The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The rap musician Ludacris poses in 2003 outside the Def Jam South offices in Midtown Atlanta. Ludacris signed with Def Jam in 2000 and later that year released the album Back for the First Time, which contained his first national hit, "What's Your Fantasy?"
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Ludacris, a rapper in the "Dirty South" style, performs during the 2005 Vibe Music Festival at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Ludacris began his career as a disc jockey in Atlanta and relased his first album, Incognegro, in 2000. The following year he established the Ludacris Foundation for underprivileged children in Atlanta.
Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Antwan Patton, known as "Big Boi," performs in Atlanta in 2011. Big Boi is one member of the Atlanta hip-hop duo OutKast, which he formed with Andre Benjamin in the early 1990s.
Courtesy of Mike White | DEADLYDESIGNS.COM
The hip-hop duo Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton, known as OutKast, released their first album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, in 1994 on LaFace Records, an Atlanta-based label. Their debut effort sold more than a million copies.
Andre Benjamin, known by his stage name Andre 3000, performs at Austin City Limits Festival in 2014. Benjamin is known for his mystical, abstemious "poet" persona in contrast to fellow OutKast member Big Boi's image as a partying, womanizing "player."
Photograph by Ultra 5280
In his unique career, Jermaine Dupri has been a breakdancer, songwriter, music producer, entrepreneur, rapper, and athletics manager. He has held high-level positions at major record companies, in addition to owning Atlanta-based So So Def Records, and he has produced several music acts that have gone on to sell millions of albums each.
Image from Timothy M. Moore
