When Omerettà The Great dropped “Sorry Not Sorry” last month, she made it a point to call out what is and isn’t considered Atlanta.
The rapper began calling out different zones on the outside of Atlanta, claiming that they aren’t a part of what makes up the city.
“College Park is not Atlanta, Lithonia is not Atlanta, Clayco is not Atlanta, Decatur is not Atlanta,” the ATL native raps.
This has sparked a debate among Atlanta rappers and residents themselves on what parts of the city are really considered ATL.
Fellow Atlanta native Latto jumped on the remix to respond to Omerettà’s claims, while name dropping some Atlanta greats in the process.
“So Migos is not Atlanta? (Huh?)/21 is not Atlanta? (What?)/Ciara is not Atlanta? (The fuck?)/Ludacris is not Atlanta? (Trippin’)/Man, ClayCo made Atlanta (ClayCo)/Decatur made Atlanta (On God)/Rap game tried to play Atlanta (What?)/Outkast came and saved Atlanta/On God,” Latto raps.
Marcus Ingram/Getty Images for Sprite
Shortly after the song’s release, some fans thought Latto was dissing the artists she named. Latto quickly noted that her name drops weren’t disses but merely shoutouts to those who made history in the Atlanta rap community, although they were not technically born there, according to Omeretta’s original record.
Even after Latto’s clarification, Atlanta rap legend Ludacris felt that it was his turn to note who and what Atlanta is really all about. This past weekend, he dropped his own “Sorry Not Sorry” freestyle addressing Latto’s name drop and all other claims about A-Town.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
“I was born in Illinois/Mama making hella noise/’Cause a star was born and I’ll take this as Omeretta gave him credit for it/’Cause early I moved to College Park, got rich like Ludacris hit the lotto/I spent so much time in Magic City ‘Every day I’m so Atlanta’ was always my motto,” Ludacris raps.
“I brought millions of dollars to the city/Now the whole world jack Atlanta/I was wondering if this was propaganda/To get more juice than Tropicana/Overheard this song, I was shooting a movie, I told them to stop the camera/To say, no matter what block Atlanta/No city can opp Atlanta/Ever since the South had something to say, nobody can stop Atlanta/They won’t top Atlanta/We don’t knock Atlanta/We got proper manners/But the whole world know we’ll cock a hammer.”
On one last line, Ludacris is seemingly speaking to Omeretta The Great and Latto directly.
“And no matter who don’t like it, haters I’m home/Heard my name and had to address this/Thank you ladies, I’m gone, Luda!”
The rapper’s freestyle was received well, especially by his peers such as Outkast rapper and Atlanta native Big Boi, Chingy, DJ Drama and more who left a string of fire emojis in the comment section under his Instagram post.
One thing’s for sure, whether born or raised there, the greats of Atlanta will always defend their town.