Four episodes into Noisey’s 10-part documentary series on the Atlanta Hip Hop scene, Jarren Benton recently spoke out against the coverage as unfairly one-sided and for promoting a singular image of the city’s Black community.
“I saw that, it was cool,” Benton, an Atlanta emcee himself, said in a clip that debuted as a part of today’s DX Daily. “It was cool. I appreciate it. But not every nigga in Atlanta is selling—like the fact that you come to Atlanta like, ‘Show us cooking crack.’ What the fuck? What the fuck?! What the fuck? Let me say this, it’s not a fucking game. The niggas that do cook crack, they’re in a certain circumstance that that’s what they have to do to survive. It’s not a fucking game. Don’t come to the city making this shit like it’s a fucking game. That’s my problem.”
Benton added that the docu-series should balance its coverage of explicit drug use and manufacturing with another perspective.
“Noisey actually pissed me off with that shit. It would have been cool if they would have did that and then if they would have shown another side of Atlanta. The fact that that’s what they wanted to focus on, the ratchet shit. It’s cool. But show the other side. Show the other nigga. Show the nigga that’s a fucking scientist. Shows niggas something other than we just cook crack and turn up and carry guns man.”
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Noisey Atlanta premiered its first episode in January and has since featured footage of artists like Migos, the ATL Twins, Gucci Mane, and more. Future episodes are set to include appearances from Rich Homie Quan, Young Thug, and ILOVEMAKONNEN.
