Hip-hop found a home in a lot of American cities. It found its voice in Atlanta.

But the full story — how the music grew out of specific neighborhoods, specific struggles, and specific visions of what the South could be — rarely gets told with the depth it deserves.

How Hip-Hop Made Atlanta is a three-part public lecture series by Dr. Regina N. Bradley. Each session examines Atlanta’s hip-hop culture as a lens for understanding American identity, civic life, and regional history.

In this second session, Dr. Regina N. Bradley examines OutKast and the Dungeon Family not just as musicians but as cultural theorists, positioning them as artists who used music, visual media, and performance to reframe what Southern Black life looked like in the post–Civil Rights era. Through close analysis of their work and its public reception, she traces how a group of kids reshaped national perceptions of the South and, in doing so, reimagined what American identity could sound like.

Join MODA for this free lecture followed by a Q&A.

This program is supported by a grant from Georgia Humanities.