Inside the Atlanta Strip Club that Runs Hip Hop

Magic City is a strip club.

When you walk in you throw money and girls get

butt complete naked, like they take they bottoms off

and they take they top and

they shake they ass.

(Magic by Future)

♫ Pluto

♫ Future

♫ Fishtailing out the parking lot leaving Magic

♫ Two bad bitches and I got 'em outta Magic

♫ The way I make the work disappear call it magic

♫ Sippin on the purple any other call it magic

Voila, magic, Magic, Voila, magic

We made that song leaving from Magic

And then I made it like at,

I made that song at 11 o'clock in the morning, 11 a.m.

Gorgeous strippers, money everywhere,

hot wings, it's not a strip club if you don't have

money on the floor with hot wings in it.

You gotta have like an eaten bone of a hot wing

on top of the money with like a stripper heel that's off

just right there and bottles,

plenty of bottles and empty cups.

That's the American dream.

It felt like I made it.

The money,

the loud music,

the stars, the beautiful women.

You know, the whole culture.

It was like you were in the middle of a music video.

Tupac been here, Biggie, all the great celebrities.

And you got the hottest DJ in there, DJ Esco

who breaks a lot of artists.

Everybody comes in there and they wanna shake his hand

be a part of the movement.

It's the hottest city in the country in music.

It's like Motown was in the 70s with groups on every corner

singing tryna get a deal,

it's the same thing in Atlanta, it's just rap.

[Both] DJ Esco

(laughing)

I love DJ Esco Yes

[Simone] Cause he has one of the most important nights,

Magic City Monday.

Everyone's my friend on Monday in Atlanta.

Cause it's Magic City.

It's like the black Cheers, ya know

everybody knows your name.

Maybe one day your talent

can bring you the treasure, ya know.

If you follow your dreams.

Another day, another dollar.

Washing cars in Atlanta.

I done Future's car a couple times.

I've done Rico Wade's car, 2 Chains' car.

One day I was washing Esco's car

and me and him sat in the car

and he played some beats for me and I rapped over them.

Me and him kinda have a good relationship, ya know,

far as me just washing his car

and he comes up there and vibe out sometimes.

Anything that's coming outta Atlanta right now

if the DJ's play your music, then it's gon spread worldwide.

Voila.

[Interviewer] Do you know City Dollar?

He said he washed your car.

City Dollar?

It sounds like somebody who'd wash my car.

(chuckles)

I was broke, like I grew up, like,

broke.

The two 9-5s just wasn't cutting it.

It's so cliche, I was in college

and I couldn't pay for my classes.

I made roughly anywhere between 15 to 20 thousand

my first week here.

I was shocked, I'm like this is, this is it.

Imma be doing this for a minute.

[Diamond] The stigma is kinda coming off of

the name stripper.

We don't have movie stars in Atlanta

so the strippers are the movie stars.

Like, they're high class society, socially in Atlanta.

And so that's why the strip club is a dream.

You make money for free, just by dancing.

Who doesn't wanna dance and make money for free?

I'm isolating the muscles in my butt

and swinging my hair to make it look sexy.

Your trap, how you get your money,

that's what a trap is.

Everybody runs their setup differently.

You know what I'm saying, it's like a corporation.

So some people hold on to their money,

some people spend it.

Everybody got different amounts coming in,

it's like a trap.

Like if your trap booming, your trap booming.

Some people's trap ain't always booming,

you know what I'm saying.

So that's how it is, that's how it goes.

This is my money making move right here.

Everywhere I go, it's my booty.

I'll stop traffic, I'll cause car accidents,

I get men in trouble with their wives.

I don't mean to do it on purpose but, it happens.

All the dancers are about ass.

Ass, ass,

ass

ass.

Too much ass.

Even though there's no studies to show that

the fatter the ass the more money the guy has,

nonetheless, it doesn't stop them from trying.

I seen girls with perfect bodies in my opinion

that were like, No no no no, I need to get more ass,

I need to pump it up.

And I be like, oh my God.

Then you see them like a couple days later and you're like,

she did it.

(laughing)

If somebody spending 10 thousand

and the money just going in the air,

it just makes you be wild and you turning up.

You just doing stuff, now if it's somebody that's got like

maybe two or three hundred dollars you just, you simple.

You know you twerk, you two-step.

This a $20 dance,

that's it, that's all.

[Secret] And then when you done you say,

Thank you so much.

and then you just mosey your way on to the next person.

Okay your $20 dance is over.

Guys they just want me to bust it open.

When you say bust it open that means like just bend over

and just spread everything and I'm not doing that for $10.

I might do it for 10 thousand but I'm not doing it for $10.

The craziest thing for me,

that I've been asked to do was go home with you.

I am not going home with you, we do not go home with y'all.

We work at Magic City, we are not martians

walking down the street tryna sell some pussy.

Now if it's somebody that like, a $10,000 spender,

and he asked me to go,

I'm gonna say everything in the world to him

to make him believe I am coming home with him

and then I'm gon hop out that back door

and get in my car and go home.

Listen, it's hard.

People think it's easy, it is not easy being a dancer.

