February 25, 2025 ⢠36 mins
On this episode of Butternomics, host Brandon Butler sits down with Krystal and Doug Peterson, a powerhouse couple leading the charge in Atlanta’s real estate, culture, and business scene. From revitalizing Bankhead Seafood to creating the Trap Music Museum, they’ve made it their mission to preserve and elevate Black-owned spaces in the city. They discuss their strategy for buying back the block, why restoring Bankhead Seafood was about more than food, the business of real estate and community impact, and how they turned the Trap Music Museum from a pop-up into a lasting cultural institution.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I just want them to push man, like, do something
that you're proud of, that you love, that you will
look up in twenty thirty years and you can really
smile about it. You know what I mean. You didn't
necessarily have to help other people do their dream, you
know what I'm saying, Like you are part of something
that was part of your dream.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thank Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of butter Nomics.
I'm your host, Brandon Butler, found in CEO of Butter
atl and today we got our first power couple in
the building. I don't know, I don't know how y'all
feel about to turn power.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know what.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We got two amazing people that just so happened to
be married, and we're gonna talk about some fun stuff,
not about marriage, talk about how they killing the game
building businesses doing amazing things. First of all, ladies, first
missus Crystal Peterson, other Dynasty Real ESI group. How you doing.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I'm great, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Brandon absolutely, and my god, Doug. He can't do a
grand hustle. Doug, what's going on? Baby?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Man? Working working, that's it? Man, Glad to be here,
bro for.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Real man, y'all stay busy man, Well, I appreciate y'all
making time to come in. So you know, this conversation
started actually at Bankhead Seafood. You know, I was at
the bank Head Seafood friends and family. Now that's how
I knew of a special man. I appreciate that friends
and family open for Doug for and seafood. You know
what you all are our partners at and help help
(01:23):
help build that, help rebuild that whole thing out. Just
tell me real quick, like why was it important for
y'all to help kind of bring bake Head Seafood back
and make sure that legacy stayed out here in Atlanta,
Because that's a staple and you know, a lot of
people might have forgotten about it, and y'all been doing
a lot of amazing work on that side of town.
But like, what about bank Head Seafood made y'all step
up and say, you know what, we gotta do something
with this space and make it something special.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
It was one of those things that it was just
a beacon in the community that we grew up in. Me,
Tip Killer, Mike, you know, Crystal, you know what I mean.
So just riding past it every day, you know, of course,
just looking at it. You know, a couple of times
we went in and spoke to Miss Hard and it
(02:05):
was letting Hard when you're gonna spruce this thing up? Yeah,
and she would never you know, give you a real
definitive ounser blah blah blah. So just knowing when the
opportunity came for us to try to keep her legacy
going and try to just like I say, spruce it up,
make it a little better than what she tried to
do that. I mean, she definitely tried to take it
(02:27):
to where it could go and keep the legacy alive.
So our goal was just to try to make her
dream come true of with it what she would like
for it to be.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So, of course it's been in the community now for
at least fifty years. It's a real staple on the
bank corridor, and to Doug's point, she had it for
years and years and years, and when she did decide
to put it on the market, she was very intentional
about only selling to people that look like us. Yeah,
it was in the midst of gentrification. A lot of
(02:58):
the other businesses in the area were kind of selling
and she was not going to sell to anybody else.
So it's hard and I feel like she's become an
extended member.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, she just passed rest her soul of my family.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
We shared so many memories over you know, the past
four years now, but just understanding what the brand meant
to her and making sure that she passed it on.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
To individuals that looked like her.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
She knew that we were going to hire minority contractors
to do the you know, the general contracting. And I
think that it was just a moment like that. So
we all went to Douglas High School at the time.
Keisha Lance Bottoms was in office when we actually acquired
the property, so she was a Douglas High graduate, and
it was kind of a moment, just full circle to
really bring the vision into fruition.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So it's going to always be something that's near and
dear to us.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And making sure we kept the recipe to high yes, yeah, yes,
that was her thing, like making sure that it tasted
it was the high quality. So it's just been it's
been funing, you know, making sure that the neighborhood can
stee you'll have this this thing that we've had for
fifty years.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, you know what I mean. And now look, man,
y'all did a little bit more than to spruce it
up too, Oa, because we know what it was like.
And again, if the food was there, it's it's been
a legacy spot. But like when you go in there now,
it's just been completely reimagined. The space is amazing. I mean,
we even got a rooftop area, and you know, I
think that's what I also just appreciate, you know, having
(04:23):
grown up even on the East Side myself, I always
tell people, like a lot of times in our communities,
we kind of have what we call food deserts, right, Yes,
Like I know my folks in Stone Mountain they got
to drive, you know, thirty minutes to go somewhere to
get a salad. Yes, you know what I'm saying, Like
there's nowhere around it. If you want liquor chicken lings
or Jamaican food, that's all right there. But like you
want to go somewhere to sit down and have actual meal,
(04:44):
that doesn't exist. So I really appreciate the intentionality y'all
put also in kind of making it into a full
restaurant experience for sure, Like why was that part important
to you all?
Speaker 4 (04:53):
So I guess in the infamous words of our brother Killer,
he mentioned He's says something that kind of resonated with me.
He said that people in that area shouldn't have to
drive all the way to a Buckhead or a Cobb
County to have that dining experience. So we wanted to
do an elevated dining experience just from the fried fish.
We extended the menu, and we wanted to make sure
(05:15):
that it was pedestrian friendly where you know, the newcomers
in the community could still come and have a you know,
a vegan sandwich, a salad. You know, it was options
for everyone, and we wanted to make sure that it
was a sit down restaurant that we are, and we're
also the first rooftop on Bankhead.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Keep saying Bankhead hollow, Well yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
And I mean I so it may have been the
friends and family and night we were able to watch
the sunrise.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
When I say that that experience alone, that's when you
know that you really like hit the mark and bringing
her dream into fruition and you can sit up there
watch the sunrise, well sunset, yeah, the sunset, and you know,
have a glass of wine and you know, have a
true dining experience. And it's on bankt yeah, on the
way side, and we were you know, able to deliver
(06:02):
that and that's that's that's huge and that's important.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
And then tell me about too, just like the experience
of kind of you know, now owning the restaurant. It's
up and running. You know, how's the community really you
know accepted and embraced it.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
They've been pretty receptive. It took.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It was really challenging throughout the development process simply because
you know, we have a lot of newcomers. It's the
area this in a mister gentrification, So a lot of
people didn't understand the brand, didn't necessarily want the brand,
and what they thought, you know, would bring into the area,
which is you know, pretty inherent in most grif yeah,
gentrified areas. A lot of the legacy residents were really
(06:40):
excited about it, of course, but I think that we
have delivered to both at this point and we have
a huge pouring out pouring of support, so hopefully it
will continue.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Every time we are there. Is like it's just you
see community, Yeah, May's High School, does Washington High School?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Like, it's just politicians, entertainers, community active as stakeholders.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
It's just a beautiful thing. It really is it's dope.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, And I mean you talk about gentrification. I know,
you know, because we were talking even while we were
there about all the stuff y'all did with the whole
by back to Block initiative and just all the work
y'all done that area in general, Like why is it
so important that we kind of you know again, like
there's a I guess you kind of say there's like
a good and a bad side of gentrification. Like obviously
we want stuff to be a little bit nicer in
our communities as they is, but we don't want that
to push people out right, right, So it's really important,
(07:29):
like you know, people like you Crystal with the Dynasty
Realistic Group is like really getting there and making these
things happen. But you know, what are some other things
you all are doing in that area to make sure
that we can have you know, nice areas where people
like us are represented. But it also is not price
and just pushing us out where other developers and stuff
are coming in.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
So we, like I said, we've started back in twenty
seventeen twenty eighteen kind of strategically and quietly acquiring parcels
alongside that. Donally Hollowell Corridor. The first project that we
call it our flagship project was the INTRODA West Side.
