“Twenty years after the release of ‘Speakerboxxx’/’The Love Below,’ we chart how the creation of André 3000 and Big Boi’s fifth studio album became the start of Outkast’s ending.”
Atlanta
Journalism Is Struggling. In Atlanta, New Indie outlets Are Finding Ways to Make It Work
“Independent outlets are not only challenging revenue models—they’re changing the way local outlets approach journalism itself.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week’s edition highlights stories by Bench Ansfield, Justin A. Davis, Wright Thompson, Lucy Jones, and April Nowell.
How “The Shadow of State Abandonment” Fostered Then Foiled Young Thug’s YSL
“Atlanta’s YSL (Young Stoner Life) project has been about place-making as much as it’s been about making music. But what happens when the state interferes?”
‘Atlanta’ Was Donald Glover’s Masterwork
“Six years after it first aired, ‘Atlanta’ goes down as an all-time great.”
‘Almost Home’: On Place, Legacy, Growing Up in Atlanta, and Symbols of White Supremacy
An essay on growing up in the South, legacy, and a place rooted in white supremacy.
Killer Mike Takes His Allies Where He Finds Them
“You may start off with Professor X but Magneto got a fucking point.”
Funk Lessons in Sonic Solitude
“Joi’s recorded performances embodied all the funkiness my little soul had been waiting for.”
Not Homeless Enough for Assistance, But Still Without a Home
The working homeless exist in a modern purgatory.
‘The South Is Different Now. So Are We.’
On two tours of the South, taken 20 years apart, Pete Candler uncovers truths about his family and the place he comes from.