As a testament to the staying power of his sonic innovation, Atlanta bass music king Micaiah Raheem “The Dream” recently received a pair of 2023 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards for writing credit on Jack Harlow’s “First Class,” which contains a sample of Raheem’s 1991 club banger “If U Ain’t Got No Money.”
Known for creating the soundtrack for Atlanta’s massive Freaknik parties in the early 1990s, Raheem is scheduled to rattle the PA system at the 40 Watt Club on Friday, July 1 as the headliner for the first annual 706 Fest, produced by 95.9 FM The Beat of Athens and United Group of Artist Music Group.
Raheem spoke via telephone with Banner-Herald arts and culture reporter Andrew Shearer about returning to Athens after 15 years, a brain aneurysm that threatened to put him out of the game, and the origins of his signature trunk-thumping sound.
Q&A:OnlineAthens interview with Atlanta hip-hop legend Kilo Ali
Who’s got the plaque:The 2023 Athens Music Walk of Fame inductees were announced at AthFest
Andrew Shearer: Following your success in the 1990s with songs like “Freak No Mo’,” “Hell Naw” and “Short Shorts” that pulsed from clubs and car radios throughout the South, what were the 2000s like for you?
Raheem the Dream: By that time, I was running my own label Tight 2 Def Records when I put Drama and Shawty Redd together when they were still teenagers. That combination resulted in “Left, Right, Left,” which hit No. 37 on the Billboard charts for Atlantic Records. After that, I got behind Young Dro (“Yes Sir”), Dem Franchize Boyz (“White Tee”) and D4L (“Laffy Taffy”) and all three ended up with major label deals.
I suffered a double brain aneurysm in 2004 and was in ICU for three months. The doctors said I would lose most of my memory and that I wouldn’t be able to walk again, but by the grace of God I was out of the hospital within six months. While I was still learning to walk and talk again, I heard a song in a club called “Ain’t Gon Let Up” by DG Yola and got him…
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