All language subtitles for Magic.City.An.American.Fantasy.S01E05.720p.HEVC.x265-MeGusta[EZTVx.to]

[woman]
Previously on Magic City.

When people think BMF,

they're thinkin' of
the greatest show on Earth.

Throwin' money in the air
and not givin' a fuck,

definitely BMF.

[OG India] We danced on
hundreds, twenties, fifties.

It would just be
a pile of money.

[reporter]
U.S. Marshals and Atlanta Police

have arrested a total of four
BMF members.

It was like a funeral.

So I came home, right
I guess at the end of BMF.

Club had changed dramatically.

After eight years,
a lot had changed.

We naturally try-
strive to be like him.

I had to get used to not
having the power anymore.

And that's where
I think the divide came.

♪ Georgia ♪

♪ Georgia ♪

♪ Georgia ♪

♪ Georgia ♪

♪ We on the grind in
Georgia all the time ♪

♪ It ain't nothin
on my mind but Georgia ♪

♪ We ain't playin with ya ♪

♪ We on the grind in
Georgia all the time ♪

♪ It ain't nothin on my mind
but Georgia ♪

♪ We ain't playin with ya ♪

♪ Country name, country slang
fiends at the liquor store ♪

♪ Black cruisin', craps shootin'
fifty on the ten-to-four ♪

♪ Overcast, the forecast shows
clouds from plenty dro ♪

♪ And we ready for war
in the state of Georgia ♪

Yeah!

♪♪♪

Mikey's born in 1981,
and it's our first child.

We're super excited.

He was a lovely child,
a sweet child.

And, you know,
I felt like a mom.

I felt like I was doing
something really special.

[Mikey]
My mom's a super mom.

She held it down when
my dad went to jail.

He should have been able
to be with his father.

That was taken from him.

And after this, I was like,
we're done with that.

We're absolutely finished
with that club thing.

It stole so much.

You know, the effect it had,
especially on Mikey.

Especially the effect
it had on him.

So, I wasn't trying to hear

nothing about
Magic City anymore.

It just something weird
about this Magic City, man.

I was just trying to keep
my family

from feeling my- my stupidity.

Um, I just didn't want
it to affect them.

It meant a lot to my dad to
become back involved in Magic.

It's a baby you don't let go-

you don't let go of.

If they had any issues,
I never knew about it.

They did a good job
of keeping that to themselves.

[Mr. Magic]
People go through things.

It's just the bumps in the road,

that I think every man and every
woman has.

We separated, but Mike and I
were great friends.

I wanted him to be happy.

I did, but I didn't want
to sacrifice my own happiness.

Sometimes I look at
my little problems as nothing,

when I see what
some women go through.

When men leave 'em
when they had a child

and she weathered them storms.

There's something different
in 'em

that uh, I don't think men have.

My dad got back
when I was twenty.

I never really said I wanted
to be in the club business.

It- it was never discussed.

Mikey worked for me at
the bonding company for years.

And then,
when his father came home,

never saw Mikey again.
[laughing]

He was like, "Dad, come on, man.
You been gone.

Let me stay with you.
Let me hang out."

[groaning]

He's also allowed
me to live and learn.

You grow up quick.

So I saw areas that
I felt were lacking.

You had a lot
of younger people that was

trying to go to
other clubs in the city.

[Mikey] Back in the day,
it was a lot more difficult

because you didn't have
as many prime dancers.

You will always be
my mister.

[Mikey] You didn't have
as many quality talents.

[DC] There's been times
when Magic City been real slow

and been on fumes.

And then Gigi Maguire came.

Gigi, she's the legend.

[DC] The acrobatics
with the pole tricks,

the Cirque du Soleil
effect of it.

That became the draw.

So this is my history making
moment

in the world of Magic City.

I became part of their
first feature stage set.

[Mikey] Gigi started the most
famous pole group ever,

"Snack Pack."

[Gigi] We're doing all
these crazy pole tricks

and we're giving
these performances.

We always try to,
like, be trendsetters and, like,

kind of set ourselves apart
from everybody else.

And it worked for us.

When Snack Pack was
created at Magic City,

we changed the game, baby.

Well we put the sauce
on these tricks.

I'm talkin' givin' you sit ups

and we don't stop
till we get to ten.

I'm talkin' about climb
to the top of the pole,

get a good thigh grip
and lean back.

And then we goin' in
with the "United We Stand."

I'm talkin' stackin' each other
up on the pole

at the same damn time.

