Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story

by Joe Coscarelli

An “impassioned tribute” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) to the most influential music culture today, Atlanta rap—a masterful, street-level story of art, money, race, class, and salvation from acclaimed New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli.From mansions to trap houses, office buildings to strip clubs, Atlanta is defined by its rap music. But this flashy and fast-paced world is rarely seen below surface level as a collection not of superheroes and villains, cartoons and caricatures, but of flawed and inspired individuals all trying to get a piece of what everyone else seems to have. In artistic, commercial, and human terms, Atlanta rap represents the most consequential musical ecosystem of this century. Rap Capital tells the dramatic stories of the people who make it tick and the city that made them that way. The lives of the artists driving the culture, from megastars like Lil Baby and Migos to lesser-known local strivers like Lil Reek and Marlo, represent the modern American dream but also an American nightmare, as young Black men and women wrestle generational curses, crippled school systems, incarceration, and racism on the way to an improbably destination atop art and commerce. Across Atlanta, rap dreams power countless overlapping economies, but they’re also a gamble, one that could make a poor man rich or a poor man poorer, land someone in jail or keep them out of it. Drawing on years of reporting, more than a hundred interviews, dozens of hours in recording studios and on immersive ride-alongs, acclaimed New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli weaves a cinematic tapestry of this singular American culture as it took over in the last decade, from the big names to the lesser-seen prospects, managers, grunt-workers, mothers, DJs, lawyers, and dealers that are equally important to the industry. The result is a deeply human, era-defining book that is “required reading for anyone who has ever wondered how, exactly, Atlanta hip-hop took over the world” (Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels). Entertaining and profound, Rap Capital is an epic of art, money, race, class, and sometimes, salvation.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Hip Hop, Journalism, Cultural, African American

439 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 18, 2022

Reviews

[Caroline Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic run-of-the-mill “white guy reporting on rap” stuff but did include the phrase “Disneyland of ass” in reference to magic city so I’ll hand that to him

[Ciaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is now my mission to be in the top 1% of lil baby listeners when Spotify wrapped drops this year

[Isabella Lainez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like the deep dive of history in Atlanta Rap as it’s so rich. However I guess I hoped it would focus more on the beginning, the founding fathers, the Gucci Mane/Jeezy/T.I/WakaFlocka/Trina/etc of it all, then the ones who took it mainstream aka Future, Migos, Rich Homie Quan, Thug, etc, and then the newer guys of 2018 on, but I was glad to at least see snippets included. All in all I did learn a lot about Lil Baby, Quality Control, and a couple guys who tried to make it. It was a heavy read and took me a while to get through though

[Austin Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not enough Gunna

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stories of both well-known and lesser-known (at least to mass media) rappers, mostly under the QC label. But some parts dragged a little and didn’t always feel cohesive?

[Cole Kawugule · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any fan of rap or the modern music industry in general

[Sterling Hardaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

: a comprehensive narrative on Atlanta’s rap scene over the past decade and how it changed music and pop culture never let me down. Coscarelli is as comfortable with detailing the distinctions of a Bankhead wing spot today as he is with explaining the origins of Freaknik in the 90s or the after effects of the Atlanta child murders of the 80s. You can tell the close relationships he built with rappers , their managers, friends and family with the color they give. Reading this before, during and after Takeoff’s death made me feel more somber throughout every time Migos was mentioned, but it emphasized just how much they impacted culture and music in a short time. Otherwise, this is my favorite type of nonfiction book: one that can combine a little history with current day, stellar close narrative journalism, with moments to make you laugh and think along the way. If you’re a fan of Atlanta or the culture it helped permeate, I’d highly recommend this book.

[Dan Coye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wildly disappointed. Doesn’t cover the artists outside of QC nearly enough. Loses so much momentum. Loved all the Migos and found a new appreciation for Lil Baby but come on where is YSL, Mike Will & Rae Sremm, 21 & Young Nudy, Future? Ludacris??? The second half of this is just wasted.

[Grayson Whetton · Rating 3 out of 5]

too much about lil baby not enough about future and thugger

[Jahan Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be completely honest, this book did not end up being what I thought it was. I am a huge fan of hip hop and specifically southern American rap music like T.I. Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne, Chamillionaire, etc. These guys were big in the 2000s, which were my formative years. When I picked up this book about the music industry explosion that came out of the Atlanta rap scene, I ASSUMED they would be talking about these rappers I love so much.

