How struggling salesman built world’s most notorious strip club where celebs ‘get $100K delivered in armoured trucks’
IT is the most infamous strip club in the world, but it is also where some of America’s most influential rappers made their names.
And now Magic City is getting its own moment in the spotlight as rapper Drake has made a documentary about the legendary Atlanta venue.
The club was opened in 1985 by toner cartridge salesman Michael Barney who played DJ, barman and bouncer while his only dancer separated men from their money.
But his friends didn’t call him “Mr Magic” for nothing – his slick-talking sales pitch meant the celebrities soon came flocking.
Superstar athletes like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal could rub shoulders with legendary music stars like 2pac, Biggie Smalls, Cee Lo Green, MC Hammer and Nelly.
Over the years the club has survived an arson attack and its founder being jailed for federal drugs conspiracy charges – but somehow it has managed to retain its magic and is still going strong today.
Rapper Jermaine Dupri, co-creator of the new documentary, described the club to Atlanta Magazine as a place where “you can go on Monday night and stand beside a millionaire, the biggest thief in Atlanta, the biggest drug dealer in Atlanta, the police, and one of the biggest rappers or R&B artists in the world – all in the same room.”
As Mr Magic built his strip empire, with more girls joining his team, and musicians like Outkast testing their new music by watching the girls dance, the club gained a reputation as the place for punters to party and up-and-coming music stars to try out their new tracks.
DC the Brain Supreme was working at Magic City when he scored a smash as one-half of Tag Team with “Whoomp! (There It Is).”
And as celebrities started to frequent his club Barney realised he had hit on the magic formula – his club was a place where people wanted to be seen and be able to party with their idols.
Rising from the ashes
But in 1994, Barney was jailed for ten years after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and he sold the club to his brother-in-law Derrick Cooper.
Then a year later Magic City was gutted in an arson attack for which no-one was ever charged – but it rose from the ashes to become centre of Atlanta’s music scene once more.
By the time Barney was released from prison in 2001, he found the club scene had moved in his favour – rival clubs were closing and DJ Nando created “Magic City Mondays” – the most popular night of the week.
There was a “pay-for-play” system where artists would pay strip club DJs to play their records so the artists and record execs could gauge the crowd’s reaction.
Nando played the records – and the girls danced to them. The motto being that if the girls in Magic City danced to it, you had a hit on your hands.
But DJ Nando was shot and killed outside his home in 2014.
Many thought Nando’s death would mark the end for the Atlanta hip hop scene – but it was only getting bigger, and Magic City was still its epicentre.
$100K bills delivered in armour truck
In 2018, rapper Future turned the club into “Future City” to celebrate his 35th birthday with his famous pals including Drake, who was rumoured to have had an armoured truck deliver $100,000 in cash to the strip club.
But the party was reportedly cut short at 3am when gunshots were heard.
And when Atlanta United FC won the MLS Cup, the players of course chose Magic City for their celebrations.
Even chart Queens Madonna and Rihanna have been spotted in the midst of the party palace.
Barney always said that the heart of his business was good customer service – and the professionalism of his dancers. And they earned good money for it.
A 2019 Channel 5 documentary on the sex business found that the hit-making dancers in Magic City were earning £78,000 a year – and up to £6,000 a night in tips alone.
But Barney ensured their roles were never about sex – and the dancers became stars in their own rights.
Jermaine Dupri recalled: “Back when I was going at my early age, it was really about the dancers. You knew the dancers by name. You used to have Whyte Chocolate. You used to have these girls who were almost stars – before Instagram by the way. Strawberry, Destiny, you used to go to the club to see these girls dance.”
Barney is pretty much semi-retired now and the club is run by his son Lil Magic.
You can go on Monday night and stand beside a millionaire, the biggest thief in Atlanta, the biggest drug dealer in Atlanta, the police, and one of the biggest rappers or R&B artists in the world – all in the same room
Jermaine Dupri
In recent years it has been beset by controversy once more after a series of shootings.
But Mr Magic himself – who rarely gives interviews – always wants to reflect on the good times, telling Atlanta Magazine: “I’ve been truly blessed. Even when I’ve run into trouble or I’ve been spanked by life, I rebound.
“I believe that rebounding is a blessing, and I just believe that I am truly blessed.
“At my funeral, don’t cry. I had a hell of a run. Ain’t no need for no tears, man. I owe it all to the people. The people did it. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t no “magic’ behind it.”
Magic City laid bare
1. Magic City first opened in 1985.
2. Day shift admission is between 3pm and 9pm with entry costing about £8.
3. The club shuts at 3am.
4. They have a ‘no touching’ policy at the club.
5. Bottles of booze cost between £58 and £785.
6. Table dances cost £8 per song
7. The strip club is also one of America’s most popular chicken wing destinations.
8. Former NBA Atlanta Hawks player Lou Williams has his own chicken wing named after him.
9. Magic City employs more than 150 dancers.
10. Hit song Whoomp! (There it is) by Tag Team was first trialled at Magic City.