We took the old kmarts and converted it into one
hundred and forty three affordable, one hundred percent affordable, serving
(08:07):
from fifty to eight percent AMI area meeting income for residents.
And it's about nine thousand square feet on the bottom
which we're hoping to transition into a grocery store.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
So we were able to do that.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
We started that project I think in twenty broke around
on like twenty eighteen or nineteen. It is now one
hundred percent completely occupied. We have a waiting list, and
that was the first project that we did, and then
we took it from there and we touched on the
housing component with that, and then we touched on the
economic development component with bank and seafood.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
It's about lockdown from Croya West Side.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
So now we were able to not only bring economic
development into an area that was a food desert, that
it was a dilap lated property. We were able to
bring a historic landmark back into the community provide. We
have at least seventy employees that we've you know, and
that we've been able to give job opportunities to some
(09:04):
of them are from the local shelter. We partner with
paw Kids, it's right behind us, which is the Community
Development Corporation, nonprofit community development corporation. So we partner with
a lot of other entities in the city to make
sure that we're you know, affording that opportunity to them
as well. And then we're working on I don''t give
out too many details, but we're going we're working on
(09:25):
it one hundred percent for profit development market rate, kind
of in the hospitality industry, closer to the Trap Music Museum. Okay, Yeah,
so we're kind of touching on every different component, you know.
Buy back the block was about us intentionally purchasing property
alongside that for a door holding it. I just I
think that we're in an era where we can't afford
(09:47):
to just purchase properties and flip it. Like, we have
to be involved in the development process. We have to
be selective about who we choose to align ourselves with,
you know, for for other developers, because we have to
co develop on some of these projects simply because it's
out of our capacity. So we have to be intentional
about who we're you know, co developing with. Who we're
choosing to partner with, and I think that by that approach,
(10:08):
we're able to make sure that lower income families are
still able to be welcomed in. And then we can
also you know, partner with larger developers and do for
you know, one hundred percent market rate for development projects
as well.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So I.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Love how you talk about you can't just you know,
just flip and move on. I think a lot of
times that's what people think real estate is about. Right, Yeah,
Well that again, there's benefits of that in certain areas,
you know, there's also again it creates downsides, and so
for you being in real estate and kind of you know,
having that foresight, I think it's really interesting. But even
more about that, it's like when you look at those
properties when y'all probably started acquiring them, which was you know,
I think we talked about a little bit before the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Before that area for their pandemic, where the area.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Started like growing, Like what gave you the foresight to
kind of know like this is an area that not
only I want to invest them, but if I invest
in this area, like it'll it'll it'll come back to us,
you know, in tenfold.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
So a lot of.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
It is it's I mean, you know, knowing what's coming
to the area. It is all of those projects are
within a tad, all of those projects within an opportunity
zone and kind of knowing where the.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Dollars are flowing to, if that makes sense.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
And relationships, I think that each project that we've had,
it's that we have to hold ourselves to a certain
level of excellence. We have to maintain certain relationships, and
we have to stand and know about what's going on.
We always have to be you know, I've stayed MPU
meetings and you know, to know what what the need
was for the community, what the community wanted to see,
and merge it with what the city you know, was
(11:44):
coming down the pipeline. And I think it's a perfect
marriage between those and then of course, you know, complimenting,
you know, I think it was a perfect marriage for
at that point in time that that tip was on
the Mayor's maryoruseland Bottoms transition team and one of the
mentors were God Arrest his soul Noel Khalil, and I
(12:06):
met Khalil Noel Khalil when I was in let's say
middle school. My mother was the vice president of development
for the Historic District Development Corporation, and I always consider
them to be like the pioneers of affordable housing in Atlanta.
They're actually I think they're one of, if not the
oldest community development corporation in the city of Atlanta. I
think they're one of them. But he was on the
(12:27):
transition team as well, so he partnered and merged with
kind of mentored Tip and Mike on the transition team.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
So that was really special to allow that full circle.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, that was an awesome time just listening to his
experiences and you know, things that he faced and things
he told us we would face, you know what I mean.
So that was definitely a special person to meet. For
the short period of time that we did meet him,
we got a lot from them, for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
And those relationships are so important because there's so much
like knowledge that doesn't always get transfer down from generation
to generation, especially in our community, right, Like you need
people that have kind of been there before and done
those things that you know what to kind of look
out for. But Doug, go want to ask you too, man,
having like really grown up in that area and seeing
how it's transitioned over the years, Like how do you
feel now that you've had a hand in making it
and up and kind of move forward.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Man, I feel like we waited too late now I
was just playing. But it's crazy because when Tip first
got signed, we were in that same corridor. When TILP
got signed in twenty nineteen, the first place that Ghetto
Vision KP and then took us to record was Patchwork, Yeah,
(13:38):
which is right down the north side behind the McDonald's,
you know what I mean. So to now look right
behind that and you have interlock, it's like, wow, that's crazy,
you know. So, I mean, we were in that same
studio two three o'clock in the morning and let's go
get something to eat, walk into the Crystals, but crystal back,
you know what I'm saying. So it's like it's just
(14:00):
a full circle moment, you know what I mean. That's uh.
We called it our neighborhood, from you know, down to
the Dome all the way up to seventy five on
north Side. We go back and forth different businesses. Studio
won't say exactly what the studio is, but you know,
we have a studio up and down the north side.
The museum of course, just a bunch of other little
(14:21):
properties and stops that we make. But yeah, it's uh,
it's amazing, bro, it's amazing, like to see all the
abandoned warehouses. And I tell my team all the time
that a lot of them didn't see that like they've
seen it, you know, the last five six years. It's like, man,
y'all didn't even want to drive up and down here,
(14:42):
like this wasn't that, you know what I'm saying. So
it's been amazing to see the growth of it, for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Man, Look, I remember what Mary the Street used to
look like that, you know, going to the warehouse in downtown.
A lot of those areas you know where people are
walking out and hanging out right now in the Upper
West all this stuff now, you know what I mean
now and everything and everything's kind of moved around. So
(15:08):
like even with that, man, how did y'all come up
with the idea for the Trap Music Museum? And again
it's the Trap Music Museum, y'all is not the Trap Museum.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Just come on and come see learn what's going on.
It's crazy because at that time Till was working on
his tenth album and the album Dime Trap. We needed
like a marketing idea, so just so happened at him Crystal,
like they had acquired all these buildings, and we had
an idea of doing a museum dedicated to it was
(15:40):
more so dedicated to Atlanta and the culture of Atlanta.
But we were just like, you know, maybe if we
just told this small side of the museum space the
trap music part, which you know, till it was one
of the pioneering fathers of the genre itself, maybe then
we can grow it into the bigger you know. Look, so,
(16:01):
you know, we just took it. It was supposed to
be a pop up. We needed a building, and just
so happened that, you know, we were like, hey, this
might fit, you know, So we took it, came up
with different ideas, created a committee, if you will, different
creatives we set up, argued who would be in it,
(16:21):
who should be in it, who shouldn't be in it?
What is trap? What is this? What is that? And
then we just kind of go. We just went, you
know what I'm saying. It took us probably about six
months from the actual like start of the creative and
building out the actual space to open the night. And
I'm talking about we literally was at the finish line, like,
(16:43):
oh man, we got open, we got over, let's go,
let's go. So it was dope. It was dope. It
was one of the most exciting things I've ever done
in my life, for real, like that whole creative time
and and just how it all worked out, you know
what I mean. So it started to be a pop up.
It was. It was dope. Everybody came out. So by
(17:03):
the end of it, we were like trying to move on.