[Interviewer] They're not just naked, they're like...

They're asshole naked.

That's a cool word we use around here

it's called asshole naked

because naked is one thing, you know,

a lot of people can get paid just to stand still naked,

you know what I'm saying.

You could probably pay me a little bit of money

and I would stand here naked, you know.

You might not like it, but I would do it.

But to bend over and spread your ass

naked is a whole different type of feeling.

Atlanta's number one hip hop station, this is Hot 107.9.

Here's that Omarion, Jhene Aiko,

and Chris Brown, Post to be.

Yeah this the song where she's talking about

eating behind like groceries.

Uhhh, not my cup of tea.

I don't think I'll be eating

anybodies behind like groceries.

I like my groceries from Publix, not from panty drawers.

Somehow songs magically just make people

want to throw money.

I think the strippers do have a big part

of whether a song works or not.

If you're a gentleman and you're in the club

and this girl's actually twerking her life away,

sweating and shaking

and it almost like convincing you that this song is it.

The DJs and the dancers are more like A&Rs

and we hear hits and we love to dance to,

and we know what we like to dance to

and we know a hit when we hear it.

Music is generated usually first through the strip clubs.

It's underground and that's where it comes first.

It grows, it's like roots of a tree.

♫ I'm a meteorologist

And it grows from the strip club

and then it goes to the dance club

and when it graduates from the commercial clubs

it usually goes to the radio.

♫ Get it correct, give me respect

♫ Get it correct, give me respect

♫ I demand it right now, Philly made it rappers pipe down

Future might be Mr. Magic City.

He really started, like he is the one artist that I know

that every song, every other song

in the strip club was a Future song.

When you look from the outside looking in

you'll think I'm just Future's DJ

but when you know us and know the story and know Atlanta

then you'll know how me and Future became

DJ Esco and Future.

It gave me a chance to be able to see certain things

that I like, and I was like, I just had to find my way,

what I was good at in life so I could get those things.

I just had to um...

fake it till I make it.

I thought I had the most talent until I met him.

You see what I'm saying, it's like,

you think you're the most talented person

and then you meet someone more talented than you,

that's how I was with Future.

But I knew if everyone knew we were best friends

then they would think I was just playing his music

because we were best friends.

So we hid the fact that we were friends.

They not even putting it, two to two together like,

damn that's the dude who was hanging with you.

They would call Future and say, Future call DJ Esco man

tell him thanks man, I was in Magic City

he's playing your music.

Every time I go in Magic City

he's playing your music, Future.

And we would be side by side in this house

right here in this house on speaker phone laughing like

Ahh, like giving each other...

Like yeah we're doing it, it's working.

So we kept it secret and he's a superstar

and by the time they found out what we did it was,

it was too late, he's gone, he's Future.

Thank you Magic City.

If your record isn't playing in Magic City

then it's not hot in the streets.

(Make Sum Shake by Cool Amerika)

♫ Make make sum shake

♫ Betchu I'm gon make sum shake

♫ I'm gon make sum shake

♫ Send a play my way I bet I make sum shake

Gucci, Jeezy, Future, and now Cool Amerika.

You just gotta make something happen,

turn it into something anyway you can

you gotta get out there and get it.

Make sum shake.

If it's what makes them shake,

if it's what makes them spend money,

then that's what they play.

They're not gonna play a record that's

not gonna have nobody buying drinks

and nobody shaking ass and nobody spending money.

Fortunately for us whenever Make Sum Shake

comes on, everybody eats.

(phone ringing)

Aye what up, it's Esco man.

Y'all finna make it to Magic tonight?

We gotta turn up for the grand finale.

Cool Amerika

[Man On The phone] Alright we gon turn up.

[Esko] Alright

As soon as you go in there it's a different world.

Even my world change, I think I start walking different.

And everybody's rich.

Whether they rich or not it's just the persona

of I have money

or I'm around money

so I feel like I have money

just the fact that I'm around money.

[ Lil Magic] A lot of people

come to Magic City to show off.

You're gonna get the Bentleys and the Ferraris pulling up

you're gonna get the chains, you're gonna get the diamonds.

I mean if you can come to Magic and show out in Magic

that means you're somebody.

Magic City's just a good wholesome place,

a lot of networking goes on.

It's a who's who cause you never know who may come

from a basketball player or a politician might take

his jacket off come in with his blue jeans,

nobody don't even know he's in here.

All people money is green, and that's all this is about.

Cool Amerika in the building, new stage set

snack pack let's get it.

Yeah

♫ I'm gon make sum shake, aye

♫ I'm gon make sum shake

♫ Betchu I gon make sum shake

♫ Watch I make sum shake

♫ I gon make sum shake make make sum shake

♫ Betchu I'm gon make sum shake

♫ I'm gon make sum shake

♫ Send a play my way I bet I make sum shake

♫ Make sum shake

♫ He ordered up a bag I bet your hair will shake

♫ Bet your hair will shake

♫ Cuzzo hit my line he said let's make sum shake

♫ Let's make sum shake

♫ I'm on my last 2K I bet I make sum shake

You want people to look at you in Magic.

