In the early 1980s, Michael Barney and his wife left his hometown of Camden, N.J., and relocated in Atlanta, where he started working in telecommunications and earned the nickname “Mr. Magic” from colleagues. One night out with friends at a popular strip club, he got the inspiration for what would become a cultural hotspot in the heart of the city.
Soon enough, Barney signed the lease for a defunct print shop, repurposed the building and named it “Magic City.” The club opened in 1985 with just one dancer.
After 40 years of deals, networking and hip-hop history at the club, Magic City is the subject of a five-part docuseries executive-produced by producer and rap mogul Jermaine Dupri.
“Magic City: An American Fantasy” premiered Friday on STARZ, showcasing the outsized national impact of the Atlanta strip club and others like it on hip-hop culture and the industry.
“We would fly back home to go to Magic City from out of town,” Dupri told NBC News. “It’s like going to Orlando and not going to Disney World — you have to go.”
To the So So Def producer, there’s more to Mr. Magic’s establishment than the women.
“You could be standing by the biggest thief in Atlanta, the biggest drug dealer in Atlanta, the biggest rapper in Atlanta, the biggest basketball player in the world, a movie star, a politician, and they’re all in the same area — treated the same, having the same conversations and you wouldn’t know the difference, because the club doesn’t cater to just one person,” Dupri said.
Strip, as the club is known among regulars, has provided a gauge for hip-hop and R&B hitmaking.
“The connection is very authentic,” Dupri said. “Hearing your song play in a club is like hearing your song on the radio. You feel like you actually made it.”
In some cases, the aspiration for hip-hop fame comes from the people onstage. Bronx-native Nya Lee used the money she made dancing to fund her rap career.
“In the earlier years, I invested in myself,” she said to NBC News. “A lot of people didn’t think that being a stripper and a rapper could work.”
But it did, and her story was compelling enough to land her a spot on VH1’s popular show, “Love and Hip-Hop: New York.” Not long after, another dancer was introduced to the world through the series: Cardi B, who has since become a global force in entertainment.
Stripping can have a dark side. Outside of Magic City, some dancers have unionized to fight for better work standards, fairer pay and protection from sexual harassment or abuse. Clubs are, after all, an environment in which men are paying for access to women’s bodies, whether it’s making full contact or at a distance.
And while some perform with the goal of escaping the club and improving their lives, others escape to the club. That was the case for a Memphis, Tennessee, native with two years of undergraduate college credits and a boyfriend who was facing federal charges. Rapper and TV personality Jessica Dime, who is featured in the docuseries, went to the sprawling King of Diamonds in Miami after two friends advised her to leave Memphis. “It was so much going on in the streets at the time,” Dime said to NBC News. “When I left, it was the best decision I could have made. Dancing was something that saved me. I would have been in jail or probably dead if I wouldn’t have went to Miami.”
Within a few years of performing, she got the attention of Flo Rida and signed to his IMG record label as a rapper.
“What they were giving me to sign, I would have made more in one night at King of Diamonds,” Dime said. She said she knew that if she signed the contract, “God is going to make sure I stay out of here.”
But the people who work in the clubs don’t need to be aspiring rappers to still make an impact on music. Last year, Muni Long’s track “Made for Me” became a hit at Magic City, which Dupri said helped him gauge how well the song would do more broadly, especially since traditional R&B is hard to place in clubs.
“The dancers were singing the song,” Dupri recalled, and so were the patrons.
Rapper Rick Ross’ debut single, “Hustlin,” about the everyday grind in any capacity, was a major success in strip clubs across the country.
“They was playing my record without my requesting it, and I said, ‘This is different.’ I believe the record was speaking for everybody that was in the club,” Ross said to NBC News. “You talking to the parking man, you talking to the dancers, you talking to the DJs.”
In 2005, dancers at Magic City introduced South Carolina rapper Young Jeezy’s music to DJ Nando, who was the club’s resident DJ at the time. With the backing of BMF (Black Mafia Family) and Big Meech, author Joe Cosscarelli says in the docuseries that Jeezy became “this larger than life, King Pin figure.”
Jeezy’s album “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101” was the go-to record throughout Magic City dancer Gigi Maguire’s career.
During her time at Magic City as a headlining dancer, Maguire became friends with some of the rappers that would frequent the club. She had been testing different stage names when rapper Lil’ Wayne gave her a hand as she sat in on a writing session on his tour bus in Atlanta.
“Wayne was a close friend of mine,” she said. The Young Money emcee was testing lyrics and happened to say, “Weezy Maguire, show me the money.” Maguire fired back, “‘Gigi Maguire, show me the money,’ and he said, ‘Yoo! That’s fire. You should keep that.’ Literally, it stuck.”
Maguire also took her roommate Trey Songz’s music to Magic City during her featured spots on Mondays.
“We still are, to this day, like family,” she said. “He’s literally like my little brother.”
This docuseries will be part of STARZ’s roster of projects on hip-hop culture. The network’s hit drama series, “P-Valley,” is set at a fictional Southern club and includes two cast members from Magic City’s Snack Pack trio of pole dancers, which includes Maguire.
When the retired dancer got a call for a guest appearance for a “P-Valley” episode on featuring icons of strip, there was controversy over who those legends would be.
“They wanted Cardi B, Blac Chyna and Amber Rose. I used to work with Amber and Chyna and am friends with them. I love Cardi B down. But those are not women that the dance community goes to, to say, ‘Hey, I aspire for my dance career to be this,’” Maguire said.
To the women who admire Maguire and the stars she mentioned, their accomplishments and influence in the culture and hip-hop extends beyond strip and has allowed them to leverage their popularity into business ventures that wouldn’t have necessarily been available a decade or so ago.
Nya Lee, 32, was 17 when she won a stripping contest two times, using a fake ID at Sin City in the Bronx.
The now-DJ has collaborated with Fabolous, Jadakiss and Ultimate Rap League battle rap legend T-Rex on her projects. Her mixtapes include features with Kash Doll who also started as a Detroit-based stripper.
“Girls seeing me knock down doors made them feel like they could do it too,” Nya Lee said.