So we shut it down and and we kept getting
phone calls and emails and phone huh. I'm like, hey, bro,
we might need to open it back up. I'm talking
about people were mad. So we were like, all right, cool,
So we took it, put a business structure to it,
(17:24):
and how you go. Seven years later?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Seven years later, Yeah, Christ, what do you remember about
that time when kind of the track was coming.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
To light so late night?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Yeah, it was. It was a really exciting time.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
It's you know, it's it's funny to hear their vision
for something and then to see it like really brought
into fruition. Because I'm not, like, on the I don't
consider myself to be a creative. So sometimes you know,
Doug has all these ideas and I'm like Okay. So
then to see it, I was like, wow, this is
like this is on some like next level. It was
(17:58):
before people were really doing the the escape rooms and
before they were really doing the museums where you had
the different experiences. They were interactive and something that really
paid homage to the trap culture.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
And then seeing the way.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
That and Doug and I were talking about that, like
to figure out a way to merge the two, like
from the trap culture and to the positives that it's
you know, the positivity that it's also created for our community.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
So I mean, it's it's been a pretty amazing We
were a very.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Hell bent on telling our own story, and we wanted
to make sure that it wasn't told through you know,
just regular you know, we wanted to do something different.
And one of the things that I've always noticed that
our culture, our people, we don't really dive into the art,
(18:50):
the visual art that exists out here. And that's a
great visual artist, you know what I mean. So that
was one of the components that we wanted to make
sure that we brought into it. Of course, set design,
all those types of things. So it was just something
that it was like a pot of gumbo that just
came out beautiful, to be honest, and we.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Were talking about that offline too, is like, why do
you think it's important for us to tell our own stories,
especially down here in Atlanta, to kind of control that narrative.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
This is what comes Like as much as we play
and we joke about it, this really is like I've
been I've been all around the world, you know what
I mean, top of Africa, bottom of Africa, you're Australia, Japan,
I've been around the world. Ain't no place like Alunta. Yeah, nah,
(19:38):
it ain't even close. And just the business structures that
we've built, the artists that have come up out of
the ground of Atlanta, like the out cast is and
TI's and Gezy's and it's just it's so much, you
know what I mean that it can be overwhelming. So
(19:59):
to me, it's kind of like it's time to start
like breaking down the this is that, this is this,
this is like and bringing it together, like the black
owned business sites and really supporting each other. Like that's
been my goal for for a minute. So like that's
kind of been the thing that you know, I don't
(20:20):
know if you want to jump in.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
And well, yeah, I think they're just merging.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
I mean there's a lot of talent, and there's a
lot of money in Atlanta, right especially from you know, entertainers, athletes,
And there's a development in New York and they took
a museum on the bottom and they put apartments on
top of it. But if we could get to a
point of where you know, we could come together, bring
our resources together, and be able to support our own projects,
(20:48):
like you know, just long term, I think that Atlanta,
if it's going to happen anywhere, I think that Atlanta
would be the place to make that happen.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Yeah, I think that we have all the right resources here.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
You know, there's not the fact that we have you know,
mayor city council members that went to the same high
school as us that we see, you know, at our kids'
basketball games, and there's so much opportunity.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
And again that goes back to relationships.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
You know, we have a lot of great creativity, talent,
educated individuals.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
We have you know, Spellman, Warhouse.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
You know, I think that we we have to figure
out how to depend on each other and you know,
figure out a way to create that black excellence.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
We've done a good job of creating it. Now it's
time to figure out how to sustain it, you know
what I mean. I think that's the thing. It's kind
of like when we do create something, we just wait
a flag and it's like there's no connection to the
rest of everything else that goes around. And I think
that's the time that we in now, you know what
I mean. Me and Till was having a conversation a
(21:50):
couple let's call it a couple years ago, but I
was like, man, it just would be dope for all
the top rappers in Alanda to come and create a label,
you know what I mean, Like we the one producing
all of the artists. Why not it all come out
the same ground. And he, you know, we went back
and for us and he was like, man egos and
(22:11):
I was like, yeah, and I get it, But the
best thing for us is to figure it out, you
know what I mean. And that's just you know, in
music is one part of it, but restaurants and podcasting
and like everything, like we are the culture, you know
what I mean, That's that's what we bring to the
(22:32):
table in the world, you know what I mean. So
we got to figure out how to take that and
make it sustained to where our legacy can survive because
it's a lot of folk trying to take that away
from us.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
The space collaborations there I can. You know, sometimes I
feel like an outsider growing up because I didn't grow
up in the music business, you know. I grew up.
I was look, I was a software engineer. Man I
grew up said, we talked about Stone Mountain, you know.
And and so for me, it's always been interesting because
a lot of the same people that I know now
and have relationships where were people that I only saw
on TV or only saw on stage right, And like,
(23:20):
I've been blessed nothing not only know these people, but
they know me, you know, Like it's it's always funny
to me when Killer Might calls me. It's always funny
when it's Big Boy on the phone, right, and I'm like, wow,
Like I look at these things, and I'm really appreciative
of that. But it also means that obviously I'm hopefully
I'm doing something right to have these relationships. And I
think that's that's what that's you're saying, right, It's like
we have to start embracing each other, because again, it's
(23:41):
it's one thing to build a banking and seafood. But
at the same time, we got to support these businesses. Yeah, look,
quit giving these business in our communities a hard time.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Like I used to own a restaurant and I had
more people coming in there trying to scam me and
hustle me and try to get over on me. And
it's like, why we got to do that in our
own communities. We're dumping our time and money and investment
in these areas.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And it's already hard enough. It's already it's already hard
enough just sustaining the economics of of just where we
are in the world. It's like to have a business
and to keep it open, keep the lights on, and
it's actually nice, Like it's hard. So it's like we
need the people to come and say, hey, man, I
(24:23):
understand the table wobbly, Hey can you have fix this?
Oh yeah, sure, b Like that's more of a help
than going online and they had a wobbly table. It's like,
come on, bro, like what we're doing, you know what
I mean? And we don't do other people like that, right,
we don't do that now now, So I mean, we
we just gotta we gotta do better. Man, we gotta
(24:44):
do bettle. That's just the truth.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
That's real crystal from your standpoint, especially, you know, real
estate is one of the best ways to build well
and for people to get out of here. Like, what
were some of the things that got you started in
that space and what advice would you give the people
that want to start in it so they don't think
it's too late.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
So I actually started out in two thousand and four.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
I think I come my real estate license and I.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Actually worked for a for profit developer. He was like
one of the largest black developers. They were building by
Ansley Mall, Like there weren't a lot of us over there,
and he was building million dollar properties over there at
the time, and there wasn't a lot of competition. Now,
I think that I've kind of transitioned over to the
(25:28):
developments end of it, just because I feel like I'm
on the one hand with real estate, I kind of
I feel like I surpassed you know, that industry and
the Atlanta market with real estate is so oversaturated when
there's so many agents in Atlanta, some really great ones too.
But I felt like for me to leave the impact
that I left, I really wanted to transition into something else,
(25:50):
and development was where I saw I could make the
biggest impact in terms of you know, community and I
like putting deals together. I think you have to find
your niche as to what it is that you like
about real estate. We have some real estate agents that
work with us that are, you know, their niches interior decorating,
so they do staging. We have some that are more
focused on commercial. I think that you have to find
(26:10):
out what your passion is in that real estate industry,
because it can't just be driven by money all the time,
right because you're you know, your highest highs are never
as low as your low as lows. Like it's just
the real estate industry in and of itself, it is
just it. It can be very trying at times. So
I think that you have to find your passion and
what it is that you really fulfills you.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
In real estate and then kind of follow that through.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Okay, okay, Doug, what about you, man? How does somebody
get started? Man?
