Fonzworth Bentley stays sharper than a preacher on Sunday morning. Way before he started hosting MTV's "From G's to Gents," Atlanta native Bent became a fashion and manners guru, styling a bevy of celebs and releasing his own etiquette book, "Advance Your Swagger: How to Use Manners, Confidence, and Style to Get Ahead." The Fonz, born Derek Watkins, insists you shouldn't be fooled by his gentlemanly demeanor — he still knows the 'hood! Here Mr. Bentley switches it up; instead of telling you all the high-end places to go clothes-shopping in the A, he runs down some of the 'hood favorites.
"You got Walter's, which got all your sneakers and fitted caps, etc. ... South Dekalb Mall — the whole mall in general you need to keep your eyes peeled for. Hairstyles, flame, ringtones and any underground music that's about to break ... you'll find all the above, basically. So all of them stores in South Dekalb Mall — the whole mall is bumping — but USA Boutique, specifically, you need to go.
"The thing about Atlanta is that people stay in different areas when they come — friends of mine just went down there and they was staying in Sandy Springs. So you need to go to the West End, you need to go to Accent — that's the 'hood spot to go to at the West End Mall. At Greenbriar Mall, you need to go to Trends. Trends has all 'hood stuff and exclusive stuff. You might find some high-end 'hood, like some Sean John.
"Then, if you downtown, you need to go to Underground, the Balboa — that's all 'hood sh--. And then BTLR — that's just everywhere, they're all over the place. They downtown, they South Dekalb, I think they got one in Greenbriar ... they're everywhere."
"Shawty Redd on the track!" The man is so nice with beats, Young Jeezy had to shout him out on the chorus of "Who Dat." Atlanta's Redd is one of the city's main producers, working with everyone from the Snowman to Snoop Dogg. He can make that riot music for the club, or smooth it out for universal airplay like he did on Snoop's “Sexual Eruption.” Here, Redd tells us his top five instrumentals by an Atlanta rap act:
One of the last places in the world you want to go if you're trying to watch what you eat is Atlanta, Georgia — there is way too much temptation. A down-home Southern meal in the A will knock you off your feet and have you floating on cloud nine; you're probably going to want to take a nap right after. Working for MTV News, I'm down in the A quite often. The city is a music mecca, so we have to go to where the stars make it happen. There are so many things I love about what I call my "third hometown," that I can't fit them all into one blog. I'll be checking in throughout the week to tell you about some of my other faves, but for today, let's stick to the food. Here are my top five places to eat in A-Town.