In an unique interview with Hip-Hop Wired, Sonya Meadows, additionally recognized within the Atlanta strip membership scene as “Platinum,” opens up about her iconic period as one of many first dancers on the legendary Magic Metropolis.

Reflecting on her early days, Platinum shares the power, the hustle, and the status that surrounded not solely Magic Metropolis but additionally the dancers who dominated its stage. She remembers her shut relationship with Large Meech, the founding father of BMF, and speaks on how he was greater than only a consumer. Platinum says he revered the dancers and supported them with out crossing boundaries.

Their relationship was primarily based on mutual respect, and he was one of many greatest names who genuinely noticed worth within the girls of the membership.

When discussing how strip membership tradition has shifted through the years, Platinum factors out how a lot has modified. Again then, being a dancer in Atlanta meant you had been a celeb. Dancers got VIP therapy wherever they went. Eating places had been comped, golf equipment gave them on the spot entry to unique areas, and so they had been celebrated by town.

Right this moment, she says, dancers are sometimes handled with much less respect, each by golf equipment and clients. She highlights how she has not too long ago seen clients sitting on the stage whereas dancers are performing, one thing she considers extremely disrespectful. That sort of conduct, she says, would have by no means occurred when she was dancing.

Platinum additionally addresses what she believes is the largest false impression about dancers, which is the idea that they’re all “h*es.” She explains that lots of the girls who dance have full lives outdoors the membership. Some are moms, college students, or entrepreneurs. Dancing was a job, not a life-style, and other people typically fail to know the excellence.

She fondly remembers the period of “Magic Mondays,” describing them as the final word scene in Atlanta nightlife. It was a gathering place for everybody from high rappers to athletes to the largest road hustlers within the metropolis. Magic Metropolis on a Monday evening was a full-blown occasion, with an environment that felt like a film.

Sonya additionally remembers how males used to hold themselves in that period, coming into the membership well-dressed and displaying dancers the respect they deserved. The tradition was considered one of admiration and limits, one thing she feels has been misplaced in right now’s strip membership surroundings.