Speaker 1 (26:37):
In the music industry? Yeah, just get got It is
rough right now, man, it's rough. I mean the music
industry is reshaping itself. Yeah, So to be honest right now,
I would just stand back and just learn and see
what it is. It's the transition is creating on the
artist side, like you can almost not almost, you pretty
(26:59):
much can't manage and create your own brand and sell
your own music. Now it depends on how big you
want to make it, but I mean you can definitely
you can pay the bills just by yourself out here,
you know what I mean. But I think the right person,
the right brand, once you start going in the right direction,
(27:20):
you got to build the right team. And then once
you build the right team, find out what your sound is,
your look is. Then once you're making that great music,
the stuff don't come to you. You know, the people,
the opportunities. That's really it for real, man, you gotta
learn just like she said, just kind of learn the
crowd or what it is you're trying to get into
(27:42):
in what space you want to be in with Lane
and just stay at it, wake up every day and
get to it. That's really it.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
As individuals and as a unit. Like what's the long
term success like for you all, Like you ain't gonna
put everything out there because again, I know, you know,
maybe it's like you know what what easy going to
Dubai or something like that. What does long term success
look like, and more importantly, like what kind of legacy
do you want to leave on the culture of Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
So I think that for me, well for us, I
think that it's it's in terms of legacy is really
important to me.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Legacy and representation are really important to me.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
And the fact that we are now able to you know,
my children, my children and children, my grandchildren will be
able to.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Drive past and try to west Side.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
We'll be able to drive past Fankan Seafood, We'll be
able to drive past the Trap Music Museum and say
that their mother and father built those.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
That that's our mark that we've left on the city
of Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Hopefully we will continue to deliver more sustainable projects. You know,
we have a lot of them in the pipeline right now.
But that's that's the legacy that I want to continue
to leave in representation as well, if they you know,
I would love you know, the kids at Douglas High School,
they were in the process of closing down a few
years ago, but you know, making sure that they see,
(28:56):
you know, individuals that look like them that came back
and and reinvested in the communities, that invested in them.
I think that's the long term goal for us, and
hopefully that could you give an impression on the next generation.
Not only could you be in the music industry, you
can be in development. You can merge your two worlds together.
So letting them see that it is possible. Is the
(29:17):
legacy that you want to lead the creative.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Partnerships, that it's creative out of it. I just think
that me personally, I love telling stories, you know what
I mean. And I love telling our stories more than
you know what I mean, like the ground things that
we've had to do to sustain and thrive. So that's where,
(29:39):
like she says, my legacy lives. Like I've been telling
stories through music now, the museum now, through restaurants and
all type of other things. So I will always continue
to do those things, but just like she said, making
sure that our children understand those stories and who they
are and are out of it and they can take
(30:02):
it and try to push it just as higher or
higher than we have, you know what I mean. So
that's that's That's he.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
One thing I always wonder too about because I struggle
with this myself sometimes, Like when you build things like that,
do you all how do you all feel about that
being something that your kids get involved in one day?
Do you want it to have the option for them
to get involved? Are you all kind of like pushing them?
Because I think again sometimes I mean, obviously we want
things to stay in the family, and we want things
that we want people to understand like generational right, But
like sometimes too, you know, the kids want to do
(30:32):
something different, and like that's like the double edged sword
of parents that create opportunities. It's like they get exposure
to other things. They say, you know what, Mom and dad,
I love this thing you're doing right now, but you know,
I want to go do something else. So like how
do y'all kind of feel about that? And you know,
how do you balance that?
Speaker 4 (30:44):
And the generations are like ever revolving. I think that
this new generation, like especially with our kids, like there's
introduction of AI and if you should take my suits,
so is we have those conversations with them. I would
love for my children to go into you know, development.
I see my son as being an architect.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
And I'm always asking my daughter come on.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
With But I think that they have a love for
for the music industry and they have a love for
the real estate development, and they see their mom and
their dad, they see what we've contributed. I would love
for them to go into that space, but I think
that they'll soar and excel in whatever say, in whatever
are they choose.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Our daughter has definitely said that she wants to be
in the music business, but in just again seeing what's
going on in the world of music and just knowing
her is like I see it for her. But I
also want her to understand that it's a hustle, you
know what I mean. This ain't this ain't just wake
up and you go here and then you're gonna pick
(31:47):
up a check Friday. Don't. Really, It's not gonna work
like it, you know what I mean. So you're gonna
have to really hustle, you know what I mean. And
that's that's the grind that I think a lot of
kids now that they missing, they missing And I don't
know if it's the phones or the because to me,
the phones make me smarter, you know what I'm saying.
(32:08):
I learned a lot from different things. So it's just
I think, just like she said, they'll pick up on
where they supposed to be. I just want them to
to push man, just push like, do something that you're
proud of, that you love, that you will look up
in twenty thirty years and you can really smile about it.
(32:28):
You know what I mean. You didn't necessarily have to
help other people do their dream, you know what I'm saying,
Like you are part of something that was a part
of your dream.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
So yeah, I mean a lot of people know this.
But like my dad was in the music industry, and
you know, he did pretty well for himself. He was
a producer. But I'll never forget one day he came
home with a computer and he said, focus on this.
He was like, don't do what I did.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
That's right, take it a part.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
He was put back together. I never forget he said,
this is going to be the future. And so for me,
like even though I used to go with him to
LA and be in the studio and like again I
saw some very amazing stuff that he was doing, he
really kind of pushed me out of his path. I said,
you know, don't do what I do. Do this, And
I'm I appreciate it for it because that's opened up
a ton of opportunities for me. Sometimes I wonder it's
(33:16):
like but could I But I think again, like parents,
the biggest thing we want to do is give our
kids options, sure, right, and so we work hard to say,
you know what, if anything, you have a choice, you
know what I mean, you have a choice. We want
you to go to school, but we also understand school
is for everybody, but we want you to do something.
We want you to be, you know, a successful contributing
member of society in some kind of way, shape or form, right,
(33:38):
And so that's the you know, I never forget this,
like I think what Steve Harvey said this quote where
it was like it's like it's hard to keep your
kids from being you know, a little bit spoiled when
you kind of have it going on, right, because like
they have all these things, and so you have to
find ways to you know, kind of keep that fire
inside of them because you work for the things for
them to have. But at the same time, if you're
not careful, you know, it can make them, you know,
be a little lazy, right, So you have to kind
(33:59):
of find ways keep them engaged and keep you know,
keep a fire lit under. They can go intern, yes, yes, yes,
they can they can go do some demolition of.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
The I intern many of years, many of years you
know what I'm saying, so definitely I totally get it.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Well, look, this has been an amazing conversation before we
get out of here, like how can people who want to,
you know, support you all get involved? Like what's the
best way for them to get in contact with you
all of your teams to kind of again, whether they
want to support the Trap Museum or Bankhead Seafood so
some of these other projects, Like where do people go
to learn more about you all if they want to
support and get involved.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
Well, we are on social media Instagram, Dynasty Reality Group
at Dynasty Reality Group. Our website is the Dynastyrealitygroup dot com.
And you can support any of our brands at Trap
Music Museum or Bankhead Seafood. Yes, do not forget about
my brother the Count of Chicken for me, Doug.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Brand Hustle, you can always hit me up there, you know,
come seals. Like you said, we had all these locations anywhere. Yeah. Man,
we always looking to have dope conversations with with dope
people and like minds, you know what I mean, trying
to grow, trying.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
To grow always for sure, dope man. Well, this has
been an amazing conversation. Congratulations for all the amazing stuff
y'all have done and continue to do. We appreciate y'all. Yes, yeah,
I appreciate y'all. Appreciate y'all. And you know what, that's
the pod y'all. We out you've been listening to butter
Nomics and om your hosts, Brandon Butler, got comments, feedback?
(35:33):
Want to be on the show. Send us an email
today at Hello at butteronomics dot com. Butter Nomics is
producing Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by Ksey Pegram, with marketing
support from Queen and Nicky. Music provided by mister Hanky.