Two, three, four, five girls
on one pole at one time.

We came with our
technical ballet training.

We came with our
gymnastics backgrounds,

and we added that and put it in
a mix with the strip and boom,

we created somethin'
that was never done

before we came along.

[Gigi] The Snack Pack
just like, took off.

We started getting' flown out

to different cities
to perform at clubs.

We was givin' Magic City
to these other cities

who weren't able to come to
Atlanta.

We'd just be watching from
Canada like, what the fuck?

I like closed my eyes
one day and I was there.

I lived in Atlanta when
I first got with Wayne.

I feel like I was there for
like the end of an era

and the beginning of,
like, the glory days of Atlanta.

It became the- the hub
for all things music related.

You guys can't have this
documentary without Esco.

He's such a staple for curation
of Sonics of Atlanta.

You know,
I probably had better DJs,

but they're not Esco.

Yeah, SS, that's
that old school Atlanta South.

They don't ride
like this no more.

I'm DJ Esco, man.

The coolest DJ in the world
from Atlanta, Georgia, man.

Southside by way zone 4.
Southwest, Atlanta.

I used to sneak and watch
DJ Fernando,

rockin' Magic City Monday.

Got in touch with Lil' Magic
and he said,

"Hey man,
Monday day shift at Magic City."

"Nobody wants to work it.
You got it."

I'm like, "Yes, I'm in."
You know what I mean?

Monday day
turned into Tuesday day,

turned into Wednesday day.

And so when I found myself,
it hit me

that what I'm gonna need
to do is find an artist.

And that's gonna change
my legacy for Magic City.

[Drake] The first time I ever
heard Future

in some bum ass studio
in Toronto, I was just like,

"How high is this guy?"

Like, this guy has
to be high as fuck.

They were just on
some next planet.

Esco was tellin' me just stories

about how he broke Future's
music in Magic City.

Future pulled up
to Magic City on a Monday

and I immediately start
playin' his records.

I'd be on the microphone
like, new Future.

It's Atlanta's new artist,
the hottest,

this the hottest artist in
Atlanta, Future.

He would sit there
and he'd be like,

"No, you gotta hear this one,
Tony Montana."

I was like, "You keep sayin' the
same shit over and over again."

And I told him,

I was not- don't play that shit
in here no more.

I called future, I said,
"Nigga, they about to fire me."

I said, "Don't stop playin'
that motherfuckin' music.

You keep Future goin'."

And next thing you know,
everywhere I go,

all I kept hearin' is,

♪ Tony Montana, Tony Montana,
Tony Montana, Tony Montana ♪

♪ Check up on my ends ♪

♪ Tony Montana, Tony Montana,
Tony Montana ♪

I remember being so
fuckin' high on this song,

I couldn't even open
my fuckin' mouth.

♪ Tony Montana ♪

Thank you Magic City.

I think you can't overstate

what Future has
meant to the club,

but when you're talking about
who-

who in New Atlanta has more
songs

that go off in a place
like Magic City,

I think like there's a real
arms race

between Future and Migos.

Three young niggas
from the Northside,

not technically from Atlanta,

bein' embraced by
the city of Atlanta.

Migos had this great music
and we started our campaign.

We was just very, very hungry
and not takin' no for a answer,

sleepin' on each other's couch,

sleepin' on the floor
in the studio

and then makin' five, six songs
just to hear 'em in Magic City.

[DC] I did take
Bad and Boujee there.

That was our thing, you know?

Let's just go out and catch
a vibe and- and see how it feel.

He walked straight
to the DJ booth.

I knew he was on to somethin'.

You know, you got somethin'
when you get a record, right?

And they put it on
in-instantly.

[Quavo] How you know people
fuckin' wit' it is,

the money- they throwin' money
when the hook start comin'.

She getting on the pole,

she climb the ceilin'
when I said this bar.

Oh, shit.

We got one.

♪ My bitch is bad
and boujee (Bad) ♪

♪ Cookin' up dope with a Uzi
(Dope) ♪

♪ My niggas is savage,
ruthless (Savage) ♪

♪ We got 30s and hundred-rounds
too (Grrah) ♪

[Donald Glover] And I really
want to thank the Migos

for makin' 'Bad and Boujee.'

Like that's the best song ever.

It wouldn't be a Migos

without the city of Atlanta
and Magic City.

This is where Atlanta really
becomes

the undisputed rap capital.

