Jermaine Dupri is standing on town business as he takes fans behind the scenes of the making of the soundtrack for “Magic City: An American Fantasy.” The five-part docuseries about the Atlanta strip club’s legacy and its significant connection to Hip Hop premiered at SXSW in March 2024.
It has since been announced that Starz picked up the cultural feature ahead of its projected summer 2025 release. The “Money Ain’t a Thing” hitmaker produced the series alongside Cole Brown, Jami Gertz, Adel “Future” Nur, Peter Nelson, Michael Mauldin, and Drake’s DreamCrew Entertainment.
The southern hotspot for celebrities, athletes, locals looking to have fun, and even those just in need of a quick bite to eat has been welcoming guests since it opened in 1985. The venue ultimately became a central part of the music scene, often serving as the first place artists launched their careers and debuted new records. It goes without saying that Magic City, of course, has enjoyed a reputation in the past for having some of the most elite exotic dancers who proved stripping is more than a means of inciting fantasies, but that it is, in fact, an art form requiring a lot of physical prowess.
In videos shared on the So So Def honcho’s YouTube page, it is evident that he has been steadily crafting the perfect musical backdrop for the project. On Thursday (May 8), he posted a new video from a studio session, giving viewers a sample of the vibe he is working to capture. “You can’t make no Shakabootyclub soundtrack and don’t have no So So Def Bass All-Stars, real booty shake type s**t on it,” he wrote in the description.
“I’m trying to make songs with n**gas in the city that I never made songs with, but I f**k with [them], and we all cool, and we all from Atlanta. But I just ain’t never made records for them,” he explained in the clip. At that time, he was collaborating with Kilo Ali, an Atlanta legend who heavily represented the city’s bass and booty music throughout the 90s. The song that they are cooking up in the lab is “gon’ be history as far as I’m concerned,” said Dupri, as he added, “If y’all other n**gas don’t understand, this is Atlanta business. You don’t have to understand nothing I’m talking about, but that’s what this is. Straight like that.”
“Magic City: An American Fantasy” soundtrack is shaping up to feature several of the South’s biggest stars
In one of the scenes, a whiteboard with an “artist wish list” can be seen with names like Future, Usher, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Jeezy, Young Thug, Gucci Mane, Killer Mike, and Big Boi written out. 2 Chainz, Quavo, T.I., Ludacris, Young Dro, and a Big Meech skit are also listed, but with a check mark. On April 30, Dupri and his “Welcome to Atlanta” collaborator were locked in on “dynamic simplicity” while mulling over beats. Though details about the tracks remain a mystery, the megaproducer did reveal that Ludacris’ verse is one of multiple that will lace a featured song.
“Magic City: An American Fantasy” marks Dupri’s second docuseries showcasing Atlanta’s rich history of being a cultural trendsetter for parties and music. He also released “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told,” which revisited the epic multi-day extravaganza of the ‘80s and late ‘90s.