If you haven't already, hit that subscribe button and never
miss an episode, and be sure to follow us on
all our social platforms at butter dot atl Listen to
(35:53):
buttter Nomics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Oount Pump Pump Out out
I just want them to push man, like, do something
that you're proud of, that you love, that you will
look up in twenty thirty years and you can really
smile about it. You know what I mean. You didn't
necessarily have to help other people do their dream, you
know what I'm saying, Like you are part of something
that was part of your dream.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thank Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of butter Nomics.
I'm your host, Brandon Butler, found in CEO of Butter
atl and today we got our first power couple in
the building. I don't know, I don't know how y'all
feel about to turn power.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know what.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We got two amazing people that just so happened to
be married, and we're gonna talk about some fun stuff,
not about marriage, talk about how they killing the game
building businesses doing amazing things. First of all, ladies, first
missus Crystal Peterson, other Dynasty Real ESI group. How you doing.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
I'm great, Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Brandon absolutely, and my god, Doug. He can't do a
grand hustle. Doug, what's going on? Baby?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Man? Working working, that's it? Man, Glad to be here,
bro for.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Real man, y'all stay busy man, Well, I appreciate y'all
making time to come in. So you know, this conversation
started actually at Bankhead Seafood. You know, I was at
the bank Head Seafood friends and family. Now that's how
I knew of a special man. I appreciate that friends
and family open for Doug for and seafood. You know
what you all are our partners at and help help
(01:23):
help build that, help rebuild that whole thing out. Just
tell me real quick, like why was it important for
y'all to help kind of bring bake Head Seafood back
and make sure that legacy stayed out here in Atlanta,
Because that's a staple and you know, a lot of
people might have forgotten about it, and y'all been doing
a lot of amazing work on that side of town.
But like, what about bank Head Seafood made y'all step
up and say, you know what, we gotta do something
with this space and make it something special.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
It was one of those things that it was just
a beacon in the community that we grew up in. Me,
Tip Killer, Mike, you know, Crystal, you know what I mean.
So just riding past it every day, you know, of course,
just looking at it. You know, a couple of times
we went in and spoke to Miss Hard and it
(02:05):
was letting Hard when you're gonna spruce this thing up? Yeah,
and she would never you know, give you a real
definitive ounser blah blah blah. So just knowing when the
opportunity came for us to try to keep her legacy
going and try to just like I say, spruce it up,
make it a little better than what she tried to
do that. I mean, she definitely tried to take it
(02:27):
to where it could go and keep the legacy alive.
So our goal was just to try to make her
dream come true of with it what she would like
for it to be.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So, of course it's been in the community now for
at least fifty years. It's a real staple on the
bank corridor, and to Doug's point, she had it for
years and years and years, and when she did decide
to put it on the market, she was very intentional
about only selling to people that look like us. Yeah,
it was in the midst of gentrification. A lot of
(02:58):
the other businesses in the area were kind of selling
and she was not going to sell to anybody else.
So it's hard and I feel like she's become an
extended member.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Well, she just passed rest her soul of my family.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
We shared so many memories over you know, the past
four years now, but just understanding what the brand meant
to her and making sure that she passed it on.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
To individuals that looked like her.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
She knew that we were going to hire minority contractors
to do the you know, the general contracting. And I
think that it was just a moment like that. So
we all went to Douglas High School at the time.
Keisha Lance Bottoms was in office when we actually acquired
the property, so she was a Douglas High graduate, and
it was kind of a moment, just full circle to
really bring the vision into fruition.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So it's going to always be something that's near and
dear to us.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
And making sure we kept the recipe to high yes, yeah, yes,
that was her thing, like making sure that it tasted
it was the high quality. So it's just been it's
been funing, you know, making sure that the neighborhood can
stee you'll have this this thing that we've had for
fifty years.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yeah, you know what I mean. And now look, man,
y'all did a little bit more than to spruce it
up too, Oa, because we know what it was like.
And again, if the food was there, it's it's been
a legacy spot. But like when you go in there now,
it's just been completely reimagined. The space is amazing. I mean,
we even got a rooftop area, and you know, I
think that's what I also just appreciate, you know, having
(04:23):
grown up even on the East Side myself, I always
tell people, like a lot of times in our communities,
we kind of have what we call food deserts, right, Yes,
Like I know my folks in Stone Mountain they got
to drive, you know, thirty minutes to go somewhere to
get a salad. Yes, you know what I'm saying, Like
there's nowhere around it. If you want liquor chicken lings
or Jamaican food, that's all right there. But like you
want to go somewhere to sit down and have actual meal,
(04:44):
that doesn't exist. So I really appreciate the intentionality y'all
put also in kind of making it into a full
restaurant experience for sure, Like why was that part important
to you all?
Speaker 4 (04:53):
So I guess in the infamous words of our brother Killer,
he mentioned He's says something that kind of resonated with me.
He said that people in that area shouldn't have to
drive all the way to a Buckhead or a Cobb
County to have that dining experience. So we wanted to
do an elevated dining experience just from the fried fish.
We extended the menu, and we wanted to make sure
(05:15):
that it was pedestrian friendly where you know, the newcomers
in the community could still come and have a you know,
a vegan sandwich, a salad. You know, it was options
for everyone, and we wanted to make sure that it
was a sit down restaurant that we are, and we're
also the first rooftop on Bankhead.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Keep saying Bankhead hollow, Well yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
And I mean I so it may have been the
friends and family and night we were able to watch
the sunrise.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
When I say that that experience alone, that's when you
know that you really like hit the mark and bringing
her dream into fruition and you can sit up there
watch the sunrise, well sunset, yeah, the sunset, and you know,
have a glass of wine and you know, have a
true dining experience. And it's on bankt yeah, on the
way side, and we were you know, able to deliver
(06:02):
that and that's that's that's huge and that's important.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
And then tell me about too, just like the experience
of kind of you know, now owning the restaurant. It's
up and running. You know, how's the community really you
know accepted and embraced it.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
They've been pretty receptive. It took.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It was really challenging throughout the development process simply because
you know, we have a lot of newcomers. It's the
area this in a mister gentrification, So a lot of
people didn't understand the brand, didn't necessarily want the brand,
and what they thought, you know, would bring into the area,
which is you know, pretty inherent in most grif yeah,
gentrified areas. A lot of the legacy residents were really
(06:40):
excited about it, of course, but I think that we
have delivered to both at this point and we have
a huge pouring out pouring of support, so hopefully it
will continue.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Every time we are there. Is like it's just you
see community, Yeah, May's High School, does Washington High School?
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Like, it's just politicians, entertainers, community active as stakeholders.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
It's just a beautiful thing. It really is it's dope.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, And I mean you talk about gentrification. I know,
you know, because we were talking even while we were
there about all the stuff y'all did with the whole
by back to Block initiative and just all the work
y'all done that area in general, Like why is it
so important that we kind of you know again, like
there's a I guess you kind of say there's like
a good and a bad side of gentrification. Like obviously
we want stuff to be a little bit nicer in
our communities as they is, but we don't want that
to push people out right, right, So it's really important,
(07:29):
like you know, people like you Crystal with the Dynasty
Realistic Group is like really getting there and making these
things happen. But you know, what are some other things
you all are doing in that area to make sure
that we can have you know, nice areas where people
like us are represented. But it also is not price
and just pushing us out where other developers and stuff
are coming in.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
So we, like I said, we've started back in twenty
seventeen twenty eighteen kind of strategically and quietly acquiring parcels
alongside that. Donally Hollowell Corridor. The first project that we
call it our flagship project was the INTRODA West Side.
We took the old kmarts and converted it into one
hundred and forty three affordable, one hundred percent affordable, serving
(08:07):
from fifty to eight percent AMI area meeting income for residents.
