2025 Atlanta 500
Clockwise rom top left: Jenni Bonura, Joon Sup Less, Lee Ward Sears, Pedro Cherry, Donna Hyland, BJ Green, Susan Oh, Santiago Marquez
Photographs by Martha Williams
The power of Atlanta is that it influences everything
Atlanta’s power never ceases to amaze me. As a pop culture PhD, my latest Atlanta’s power amazement is Atlanta’s mention in California rapper Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 banger “Not Like Us,” which is a diss track for the ages against Canadian rapper Drake. How did Atlanta get involved in rap beef between two rappers not from here, you might be asking. That’s the allure of Atlanta’s power, is my answer (or in other words), Atlanta Influences Everything, which is among the latest catch phrases that attempts to encapsulate all that is Atlanta.
According to Kendrick Lamar, Atlanta is the place where you “run to” when you need a “few dollars.” He highlighted when Atlanta was called Terminus and how the railroad lines that ended in our city in 1837 brought wealth to our state’s metropolis and how Atlanta is still wealthy today, albeit for different reasons. And that is true: captains of industry continue to be captivated by our city—we are the capital of the Hollywood of the South, Southern Hip Hop as a staple was created here, the FIFA World Cup is coming here, and the Super Bowl continues to come here. I’ve always loved one of New York City’s catch phrases: If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. But I would like to submit this catch phrase for Atlanta: If you can’t make it anywhere, you can make it here.
As I edited this year’s class of Atlanta 500, I was struck by the number of nonprofit organizations that are included. It has always been the most sizeable of the sections, but maybe the timing of Kendrick Lamar’s thesis, which will likely be performed at the Superbowl in February, has influenced my thinking. Many of these nonprofits address issues that the aforementioned are sometimes not attuned enough to do, and so I applaud them in their efforts. And I hope you take the time to carefully consider how these powerful organizations are making an impact in the city, often without the benefit of wealth and acclaim.
Another thing struck me about Kendrick Lamar’s homage to Atlanta: I hope that as a city we don’t become self-satisfied because there are issues to be addressed. Wealth inequities and affordable housing are two that immediately come to mind. Drake is having a very peculiar response to his rap kingdom being challenged that demonstrates hip hop, which was birthed in New York and turned 50 in 2023, has changed. Maybe his response indicates that he had become self-satisfied. Who can say? But here in Atlanta, for all that we’ve accomplished, let us not rest on our proverbial laurels and conclude that because we are powerful in 2025 means that we will always be that way.
— Jacqueline J. Holness, Editor
Archives: View the lists from 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, or 2020.