Atlanta Soundtrack: Baby Tate, Linqua Franqa and vintage Curtis Mayfield

Baby Tate | “Ain’t No Love”

As an alumna of Dekalb School for the Arts, 26-year-old Tate Sequoyah Farris, aka Baby Tate, trained extensively in musical theater. And when you watch this expressive, dynamic and carefully choreographed video, the Decatur native’s stage background makes complete sense. 

Not only is it an Atlanta love fest, sampling Ciara’s 2004 single “Oh” which features Ludacris — it’s also an ode to the early big, brash aughts. “Ain’t No Love” is featured on the Grammy winner’s new mixtape, Mani/Pedi, which dropped at the end of September. (Photo by Scrill Davis/Courtesy Warner Records)

::

Linqua Franqa | “Oh Fxck” (featuring Of Montreal and Pip the Pansy)

As the days turn cold and dreary, let’s take you back to this bop from springtime, which will get you dancing exuberantly enough to keep warm, even on the chilliest and spookiest of evenings. Mariah Parker, or Linqua Franqa, became a part of the Athens music scene after relocating there in 2013. In Athens, the Kentucky native quickly established a rap battle prowess and a successful track record as an organizer and activist. 

Along with a rapidly rising music career, Franqa previously served as Athens-Clarke county commissioner, resigning in August. Oh. Franqa’s latest album, Bellringer, also happens to be serve as a Ph.D. dissertation in Language and Literacy at the University of Georgia.

::

Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions | “This Is My Country”

In case you haven’t heard, there’s an election coming up in November. And as polls are already open for early voting, here’s a tune to get you fired up for exercising your choice at the ballot box: the 1968 civil rights anthem by the Impressions. And no, we’re not talking about “People Get Ready.” With all due respect to that powerful and more well-known anthem, “This Is My Country” digs in and gets much more specific.

Mayfield, who died in Roswell in 1990 after living in Atlanta for a decade, had a remarkable gift for combining the sweetness of melodies (those horns!), tender vocals and catchy beats with absolutely piercing lyrics. This Impressions album was, of course, a precursor to his breakout as a solo star and the release of one of the world’s most perfect LPs, 1970’s Curtis.

The only live performance version of this tune on video seems to be a recording with actor and poet Clifton Davis, who recites a piece as the Impressions provide background vocals by way of this song. Unfortortunately, his spoken word composition almost entirely obscures Mayfield’s lyrics, which is why we recommend soaking in the original version of our Vintage Track of the Week.