And it's about nine thousand square feet on the bottom
which we're hoping to transition into a grocery store.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
So we were able to do that.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
We started that project I think in twenty broke around
on like twenty eighteen or nineteen. It is now one
hundred percent completely occupied. We have a waiting list, and
that was the first project that we did, and then
we took it from there and we touched on the
housing component with that, and then we touched on the
economic development component with bank and seafood.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
It's about lockdown from Croya West Side.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
So now we were able to not only bring economic
development into an area that was a food desert, that
it was a dilap lated property. We were able to
bring a historic landmark back into the community provide. We
have at least seventy employees that we've you know, and
that we've been able to give job opportunities to some
(09:04):
of them are from the local shelter. We partner with
paw Kids, it's right behind us, which is the Community
Development Corporation, nonprofit community development corporation. So we partner with
a lot of other entities in the city to make
sure that we're you know, affording that opportunity to them
as well. And then we're working on I don''t give
out too many details, but we're going we're working on
(09:25):
it one hundred percent for profit development market rate, kind
of in the hospitality industry, closer to the Trap Music Museum. Okay, Yeah,
so we're kind of touching on every different component, you know.
Buy back the block was about us intentionally purchasing property
alongside that for a door holding it. I just I
think that we're in an era where we can't afford
(09:47):
to just purchase properties and flip it. Like, we have
to be involved in the development process. We have to
be selective about who we choose to align ourselves with,
you know, for for other developers, because we have to
co develop on some of these projects simply because it's
out of our capacity. So we have to be intentional
about who we're you know, co developing with. Who we're
choosing to partner with, and I think that by that approach,
(10:08):
we're able to make sure that lower income families are
still able to be welcomed in. And then we can
also you know, partner with larger developers and do for
you know, one hundred percent market rate for development projects
as well.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So I.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Love how you talk about you can't just you know,
just flip and move on. I think a lot of
times that's what people think real estate is about. Right, Yeah,
Well that again, there's benefits of that in certain areas,
you know, there's also again it creates downsides, and so
for you being in real estate and kind of you know,
having that foresight, I think it's really interesting. But even
more about that, it's like when you look at those
properties when y'all probably started acquiring them, which was you know,
I think we talked about a little bit before the pandemic.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Before that area for their pandemic, where the area.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Started like growing, Like what gave you the foresight to
kind of know like this is an area that not
only I want to invest them, but if I invest
in this area, like it'll it'll it'll come back to us,
you know, in tenfold.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
So a lot of.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
It is it's I mean, you know, knowing what's coming
to the area. It is all of those projects are
within a tad, all of those projects within an opportunity
zone and kind of knowing where the.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Dollars are flowing to, if that makes sense.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
And relationships, I think that each project that we've had,
it's that we have to hold ourselves to a certain
level of excellence. We have to maintain certain relationships, and
we have to stand and know about what's going on.
We always have to be you know, I've stayed MPU
meetings and you know, to know what what the need
was for the community, what the community wanted to see,
and merge it with what the city you know, was
(11:44):
coming down the pipeline. And I think it's a perfect
marriage between those and then of course, you know, complimenting,
you know, I think it was a perfect marriage for
at that point in time that that tip was on
the Mayor's maryoruseland Bottoms transition team and one of the
mentors were God Arrest his soul Noel Khalil, and I
(12:06):
met Khalil Noel Khalil when I was in let's say
middle school. My mother was the vice president of development
for the Historic District Development Corporation, and I always consider
them to be like the pioneers of affordable housing in Atlanta.
They're actually I think they're one of, if not the
oldest community development corporation in the city of Atlanta. I
think they're one of them. But he was on the
(12:27):
transition team as well, so he partnered and merged with
kind of mentored Tip and Mike on the transition team.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
So that was really special to allow that full circle.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, that was an awesome time just listening to his
experiences and you know, things that he faced and things
he told us we would face, you know what I mean.
So that was definitely a special person to meet. For
the short period of time that we did meet him,
we got a lot from them, for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
And those relationships are so important because there's so much
like knowledge that doesn't always get transfer down from generation
to generation, especially in our community, right, Like you need
people that have kind of been there before and done
those things that you know what to kind of look
out for. But Doug, go want to ask you too, man,
having like really grown up in that area and seeing
how it's transitioned over the years, Like how do you
feel now that you've had a hand in making it
and up and kind of move forward.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Man, I feel like we waited too late now I
was just playing. But it's crazy because when Tip first
got signed, we were in that same corridor. When TILP
got signed in twenty nineteen, the first place that Ghetto
Vision KP and then took us to record was Patchwork, Yeah,
(13:38):
which is right down the north side behind the McDonald's,
you know what I mean. So to now look right
behind that and you have interlock, it's like, wow, that's crazy,
you know. So, I mean, we were in that same
studio two three o'clock in the morning and let's go
get something to eat, walk into the Crystals, but crystal back,
you know what I'm saying. So it's like it's just
(14:00):
a full circle moment, you know what I mean. That's uh.
We called it our neighborhood, from you know, down to
the Dome all the way up to seventy five on
north Side. We go back and forth different businesses. Studio
won't say exactly what the studio is, but you know,
we have a studio up and down the north side.
The museum of course, just a bunch of other little
(14:21):
properties and stops that we make. But yeah, it's uh,
it's amazing, bro, it's amazing, like to see all the
abandoned warehouses. And I tell my team all the time
that a lot of them didn't see that like they've
seen it, you know, the last five six years. It's like, man,
y'all didn't even want to drive up and down here,
(14:42):
like this wasn't that, you know what I'm saying. So
it's been amazing to see the growth of it, for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Man, Look, I remember what Mary the Street used to
look like that, you know, going to the warehouse in downtown.
A lot of those areas you know where people are
walking out and hanging out right now in the Upper
West all this stuff now, you know what I mean
now and everything and everything's kind of moved around. So
(15:08):
like even with that, man, how did y'all come up
with the idea for the Trap Music Museum? And again
it's the Trap Music Museum, y'all is not the Trap Museum.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Just come on and come see learn what's going on.
It's crazy because at that time Till was working on
his tenth album and the album Dime Trap. We needed
like a marketing idea, so just so happened at him Crystal,
like they had acquired all these buildings, and we had
an idea of doing a museum dedicated to it was
(15:40):
more so dedicated to Atlanta and the culture of Atlanta.
But we were just like, you know, maybe if we
just told this small side of the museum space the
trap music part, which you know, till it was one
of the pioneering fathers of the genre itself, maybe then
we can grow it into the bigger you know. Look, so,
(16:01):
you know, we just took it. It was supposed to
be a pop up. We needed a building, and just
so happened that, you know, we were like, hey, this
might fit, you know, So we took it, came up
with different ideas, created a committee, if you will, different
creatives we set up, argued who would be in it,
(16:21):
who should be in it, who shouldn't be in it?
What is trap? What is this? What is that? And
then we just kind of go. We just went, you
know what I'm saying. It took us probably about six
months from the actual like start of the creative and
building out the actual space to open the night. And
I'm talking about we literally was at the finish line, like,
(16:43):
oh man, we got open, we got over, let's go,
let's go. So it was dope. It was dope. It
was one of the most exciting things I've ever done
in my life, for real, like that whole creative time
and and just how it all worked out, you know
what I mean. So it started to be a pop up.
It was. It was dope. Everybody came out. So by
(17:03):
the end of it, we were like trying to move on.
