Atlanta
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UTA has officially set up shop in Atlanta.
Along with its partner company KLUTCH Sports Group, the agency opened its new Atlanta bureau Wednesday (March 22) to extend its ability to discover and serve artists, athletes, musicians and brands in the region. Steve Cohen, Rob Gibbs and Arthur Lewis will serve as co-heads of the new office.
“Atlanta is an entertainment and cultural hub, and planting our flag here gives us the ability to support clients with investments and opportunities across the city’s growing creative ecosystem,” said Cohen and Gibbs in a joint statement.
UTA will offer representation in Atlanta across its multitude of divisions, including music, sports, film, television, digital talent, marketing, gaming, fine arts and more. This includes advising top global brands based in the Southeast on a range of growth initiatives, including ways to partner with the creative community.
“Atlanta is a vibrant city for music, sports and arts, and there is a ripe opportunity to create another center of gravity for film and television,” said UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer in a statement. “We are excited to bring our full range of services to the community of talented artists, athletes, musicians and creators who call the Southeast their home.”
The new office is located at 1401 Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta and occupies nearly 20,000 square feet across three floors. It was designed by the firm Hastings Architecture, which also designed UTA’s office in Nashville.
The Atlanta bureau will additionally feature a fine art gallery called The UTA Artist Space to showcase programming from the Atlanta art community and across UTA’s global fine arts roster. The inaugural show will feature Atlanta-based artist and musician Lonnie Holley in the first exhibition of his work in the city in over 10 years. Entitled “The Eyes Were Always on Us,” the exhibition will feature sculptures constructed from found materials in the tradition of African-American sculpture. The gallery is open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
UTA also boasts offices in Beverly Hills, Nashville, New York, Chicago and London.
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Two of the biggest names in Hip-Hop, Drake and Lil Baby, might be teaming up on a future album according to a recent podcast appearance by a producer.
In a recent interview on the Podcast and Chill With Mac G which aired Monday (March 6), the producer Black Coffee was asked about the various celebrity encounters he’s had. The conversation soon turned to his linking up with Quality Control co-founder Keith “Coach K” Lee in Atlanta.
“We go to dinner. We got to the club. I play my sets,” Coffee added. “He’s like, ‘We’re going to my strip club.’ I have never been. And this is what Atlanta is known for. And he said to me, ‘Lil Baby and Drake are making an album. It’s possible that Drake is retiring.’” The interview concludes shortly after. Black Coffee recently worked with Drake on his last solo album, Honestly, Nevermind.
There has been no confirmation from representatives of Drake or Lil Baby. If it’s true that the two are collaborating on a new album, this would be the third joint musical venture the Canadian superstar has entered into with an Atlanta-based rapper. Drake is still enjoying the rave reviews from the Her Loss album he did with 21 Savage, which was released last November. And in 2015, he and Future teamed up to record and drop What a Time to be Alive.
The Certified Lover Boy has hinted at making an early exit from music, doing so in a recent interview with Lil Yachty. “I’m at the point now where I just want to, like, and I feel like maybe we talked about this the other day, but I feel like I’m kind of introducing the concept in my mind of a graceful exit,” he said at the time.
The interview with Black Coffee on the Podcast and Chill With Mac G can be seen in full below.
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Activists and other social justice groups have begun a planned “week of action” to protest the construction of a project known as “Cop City” outside of Atlanta, Georgia.According to reports, multiple activists and environmental and social justice groups from across the United States have initiated a week of protest actions against the building of a training center complex for law enforcement in a forest area south-east of Atlanta which has been dubbed “Cop City”.
The planned actions come a little less than two months after the death of Manuel Paez Terán, an activist known as “Tortuguita”. Terán was shot and killed by a Georgia State Trooper on January 18th in the midst of a violent raid by a combined force of state troopers, officers from Dekalb County & Atlanta, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on a protest encampment in the South Forest area.
Protesters are seeking to block the construction of the militarization and training complex which was launched by the Atlanta Police Foundation. With an estimated price tag of $85 to $90 million, the site would be the largest of its kind in the nation once completed. Many have complained about the environmental impact, as the entire forest is slated to be razed for the project. The planned week of action will include a march among other protests. “The idea is to have a march with Black-led groups, centered in Atlanta history, and the protest movements we’ve always been a part of,” said Community Movement Builders leader Kamal Franklin. A “National Day of Action Against Police Terror” is slated for this coming Thursday (March 9th), with a music festival and a “know your rights workshop” also included in the actions.
