Gunna & Ludacris on What Makes Atlanta’s Hip-Hop Scene So Formidable

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Atlanta-bred artists Ludacris and Gunna sat down for an interview together as part of Rolling Stone’s latest edition of “Musicians on Musicians,” and the two spoke about the love they have for the city’s hip-hop scene.

The Georgia capital has long fostered a robust rap community, and it’s been perceived as very collaborative for decades. With the likes of OutKast and the Dungeon Family, among others, there’s a reason Atlanta has such a reputation. In the RS conversation, embedded above, Gunna highlighted just how many iconic artists come from the city, while Luda noted how other cities have taken note.

“It’s enormous how many diamonds we got that come out of Atlanta,” said Gunna on the legacy of hip-hop in Atlanta. “I don’t care what side it’s from; we trending on every side. We do it as a whole for Atlanta, though. It’s all different, trendy ways of how players kick it.”

Ludacris was born in Illinois but grew up in Atlanta, even attending the same high school where Gunna eventually enrolled, and he was equally glowing about the scene.

“I love how when you look outside of Atlanta and you see what other cities say about our city, everybody—New York people, L.A. people—they’re always like, ‘I love how Atlanta artists just all work together.’ Work together on businesses, inspire each other, people just getting on records,” added Luda. “This city has it together in the music industry because they know there’s strength in numbers. It’s happening even more now. We were doing it at the time where there weren’t so many artists popping. Now it’s a gang of them, and everybody’s working together more. That’s what I love about it.”