This new crop of young artists,
Migos, Future,

become international stars.

New Atlanta.

Obviously, there's something
in Atlanta that, like,

breeds these guys who
are always just so innovative.

If you want to make it in music,

you have to kind of
be accepted in Atlanta

or be working with
someone in Atlanta.

My memories of Atlanta,
it's all joy.

Definitely sunk a good million
into Magic City for sure,

over the years.

I remember Christmas Eve
one night.

I wasn't home with my family,

and we had brought, like,
a bunch of Magic City dancers

to this hotel room
that was way too small.

We had made like,
a Christmas theme.

Merry Christmas!

It was just like,
I have this photo,

of like, the entire room
covered in ones,

with like, this Christmas tree.

Just like, why are you girls
not with your families?

And why am I not with mine?
Like it was- it was in Atlanta.

♪ ♪

[Drake]
I make my music for those girls.

I care so little about,

you know, another artist
that someone might respect,

not liking my music.

I don't give a fuck.

I think maybe that's
why I've been here so long.

Probably 'cause I
only care about them.

How many strippers have I--

[laughing]

[Juju] I was working at
a bail bonding company.

I'm with my mom,
and I used to hate it.

And I used to, um, always be
like, "Come on man,

you can't have me
sitting in this office

with mom and you down here,

you and Mikey doin' this shit,

and I'm over here
doin' this shit."

[Gail]
Julian left the bonding company.

I was like, "Wow.
That's interesting."

-Welcome to Magic sir.
-Thank you sir.

-Thanks for coming out.
-Thank you for having me always.

Thank you for having me.

So on a day to day basis,

Little Mag might
have somethin' to say.

Shit, there's no one person
that runs Magic City.

Juju might tell
you a thing or two.

I'm in charge,
then you got Mag.

They can't beat me still,
I don't think.

And then my brother.

Oh, he would have said me.
What he say?

He a weird nigga.
You gotta ask him.

[laughing]

My burden is to figure
out the brand.

Improving our culture
is our goal.

There was the time period
when the strip club was a place

where you would go for privacy.

It was all kept as a secret.

Now, everybody want to be seen.

Everybody- you want to front.

You have to make
an adaptation.

And that's just, that's life.

[Mr. Magic] They bringin'
different looks to the club,

different types of people.
It's really changing.

[Juju] I mean, it's always hard
to tell a old dog

that new tricks are comin'.

Me and my brother,
we stay in our lanes.

Juju's role is unique.

When I was young,

I was only thinkin' about
fuckin' strippers.

I wasn't thinkin' about
helpin' the business.

I hire about 80% of the dancers.

It's kind of a- like a
je ne sais quoi kind of thing.

It's kind of like
you don't really,

you got it, you got it.
You don't, you don't.

[chuckling]
He's gonna kill me for this.

Juju loves white girls.
Okay?

♪ Super bad, uh-huh
super bad ♪

♪ Super bad, uh-huh
super bad ♪

Hello, my name is Jordan.

I go by the name White Russian.
I dance at Magic City.

I started dancing there in 2014.

I'm from Mississippi,
and I'm just, you know,

I'm a country girl.

In my beginning days, two,
three, four years of me dancing.

Yeah, I'm posting the most fire
pictures of me in the club.

Come see me tonight.
Come throw some money on me.

Did you get your
income taxes yet?

Like.

These new, younger girls,

more, just think they gon'
just come in and get money.

It's a lot easier now

where they used to have to sit
down and talk to you for

thirty, forty minutes.

[White Russian] I'm not
interested in how your day went,

what your name is,
when's your birthday?

What do you do for a living?

Do you want me to dance?
Yes or no?

I learned to do all
of these acrobatic tricks

just by watching the
previous stage groups.

We do all the crazy swing,
pole tricks,

and of course,
we make more money

than the girls that just
get up there and two step.

What in the world?

Girl, we didn't have to be up
on the things twistin'.

Three of us, you know,

one actin' like we
eatin' each other

and then the other one
doin' somethin' else.

The dancers have changed because
they don't give fantasy anymore.

It's not the same.

Back then was,
young ladies molded into women.

And with respect.

These girls is treacherous.

You can't even talk to them

'cause you don't know if they
gon' to try to sue you.

Honestly, Magic City
made us feel like a family.

But it's all business.

You come in the door
and you pay bar fee.

You always have to pay the DJ.

It's supposed to be $10,
but, like, if he see

that you done got a lot of
money on your stage set,

he's expecting more than $10.