Rap Capital is ACTUALLY about the founding and meteoric rise of the Quality Control music label across the 2010s, which produced the more recent rap superstars Migos, Young Thug, Lil Baby, etc. I don't really like these artists. I don't hate them, but I don't really listen to their music and I never would've knowingly tried to read more about them.

THAT BEING SAID, I still really enjoyed Rap Capital. I think Joe Coscarelli is a very talented writer and was able to make me interested in the lives and careers of artists I don't personally care for. To be honest. my biggest issue with the book was that I would FREQUENTLY become so excited reading a passage about how the Migos came together to create this great new sound for their latest song or album that I would go look for that song, listen to it, and then be horribly disappointed to find it is in fact just another shitty Migos song.

I would recommend this book to anyone even moderately interested in hip hop culture and history as pieces of legend, even if you may not care for these artists that strongly. I really do feel it is an important period of time despite the content.

[Miles Burleson-Lesser · Rating 4 out of 5]

An all-encompassing book on Atlanta's rap scene, with commentary from some of the city's foremost musical entrepreneurs and artists. Atlanta rap has an outsized influence on the genre as a whole. Even more so than other regional scenes, Atlanta rap is inextricably tied to the underworld (as if the indictment of Young Thug couldn't have made that more clear). From Shawty Lo to Gorilla Zoe, Atlanta has cemented its reputation for giving us "the next new thing", not unlike Nashville's relationship with country music.

This book lays out a chronological history of Atlanta rap while peppering its pages with intimate artist anecdotes and facts. Did you know that Takeoff and Quavo were cousins, despite being just 3 years apart in age? And did you know that Young Thug used to pay Lil Baby just to show up at the studio and record?

Joe Coscarelli is an excellent interviewer, as evidenced in the confessions he elicits from a notoriously tight-lipped bunch. Coscarelli skillfully articulates the magic behind certain artists and songs, take for instance this description of the Migos' song "Bad and Boujee":
"Beyond the thundering beat drop that could shake any part, its' icy charisma and unabashed hedonism could tickle even those furthest from its content, listeners who could sniff the fumes of abandon and opulence and feel adrenalized by proximity."

Recommended for: Hardcore fans, curious observers and those on the periphery of rap culture. Even those more broadly interested in Atlanta will benefit from a read, as the city and its music are firmly intertwined.

[Marius Emanuelsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. Man savner noe(n), men det som er her er veldig bra.

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, very interesting to read about lil baby’s come up in Atlanta. I found the stories of Marlo and Reek even better, really showing the flip-side of aspiring rappers in Atlanta.

[Holden Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a pretty good book. Teaches you a lot about the real grind of Hip Hop and how things work in one of the places people actually succeed. I recommend it to my artists out there.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm much more of a fan of Outkast than any of the other artists in this book (except maybe Young Thug, who has made two absolutely stunning albums, 12 terrible ones, and 15 middling ones in about a decade, so...hard to figure him out) but someone needed to write about the most influential music of the past half-decade or so and Coscarelli does a superb job of getting deep into the whole scene going all the way back to Outkast itself. I wouldn't have minded a brief detour through T.I. and Killer Mike, but neither one is exactly related to the genealogy of trap so it's understandable that he focused more on Gucci Mane and Shawty Lo.
The Atlanta portrayed here is interesting and vital and the heart of Black America, and that's a huge service for historians and people who love culture (and Kulture). I can actually visualize the difference between the southeast, northeast, and west sides well based on how he portrays the various artists and their homes in this story.
It seems equally possible that Quality Control will have almost no influence on music a decade from now or could be just as influential as they currently are. I wish they didn't release probably hundreds of hours of music each year, and I wish trap artists cared more about sequencing and tracklisting than most do.

[Jen A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great insights into the artists, producers and backers that have made Atlanta a powerhouse in music, producing some of the most prolific rappers of the past few decades. ‘Rap Capital’ weaves together the connection between rappers, including Lil Baby, Marlo, Lil Reek, Migos, with their lawyers, notably Drew Findling and Brian Scott, and numerous managers and backers, such as Amina Diop, P, and Coach K.

I was left wondering how did author Joe Coscarelli got integrated into the Atlanta scene. He clearly positions himself as an outsider, particularly emphasizing that he is a white face in a majority Black scene. Even as an outsider he is connecting with the various people profiled in his book in very intimate settings (picking them up from home, at the studio, going to the club, talking in their car). Given the sensitivity of some of the personal details in the book, he seems to have put effort into gaining the trust of those profiled.

