DA GAME CHANGER
MAGAZINE
MAGAZINE
Bronx-born and Harlem-raised, Jim Jones is a founding member of The Diplomats — Dipset — alongside Cam’ron, Freekey Zekey, and Juelz Santana. The crew broke through on Cam’ron’s S.D.E. in 2000 and went on to define an era with a run of mixtapes and two studio albums. Jones stepped solo in 2004 with On My Way to Church, then hit his commercial peak with “We Fly High” off Hustler’s P.O.M.E. — the “Ballin’” anthem reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum. He later crossed into reality TV with VH1’s Love & Hip Hop and Chrissy & Mr. Jones with Chrissy Lampkin, and he’s still working: his latest album, At the Church Steps (2025), proves the Capo never left.
“Ballin’!” — the anthem that never left
Don’t let the name fool you — Lil Baby is someone you absolutely should be taking seriously. The Atlanta star came out of the gate in 2017 with three full-length mixtapes — his first three tapes ever — after Quality Control heads Pee and Coach K encouraged him to rap following his release from prison. What looked like a career in its infancy became a takeover: My Turn (2020) finished as the best-selling and most-streamed album of the year in the U.S., and WHAM (2025) became his fourth straight No. 1 album. He’s still feeding the streets — his new single “Coast 2 Coast” with Bally Baby and Fatt Smaxk just dropped, ahead of his Fresh Prince of Atlanta birthday show at State Farm Arena on December 5.
Four straight No. 1 albums — and still dropping
One of the most influential voices to ever come out of Atlanta, Young Thug started turning heads with his I Came From Nothing mixtape series before his 2013 tape 1017 Thug earned praise from Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. His debut single “Stoner” made him a star while he was still just 21, and he went on to build his own empire with YSL Records and a run of No. 1 albums including So Much Fun and Punk. After one of the most publicized trials in hip-hop history, Thug came home in 2024 and got straight back to the music — his run rolled into 2026 with records like “WOAH,” his new collaboration with NAV produced by Wheezy.
Home — and straight back to work
Future has still managed to keep the hype going — for over a decade. The Atlanta hitmaker behind Freebandz first broke through with singles like “Karate Chop” featuring Casino, back when collaborations with Rihanna, Kanye, and Diplo were still “expected.” He delivered on all of it and more: DS2, the back-to-back No. 1 albums FUTURE and HNDRXX, I NEVER LIKED YOU, and his 2024 run with Metro Boomin (WE DON’T TRUST YOU) and MIXTAPE PLUTO cemented him as one of the defining artists of his generation — the most imitated flow in the game, and still the one setting the temperature.
The most imitated flow in the game
St. Louis’ own Sexyy Red began to make waves when she released her first single, “Toe Tag” — a hard-hitting track with an infectious beat that showcased her distinctive flow and fearless style, followed by records like “Freak B*tch” and “Bounce Dat Ass.” That was just the warm-up. In 2023 she exploded with “Pound Town” and “SkeeYee,” turning her Hood Hottest Princess mixtape into the summer’s defining run and earning a co-sign run that included Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy.” Since then it’s been nonstop: “Get It Sexyy,” the In Sexyy We Trust era, a Grammy-nominated turn on Tyler, The Creator’s “Sticky,” and the double-platinum “Whatchu Kno About Me” with GloRilla. The Northside Princess is a full-blown star now — and still dropping, most recently “Hang Wit a Bad Bitch” with Key Glock.
Northside Princess — full-blown star