Then you have the house moms,

and they have a minimum
of $10 too.

Around 2013,
it start gettin' slow.

Next thing you know,
oh, bar fees now $100.

Oh, slow days,

yeah, they used to be twenty
five, now they're fifty.

I came out in
the hole a few times.

So it's 2014, and my friend
comes in to dance with me.

Trice, get ready,
shit about to hit the fan.

She's like,
"Well, we suin' Magic City."

So I'm like, whoa.

Since 2015 or so,

lawsuits by dancers started
popping up all over the country.

Exotic dancers suing

the owner of
a Grand Junction strip club.

[reporter]
The women claim the club

considers their tips
to be a service charge,

which Shella says is
against the law.

She said "Well you all are
independent contractors

and they're not supposed
to be fining you, taxing you."

In my personal opinion,

people solicited our industry
for financial gain.

[Platunum]
The new schoolgirls sued 'em.

I couldn't understand why,
but I see how the world is now.

It's just greed.

To sue a man who-
Who provides a way.

How dare you?

[Trice] What they were
doin' wasn't correct.

It wasn't personal.
It was what I had to do for me.

[phone ringing]

One of the lawyers
called me and she like,

"We won, and I want to tell you
your number."

I'm like, "Okay."

Um, it was
close to $100,000 for me.

He ultimately ended up having
to pay out

over a million dollars
to those women.

At the time, it was scary.

It's like a breakup
in a relationship.

They can love you
or they can hate you.

Sometimes they hate you
for the moment,

and then later on they
find something better,

or they find something good,
and then they-

oh, and then they talk nice.

Breaking news: Stay at home.

That is the order tonight as the
coronavirus pandemic spreads.

♪♪♪

Covid was a unique situation
for everybody.

We didn't know what
we were dealing with.

And we had some of the highest
numbers in the country.

The Governor made the decision
to open back up very early.

Theaters, private social clubs

and restaurant dining services
will be allowed to reopen.

When the Governor says
the nightclubs are open,

and it was costing
people their lives.

You know, you had like random
death phase and you were like,

"Damn, is that from Covid?"

And then you had the,
"Okay, we need to take this
serious phase."

Yeah, you got
six feet twerks now.

And you know,
it's better than no twerks.

Usually you got the baby oil

and now it's hand
sanitizer everywhere.

The pandemic,
um, of course it sucked.

I tried the OnlyFans thing.
I signed up.

I made,
like $10,000 off of OnlyFans,

and I was like,
this is not for me.

Like, I know what these girls
are on- on OnlyFans doin'.

I'm not willing to do that.

But that kind
of spiked our kitchen.

So Magic City became a real
restaurant during Covid.

Oh, what y'all
want to talk about?

[Mikey]
The "Lemon Pepper Lou" incident.

NBA was in the bubble,

and they had quarantines
in certain times and nights

that they were supposed to be
in the house

and curfews and stuff like that.

Him coming in
and gettin' food

was like a normal
everyday thing.

Eatin' in the corner
in Lou Will section.

Lou was here probably at a time
when he shouldn't have been.

I'm sittin' there
waitin' for my food.

I'm masked up.
I'm following all the protocols.

Good friend of mine walks in

and he had did somethin' really
special.

He had number one record
on Billboard at that time,

and I wanted to
celebrate my friend.

I wanted to take
a shot with him.

♪ What's poppin? ♪

♪ Brand new whip
Just hopped in ♪

We took a shot.
He posted it.

He's hella famous.
So it went viral.

-That picture went viral.
-Like, holy shit.

Who posted that shit?
How'd it get out?

I just remember getting
a call from my agent

and his exact words was,
"What the fuck did you just do?"

We hate it for Lou.

We don't want to
deal with this shit.

It wasn't positive at the time.

Lou was wrong for this.

Fuckin' Twitter was goin' crazy.

Lou Williams sneaks out of the
bubble to party in Magic City.

Not only did you leave,
but you went to Magic City.

That is the ultimate,
selfish act of betrayal.

It spun itself into this meme.

He was supposed to be the
playoffs

and yet was at Magic City
eatin' wings.

The first time I had ever heard
of lemon pepper wings

was in Magic City.

I like his cover up,

he said he was there
for the chicken wings.

They do have
great chicken wings.

Sweet Lou, lemon pepper
barbecue.

It just turned into
this whole thing.

It turned into Lemon Pepper Lou

and I, um- that shit stuck.

