The tides of hip hop dominance have changed, according to Akon. The Konvict Muzik label owner recently said that the South is no longer at the helm and calling the shots.

“Atlanta’s been a driving force to hip hop for sure, but the dominators in hip hop is Canada,” said Akon during his Oct. 6 appearance on the “Big Homies House” podcast. He continued, “They dominating the music business. Okay, they got Drake, Tory Lanez, you got The Weeknd, you got Justin Bieber.”

The entrepreneur said all is not lost as far as the South’s Black mecca, though. When it comes to cultural influence, there is no downplaying the contributions of the city that some of hip hop’s biggest figures rep.

“Now mind you, I’m thinking from a business standpoint. I’m not talking about influence. Influence, Atlanta hands down ‘cause everything that those guys in Canada is was birthed from here in Atlanta. Don’t get it twisted. Atlanta changed the game when it comes to urban music,” said Akon.

Atlanta took over the hip hip music scene at the onset of the new millennium. Though the region had an established presence in the industry, it was not until artists such as Outkast and Goodie Mob made it known that the South had something to say that the region recognized as rap’s new hub globally.

“When Lil Jon came with the 808, then JD came and opened it commercially. Like bro, Atlanta changed the face of music and created a different spectrum of how people looked at hip hop,” declared the “Locked Up” artist. He added, “Before it was New York and then Cali, but when Atlanta came, Atlanta brought culture. They brought color, they brought style, they brought fashion, and they brought influence.”

Hear more of what Akon had to say about hip hop in the interview below.