ATLANTA — The BET Hip Hop Awards is back in Atlanta Tuesday night. To celebrate the occasion, 11Alive caught up with various artists and culture icons to get their view on why the city has been so vital to the hip hop genre.
The occasion also coincides with the 50th anniversary of hip hop and the 30th anniversary of local record label So So Def.
Below is a look at what all those we talked to had to say:
Charlemagne
"If Atlanta didn't contribute to hip hop, there would be no hip hop for 50 years. You got to understand that. And everybody needs to just accept it."
Jermaine Dupri
"I think that's one of the things that Southern hip hop and especially in Atlanta we're missing, is that we don't really, really pay a lot of attention to the heritage that we have. It's a heritage in the city.
DJ Holiday
"Cause we keep putting out hits every week. We got DJs who support artists and artists support DJs."
Bone Crusher
"As a whole, hip hop is always been something special to me and to you. Hip hop is a Black thing, but it's a love thing. But all cultures."
Parlae
"Like Dre said, the South got something to say. It's been here ever since. And Atlanta is the place that you come to now, if you want to be in the music and if you want to be a singer, a rapper, a producer, this is the hub."
Boosie
"The South took over. You gotta keep it real. Like we produce the most stars. We get the most money. I mean, and now you got it reality. You know, at first it was an argument, but it's not an argument. The South is where hip hop is at."
Lil Duval
"The role we see now... beforehand it was mostly New York, but once the South took over, especially Atlanta, shout out the JD when it came to them, they never took loose of it."
DC Young Fly
"We still see it go to this day. And for us to continue to celebrate it and live among greatness, it just feel good."
EarthGang
"Blessed to be from the city. Man. Everything we do is inspired by people we love, people we go out (with). Hip hop can be broken down into like before Atlanta, after Atlanta. Because after Atlanta has never been the same."