It stuck.
[laughing]

So, I'm goin' there
when I leave here, honestly.

Gon' get me another
ten piece to put under my belt.

For sure.

[indistinct conversation]

We need more light put on
the beauty of Atlanta.

It's a energy in this city
that moves the mind

and the space

where if you put your mind
to it in Atlanta,

it could damn near happen.

Atlanta's a city
of second chances.

There is this threat
of redemption in our city.

We got a place for you here.

Atlanta is Atlanta.

It's no new old,
whatever it is.

We all got to go through
the same struggles.

By the way, in the city
of Atlanta today,

as crazy as it is,

I feel the most comfortable
goin' to Magic City.

Because of Magic City,
so many things have transpired,

and it can't go without
getting its flowers.

It's one of the wonders
of the world

if you care about our world.

I mean, to me, it's the greatest
strip club on planet Earth.

This is for free.
I ain't gettin' paid shit.

Magic city is
absolutely necessary.

It's beautiful.

It provides an environment
where women can be free

in ways that other people
might turn their nose up at,

but it's not
in black and white either.

[Mr. Magic]
Magic city is like a-

just a false world
for some of the young ladies.

It's not a place you can
turn into a thirty year career.

I love entertaining people,

but once you get
sucked in that lifestyle

and you realize that,
okay, I can go to work,

I can make $1,000 tonight,
I can make $2,000 tonight.

It's so very hard
to really just stop.

As a mentor, as a coach,
you want to see 'em go.

I tell 'em I don't
want to see you again.

You know, if you come back here,

that means somethin'
ain't going well.

[Mr. Magic] We tried to get
'em to go to school

or do somethin' besides dance.

He was always sayin',
"Have a exit plan."

That's what his words,
"Have a exit plan."

I went to school
for business management

because I owned a restaurant.

In my era, it was a lot
of girls that were successful

that was goin' to school
like Whyte Chocolate.

[Whyte Chocolate] You know, my
knees were starting to give out.

My body was starting to ache.

So I purchased a home I had
to build over several years.

I couldn't see myself
not being a dancer

because I loved it so much,
you know.

My first job
when I left the clubs

was at a dry cleaners

and I was pregnant.

And I was making
like $168 a week.

You go from makin'
3 or $4000 a night to that.

I had to walk away to save
my life, you understand?

I had to pay attention
to my dreams.

I had to pay attention
to what God was tellin' me.

Do I have any regrets?

If I could do it
two times over, I would.

We lived a good life.

And guess what?

It wasn't given to us,
we hustled for it.

From Magic City, I learned,

self-love, self-confidence.

Changed my life for sure.

My mom and dad been
married for fifty four years,

but in the street out there,

Magic was my dad.

And all the girls was my sisters
that I didn't have.

That's how we were, you know,
we stuck together like sisters.

For real.

So there are 150 of 'em,
like my sisters.

- [girls yelling]
-[horns honking]

What's Magic City's impact
on Atlanta?

Magic is Joe Kennedy.

He is the cornerstone

of generational wealth
and power and influence.

The economic impact is real.

But at it's core,

it's about I want my kids
to have something

that makes life a little easier
for them.

If they want to turn it
and tweak it

and- and do something else with
it, that's on them.

But I don't know a parent

who doesn't want to leave
something for their kids.

[Gail] He went
and he put his all into it

until he achieved whatever
he set out to accomplish.

[sighs]

I could only stand
back and watch at some points.

I had to watch. Acquiesce.

How I feel about that?

I couldn't tell you, really.

Um,
it's a blessing and a curse.

It stole so much.
Even though it gave a lot.

It stole a lot, too.

Julian should have
been a veterinarian.

Mikey could have
been a IT person.

My mom stuck through
thick and thin, you know.

Magic City probably been the
only constant in our life.

[Mikey] The impact that he
had on the community

and the people he's touched,
will speak for itself.

How the old man be
remembered in Atlanta?

I want to be remembered as the
guy that had respect for all
people.

Um, I'll stop,
shake their hands.

I think that's what made me.

That's how I started off
that little card,

that little handshake.
I'ma end it that way.

It's some kind of a vibe
you have to catch in here,

and then you'll know
when you hit

that Magic City peak moment

and you've had
the time of your life.

All right.

[Mr. Magic] Man, I ain't been
drilled since the feds-

since the feds had me.
I ain't been drilled like that.

God damn.

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

♪♪♪

[female vocalizing]