Countdown Friday! Welcome to Atalanta Where the Playas Play

In celebration of going to Atlanta tonight, the countdown this week will be my favorite Atlanta/Georgia based acts. I wonder if I can steal my grandfather’s car and get out Eddie’s Attic…

1. Outkast – This should come as no surprise to anyone. I love Outkast; they are the only rap group on my top ten favorite bands of all times. The poetry of Andre 3000 and the grit of Big Boi. They helped put southern rap on the map.

2. R.E.M. - I understand that they are technically from Athens not Atlanta, but I did put in Georgia based acts. I also get there there’s a large contingent of people out there who hate Michael Stipe and think he just mumbles his way through songs, but this is my list and I adore him.

3. John Mayer – All right he is not from Atlanta, but it is where he got his big break and recorded his first album Room For Squares. I also understand that he’s a giant d-bag, but he is one of the best guitarists of all time. Listen to Continuum; ask Eric Clapton or Buddy Guy. The man is a mix of talent and hard work when it comes to those six strings.

4. Missy Elliot – When is she going to put out another record? She has not put out a song or album I have not loved. I love her voice and I love that everything she does sounds fresh and new. Seriously, when is the new album

5. The Black Crowes – Thank you Chris and Rich Robinson for making one of the most important rock bands on the 1990s. Thanks for breaking them up Kate Hudson.


6. TLC – When I get around to making my top ten female MCs Lisa Left Eye Lopes will be on it. TLC has not done anything noteworthy lately, but Crazy Sexy Cool and Fan mail were two staple albums.

7. Little Richard – I am not a big listener of 50s rock. I tend to lean more towards the 60s and the 70s with The Beatles, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield and many many more. I am also not an Elvis fanatic, so that leads me to Little Richard. His music has so much energy and never gets old. I wonder when they will make a biopic about him

8. Arrested Development – I have a sweet spot for early hip hop, but “Everyday People” has got to be one of my favorite songs from that era. I always think of Lawrence Fishburne’s character in School Daze, which I think was supposed to be modeled after the Atlanta school Spike Lee attended. Anyway, good music.

9. The Allman Brothers – The epitome of southern rock, and who doesn’t love that guitar in “Rambling Man” in which it’s pointed out, “I was born in Georgia.”

10. Usher - I couldn’t decide whether to put on Usher or T.I or India Arie, but I went with Usher because he’s an overall entertainer, got his start as a teenager and has managed to stick around. Also they were playing an Usher c.d. at the restaurant I had dinner at last night, so that may have had some influence.