Atlanta: Nostalgia Or Patricide?

After dominating so much of the rap conversation for so long, it's little wonder to see Atlanta rap experiencing a distinct nostalgic twinge in 2025.

Once a knowing harbinger of the trap wave to come, Jeezy has spent much of his summer touring with DJ Drama and a full orchestra to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his seminal Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101. Amid these nationwide dates, the Def Jam alum released an official concert recording last month, the simply named TM:101 (Live), that showcases these celebratory new arrangements of the multi-platinum album's beloved contents.

This past weekend, with the help of no less than DJ Spinz, Metro Boomin dropped a double-disc mixtape dubbed A Futuristic Summa. Despite its forward-looking title's suggestion, the star-studded effort spends most of its time calling back to Atlanta's past, specifically the late 2000s and early 2010s. Naturally, contemporary stars in Metro's orbit 21 Savage, Future, and Young Thug all make appearances, but the veritable return of the era's mixtape mainstays and radio killers are what set these tracks apart.

Hardly limiting his guest list to trappers, among those uplifted by the proceedings include members of Fast Life Yungstaz and Shop Boyz, 2007 XXL Magazine freshman pick Young Dro, and mixtape mainstays like J Money and Rocko. At times, A Futuristic Summa feels like a love letter to Grand Hustle Records; at others, it seems to acknowledge the awesome power of the 1017 Records brand during that period. T.I. is notably absent, while Gucci Mane revives a classic flow on "They Wanna Have Fun." Migos' Quavo makes multiple appearances, as does Brick Squad Monopoly's crunk star Waka Flocka Flame.

You'll hear traces of Atlanta's past in some of its newer rising artists, such as Anycia or Benji Blue Bills. Yet as the city went from 2010s hotbed to 2020s industry hub, drawing rappers and producers from all over to try and make a name there, regionality naturally took an existential hit. Though one might argue for one locally sourced micro-genre or another, there really is no longer a consensus on Atlanta's sound. With so many Northerners now relocated there and other Southerners concurrently cultivating (post-)trap scenes within their own states, how could there possibly be one? And that apparent lack of cohesion might just help explain why vanguard ATL acts like Young Metro and Young Jeezy feel that throwback urge and choose to overtly act upon it.

Of course, the very notion that Atlanta in the 2010s didn't have considerable rap outliers is absurd. The D.I.Y. ethos of Awful Records and its patriarch provocateur Father somehow existed in tandem with and in opposition to the prevailing trap scene. His smirking, self-produced signature "Look At Wrist" with Key! and ILoveMakonnen famously conceded that he wasn't actually whipping up narcotics for sale like some of these other rappers in the area, but rather that he'd could if he wanted to. That sentiment, indicative of the snarky wit smeared over projects like 2014's Young Hot Ebony and 2015's Who's Gonna Get Fucked First?, endeared him to an eager audience of hip-hop fans looking for levity and credibility. That latter characteristic is particularly important to note, being a generational and regional production peer of trap's movers and shakers like Lex Luger, Southside, and the aforementioned Metro Boomin.

Father's first album in three years, Patricide dodges the lure of overt homegrown nostalgia found on A Futuristic Summa and Jeezy's polyphonic victory lap. Instead, his unorthodox methods involve calling back to early Gucci Mane on the Tricky-esque opener "My chain is cursed" and indulging in surrealistically narcotized hedonism to the breakbeat swirl of "Cannot run when over encumbered." The immersive bassbin rattle of "Silly rabbit, when you met me I was slime" and the rude technoid squelch underpinning "Curiosity is the gateway to ruin" date back to late '90s electronica rather than mid-aughts ATL. Regardless of the musical provenance of these referential, self-made beats, his delivery remains deviously monotone as he nonchalantly mouths off over the suffocating "Sodom" and the dubwise "Thumb thru a check." Even as his tastes send him down unexpected sonic pathways, it's really comforting to hear his voice again.

FOHDH Matthew & Wino Willy, Matthew Gets Sick Off Cheap Wine and Prefers Gruaud-Larose 1945

(buy it / stream it)

In my experience, just seeing Wino Willy's name attached to a project is enough to warrant a listen. And while I was more or less unfamiliar with Philadelphia rapper FOHDOH Matthew before now, this collaborative album contains the power to make anyone an instant fan. Starting with the caustic, darkly comedic stylings of "Matthew Meets Margiela In Person," he wields his pen defensively and he spits with his whole chest. Set to a melodically restrained, woozily noirish production style, the blunted third-person barrage continues with tracks like "Matthew, Holy F**k!!," in which he declares the strip club the safest place to meet the plug, and "Matthew Loves Drug Empires USA," where he bobs and weaves gracefully through the workaday minutia of criminal enterprise. Willy's piano melts like room temp butter over the lyrical heat of "Matthew's Highway Motor Is Not Turning Over," a standout cut on one of the year's most remarkable team-ups.

Rich Jones & Good Food, Comemos

(buy it / stream it)

A deep appreciation for all things culinary and cannabinoid characterizes a good deal of Rich Jones' discography to date. Yet what really makes the Chicago rapper's projects so worthwhile are the pensive, oft introspective journeys his hungry stoner conscience takes. Working with New Jersey instrumentalist Good Food, he muses on both the seemingly trivial and the deeply profound things in life, from the perceived year-on-year decline in cantaloupe sweetness on jazzy opener "One Legged Pigeon" to a desperately earnest plea for hope on the amply soulful "Tears Of Joy." Food as rap metaphor may not be new terrain, for Jones or otherwise, but as a lyricist he's more connoisseur than glutton on "Let's Hold Hands + Pray Over This Meal" and the grown-up "Wishes." The guest list doesn't disappoint either, with Sir Michael Rocks diving into luxury with Scrooge McDuck voracity on "Don't" and Denmark Vessey engaged in the flyest espionage on "Spy vs Spy."

Three new tracks to snack on...

TOP HOOTER, "Dinner At The Palms"

mau from nowhere & hihi, "here we are again"

Dexter Fizz, "Magic"