Hidden in a restaurant in downtown Atlanta, amid the buildings where Georgia State students live and learn, is a different type of educational experience.
Hip-Hop Trivia is more than an opportunity for the city’s music creators, influencers and fans to get together and show off their knowledge. It’s a chance for them to learn something new about the culture, too.
It’s also a chance to win free alcoholic beverages by answering questions or, in one instance, channeling MC Hammer and doing the typewriter dance from one end of Slice Piedmont to the other. The winning team gets a $50 bar tab.
Credit: Jewel Wicker
Credit: Jewel Wicker
Even Andre 3000 has showed up to the restaurant for Wednesday night trivia and been stumped by a few of the questions.
With appearances from popular rappers such as Killer Mike, Hip Hop Trivia organizers initially considered having celebrity hosts. They eventually scrapped that idea.
“In a city where standing on couches, popping bottles and being seen, or being completely anti-establishment are the things [to do], we’re kind of in the middle,” founder Branden Peters said. “There is no VIP. There is no line. It’s not club night.”
The celebrity appearances and the scope of questions asked are all thanks to Peters and Maurice Garland. Both men co-host AB+L's Day 1 Radio, but beyond that they're journalists who have covered hip-hop throughout their careers.
Garland has written for Billboard and Creative Loafing, and was featured in VH1’s 2014 documentary “ATL: The Untold Story of Atlanta’s Rise in the Rap Game.” Peters is a lifestyle reporter who has written for Complex and XXL. Crystal Thomas and DJ Dusei Da Great are also a part of the hip-hop trivia team.
Sometimes centered on notable anniversaries, each week’s trivia has a different theme. From “Trap Music” to “Cuffing Season,” each trivia night features a series of questions that vary from easy to difficult.
Questions during "Trap Music" night varied from identifying the singer on Gucci Mane’s “So Icy” hook (Lil Will) to the name of Gucci’s necklace (St. Brick), which now has its own social media accounts.
“I try to make the questions go across the board,” Peters said. “I try to make sure we touch a bunch of different regions, time periods, and popular and niche [artists] so that everyone can have a fair chance at winning.”
Admission is Hip-Hop Trivia ATL is free, but Peters suggests indulging in a Chico Suave, “skillet baked mozzarella and cheddar cheese bread,” during the event.
8 p.m. Wednesdays. Free admission. Slice Piedmont, 75 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta. Slicepiedmont.sliceatlanta.com/piedmont.