These initiatives by protesters are meant to quash the narrative promoted by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens that the protests have been dominated by outside agitators bent on violence. On Sunday (March 5th), 35 people were detained by police at the site after a construction vehicle was set ablaze and rocks were being hurled at officers as a protest was taking place. Franklin said to CNN afterward that the arrests were “indiscriminate”, and didn’t represent the majority of those protesting who are from the Atlanta area. “These are big-tent protests. We don’t expect incidents beyond standard civil disobedience. We hope the police will act accordingly and not in violent ways that exacerbate the situation,” he stated.
CMT/Paramount senior executive Leslie Fram will reunite with Steve Barnes as co-host of the relaunched 99X Atlanta morning show, now known as The Morning X With Barnes and Leslie. The radio broadcast had its original success via Atlanta’s alternative rock station from 1994 until 2003, and will now air from 6-10 a.m. ET each weekday.
Fram will also retain her role at CMT/Paramount.
In 1994, Brian Philips, now chief content officer at parent company Cumulus Media, paired Barnes and Leslie on the original Morning X With Barnes, Leslie and Jimmy (Baron). The show earned acclaim in the Atlanta market and beyond, while the team was named Billboard‘s national major market morning show in 1996, and Radio and Records’ national major market morning show in 1999.
In October 2022, the launch of the 99X “museum” website to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the station’s founding led to an outpouring of fan interest and passion. Cumulus Media acquired the station’s classic call letters and relaunched 99X WNNX in Atlanta in December. The station’s ratings doubled in its first month on the air. Barnes has hosted the revamped program since January.
The popular podcast The Pop Culture Show, which the duo founded at the onset of the pandemic, is now rebranded as The Morning X With Barnes & Leslie and joins the Cumulus Podcast Network. Episodes will release each weekday, featuring both new programming and classic material from the legendary radio show.
“This ‘new original 99X’ was destined to be — it is a passion project, a labor of love. None of us has ever stopped being friends, loving the same music, or laughing at the same jokes,” Philips said via a statement. “The audience demanded the return of the station via a social explosion of affection and nostalgia. Only in Atlanta could the will of the loyal 99X audience make the impossible happen. It’s unprecedented to be able to entirely rebuild a classic station with members of its original cast.”
“99X was my home for 17 years and will forever be in my DNA. Those years prepared me for my current role at CMT – understanding a loyal fanbase of music lovers who truly lead the way,” Fram added via a statement. “You only have to glance at the comments from 99X listeners reminiscing about their favorite music and memories to appreciate the role this radio station played in their lives. The Foo Fighters sang, ‘If everything could ever be this real forever, if anything could ever be this good again’ … and it turns out it can. I am psyched to be working with some of my lifelong friends and colleagues on 99X again and thankful to my Paramount/CMT family for letting me continue to put my rock hat on with Cumulus during my off hours.”
“It’s a thrill to come back ‘home’ to The Morning X and 99X,” added Barnes. “It’s mind blowing that the fans asked for our return to the Atlanta airwaves and Cumulus gave us the chance to put our team back together to rebuild this franchise.”
While Donald Glover has closed the chapter on his beloved FX series Atlanta, he’s starting another with his forthcoming TV series Swarm.
The show follows a young woman named Dre (played by Dominique Fishback) who is obsessed with a fictional pop star who is reportedly similar to Beyoncé, according to Vanity Fair.
Glover — whose has witnessed fans’ parasocial relationship with artists first-hand through his rap alter ego Childish Gambino — worked on the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series with Atlanta writer and producer Janine Nabers, who is Swarm‘s showrunner.
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“We were really interested in creating an antihero story,” Nabers told Vanity Fair in an interview, citing Mad Men’s Don Draper and The Sopranos’ Tony Soprano as inspirations for their re-envisioning of the archetype “through the lens of a Black, modern-day woman.” Swarm will dig deeper into Dre’s fandom and will take a dark direction.
Chlöe Bailey will play Marissa, Dre’s sister, while Damson Idris plays her boyfriend. “She’s an incredible person and she can really tap into the humanity of sisterhood,” said Nabers, who commended the star’s understanding of the music industry and relationship with her own sister, singer and actress Halle Bailey. Chlöe Bailey is one-half of the Grammy-nominated R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle and has also embarked on her own solo career, with her debut project due in March.
“A lot of people did it out of the kindness of their hearts and they did a really great job,” Glover added. “Dom, Damson, Chloe. I was really blown away at how hard they worked on the tone, ’cause it’s a strange one.”
Malia Obama is also involved in Swarm in the writer’s room, which Glover confirmed last spring in an another VF interview where he described her as “an amazingly talented person” and “really focused” when it comes to her work.
See the first photos from Swarm below.
