Join Dr. Maurice Hobson, author of the award-winning The Legend of the Black Mecca: Politics and Class in the Making of Modern Atlanta (2017), on a tour that explores the roots of Atlanta hip hop. Atlanta’s hip hop scene, made famous by production team Organized Noise and artists OutKast and Goodie Mob, is rooted in the cultural politics of the city dating back to the rise of Mayor Maynard Jackson in the 1970s. Though touted for inspiring and funding a new era of Black Arts in the city, Jackson’s regime exposed the class-based schisms of Atlanta’s growing neoliberal and international commercial culture. Young Blacks expressed their frustration and anger with the disenfranchisement and criminalization of the poor and working-class through hip hop. On this tour we’ll explore sites associated with this history and enrich participants’ understanding of the music you love.

Guide: Dr. Maurice Hobson, Georgia State University