Atlanta takes center stage at SXSW

Photo by Julia Beverly/The Atlanta Voice AUSTIN, TX- Two back-to-back premieres this week during Texas’ popular music and film festival SXSW shine the spotlight on popular black culture in the 1990s in Atlanta. The first installment of a three-part docuseries, Magic City: An American Fantasy, drew Atlanta royalty like T.I. and 2 Chainz to the screening. Recent Grammy Award winner Killer Mike, who professes to have partied with politicians and preachers alike at the popular Atlanta strip club Magic City, wonders aloud if this “saints and sinners” dynamic brings necessary balance to the city. Executive producers Drake and Jermaine Dupri are also among the celebrities featured in the series. Drake issues a challenge to boxer Floyd Mayweather, while Shaquille O’Neal recalls signing his groundbreaking 1996 NBA contract for $120 million at Magic City because the party was so live he could not be persuaded to leave the venue. Photo by Julia Beverly/The Atlanta Voice In a Q&A after the screening, filmmakers Cole Brown and director Charles Todd said they intend the series to be a celebration – of the athleticism of the dancers, of the entrepreneurial prowess of Magic City’s charismatic founder, Michael “Magic” Barney – rather than a stereotypical...