While Atlanta continues its reign as one of the hip-hop capitals of the world, its creative and music communities want the globe to understand that its music scene is more than just sections in the club with bottle service, beats and rhymes.
So for the Recording Academy's Atlanta Chapter Nominee Celebration at The Loft in midtown Atlanta on Jan. 25, the intimate live music venue showcased a range of talent. The soul-stirring performances stuck to attendees' ribs like the shrimp and chicken sausage etouffee that "New Soul Kitchen" host Jernard Wells was serving in the back.
It was on and poppin’ once Senior Executive Director Michele Caplinger and Atlanta Chapter President Henny Tha Bizness welcomed members and their guests. DJ Willy Wow!, whose Hip Hope For Kids! is nominated at the 2024 GRAMMYs for Best Children’s Album, was spinning tunes while Chapter Secretary Mara Davis warmed up the crowd as emcee. A wall featuring all of this year’s Atlanta-based nominees displayed ATL's diverse array of talent.
Killer Mike hit the stage dressed in all-white denim with a wooden pulpit to spit a few scriptures from his three-time GRAMMY-nominated magnum opus, MICHAEL. Backed by the gospel harmonies of the five-member vocal ensemble Mighty Midnight Revival and Trackstar the DJ working the turntables, Mike encouraged the audience to put their phones away and just vibe to the music.
The majority of the audience complied. The rapper and businessman opened with "Motherless" while a headshot of his late mother, Denise, sat on an easel flanked with white flowers. He landed into "Shed Tears" and "NRich" before taking the crowd six miles west in his old school Chevy to his old stomping ground, Adamsville, for "Exit 9" and closing with his movement "Scientists and Engineers."
"Atlanta made the best hip-hop album of 2023," Mike told the crowd.
Muni Long appeared in a sheer gown that resembles a Ciroc bottle’s color schemes to deliver her tender R&B ballads "Made For Me" and "Hrs and Hrs" with a vocal delivery sweeter than the Sweet Cheats cookies shaped like a GRAMMY.
"This was amazing," said Long, who took home a golden gramophone for Best R&B Performance for "Hrs & Hrs" in 2023. "It’s always an honor to be recognized by your peers. I had no idea that that record was going to do what it did. I’m forever grateful and can hopefully do it again."
Muni Long ┃Derek White/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Alt-pop artist Forrest Isn’t Dead came with melodic pop meshed with alternative rock that blurs between something out of CBGBs and The 40 Watt Club. The quartet turned up the amps and got the crowd on its feet with "Born or Made," "Here We Are," and "The Light."
"My happiness is to be able to get up on that stage, make the music, and try to help people through whatever they’re going through with the words that I share from my own life," Forrest Isn’t Dead frontman Forrest Kleindienst said.
Sibling foursome The BoykinZ threw some country twang, ‘50s girl group harmonies and 808 claps together to give hoedowns a trunk rattling makeover. The sisters threw on some pink, cowboy hats and studded denim costumes for a cool cover of TLC’s "Waterfalls" featuring "Mama" Jan Smith on guitar.
Rudy Currence posted up in black leather behind a Nord Stage 3 keyboard for some gospel-flavored soul: taking the audience back to his daddy’s Rock Hill, S.C. church as he covers Donny Hathaway’s "A Song For You" and Gnarls Barkley’s "Crazy."
Recording Academy Chair of the Board of Trustees Tammy Hurt considered the evening’s performances to be perfect precursor for the diverse musical acts that will hit the stages during GRAMMY Week.
"It’s great to be home and see these amazing artists from this city being celebrated," Hurt said. "Music brings us together, and events like tonight are a prime example of what it means to be a part of a community."
Several local and state representatives also pulled up to join in on the fun and recognize how important the music business is to Atlanta and the state of Georgia.
"We export music all around the world, so this is what we do," said State Senator Sonya Halpern. "Atlanta is a place where you can do music, be successful at it, and we want to help grow more people to be part of the industry and understand all of the opportunities."
"I’m a creative legislator, and you have to be in this day and age," said artist-turned-State Representative Inga Willis. "The pipelines are what are fueling the music industry as a whole. Atlanta music influences everything. We define sounds and genres while reshifting and recreating, and we’re the business."
The Atlanta Chapter’s executive team expressed confidence that each act and the vibe of the night left attendees pleased with an evening they will never forget.
"People don’t really understand how diverse the Atlanta community is," Tha Bizness said. "We have a strong hip-hop, R&B, country, bluegrass, rock and a great DJ scene all within an amazing community. When you bring all of that together, allow the drinks to flow, the food to be great, and the people should be energized, you’ll have an electrifying night."
2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List
The Atlanta Chapter's celebration was sponsored by Sean O'Keefe Enterprises, The MLC and City National Bank.