The book doesn't explicitly name that in the tangled web of neighborhood politics with the musicians, lawyers, managers, producers, labels and A&R reps all trying to make their mark and get paid in Atlanta's scene, there is also the journalist, Joe Coscarelli, in the mix with presumably a similar aim. Would be interested to learn more about how the four years Coscarelli spent dedicated to reporting for this book in Atlanta came about. Felt like the book opened several different threads that didn’t ultimately feel resolved.

[Allegra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

[The Atlantic]

Rap Capital is "not really a history of Atlanta’s emergence as a hub of rap, and doesn’t try to be one. Readers hoping for a beat-by-beat account of how the city became the epicenter of 21st-century hip-hop—tracing the lineage from TLC and OutKast through Ludacris, Young Jeezy, T.I., and Gucci Mane, and culminating with Future and his contemporaries—will have to keep waiting ... Coscarelli follows several overlapping but contrasting stories in the city’s musical universe as they unfold. The bulk of the book takes place from 2013 to 2020, and tracks six main characters—three solo artists and one group, and two executives." — Jack Hamilton

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...

[Chris McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has an exquisite prose; an ability to understand and convey deeply complex dynamics with a turn of phrase.

However, what should have been a cultural and historical study of rap’s relationship to Atlanta becomes a series of individual rappers stories with little narrative threads between them.

Potential, unfulfilled.

[Sarah Paolantonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad I made time for this book. I was intimidated by the material, as I know absolutely nothing about Atlanta hip-hop or Atlanta in general (only having visited the city twice). I was worried the names, characters, places, and general vibe of the story would go over my head and I'd be stuck in a loop looking people up. But: none of that! Coscarelli writes with ease and familiarity, having truly immersed himself into this world as a reporter, and, I assume, as a fan. Only a few times in the whole book does he mention he's just sitting there watching all of this happen, usually the only white person around, and much older than everyone. It's great to hear him acknowledge the uncanny nature of his place, at the elbow of the center of the Atlanta hip-hop scene, which, as he makes a stunning case for in this book, is also the center of American popular music and culture.

The hook for me was his detailing of the Atlanta Child Murders that happened between 1979-1981; and how the young kids growing up in Atlanta at that time—André 3000 and Big Boi were four, Jermaine Dupri was six, Young Jeezy and 2 Chainz were toddlers, etc—were basically told to never go outside and especially never go outside alone. Between that and explaining the geography of the city and how 'Atlanta is a city in the woods' AND by including a map of the city (a map!! why don't more books have maps!?!), Coscarelli made a bigger narrative arc that ushered me in. The way the city just IS dictates the way the people in it were raised, separated--into neighborhoods or groups or factions or collectives—widening the variety of styles, methods, and points of view that could yield from that upbringing and unique experience. I first read about the Atlanta Child Murders (the Wayne Williams case) in 'Killer on the Road: Violence and The American Interstate' by Ginger Strand. I was then reminded of them YEARS later because of season two of David Fincher's Mindhunter on Netflix, which was sadly cancelled (and really just starting to be a good show at season 2). The Atlanta Murders of 1979-1981 tend to go unnoticed historically and culturally by most people unless you go looking for it or stumble upon it. Really because racism. The only reason anyone of any importance ever got involved to maybe solve the case of these 28 murders (28!!!) was because the moms of the murdered children would not shut up about it: as they shouldn't!

This explanation for why ATL is the way it is, combined with important snapshots of ATL's history in general, was my entrance point. The rest is a testament to Coscarelli's reporting and writing, organized beautifully, telling stories about men and their lives—Lil Reek! Lil Baby, Coach, P, Marlo!!!!, Migos, Lil Yachty!—just wrapped itself around me in a Let Me Tell You This Story authority. I've spent my entire life reading about music, music scenes, music history, and all the culture that comes with that music and I've been bored by books about subject matter I actually knew, cared about, experienced, and had spent countless hours listening to. Rap Capital is a sweeping volume that is thankfully not a tome. Hip-Hop turned 50 last year and is the most dominant genre of music on the planet. Coscarelli tells the stories of so many people, and of Atlanta, so well that even to this outsider I now completely understand how Atlanta hip-hop has taken over the country. All this PLUS the music writing is seasoned and simple. Coscarelli is never bogged down by over-extended metaphors or tangled in jangle guitar descriptions and shit. He just tells it. I also commend Coscarelli greatly for never using the n-word, in all 360 pages, always just n——. I appreciate it as a reader, as a person, and as someone who keeps books as artifacts of cultural history. "The chip on Atlanta's shoulder has turned to a stage" Coscarelli writes. I get it. I GET IT!!

