Aug 3, 2023 - Music
Vote for Atlanta's best hip-hop artist
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Are you ready for the main event?!?
What's happening: The battle we've all been waiting for. Our weeklong bracket challenge to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop ends with a final standoff between two Atlanta hip-hop titans.
State of play: In one corner we have T.I.
- Born Clifford Harris Jr., the rapper raised in west Atlanta's Center Hill neighborhood helped usher trap into the mainstream in the early 2000s and collaborated with all-star artists like Destiny's Child, Justin Timberlake and Eminem.
- Just a few years after his debut album, T.I. parlayed the musical success into acting roles ("ATL") and business ventures like real estate, nightclubs, a streaming service and the Trap Museum.
In the other corner, there's Big Boi and André 3000 of Outkast. What began as a high school friendship in East Point exploded into a global music powerhouse through the early 2000s that reinvented rap with each new record.
- Decades later and the group is still synonymous with not just Atlanta hip-hop but Atlanta itself, and the truly unique yet universally embraced sound has become a city soundtrack. These dudes are deep, man.
How they got here: Your votes helped T.I. defeat Latto, Killer Mike and Migos en route to the final.
- The Outkast guys absolutely pummeled their first three opponents, Gunna, Ludacris and Childish Gambino.
What's next: You hold the crown in your hands. Who shall wear it?