So we shut it down and and we kept getting
phone calls and emails and phone huh. I'm like, hey, bro,
we might need to open it back up. I'm talking
about people were mad. So we were like, all right, cool,
So we took it, put a business structure to it,
(17:24):
and how you go. Seven years later?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Seven years later, Yeah, Christ, what do you remember about
that time when kind of the track was coming.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
To light so late night?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
Yeah, it was. It was a really exciting time.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
It's you know, it's it's funny to hear their vision
for something and then to see it like really brought
into fruition. Because I'm not, like, on the I don't
consider myself to be a creative. So sometimes you know,
Doug has all these ideas and I'm like Okay. So
then to see it, I was like, wow, this is
like this is on some like next level. It was
(17:58):
before people were really doing the the escape rooms and
before they were really doing the museums where you had
the different experiences. They were interactive and something that really
paid homage to the trap culture.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
And then seeing the way.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
That and Doug and I were talking about that, like
to figure out a way to merge the two, like
from the trap culture and to the positives that it's
you know, the positivity that it's also created for our community.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
So I mean, it's it's been a pretty amazing We
were a very.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Hell bent on telling our own story, and we wanted
to make sure that it wasn't told through you know,
just regular you know, we wanted to do something different.
And one of the things that I've always noticed that
our culture, our people, we don't really dive into the art,
(18:50):
the visual art that exists out here. And that's a
great visual artist, you know what I mean. So that
was one of the components that we wanted to make
sure that we brought into it. Of course, set design,
all those types of things. So it was just something
that it was like a pot of gumbo that just
came out beautiful, to be honest, and we.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Were talking about that offline too, is like, why do
you think it's important for us to tell our own stories,
especially down here in Atlanta, to kind of control that narrative.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
This is what comes Like as much as we play
and we joke about it, this really is like I've
been I've been all around the world, you know what
I mean, top of Africa, bottom of Africa, you're Australia, Japan,
I've been around the world. Ain't no place like Alunta. Yeah, nah,
(19:38):
it ain't even close. And just the business structures that
we've built, the artists that have come up out of
the ground of Atlanta, like the out cast is and
TI's and Gezy's and it's just it's so much, you
know what I mean that it can be overwhelming. So
(19:59):
to me, it's kind of like it's time to start
like breaking down the this is that, this is this,
this is like and bringing it together, like the black
owned business sites and really supporting each other. Like that's
been my goal for for a minute. So like that's
kind of been the thing that you know, I don't
(20:20):
know if you want to jump in.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
And well, yeah, I think they're just merging.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
I mean there's a lot of talent, and there's a
lot of money in Atlanta, right especially from you know, entertainers, athletes,
And there's a development in New York and they took
a museum on the bottom and they put apartments on
top of it. But if we could get to a
point of where you know, we could come together, bring
our resources together, and be able to support our own projects,
(20:48):
like you know, just long term, I think that Atlanta,
if it's going to happen anywhere, I think that Atlanta
would be the place to make that happen.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Yeah, I think that we have all the right resources here.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
You know, there's not the fact that we have you know,
mayor city council members that went to the same high
school as us that we see, you know, at our kids'
basketball games, and there's so much opportunity.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
And again that goes back to relationships.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
You know, we have a lot of great creativity, talent,
educated individuals.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
We have you know, Spellman, Warhouse.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
You know, I think that we we have to figure
out how to depend on each other and you know,
figure out a way to create that black excellence.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
We've done a good job of creating it. Now it's
time to figure out how to sustain it, you know
what I mean. I think that's the thing. It's kind
of like when we do create something, we just wait
a flag and it's like there's no connection to the
rest of everything else that goes around. And I think
that's the time that we in now, you know what
I mean. Me and Till was having a conversation a
(21:50):
couple let's call it a couple years ago, but I
was like, man, it just would be dope for all
the top rappers in Alanda to come and create a label,
you know what I mean, Like we the one producing
all of the artists. Why not it all come out
the same ground. And he, you know, we went back
and for us and he was like, man egos and
(22:11):
I was like, yeah, and I get it, But the
best thing for us is to figure it out, you
know what I mean. And that's just you know, in
music is one part of it, but restaurants and podcasting
and like everything, like we are the culture, you know
what I mean, That's that's what we bring to the
(22:32):
table in the world, you know what I mean. So
we got to figure out how to take that and
make it sustained to where our legacy can survive because
it's a lot of folk trying to take that away
from us.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
The space collaborations there I can. You know, sometimes I
feel like an outsider growing up because I didn't grow
up in the music business, you know. I grew up.
I was look, I was a software engineer. Man I
grew up said, we talked about Stone Mountain, you know.
And and so for me, it's always been interesting because
a lot of the same people that I know now
and have relationships where were people that I only saw
on TV or only saw on stage right, And like,
(23:20):
I've been blessed nothing not only know these people, but
they know me, you know, Like it's it's always funny
to me when Killer Might calls me. It's always funny
when it's Big Boy on the phone, right, and I'm like, wow,
Like I look at these things, and I'm really appreciative
of that. But it also means that obviously I'm hopefully
I'm doing something right to have these relationships. And I
think that's that's what that's you're saying, right, It's like
we have to start embracing each other, because again, it's
(23:41):
it's one thing to build a banking and seafood. But
at the same time, we got to support these businesses. Yeah, look,
quit giving these business in our communities a hard time.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Like I used to own a restaurant and I had
more people coming in there trying to scam me and
hustle me and try to get over on me. And
it's like, why we got to do that in our
own communities. We're dumping our time and money and investment
in these areas.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And it's already hard enough. It's already it's already hard
enough just sustaining the economics of of just where we
are in the world. It's like to have a business
and to keep it open, keep the lights on, and
it's actually nice, Like it's hard. So it's like we
need the people to come and say, hey, man, I
(24:23):
understand the table wobbly, Hey can you have fix this?
Oh yeah, sure, b Like that's more of a help
than going online and they had a wobbly table. It's like,
come on, bro, like what we're doing, you know what
I mean? And we don't do other people like that, right,
we don't do that now now, So I mean, we
we just gotta we gotta do better. Man, we gotta
(24:44):
do bettle. That's just the truth.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
That's real crystal from your standpoint, especially, you know, real
estate is one of the best ways to build well
and for people to get out of here. Like, what
were some of the things that got you started in
that space and what advice would you give the people
that want to start in it so they don't think
it's too late.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
So I actually started out in two thousand and four.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
I think I come my real estate license and I.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Actually worked for a for profit developer. He was like
one of the largest black developers. They were building by
Ansley Mall, Like there weren't a lot of us over there,
and he was building million dollar properties over there at
the time, and there wasn't a lot of competition. Now,
I think that I've kind of transitioned over to the
(25:28):
developments end of it, just because I feel like I'm
on the one hand with real estate, I kind of
I feel like I surpassed you know, that industry and
the Atlanta market with real estate is so oversaturated when
there's so many agents in Atlanta, some really great ones too.
But I felt like for me to leave the impact
that I left, I really wanted to transition into something else,
(25:50):
and development was where I saw I could make the
biggest impact in terms of you know, community and I
like putting deals together. I think you have to find
your niche as to what it is that you like
about real estate. We have some real estate agents that
work with us that are, you know, their niches interior decorating,
so they do staging. We have some that are more
focused on commercial. I think that you have to find
(26:10):
out what your passion is in that real estate industry,
because it can't just be driven by money all the time,
right because you're you know, your highest highs are never
as low as your low as lows. Like it's just
the real estate industry in and of itself, it is
just it. It can be very trying at times. So
I think that you have to find your passion and
what it is that you really fulfills you.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
In real estate and then kind of follow that through.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Okay, okay, Doug, what about you, man? How does somebody
get started? Man?