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SWARM
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SWARM
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SWARM
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Pinky Cole, the founder of the popular Slutty Vegan chain of eateries, is coming under fire after a former employee alleged that Cole underpaid them. As a result, Cole’s appearance on NBC’s TODAY show was abruptly canceled prompting Cole to issue a statement declaring she would never do such a thing under her watch.
Pinky Cole, 35, burst onto the scene after opening her vegan burger chain Slutty Vegan in the Atlanta Metropolis area, sparking long lines of satisfied customers. The chain has since expanded into opening brick-and-mortar locations in Atlanta, New York, and a location coming to Washington, D.C.
Cole also owns Bar Vegan, a plant-based bar that borrows from the Slutty Vegan concept. According to Cole, she doesn’t oversee the daily operations of the establishment and boldly declared she would never do anything of the sort.
From IG:
This week, I was named in a lawsuit for one of my companies, Bar Vegan, alongside my partners, over alleged unpaid wages from one employee. Again, ALLEGED.
Up until this point, I was not familiar with this ordeal or the employee, because I don’t run day to day operations at Bar Vegan.
But because it’s a SEXY STORY to make a community leader look like a bad guy, this has become headline news.
What do I gain withholding someone’s hard earned money when my blessings overflow EVERYDAY? When I’m helping people EVERYDAY! When I’m using my resources to put people on EVERYDAY.. employees included! My life’s work is in service, and this negativity don’t match my name.
It isn’t known how far along the legal proceedings are in the lawsuit against Cole and her business partners but she’s promising to use this moment to forge ahead with her plans of expansion despite the disappointment of not getting her slot on the TODAY show.
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Photo: The Washington Post / Getty
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The Young Stoner Life saga just got even more interesting. Another associate has taken a plea deal but says Young Thug paid him to get low after a murder.
As per XXL Magazine, the YSL court drama continues to escalate. On Wednesday, Dec. 29 Antonio Sledge, aka Mounk Tounk, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Prior to the plea District Attorney Adriane Love detailed all the criminal acts Sledge was accused of doing.
“Defendant has been a member and/or associate of YSL since 2012…While associated with YSL and to support and express loyalty to YSL, defendant and co-defendant Garlington and Zachary appeared in a video with another person where defendant brandished a weapon used in a drive-by shooting,” Love said. The attorney also added that Young Thug gave him and other associates money to keep a low profile after a murder was committed on behalf of YSL.
As part of his plea deal, prosecutors recommended he serve 15 years probation. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he will have to submit to random drug screenings, not be in possession of guns at any time and and commit no criminal acts. He also has to adhere to a strict curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. unless he is working, attending school or needs medical attention. Lastly, he is not to have any communication with his co-defendants. Two other defendants, Derontae Bebee and Tenquarius Mender, have rejected plea deals.
The YSL RICO trial is expected to commence in January.
Photo: Nikko Lamere
Rapper Lil Durk is no longer facing criminal charges in Georgia over a 2019 shooting in downtown Atlanta, after prosecutors said they were choosing not to pursue the case.
In a court filing reviewed by Billboard, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office told a state judge that it would exercise “prosecutorial discretion” to drop the charges against the Chicago rapper, whose real name is Durk Derrick Banks.
“The facts of this case have been reviewed and, although it appears that probable cause existed for the defendant’s arrest, the decision of the District Attorney at this time is not to prosecute,” the DA’s office wrote in the filing, made Oct. 17 in Fulton County Superior Court.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment from Billboard.
Durk, 30, surrendered to Fulton County authorities in May 2019 on charges that included attempted murder. Prosecutors said Durk and the late rapper King Von were involved in a shooting that February near the popular Atlanta restaurant The Varsity, which left a victim with a non-fatal gunshot wound to the thigh.
At the time, the Chicago rapper declared his innocence. “Once I heard, I immediately came back,” he told local outlet WSB-TV. “I have nothing to hide. I have nothing to run from.” Durk also released a track in an attempt to clear his name: “Look up at the judge, can’t look, stay makin’ up lies for sure/ I’m a innocent man for sure, it is what it is for sure/ Nobody gon’ ride, had a warrant so I can’t hide.”
Von (real name Dayvon Daquan Bennett) was later killed in a shooting at an Atlanta nightclub. He was 26 at the time.
Durk’s attorney, Manny Arora, did not return a request for comment from Billboard on Monday (Oct. 24), but in a statement told WSB-TV, “While it took three years for the State to make the right decision, in the end the right decision was made and Mr. Banks can finally put this event behind him.”
There’s a killer on the loose in this week’s episode of Atlanta.
