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Yeah, Atlanta seems to be one of the only cities that have high murder rates, along with Detroit and a few others. Everywhere else it seems to be out of style. L.A. had it's time for high murder rates in the early 90's, and NYC it was the 80's. Both of those cities are safe and quiet now, compared to what they used to be.
I think pop-culture wise Atlanta is the city for the decade with all the crunk and snap artists that originated there. It is like Seattle was with the grunge scene in the 90's. However, I can't think of any companies in Atlanta that grew in the 00's like Microsoft and Starbucks did in the 90's. Of course Coca-Cola, CNN, and Home Depot have always been big.
As many mentioned, NYC and L.A. are always going to be influential in any decade. However different areas of the L.A. area have been the focus in different decades. In the 2000's, it is Orange County (The OC, The movie "Orange County", Laguna Beach, Real Housewives of OC). In the 1990's, it was Beverly Hills (90210, "Clueless"). In the 80's, it was the San Fernando Valley ("Fast Times At Ridgemount High", "Valley Girl" image).
Any literate person in American would be an idiot to listen to "Snap" or "Crunk" music. Its pathetic. If these music genres are the reason why Atlanta has been relevant in the past decade then we as a society have gotten more stupid as the years have progressed. Atlanta artists have a great platform to get their work out to the nation, but 95% of the artists are extremely horrible! If it werent for Outkast I would have ZERO respect for ATL...atleast musically.
Any literate person in American would be an idiot to listen to "Snap" or "Crunk" music. Its pathetic. If these music genres are the reason why Atlanta has been relevant in the past decade then we as a society have gotten more stupid as the years have progressed. Atlanta artists have a great platform to get their work out to the nation, but 95% of the artists are extremely horrible! If it werent for Outkast I would have ZERO respect for ATL...atleast musically.
That isn't the only music coming out of Atlanta...Usher, T.I., Ludacris, Akon, Ciara, Keyshia Cole, TLC, Ne-yo, Kelly Rowland, 112....then there is R.E.M., Collective Soul, B-52's, Black Crowes, Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins...Jermaine Dupri, Kieth Sweat, Dallas Austin...that's a sampling of the artists representing ATL - I don't see any of this group that are "extremely horrible".
I think pop-culture wise Atlanta is the city for the decade with all the crunk and snap artists that originated there. It is like Seattle was with the grunge scene in the 90's. However, I can't think of any companies in Atlanta that grew in the 00's like Microsoft and Starbucks did in the 90's. Of course Coca-Cola, CNN, and Home Depot have always been big.
Home Depot was just founded in 1979 with one store...the 90s were when it really became huge and hugely successful. EarthLink, Equifax, and MindSpring also grew large in the 90s...along with Storehouse Furniture, Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Mobility), Chick-fil-A, Moe's Grill...and a big one that grew up in the 80s and 90s - Turner Broadcasting and the list of divisions...TNT, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, etc.
Those are mostly 90s growth (some 80s and 90s) home-grown Atlanta companies that were/are strongly associated with the city.
That isn't the only music coming out of Atlanta...Usher, T.I., Ludacris, Akon, Ciara, Keyshia Cole, TLC, Ne-yo, Kelly Rowland, 112....then there is R.E.M., Collective Soul, B-52's, Black Crowes, Indigo Girls, Shawn Mullins...Jermaine Dupri, Kieth Sweat, Dallas Austin...that's a sampling of the artists representing ATL - I don't see any of this group that are "extremely horrible".
I would argue that maybe half of those artists are tolerable, maybe even semi-listenable.
Seattle in the 90s is a perfect pick as exemplary of what the OP is getting at. Seattle captured the zeitgeist of the entire decade, from new technology (Microsoft) to industry (Microsoft, Starbucks), to music (grunge scene), even TV to a lesser degree (Frasier), to the very way people shaped their lives (flannel clothes, lattes, the rise of high-tech geeks to coolness).
That's why Atlanta doesn't even register on my radar for this decade. Yeah, maybe there was a building boom there and a lot of music came out of it, but nobody thinks of these things as the "Atlanta sound" or the "Atlanta movement" etc.
There just doesn't seem to be a clear front-runner for this decade, although there are a couple years left. New Orleans is a good nominee in that it is very emblematic of our decade's experience: distrust in failed government, tragedy, finger-pointing, and crumbling infrastructure.
Las Vegas is my #2 nominee, mainly due to its explosive, hubristic growth (not just new casinos but mega-casinos) and consequential real estate boom, the epicenter of Texas Hold-em mania, etc. I foresee a lot of this drying up by next decade - the real estate has already begun and the mega-casinos are next. Faux prosperity built on nothing has basically been the theme of this decade, and Vegas has embodied it. Hmm, maybe I should switch NO and LV after thinking about this.
I would argue that maybe half of those artists are tolerable, maybe even semi-listenable.
That's just personal opinion...the list is full of popular, successful artists whether you like them or not...and from various genres. I didn't even mention the country artists.
That's why Atlanta doesn't even register on my radar for this decade. Yeah, maybe there was a building boom there and a lot of music came out of it, but nobody thinks of these things as the "Atlanta sound" or the "Atlanta movement" etc.