Speaker 1 (26:37):
In the music industry? Yeah, just get got It is
rough right now, man, it's rough. I mean the music
industry is reshaping itself. Yeah, So to be honest right now,
I would just stand back and just learn and see
what it is. It's the transition is creating on the
artist side, like you can almost not almost, you pretty
(26:59):
much can't manage and create your own brand and sell
your own music. Now it depends on how big you
want to make it, but I mean you can definitely
you can pay the bills just by yourself out here,
you know what I mean. But I think the right person,
the right brand, once you start going in the right direction,
(27:20):
you got to build the right team. And then once
you build the right team, find out what your sound is,
your look is. Then once you're making that great music,
the stuff don't come to you. You know, the people,
the opportunities. That's really it for real, man, you gotta
learn just like she said, just kind of learn the
crowd or what it is you're trying to get into
(27:42):
in what space you want to be in with Lane
and just stay at it, wake up every day and
get to it. That's really it.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
As individuals and as a unit. Like what's the long
term success like for you all, Like you ain't gonna
put everything out there because again, I know, you know,
maybe it's like you know what what easy going to
Dubai or something like that. What does long term success
look like, and more importantly, like what kind of legacy
do you want to leave on the culture of Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
So I think that for me, well for us, I
think that it's it's in terms of legacy is really
important to me.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Legacy and representation are really important to me.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
And the fact that we are now able to you know,
my children, my children and children, my grandchildren will be
able to.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
Drive past and try to west Side.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
We'll be able to drive past Fankan Seafood, We'll be
able to drive past the Trap Music Museum and say
that their mother and father built those.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
That that's our mark that we've left on the city
of Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
Hopefully we will continue to deliver more sustainable projects. You know,
we have a lot of them in the pipeline right now.
But that's that's the legacy that I want to continue
to leave in representation as well, if they you know,
I would love you know, the kids at Douglas High School,
they were in the process of closing down a few
years ago, but you know, making sure that they see,
(28:56):
you know, individuals that look like them that came back
and and reinvested in the communities, that invested in them.
I think that's the long term goal for us, and
hopefully that could you give an impression on the next generation.
Not only could you be in the music industry, you
can be in development. You can merge your two worlds together.
So letting them see that it is possible. Is the
(29:17):
legacy that you want to lead the creative.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Partnerships, that it's creative out of it. I just think
that me personally, I love telling stories, you know what
I mean. And I love telling our stories more than
you know what I mean, like the ground things that
we've had to do to sustain and thrive. So that's where,
(29:39):
like she says, my legacy lives. Like I've been telling
stories through music now, the museum now, through restaurants and
all type of other things. So I will always continue
to do those things, but just like she said, making
sure that our children understand those stories and who they
are and are out of it and they can take
(30:02):
it and try to push it just as higher or
higher than we have, you know what I mean. So
that's that's That's he.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
One thing I always wonder too about because I struggle
with this myself sometimes, Like when you build things like that,
do you all how do you all feel about that
being something that your kids get involved in one day?
Do you want it to have the option for them
to get involved? Are you all kind of like pushing them?
Because I think again sometimes I mean, obviously we want
things to stay in the family, and we want things
that we want people to understand like generational right, But
like sometimes too, you know, the kids want to do
(30:32):
something different, and like that's like the double edged sword
of parents that create opportunities. It's like they get exposure
to other things. They say, you know what, Mom and dad,
I love this thing you're doing right now, but you know,
I want to go do something else. So like how
do y'all kind of feel about that? And you know,
how do you balance that?
Speaker 4 (30:44):
And the generations are like ever revolving. I think that
this new generation, like especially with our kids, like there's
introduction of AI and if you should take my suits,
so is we have those conversations with them. I would
love for my children to go into you know, development.
I see my son as being an architect.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
And I'm always asking my daughter come on.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
With But I think that they have a love for
for the music industry and they have a love for
the real estate development, and they see their mom and
their dad, they see what we've contributed. I would love
for them to go into that space, but I think
that they'll soar and excel in whatever say, in whatever
are they choose.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Our daughter has definitely said that she wants to be
in the music business, but in just again seeing what's
going on in the world of music and just knowing
her is like I see it for her. But I
also want her to understand that it's a hustle, you
know what I mean. This ain't this ain't just wake
up and you go here and then you're gonna pick
(31:47):
up a check Friday. Don't. Really, It's not gonna work
like it, you know what I mean. So you're gonna
have to really hustle, you know what I mean. And
that's that's the grind that I think a lot of
kids now that they missing, they missing And I don't
know if it's the phones or the because to me,
the phones make me smarter, you know what I'm saying.
(32:08):
I learned a lot from different things. So it's just
I think, just like she said, they'll pick up on
where they supposed to be. I just want them to
to push man, just push like, do something that you're
proud of, that you love, that you will look up
in twenty thirty years and you can really smile about it.
(32:28):
You know what I mean. You didn't necessarily have to
help other people do their dream, you know what I'm saying,
Like you are part of something that was a part
of your dream.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
So yeah, I mean a lot of people know this.
But like my dad was in the music industry, and
you know, he did pretty well for himself. He was
a producer. But I'll never forget one day he came
home with a computer and he said, focus on this.
He was like, don't do what I did.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
That's right, take it a part.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
He was put back together. I never forget he said,
this is going to be the future. And so for me,
like even though I used to go with him to
LA and be in the studio and like again I
saw some very amazing stuff that he was doing, he
really kind of pushed me out of his path. I said,
you know, don't do what I do. Do this, And
I'm I appreciate it for it because that's opened up
a ton of opportunities for me. Sometimes I wonder it's
(33:16):
like but could I But I think again, like parents,
the biggest thing we want to do is give our
kids options, sure, right, and so we work hard to say,
you know what, if anything, you have a choice, you
know what I mean, you have a choice. We want
you to go to school, but we also understand school
is for everybody, but we want you to do something.
We want you to be, you know, a successful contributing
member of society in some kind of way, shape or form, right,
(33:38):
And so that's the you know, I never forget this,
like I think what Steve Harvey said this quote where
it was like it's like it's hard to keep your
kids from being you know, a little bit spoiled when
you kind of have it going on, right, because like
they have all these things, and so you have to
find ways to you know, kind of keep that fire
inside of them because you work for the things for
them to have. But at the same time, if you're
not careful, you know, it can make them, you know,
be a little lazy, right, So you have to kind
(33:59):
of find ways keep them engaged and keep you know,
keep a fire lit under. They can go intern, yes, yes, yes,
they can they can go do some demolition of.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
The I intern many of years, many of years you
know what I'm saying, so definitely I totally get it.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Well, look, this has been an amazing conversation before we
get out of here, like how can people who want to,
you know, support you all get involved? Like what's the
best way for them to get in contact with you
all of your teams to kind of again, whether they
want to support the Trap Museum or Bankhead Seafood so
some of these other projects, Like where do people go
to learn more about you all if they want to
support and get involved.
Speaker 4 (34:35):
Well, we are on social media Instagram, Dynasty Reality Group
at Dynasty Reality Group. Our website is the Dynastyrealitygroup dot com.
And you can support any of our brands at Trap
Music Museum or Bankhead Seafood. Yes, do not forget about
my brother the Count of Chicken for me, Doug.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
Brand Hustle, you can always hit me up there, you know,
come seals. Like you said, we had all these locations anywhere. Yeah. Man,
we always looking to have dope conversations with with dope
people and like minds, you know what I mean, trying
to grow, trying.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
To grow always for sure, dope man. Well, this has
been an amazing conversation. Congratulations for all the amazing stuff
y'all have done and continue to do. We appreciate y'all. Yes, yeah,
I appreciate y'all. Appreciate y'all. And you know what, that's
the pod y'all. We out you've been listening to butter
Nomics and om your hosts, Brandon Butler, got comments, feedback?
(35:33):
Want to be on the show. Send us an email
today at Hello at butteronomics dot com. Butter Nomics is
producing Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by Ksey Pegram, with marketing
support from Queen and Nicky. Music provided by mister Hanky.
If you haven't already, hit that subscribe button and never
miss an episode, and be sure to follow us on
all our social platforms at butter dot atl Listen to
(35:53):
buttter Nomics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
Oount Pump Pump Out out
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Brandon Butler
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