Titled “Crank Dat Killer,” the season’s sixth episode revolves around Soulja Boy’s 2007 hit single and dance craze “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” That song, which earned the rapper his first and only No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, is played at the very beginning of the episode — just before Young Thug’s “Tick Tock” is heard over the opening credits. Later, when Earn reveals that the eponymous Crank Dat Killer — a serial killer operating in the Atlanta area — preys on people who have previously recorded themselves dancing to the song, Al remembers that he, too, made a video to the hit and could be the killer’s next victim. He then calls Soulja Boy, whose cameo is backed by the rapper’s 2021 song “Whip It,” to ease his nerves.
Meanwhile, Earn and Darius try to buy a sold-out pair of sneakers from a local reseller who it turns out is not interested in taking their money. K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life” soundtracks that encounter, as the two men put aside their dignity for the shoes.
As Atlanta has evolved, music synchs have played a big role in the overall scene-setting of the show. Throughout the seasons, music supervisors Jen Malone and Fam Udeorji have chosen a variety of songs by old and new artists from various genres including OutKast, D4L, Gunna, Troye Sivan, Dua Lipa, Kodak Black, Jennifer Lopez and many more.
Atlanta airs on FX Thursday nights at 10 p.m. and is available to watch on Hulu the following day. Check out all of the songs used in season four so far below.
Episode Six, “Crank Dat Killer”
Soulja Boy, “Crank That (Soulja Boy)”
Young Thug, “Tick Tock”
Soulja Boy, “Whip It”
K-Ci & JoJo, “All My Life”
Episode Five, “Work Ethic!”
Anita Baker, “Sweet Love”
Janelle Monae, “I Like That”
Little Simz feat. Obongjayar, “Point and Kill”
Coco & Clair Clair, “Wishy Washy”
Episode Four, “Light Skinned-ed”
Dorothy Norwood, “Somebody Prayed For Me”
Chicago Mass Choir, “God Is My Everything”
Yolanda Adams, “The Battle is the Lord’s”
8Ball & MJG, “Top of the World”
The Ebony’s, “I’ll Try”
The Chi Lites, “I Want to Pay You Back (For Loving Me)”
Fivio Foreign & Polo G, “Bop It”
Gil Scott-Heron, “Save the Children”
Episode Three, “Born to Die”
Megan thee Stallion, “Money Good”
Al Green, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”
Kodak Black, “Let Me Know”
Episode Two, “The Homeliest Horse”
Ciara, “Ooh Baby”
Japanese Breakfast, “Kokomo, IN”
Young Stoner Life, T-Shyne, Lil Keed feat. Big Sean, “Warrior”
PinkPantheress, “Attracted To You”
Rick James, “Cold Blooded”
Episode One, “The Most Atlanta”
Chief Keef, “B—h Where”
Deborah Cox, “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here“
Pell, “Tew Much”
Sly & The Family Stone, “Runnin’ Away”
iHeartMedia Atlanta president Drew Lauter has departed the radio giant after video surfaced of the executive using racial and misogynistic slurs. The national radio conglomerate confirmed to Billboard on Friday (Oct. 14) that Lauter was no longer with the company, stating, “allegations of this nature go against our company values and our policies and we take them very seriously.”
The videos – provided to the local news station WSB-TV Atlanta, which first reported the news – shows Lauter repeatedly telling the driver, a fellow iHeartMedia executive, to “run over n—os” and using other racist language in front of two other iHeart employees, one of whom filmed the incident. According to attorneys Jason Castle and Roosevelt Jean, who are representing the client who filmed the incidents, the videos were recorded in August 2021 after a charity event.
In two videos, Lauter can be heard repeatedly using racial and sexist slurs and groping a male coworker while stating, “you better give me that t-tty.” Castle and Jean’s client – who is a top-ranking Black iHeart executive in the Atlanta region – claims to have reported the incident to his immediate supervisor at the time. He informed his attorneys that this was not the first instance of Lauter using racially insensitive language in front of employees.
In a statement provided to Billboard, an iHeart spokesperson said, “As soon as [the videos] were brought to our attention we acted quickly, retaining an outside investigator to conduct a thorough review, and when we received the outside investigator’s findings we immediately took decisive action.”
“From our client’s perspective, this isn’t about our client,” Castle tells Billboard. “It’s that this particular video is a representation of the hostile work environment and the discriminatory and racially insensitive, as well as sexually harassing environment that existed in the iHeart Atlanta offices.”
iHeart employees were reportedly informed of Lauter’s departure on Thursday, the same day the WSB-TV investigative report aired.
Castle says his client has not filed any legal action against iHeart or Lauter.