“Fly is in your heart and your mind,” Big Bank Black, rapper and actor in the upcoming film Superfly in theaters June 13, tells Complex. “That’s what makes you fly is your confidence. Fly is within you.” And with that, Big Bank, who plays character QV, invites us on a tour of his neighborhood—his Atlanta—in Fly-Lanta.
Big Bank, CEO of Duct Tape Entertainment, grew up on Mayson Avenue in Atlanta’s Edgewood neighborhood, “the heart of the 6” that made him, he says. We ride along as he stops by some of his favorite spots in the city, from famous Southern food emporium Busy Bee Cafe to his friend’s barbeque in Atlanta’s Pittsburgh.
We also go from down-home to uptown at Aydin Jewelers, the jeweler-to-the-stars who’s a favorite of countless high-profile rap artists. After Big Bank gets a new watch face and runs into his friend Pierre “Pee” Thomas, CEO of Quality Control Music, we’re introduced to TJ Jones, owner of Exclusive Game, who designed all of Bank’s outfits in Superfly.
Watch the video to see Atlanta, as Bank says, through his eyes—and also to discover why ATL is the perfect backdrop for this remixed story. In the 1970s, Harlem was in many ways the center of African-American art and music culture. Today, Atlanta serves as an iconic cultural center for black entertainment.
You can catch Big Bank in Director X’s directorial debut, Superfly, along with Trevor Jackson and original soundtrack by Future, in theaters June 13.