My used copy, with the gold (!!) dust jacket (I love the gold!!) (the paperback is black) is dog-eared and marked up. I covet it. What incredible stories. Drinking five to six pints of opioid syrup a day!!!!???Breaking the bone that is your eye socket??!! Lil Reek's entire life. Damn. Just damn. All this is more proof that the learning never stops. There's always something more to understand, even if you live outside it.

And!!!! I have made a playlist of all the Atlanta artists mentioned in this book (songs chosen at random) which you can access here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0dE... enjoy!!

[Rams Kick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book so much. I am a huge fan of Atlanta rap music and even wrote a term paper on it in high school. When I first heard about it from Stereogum’s ‘The Number Ones’ column I immediately ordered it because it sounded perfect for me. I was eager to learn even more about the history of Atlanta rap music.

This book is not about the history of Atlanta rap. It is instead a loosely connected group of stories focusing on various figures important to the industry of Atlanta rap in the current era, mostly those involved with the Quality Control label. It describes these figures as they first get involved with rap and follows them to where they are today. Throughout we learn about the general culture of Atlanta, from its politics to its crime. One thing I want to give Coscarelli credit for here is his characterization of these people. Coscarelli clearly loves the people he is talking about and makes them seem both like mythological figures as well as human beings just struggling to make it through the day. This is a well-researched book that does go deep into these peoples’ lives and personalities. If you want to find out just what Lil Baby is like, this book will tell you all you need to know about him. Another thing I want to credit Coscarelli for is how he doesn’t only look at the success stories. Yes we spend a lot of time with Lil Baby and Migos, two massively successful artists, but we also spend time with Lil Reek, who wasn’t able to make the most out of his time in the spotlight as well as Marlo, who ultimately died because of the gangbanging that is so vividly described throughout this book. It is nothing if not comprehensive, and I appreciate Coscarelli for showing just what Atlanta is, warts and all.

With that said, this book has a serious structural problem. Something about Rap Capital feels poorly edited. It just... doesn’t have a flow. While I understand the difficulties that come with trying to describe a massive industry and its connection to the city that birthed it in less than 400 pages, the fact remains that this book has a problem with pacing and cohesion. I feel like the book would be better served if it took all the Lil Baby segments and put them in one section back-to-back and did the same thing with the other figures in the story. Jumping from one person to the other in a somewhat chronological way just makes this book feel awkward and I can’t get over that. There is an amazing book within these 370 pages, but the order of everything means that this version is not that amazing book.

I think if I came into this book with lower expectations I would have enjoyed it more. As it stands, its structural issues prevent it from reaching the top quality that I feel it could achieve. It’s a good book that I wanted to be great.

[Farlin Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for any fan of rap music or music journalism! Joe Coscarelli artistically weaves both heartwarming and heart wrenching anecdotes speckled with respectable name-drops and a vivid illumination of the trap infused undercurrents fueling the wellspring of Atlanta’s notorious and still struggling rappers. It’s an absolutely pleasure to see beyond the marketing and public personas of both well-known and still somewhat underground artists; as well as gaining a deeper understanding of the historical context of a city with a name so familiar to all, but understood by few who reside outside its railway boundaries. Read this book and you WILL begin to hear beyond the mixing and the auto-tuning of your favorite Atlanta trappers’ songs. Rap Capital is an opportunity for an inside glimpse into the ancestral traumas, civil unrest, and emotional numbing that was the backdrop to these artists’ too brief childhoods; and it offers a paradigm shift to those willing to wake up to the struggle beyond the perceived flashiness of Rap culture. A powerful story capable of expanding your perspective of the music business and the hopes it offers to those fighting to resolve the problems they never chose for themselves, but wake up encapsulated by every day.

[fine ass ✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story is nothing short of an immersive exploration of the Southern city inarguably responsible for outputting some of the most innovative and enthralling artists of the genre today. Joe Coscarelli, with a music journalist’s glaring tendency to at times overwrite but in inserting an inoffensive conscientiousness, draws you intimately into the come-up stories primarily surrounding the world of the label Quality Control, documenting his observations with signees Lil Baby, Migos, and the late Marlo to up-and-coming rapper Lil Reek, local legends, industry executives, and the unsung lawyers of their universe.

