Quote:
Originally Posted by DCReid
It seems to me that there may be confusion between cultural and economic impact. I think places like New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis have an outsized cultural impact compared with the much bigger cities. When I think of New Orleans, I think of jazz and zydeco music, delicious and unique food, the French Quarter, Mardi Gras, etc - even voodoo Places like Atlanta, Houston, Dallas are obviously economic powerhouses and have plenty of culture, but I have a harder time thinking of truly unique cultural aspects of those cities that resonate nationally or even worldwide, which I am sure they have.
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Really, you can't think of cultural aspects that resonate nationally from Atlanta?
Atlanta dominated hip-hop and r&b for much of the 2000s. Outkast, Usher, Lil Jon, Ludacris to name just a few of the big name stars who came out of Atlanta during that time. I also think Atlanta is perceived as a bit of a modern "Black Mecca", and holds an important place in black American culture. With the legacy and associated museums of the civil rights movement, a thriving black arts/entertainment scene highlighted by Tyler Perry's massive new studios, HBCUs (Spelman, Morehouse, Clark)...it's pretty clear that Atlanta contributes quite a bit to the culture.
I agree that New Orleans is also a cultural powerhouse. Certainly with food and both historical music (jazz and blues) but also hip-hop. I give the nod to Atlanta as the southern city with the most cultural impact. New Orleans is probably #2, and maybe Nashville is #3? Even though Nashville's rise has been very recent, there is no denying the impact of country music, and Nashville has long been the center of the country music industry.