Atlanta’s Movers, Shakers and Creators

By Mike Jordan

Published September 27, 2024
Last Updated October 17, 2024

Atlanta is a town where vibes turn into ideas before being made real through focus, hustle, determination, ambition and resilience. Those attributes are found throughout our sprawling town, thanks to an ongoing legacy of creative thinkers with entrepreneurial savvy and collective vision, all of which combine so that possibilities thrive in Atlanta’s booming arts and entertainment community.  

For The Culture

Camille Russell Love

As executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Camille Russell Love has played an outsized role in keeping Atlanta’s city government connected with and supportive of Atlanta’s creative community. Projects she has long overseen include the public art program ELEVATE and the Atlanta Jazz Festival. These events showcase muralists, musicians and more, and bridge generational gaps, exposing residents and visitors to the welcoming atmosphere Atlanta offers and fosters for those inspired to innovate. What other city has a free annual concert featuring legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis headlining one year, then Atlanta native Andre 3000 of OutKast showing up the following year to play live flute with his band? This city’s creative legacy continues to be shaped by Russell Love’s ability to make partners out of those who make Atlanta’s arts scene special 

Oronike Odeleye

Oronike Odeleye, an arts and entertainment consultant, is a familiar face at some of the city’s and region’s most impactful cultural movements. As a core member of the team that brings the annual ONE Musicfest to Atlanta each fall, she has been instrumental in live Black music moments. Named to The Root’s annual 100 list of influential African Americans and also to OkayAfrica’s 100 Women list, Odeleye became artistic director for the National Black Arts Festival in 2022. 

Hip-Hop Capital

Keinon Johnson

Born in Atlanta and raised in Harlem, Keinon Johnson’s quiet demeanor may obscure the fact that he has been a key player in Atlanta’s entertainment industry for almost three decades. The music business maven’s years of experience include working for major record companies, where his skills in marketing, promotion and artist relations were instrumental in the success of recording acts from Master P and the No Limit Records roster to Kendrick Lamar and others. In addition to his current position as senior vice president at Interscope Records, Johnson, a Clark Atlanta University alumnus, is on the board of directors at the High Museum of Art, where he works toward diversifying arts appreciation and bringing new audiences to the High through community engagement, events planning and a unique approach to merging art and life. 

Phylicia Fant

Phylicia Fant grew up in Marietta, and has grown into one of the most connected people in the entertainment industry. A Spelman College graduate, Fant began her music business career at Motown Records, continued at Warner Brothers Records, where she rose to executive leadership, and served as head of urban music at Columbia Records before joining Amazon Music in 2022 as head of music industry partnerships. She has contributed to the careers of such household names as Lil Nas X, Chloe and Halle Bailey, Raphael Saadiq, Andra Day and Beyonce and also runs The Purple Agency, a management, marketing, event services and public relations firm. 

Jabari Graham and Dwayne ‘Dubelyoo’ Wright

Jabari Graham and Dwayne “Dubbelyoo” Wright, the creative duo behind Art, Beats + Lyrics are celebrating the 20th year of their traveling urban art and music exhibition this year, while telling the story of how the recurring event came to be in a Hulu documentary released in March. Over the years, along the numerous stops in cities like Miami, Houston, Detroit, Las Vegas and others, Graham and Wright have supported local artists, elevated arts appreciation, built a connected community and provided live performances from some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including producer Mannie Fresh, Southern rap icon Scarface, rapper/producer DJ Quik and rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar. And you’ll find plenty of evidence of both men’s love for their city, from Wright’s murals on Wylie Street in Cabbagetown to Graham playing pool in local billiards lounges. 

Atlanta Influences Everything

Tory Edwards

Atlanta Influences Everything (AIE) is more than just one of this city’s favorite T-shirt slogans. The company, which Edwards co-founded along with Ian Ford and Bem Joiner, is a creative consultancy, focused on combining civic, corporate and cultural understanding to impact Atlanta citizens. Edwards, who also works in production on film and television projects in Atlanta, is involved in AIE’s creative collaborations with organizations ranging from Atlanta United FS to Central Atlanta Progress. Edwards hosts an invitation-only food event called Dinner With Friends, where he brings together some of Atlanta’s most influential people to discuss ways in which they can all achieve the broader goal of keeping Atlanta amazing (and influential, of course).   

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Mike Jordan is an Atlanta-based culture journalist and senior editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Black culture media brand, UATL. His work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Southern Living, Atlanta magazine and Thrillist, where he launched the Atlanta edition as its founding editor and bureau chief. Jordan is also the 2024 winner of the James Beard Foundation’s Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award for journalism, and was a finalist for the award in 2023.