Wrong - many, many people on this side of the country strongly place R.E.M. (which at its popularity height was on par with U2's following) with Atlanta along with a sizeable list of major artists from all genres. I couldn't tell you what "grunge" music is or sounds like...and I wouldn't have really known to associate it so strongly with Seattle.
Home Depot is as huge a growth story as Starbucks and is as "Atlanta" as Starbucks is "Seattle". As for technology...MindSpring/EarthLink, Scientific-Atlanta, Cingular, etc. - none of those ring any bells? They aren't quite Microsoft, but there were and are a good number of very successful tech companies associated with the city. As far as television...Seattle had a show - Frasier - as did Atlanta - Designing Women - from 86 to 93...and Turner Broadcasting/CNN evolved from Ted Turner's outdoor advertising business with his purchase of a UHF station in Atlanta in 1979 to the huge, far reaching media giant that it is currently.
Just because you don't know Atlanta's companies, music, or television doesn't mean that it's unknown.
I would say hands down NY for the eighties. Almost all of the videos on MTV were made in NY. Much pop culture and everything already mentioned.
---I do however give Miami a very close and strong second. Drugs that seemed to change our country forever were coming through Miami from Colombia. Miami Vice was very popular as well as movies like Scarface. But I still think NYC hands down. Rap was created in NYC, once again as well as everything else mentioned.
90's--- I felt like John Shaft spoke for me, he said everything I would have said.
2000---I personally think this has been our least productive or influential decade. This decade made me want to snooze right through. Rock and Roll died this decade. Im not into rap, I like soul music but the c"rap" coming out in the last decade made me wonder what happened to our country. I dont want to pay twenty dollars to listen to 50 cent tell me how rich he is...Geesh..I haven't really been impressed with this decade for anything. I think NYC had the biggest impact though. Since 9-11, I remember seeing the change for a few years especially since I live in NY state. NY impacts the country so much with Wall St. and I dont really think we've seen it all yet. There is still two more years and I am not looking forward to it.
I have to say being that I grew up in the eighties and early nineties. I thought they were great decades. Mtv is no longer Mtv. Rock is dead. We are dominated by pulp culture or media like never before. I liked life before the internet age. I think we have become to selfish and boring as a society. There is no imagination left on TV. We used to have good tv shows now all they do is slap five or six dumbasses together and say be normal. And we watch it. I am almost embarrissed for how our society is going. P.S. I dont want to see Paris Hilton eat toast. Who cares. Can someone please wipe out these nobody's. It is a bad time for real actors who have to sell their souls to reality tv. Whatever happened to creativity. Where are all the writers anymore. I've never seen obesity rates like I have in today's generation. When I was in school there was one fat kid in class. Now 33 percent are fat. Kids are freaking lazy today and its because of technology. Go outside. This decade sucks..
I would say hands down NY for the eighties. Almost all of the videos on MTV were made in NY. Much pop culture and everything already mentioned.
---I do however give Miami a very close and strong second. Drugs that seemed to change our country forever were coming through Miami from Colombia. Miami Vice was very popular as well as movies like Scarface. But I still think NYC hands down. Rap was created in NYC, once again as well as everything else mentioned.
90's--- I felt like John Shaft spoke for me, he said everything I would have said.
2000---I personally think this has been our least productive or influential decade. This decade made me want to snooze right through. Rock and Roll died this decade. Im not into rap, I like soul music but the c"rap" coming out in the last decade made me wonder what happened to our country. I dont want to pay twenty dollars to listen to 50 cent tell me how rich he is...Geesh..I haven't really been impressed with this decade for anything. I think NYC had the biggest impact though. Since 9-11, I remember seeing the change for a few years. NY impacts the country so much with Wall St. and I dont really think we've seen it all yet. There is still two more years and I am not looking forward to it.
I have to say being that I grew up in the eighties and early nineties. I thought they were great decades. Mtv is no longer Mtv. Rock is dead. We are dominated by pulp culture or media like never before. I liked life before the internet age. I think we have become to selfish and boring as a society. There is no imagination left on TV. We used to have good tv shows now all they do is slap five or six dumbasses together and say be normal. And we watch it. I am almost imbarrissed for how our society is going. P.S. I dont want to see Paris Hilton eat toast. Who cares. Can someone please wipe out these nobody's. It is a bad time for real actors who have to sell their souls to reality tv. Whatever happened to creativity. Where are all the writers anymore. I've never seen obesity rates like I have in today's generation. When I was in school there was one fat kid in class. Now 33 percent are fat. Kids are freaking lazy today and its because of technology. Go outside. This decade sucks..
Wrong - many, many people on this side of the country strongly place R.E.M. (which at its popularity height was on par with U2's following) with Atlanta along with a sizeable list of major artists from all genres. I couldn't tell you what "grunge" music is or sounds like...and I wouldn't have really known to associate it so strongly with Seattle.
Whenever I heard or read about R.E.M. (and the B.-52's), they were associated with Athens and Athens only; not Atlanta. BTW, if you can't tell someone what "grunge" music is or sounds like, you're either too old, too young, or too caught up in thinking the world revolves around Atlanta.
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