Some moviegoers in Southeast Atlanta likely encountered a surprise when they arrived at AMC Madison Yards on Monday evening (Aug. 11), as a few celebrity sightings accompanied their wait in line for popcorn.
Jermaine Dupri, 2 Chainz, Young Dro and others were at the theater for a screening of Starz’ Magic City: An American Fantasy docuseries. Attendees of the screening watched the first two episodes of the five-part documentary, which first premiered at SXSW in 2024 and chronicles the founding and impact of Atlanta’s most influential strip club.
Magic City is known to most people as a popular inspiration for the city’s hip-hop artists, and the docuseries zooms in on why. Cecil “DC, the Brain Supreme” Glenn – one half of the rap group Tag Team and a former DJ for the strip club – tells the story of how the group’s platinum single “Whoomp! (There It Is)” was inspired by Magic City. The music video featured dancers from the club, just like OutKast’s “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad).”
Big Boi appears in the documentary to explain how the strip club was used as a testing ground for the record. “I think it’s more magical than Disney world,” the rapper says of the club at one point in the series. He appears in the production alongside many other celebrities, including rappers Killer Mike, 2 Chainz, Drake and Nelly, former athletes Shaquille O’Neal and Dominique Wilkins, and former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Dupri and Drake are two artists who have openly celebrated the strip club, both in lyrics and interviews. They play a hands-on role in this production, too, with Dupri and Drake’s DreamCrew Entertainment serving as executive producers. Cole Brown, creator and executive producer of the series, acknowledged Dupri before the screening began, and expressed amazement over the fact that a conversation first had in the producer’s studio had given way to the documentary. Michael Mauldin, the former record executive and father of Dupri, was also in attendance, and served alongside his son as an executive producer on the series.
The series doesn’t solely focus on music — it also features current and past dancers, tracing back to the late ‘80s, as well as interviews with the club’s founder and former owner Michael “Mr. Magic” Barney and his family. While episode one chronicles Barney’s move from New Jersey to Atlanta and the founding of the strip club, it does so among the backdrop of Atlanta’s efforts to become a Black mecca.
After the credits rolled and the lights came on in the dark theater, 2 Chainz and Young Dro could be seen standing and taking photos with Mr. Magic. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent, stepped in to shake the strip club owner’s hand and praise the production. The celebration continued in the theater’s lobby, with food catered by Magic City before ending with an afterparty at the actual strip club, serving as a perfect curtain call for the night and the venue’s 40th anniversary.
The first episode of the five-part documentary will air on the streamer starting Friday (Aug. 15) at 10 p.m., with subsequent episodes airing weekly on Fridays at 9 p.m.