They can look at the girls but they wanna look at me

throw some money too, on top of the girls.

It's power, money, power.

I could throw this money on her ass,

I don't give a fuck about this money.

It's just the fact that I could throw money on a person

and she likes it you know what I'm saying.

Like I just threw money on your ass and you love it.

It's a rush.

I don't give a fuck, gon a throw this money like yeah,

throw it, you know what I'm saying.

It's not finesse,

YAH, like whoa,

she might get paper cut.

The fuck is wrong with these people man?

Order another thousand.

♫ I'm gon make, I'm I'm gon make sum shake

♫ I'm gon make sum shake

Strippers are looking for the ball player in the corner

the rapper in the section, the actor over there.

Where's the money at?

Who's spending the money, where the dope boys?

You can't forget the dope boys, the drug dealers

they got the money and they're throwing more money

than the ball players

because they're showing the ball players, we make money too.

It's street stuff going on with the corporate,

it's a mix of money going on.

And the strippers, that's what they looking for.

Okay, who got the money, cause really

I don't wanna strip for the rest of my life,

I gotta get outta here too.

How am I gonna get outta here

and still be able to live my lifestyle.

I've seen so much money that it feels like

you're walking on plush carpet.

[DJ Esco] Strippers are walking out with trash bags,

like Santa Claus Christmas basket

trash bags, down the stairs,

full of money.

Either you can crawl on the floor to get your money

or you can have someone else pick it up.

It's a hierarchy type of deal.

You know like, it's $100 on the floor,

I'm not picking this up,

here's $5 or $10 can you pick my money up for me?

If it's $5,000 you're like, I don't mind getting

my hands and knees dirty,

I'll pick it up myself.

[Kingpin] Isn't that the American dream?

You either are the one that pursued your dream

or you wake up and you work for the person that did.

So if you wanna live that life

you have to get up and make sum shake.

We're getting older, we're not getting younger.

Bitch better have my money

You gotta stack your money up cause man,

wouldn't it hurt to go from making $1,000 a night

to making $10 even $20 an hour,

I'm like, I'd rather get my money off the floor.

Everyday I see dancers that are addicted to the pole.

To the pole money.

But just like telling a gambler don't gamble,

they're gamblers they're gonna gamble.

Dancers are gonna dance.

Sometimes they feel like in their head

that's their best option.

Being average has never been an option for me.

I think that I could go from, instead of making, you know

$1,000 a night with my clothes off,

I could make $10,000 plus with my clothes on

just to show up somewhere.

My goal is to definitely become

a bigger entertainer with my clothes on.

I've seen some girls get out of the game.

Would I call it success, yes, because they got out.

Is it what they had in mind, no.

What you have in mind is here,

and you usually end up finding something in this realm.

Fame, if fame come with just being rich as fuck,

as being a billionaire, then I want fame.

♫ Sweet dreams are made of this

♫ Who am I do disagree

♫ Everybody's working for something

[Kingpin] Its' all about status right now.

It's sad

but

we're victims of our own culture right now

because looking the role is as important as being the role.

The music doesn't help, the music doesn't help.

You know, we kinda act like

we don't need the real substance in life.

The music just talks about girls, just talks about drugs,

and it talks about cars, and it talks about

all the superficial stuff.

So it doesn't help that people have a hard time

separating reality from entertainment, you know.

Because there is a line.

It's a thick line, it's not a thin one.

It's a pretty thick line between reality and entertainment.

I guess I been around long enough to realize that

a lot of it is just a front.

I've been around money, I've seen money,

I've seen the absence of money and what it does.

I realize that wasting it just to impress people

isn't really the way to go.

Fake it till you make it.

I was great at that.

♫ Fishtailing out the parking lot leaving Magic

♫ Two bad bitches and I got 'em outta Magic

♫ The way I make the work disappear, call it magic

♫ Sipping on the purple and the yellow drinking magic

♫ Voila, magic

♫ Voila, magic

♫ Voila, magic

♫ Voila, magic

♫ Billionaire boy that's a true inspiration

♫ I'm the astronaut kid no such thing as limitation

♫ Flying down 20 in the motha fuckin spaceship

♫ Take off

♫ Just left Magic in the motha fuckin dayship

♫ Two bitches trailing in a Beamer outta Germany

♫ Gotta thing for me, they wanna sing for me

♫ They like my energy, I'm a embassy

♫ I know tricks like Criss Angel

♫ I don't trick but I can you famous

♫ You could disappear from your past life

♫ You reappear and go outta sight

♫ I'm Pluto talkin', Jimmy walkin', when you walk in

♫ I used to be fly but now I'm hawkin'

♫ I was a earthlin' now I'm scifi,

♫ Voila, I stay high

♫ My bitches on they high horse

♫ I double back like two cups

♫ And crawl out in that new Porsche, skert

♫ Fishtailing out the parking lot leaving Magic

♫ Two bad bitches and I got 'em outta Magic

♫ The way I make the work disappear, call it magic

♫ Sipping on the purple and the yellow drinking magic

♫ Voila, magic

♫ Voila, magic

♫ Voila, magic

♫ Voila