The number six invokes an array of responses from people, many of whom find themselves seeing it as the calling card for the evil energy (which could be valid). The number six in the Bible for example, represents the number of man who was created in six days. Indeed man’s fall from grace came as a result of viewing himself equal to God which was the fatal flaw of the adversary who was cast out of heaven. In Supreme Mathematics, the number six is the number of equality and when perversed represents man’s equality with the adversary who also is not equal to the Creator. Numerology assigns energy and vibrations to numbers and the number six represents the feminine energy, the culmination of seeing.
How fitting is it then that the Six, the title bestowed to the area of East Atlanta, is being viewed by hip-hop fans and critics alike as a source of deification. Like any notable hood, the Six now brings about the notoriety and attention that areas of California, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Chicago garner even now. Few artists in rap can boast more respect than Gucci Mane, the man who singlehandly made East Atlanta a staple musically and culturally. Rappers like Drake, G Herb, and new generation Atlanta rappers like 21 Savage and Waka Flocka alike all hold him in high esteem. Future is one of the most commerically succesful rappers out right now, his three back to back mixtapesin 2015 propelling him back to superstar status. Cyhi the Prynce, Trouble, and Rich Homie Quan are just a few more of the talented artists coming from that area .
On the other side of the spectrum, Donald Glover better known as Childish Gambino, is now finalizing and releasing a tv show entitled Atlanta with video footage from east Atlanta. A hipster heaven now, Kirkwood and Little Five Points are just some of the areas in east Atlanta that people now freely travel and frequent, blessed in large to the gentrification that the city has experienced as of recent. A cursorily glance at Yelp or Thrillist will yield a number of plays to traverse in east Atlanta for food, music, and fun which is encouraging for people who consider themselves really from Atlanta. But before we praise the city and the Six for its advancements, how can we forget the destruction, the despair and disparities that plagued the Six for years?
East Lake Meadows, affectionately known as Little Vietnam by Atlantans and pundits alike, was without a doubt one of the most dangerous housing projects in the country, high in violence and high in drug trafficking. Not far away in the neighborhood of Kirkwood the streets of Mayson Avenue and Boulevard and Edgewood Avenue in Old Fourth Ward, contained major pockets of violence, aided by poverty and an influx of drugs. For me as a young man born in the late 80’s the Atlanta I saw and experienced as a citizen of east Atlanta was frightening. The usual trappings of the inner city existed in high volume until the East Lake Model came in 1995 and turned the area around. Golf was used at its catalyst, providing students from the projects the chance to play a sport and earn scholarships and opportunities that would not have existed without them.
From a rap perspective, there were few rappers who were known on a major level from East Atlanta peior to Gucci Mane. Ghetto Mafia, A Dam Shame, the YoungBloodz, Yung Wun, Baby D, and I-20 are a few names that come to mind, with the YoungBloodz at the forefront with a commercial prescence. Mainly underground, this side of Atlanta remained obscure on a mass level aside from the YoungBloodz, emerging with the advent of Gucci Mane. How ironic that one of the musically neglected areas of Atlanta is now its most influential?
Wright World 