, but if you're in Atlanta, everybody's business is Atlanta. So everybody can find their own way to partake in it. Yeah. Just partake in it.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Because it's yours. So if you're so everybody who got a 678 number, 770 number, 470, they're gonna all come to 404 Day. All right, guys, so we're gonna go to a segment on this podcast, what we call it the final take. And uh, I want to ask you guys some questions and get your quick answers uh about it. So we're just gonna, I'm just gonna open it up, you guys, and jump in. And um, we want to get real authentic answers uh from these questions. So of course, we got to start with what who has the best wings in Atlanta?

SPEAKER_01 30:04

The best wings in Atlanta, hmm, that's tough. Um I like Wing City on Roswell Road, no wing factory on Roswell Road, the hot Lima Yakis.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

It's gonna get me in trouble because he just got here not too long ago. I like Rodney Scott. Okay. Yeah, that's probably like Rodney Scott.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 30:23

All right, what's the most underrated Atlanta spot?

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Most underrated? Pink pony. On Sunday? Listen, I'm in the gets you some Bambi ski wings when you go in there. All right, on Sunday. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Okay. Well, I'm gonna say uh Soul Vegetarian. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 30:45

Oh no. I'm about to get I'm about to open it up right here. Old Atlanta versus New Atlanta. Which one? You like Old Atlanta or you like New Atlanta? Uh you've been very critical of New Atlanta now. I have. Well, New Atlanta is saying that we knew, but we can't forget where we came from. But also new being the you know, sort of like being too new, like being brand new. Oh, yeah. And and and not, oh, I've listened to and not necessarily, you know, coming back. So let me start it all over. So I'm gonna ask you the question again. All right, so next question. Old Atlanta or New Atlanta? Which one do you prefer, or do you feel like you know where you can celebrate both?

SPEAKER_00 31:23

I love the new buildings. My my ego, you used to look through 7585 and look through the other side of Midtown. And my ego, I want to compete. You know what I'm saying? So when you got out on buildings, I'd be like, yeah, look at us. We got buildings, you can see, you know. But I love uh Outcast Freak Nick era Atlanta was so organic. Being able to watch it grow. Yeah, so old Atlanta. I gotta go New Atlanta.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

I like the some of the new vibes that are coming to the city, but it it offers growth, you know what I mean? A different level of visibility. Um so I'll probably go New Atlanta.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

One word to the one word to describe Atlanta's culture.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

I would say we are the culture. We're a culture, Atlanta is culture, yeah. Okay, it is. Literally, Atlanta is culture.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

Is it culture?

SPEAKER_01 32:39

I'm just leaving it at that. It influences everything.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

Okay, and last question. One artist, whether it can be hip-hop, RB, you know, Afrobeats, one artist that defines Atlanta.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

I mean, I got on a sweatshirt, man, and I just went into the rock and roll hall of fame. Okay. So I yeah, I'm gonna say outcast. Because that if you were to combine the streets and the suites like that fluidity, they're able to experiment and not lose the hood past while experimenting, which is is very key to being black in America.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

I would have to agree. I mean, we're about to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of AT Ellions. I mean, where were you 30 years ago? I mean, that was one of the most impactful albums to ever drop to really put Atlanta on the map. And what did my boy Dre say? The South got something to say? I mean, that was it. You can't really like they define Atlanta culture. They really put us on the map. So I can't really think of it.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

The South got something to say. That's up. That was good trouble, like good trouble. South got something to say though. You know.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

ATLN's album, y'all, it changed my life. 1996, I was a freshman at Clark Land University. And that was the first album that really you can just play from start to finish. And we gotta take it here, because now y'all, we're talking about outcast. It was also the transformation of Dre. Because you gotta remember, first album playlist. A lot of people, I'm about to get in trouble. Like you probably gonna get in trouble earlier. I feel like Big was was killing it. Not that he was better than Dre, but I mean, come on, we gotta get Big the first album.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

AT Aliens dropped. No. Dre started hitting us with the, you know, turpent kind of, you know, he getting the, you know, he's dating Erica Badu. Coming off that, he started going through to Richard's gonna come back with um Stank Onia. Oh, it's Stank Onlya. Never said no.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

No, Criminal AT Aliens. It was uh Was it Criminal or Criminal?

SPEAKER_02 34:46

Oh, so Criminal, hold on. Yeah, so then I said it all over. Yeah, so then they come back with a criminal. Now Dre has fully like come with something different, but big is staying true.

SPEAKER_01 34:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:58

And then they go Stank Only. And then they go with the dual album. And as I sit here and talk about it, I just get sad because part of me feels like those guys, they have the right to not want to do it to the magnitude. I'm gonna use that word again, they want to do it, but boy, we need them. And you just reminded me when you said 30 years of of um AT Ellions, man, because I still listen to the album this day.

unknown 35:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

Yeah. And it made you feel a way because, you know, brand-wise, the the Wu-Tang W, and they just did their big tour, and I'm seeing how Rizza, just how they maneuver the brand. You know what I'm saying? And I be like, damn, man, like we we equal. Like we could, we could do that too. But, you know, it's everybody different. And I think, you know, uh, for those of us that caught outcast as outcasts before, you know, where it's at now, man, we caught a blessing. Yep. And um, hopefully, you know, it it it make you realize be grateful for the moment. Because you don't never know what's gonna happen tomorrow. It's real. We are willing to happen.

SPEAKER_02 36:21

Yeah, and I didn't get the flute album, but we're gonna leave it. But guys, thank y'all so much, man, for coming on Thair and Take. Um, and thank you for representing the culture of the city of Atlanta 404 day. Uh, I'm looking forward to it. I am always wanting to make sure that you guys have an opportunity to talk about the behind the scenes and what goes into it and the fact that you guys took time out of your, you know, day jobs and personal lives to come over here at the retreat. Shout out to the retreat again, TK and Ryan, for letting us do it here, man. So good luck with everything. I'll be out there this weekend, turning up, man. And I'm and I may think about that 4K, fam, but um, you know, I'm definitely gonna partake in all the other activities.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

Man, we appreciate you, man. Especially yo, you the work you do inside of the like, I guess the discipline you in, and you show how it over how Atlanta works from your side. This just us being on this podcast, this is Atlanta. Yep. This is how Atlanta works. We're not, it's not just magic. It's a Atlanta's the best way. If Yes Ann was a city, Atlanta's yes and. So you could be over here partying, but then you got politics and you still got the ecosystem of how a city. Everything that Theron represents is still how a city works. So this is this just made sense, man. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 37:48

No, I appreciate that, man. Thank you so much. Yeah, man. I appreciate it. All right. Thank you for watching and listening to Therren's Take. Please follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. And wherever you get your podcast, please download Therrence Take. Share with a friend and drop a rating.