Last weekend I was in Atlanta for a work conference. It’s a great town, but it’s in the Eastern time zone and it was humid, so I was in no condition to be writing anything. I was barely in any condition to be at a conference. Those things are, like, “Sit in an airplane seat designed for someone a full foot shorter than you for five hours, then try to get some rest before sitting in on a panel at what your brain thinks is 5:30 a.m.” Absurd.

What I’m saying is usually I do a column like this for when I’m in the city I’m writing about, but in this case the time change got to me. Time zones are nonsense and should be abolished; we should all go by the One True Time Zone, PDT. The East Coast is going to have sunset at 11:30 p.m. but that’s the price we’re gonna have to pay for sociocultural sanity.

And it’s a shame, because Atlanta is a great music town. I was in Nashville last and had a lot of trouble finding five artists I liked. They import all their musicians so they don’t develop their own. But for Atlanta, I had an embarrassment of riches. It was hard to narrow down to five, but I did. And this is them.

Outkast — “Hey Ya”

My first choice was obvious. Absolute layup. You can’t talk about Atlanta music without Outkast.

The city had a hip-hop scene as long as anyplace else, but in the early ’90s it consisted of artists like Kris Kross and Tag Team—neither of which are world-beaters. Outkast and Goodie Mob were around but the world revolved around Tupac and Biggie.

In 1996 Outkast released ATLiens and people started to notice they were down there. Around the same time, Tupac and Biggie were murdered and the east/west thing got uncomfortable. Atlanta took that opening to force its way into the conversation. It was the 2000s when Atlanta became the central hub of American hip-hop, but that wouldn’t have happened without Outkast kicking the door open.

They did for Atlanta what Nirvana did for Seattle.

The Black Crowes — “Hard to Handle”

Bands like the Black Crowes are confusing because I don’t know how to classify them. [Gokhman note: They’re a rock and roll band].

They’re an excellent band that’s been around a really long time. They broke up and reunited a couple times, a hallmark of any band led by two brothers. Between live and studio albums, two went platinum and three gold. They’ve had a bunch of hits, including their cover of Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle,” “She Talks to Angels” and “Remedy.”

The most recent reunion has included both an intimate acoustic tour and the full rock spectacle, with The Black Crowes making multiple Bay Area stops. It makes sense, since Chris Robinson has called the North Bay home for years. He’s even guest-written a column for us!

You may think, “Doesn’t that make him an export on the Atlanta list?” Nope, The Black Crowes get bonus points for the Bay Area connection.

Gladys Knight and the Pips — “Midnight Train to Georgia”

Written by Jim Weatherly and originally recorded by gospel singer Cissy Houston, this is, unquestionably 100-percent, a Gladys Knight song. It may not have been written by her, or for her, but it might as well have been since she made it one of the greatest songs of all time.

The song is about going back to Georgia from California, so it’s appropriate for a column inspired by a trip from here to there. (Los Angeles, but we’ll ignore that and just go by state.) But not only is it about Atlanta, it’s from Atlanta. Gladys Knight was born there. She started the group with her brother, sister and cousins there. No qualifiers, no wiggle room, it’s rooted in the city in every way something can be.

Also, any excuse to listen to it is a good excuse.

Mastodon — “High Road”

There’s two things about Mastodon I never remember.

First is that it’s only been around since 2000. For some reason my brain keeps trying to tell me the band has been doing its thing since the ’70s. The fact that bassist Troy Sanders and guitarist Bill Kelliher look kind of like they’ve been around forever with the gray hair doesn’t help. I’ve decided my thinking is a compliment, because was way better in the ’70s.

Also, my brain has been trying to convince me Mastodon is an East Bay band, with its serious Machine Head vibe. Maybe upstate New York, which makes sense because half the band is from Rochester. But it definitely formed in Atlanta and is one-half southerners. With apologies to the people of Atlanta, I’m massively biased in favor of East Bay artists. So that’s a compliment, too.

Killer Mike — “Reagan”

I’m not gonna sugarcoat it: Killer Mike drives me crazy sometimes. Socially and politically, he’s got the right idea overall. Just listen to “Reagan,” for example—there’s a reason I use it every time I mention him—or literally any Run the Jewels song. Unfortunately, he’ll also occasionally make a sharp turn into Crazytown.

For example, he’s a stereotypical Bernie Bro who refused to support Hillary Clinton in 2000 when Sanders dropped out of the race. He swore Clinton would be as bad as Trump which, spoiler alert, turned out to be impossible because Trump is a full-blown fascist trying to overthrow the government. Later, he went on NRATV and said he wouldn’t let his kids participate in an anti-gun protests. The NRA immediately used that to try to discredit a nationwide student walkout. He also interviewed then-candidate Hershel Walker on his talk show and basically led him to giving lucid answers, which was not Walker’s strong suit on the campaign trail.

Great rapper, though. And his first ever appearance was on a song from Outkast’s 2000 album, Stankonia.

Follow publisher Daniel J. Willis and tweet column ideas to him at Twitter.com/BayAreaData.