When human blood overtakes a house amid racial turmoil in 1987 Atlanta, terrifying the family inside, a mystery opens up that persists to this day.

Four years ago, Dominique Jones got out of prison and learned to rap. Today he is, by many metrics, the most popular rapper in the world.

A profile of the rapper and activist.

What should a father teach his sons?

Outkast’s Andre Benjamin at 42.

You gotta understand, I’ve only written one check in my life. When I was 17, they still had checkbooks, and my mom taught me how to write a check and do my balance. So I had one check on my balance, and then OutKast took off. I have not paid a bill since. People ask, What does it feel like? As humans, we want attention. We want to be validated. At the same time, it’s strange attention, and a lot of it. If you have an excess of anything, it becomes strange.

Michael Thevis was a pioneer in the 1970s porn world, making millions off his coin-operated peep-show machines. He built his family one of the most ornate mansions in Atlanta before it all came crashing down amidst bombings, murders, and a prison break.

A profile of the Atlanta star and creator, who also released a hit album in 2016 and is set to star in the next Star Wars.

On Atlanta’s disappearing Afrofuture.

The 32-year-old Atlanta rapper released three No. 1 albums in seven months.

Of the 4.5 million Syrians who have fled their nation’s bloody civil war, fewer than 3,000 have made it to America. This is one family’s story.

How 23-year-old Metro Boomin became every rapper’s favorite producer.

“Thug is alone even in a room full of people. He is unapproachable. He radiates volatility. I can't even imagine him making actual, on-purpose eye contact with another human. Looking into a person's eyes—seeking some kind of a connection—is an admission of neediness, and Young Thug would rather be shot dead in the street than need a thing from another human being.”

At 76, Atlanta’s Beverly “Guitar” Watkins still lives for the blues.

To understand Cam Newton, you need to go to a small church 45 minutes outside of Atlanta called Holy Zion Center of Deliverance and hear his dad preach.

A profile of Tyler Perry.

An oral history of Gucci Mane’s many rises and falls.

Spins from the DJs at Atlanta’s seminal Magic City strip club can turn nobodies into hip-hop stars.

A refugee survives the Rwandan genocide and finds a future in Atlanta.

360 degree deals and the music industry’s new hostages.

Kylee Kimbrough lost her childhood, lost her sobriety, lost her living situation, and finally even lost her son. Then she found the drums.

Migos, a young Atlanta rap trio, has decamped to a mansion outside of town to avoid trouble, ride Go-Karts, shop for $2300 backpacks, and continue their streak of red-hot singles.

Why Parks Middle School decided to cheat.

Inside Atlanta’s 80s-era queer underground.

Darren Lumar lived in mansions he didn’t own, ran companies that didn’t make a dime, went to colleges that didn’t exist and slept with “any number of women” despite being married to James Brown’s daughter. When he was murdered, the cops had a problem: too many possible suspects.

Rick Ross was born William Leonard Roberts II in 1976, and he borrowed his stage name (and the associated big-time cocaine-selling hustler persona) from the legendary L.A. drug lord Freeway Ricky Ross. But the website MediaTakeout uncovered a photograph of William Leonard Roberts II when he was a Florida corrections officer. Most people thought that'd be the end of his career. Freeway Ricky Ross then sued him for stealing his name. None of it mattered. Rick Ross the rapper just sold more records.