What surprised me most, as both a fan of the artists profiled and the genre generally, was how much lore I was able to be introduced to through Coscarelli’s (outsider) commitment to contextualizing these stories, dating back to the Atlanta Child Murders of the 1980s (personally before my years) and in assessing the impact BMF’s brief takeover left on the city’s aspirational youth. This is a must-read both for any rap fan fascinated with Atlanta’s omnipresence or one seeking to understand it.

[Dimas · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the YSL indictment and the death of Takeoff, this book feels like the end of an era. Atlanta's dominance is coming to end, for the same reason New York's dominance ended in the mid 2000s (a mix of gentrification and the rise of the surveillance state.) I love the format; it starts off broad and gets more intimate as the book goes along. By the middle, we basically get the story of three rapper prototypes: the superstar; the burgeoning rapper who is always going to be one hit away; and the trapper turned rapper who can't leave the streets despite all of his potential.

The writer got a ton of access and you can tell; the book just has so much color and rich storytelling. I wish there was a little less hand holding — do we really need to tell the reader what the first and the third means? — and the ending feels a bit patched together and anti-climatic. But this looks like a modern day rap classic.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Book club selection. I wouldn't normally pick up a deep-dive into the history of trap and how Atlanta played such a pivotal role in the scene, but I am happy to read the backs of cereal boxes, so there's that. Coscarelli is a good writer and got incredible access to the rappers he focused on. But he also fell into the (familiar to me!) journalistic trap of the notebook dump, where you get so many amazing quotes you can't help but use every single one of them. There was a ton of dialogue and direct quotes in this book and it slowed the narrative down. My editor would have killed at least 1/4 of them. I found the first half of the book pretty slow but it picked up the pace halfway through.

[Kevin Schafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended by a good friend of mine.

I love Atlanta the way that someone who does not live there only can. It is a truly American place - I say with love (normally a huge putdown). This book is a look at Atlanta, the music scene and the way that those aspects play into each other. Following four rappers and their attempts to make it big, this was a real delight - every character is so absurdly idiosyncratic that spending time with them is a true pleasure. Incorporating the people who do not make is a nice touch and the author does the great job of catching the banality of this life.

There's a weird scene at the beginning where the author attempts to make this all about the downstream impact of the Atlanta child murders and then proceeds to never mention it again.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

When I picked up this book I expected a pretty traditional chronology that explored Atlanta rap from its inception to the modern day. While this book is not completely vacate this premise, it also surprised me by making its primary focus the lives of three modern rappers and their experiences in the Atlanta game. Lil Baby stands at the center of the narrative, taking the reader through the tragically complex reality of life in the hood for Americans across the United States. This is a story about rap, but more introspectively, it is a story about a systemic struggles that encompass the lives of so many Americans, usually young and Black, as they navigate a life set up to fail them.

[Stephen Kearse]

"The book works as a basic explainer of the ways in which the modern music industry—in Atlanta and beyond—still depends on the upward flow of trends and sounds from regional and online scenes. But as a portrait of Atlanta and contemporary hip-hop, Rap Capital fails. Coscarelli’s account overstates the influence of commerce and industry, neglecting the delightful chaos of the music’s creators and audiences, and downplaying the ways Atlanta music, and rap more broadly, refuses to be masterminded."

full review: https://www.bookforum.com/culture/joe...

[Matt Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

(audiobook)

Really well done. I learned a lot, Coscarelli has a way of giving layers to people and places that enriches their stories (and brings color to their music). The whole thing is a testament to how culture is created, and made me think about how soulless the dawn of AI really feels. It’s more than just a look at the rise of the Atlanta rap scene, it goes deep enough to feel personal - I loved the stories from Baby’s mom and the lawyer especially, but love how the city of Atlanta was the true main character throughout.

Reminded me of: how I had no idea what I was rapping in high school in my Ford Taurus going through the Taco Bell drive through

[Michael Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised at how much this book drew me in, using the human stories that make up the rap industry to make a case for its significance. The main “characters” of this book come in the form of world famous rappers like Migos and Lil Baby, as well as local legends or rappers whose careers fizzled out, like Marlo and Lil Reek. I loved that it didn’t just show what life was like for the rappers that made it, but also for the ones that had to stick to their lifestyles along the way; it painted a really vivid picture of a side of Atlanta that many never see.