The Georgia Aquarium hosted the premiere of the long-awaited FX series Atlanta last night.
Creator, co-writer and executive producer of the series, Donald Glover, plays Earnest “Earn” Marks, a single father down on his luck who returns to his hometown, Atlanta. He attempts to jump into the rhythm of the southern rap scene with his cousin, Alfred, who is a drug dealer played by Brian Tyree Henry. The series stayed true to its origins by filming on location in Atlanta.
“It’s a great honor … Very excited to do this in my own town. The show is about Atlanta in some ways,” Glover said.
Stars of the new FX series, Zazie Beetz, Lakeith Stanfield and Brian Tyree Henry made their appearance at the premiere, which aired the first two episodes of the highly anticipated series. Atlanta super-producer Jermaine Dupri also showed his support by being in attendance and said he hopes to see the city from his own perspective.
“I expect to see the city the way I know the city,” Dupri said. “If you’re from Atlanta, you should really love this show.”
Zazie Beetz, who plays Van, Earn’s best friend and mother of his daughter, explains that the series is an ode to Atlanta and its citizens.
“It’s about the people in this city; how this city has shaped these people,” Beetz says. “It only makes since to have the debut of what is also kind of the homage to Atlanta, to premiere here.”
But don’t expect to see the familiar cityscapes in the first two episodes. The show, for the most part, focuses on the south side of the city, in which all the main characters live.
“I wanted to show white people, you don’t know everything about black culture,” Glover told Vulture.
Glover, who is a contemporary R&B/hip-hop singer-songwriter-rapper attempts to connect to the viewers who will watch the show, nonchalantly taking and proving a social and political perspective. In the series, viewers can expect nothing less from the “Telegraph” artist who is always takes the innovative approach to his work. But don’t expect Glover to break out in song at any point of the show.
“Me being in the music business helped as far as the music was concerned, but in general I don’t do any music stuff on the show, really,” he explained.
Atlanta premieres on FX on Sept. 6
