Go Behind ‘Atlanta’s Masterful Soundtrack With Music Supervisor Jen Malone

For the past few years, FX has been pushing boundaries with its original series, and the network’s latest comedy proves it can push those boundaries even further. FX’s Atlanta confidently walks the line between dramatically reserved and oddly hilarious all while being both topical and authentic. So far, the series is promising to be one of the strongest new shows of the fall 2016 season, and it’s premiering this week.

Created by Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, Atlanta focuses on Alfred Miles (Brian Tyree Henry), an up-and-coming rapper who is still trying too figure out the lines of real life and street life. In his goal to make it big, he recruits his cousin Earn (Glover) as his manager, a Princeton dropout and father who is still figuring out life back home. It’s an often quiet and subversive show that immediately finds its uniquely enchanting voice, and a lot of that strength comes from the series’ carefully-selected music. Every song used in Atlanta carries the weight you would expect from a show about the music industry and a creator so well versed in this world. To better understand the delightfully intricate musical realm of this series, Decider spoke to Jen Malone, Atlanta‘s music supervisor. It was Malone’s job to secure the licensing rights for every song used in the series, and much like the show itself, that process was often much more complicated and emotional than you would think.

[Note: The following interview has been edited to be spoiler-free.]

DECIDER: One thing that really struck me was that Atlanta is a show kind of about the music industry, but it’s a very, very quiet show most of the time. What lead you to that creative direction?

JEN MALONE: Well, the creative vision was definitely Donald [Glover] and Hiro’s [Murai]. Then we had two amazing editors with fantastic taste … and I think that the show is a little bit more than about the music industry itself. It’s about the relationships, it’s about Atlanta. Musically, it’s very unexpected. I definitely don’t want to give away any moments because there are — it’s not wall-to-wall rap or hip-hop or trap. There’s just so many different unexpected musical moments, and I think that is something that Donald and Hiro really wanted to bring to the series.

D: Definitely. How closely did you work with Donald and Hiro?

JM: I worked mostly with Hiro and the editors in post. A lot of the songs were definitely picked out by those guys, and my job, mainly, was to kind of go and get them, which sometimes was not an easy task. But [my job] was finding the younger, upcoming artists — whether it’s speaking to their mother or speaking to them through Twitter — making sure they understand the rights, and kind of getting the songs that they wanted, and then finding a lot of the smaller acts that are kind of sprinkled throughout every episode. It’s the younger Atlanta. I kind of really dug into the Atlanta theme. But mostly my work was with Hiro and the editors.

D: Is all of the music from the series from up-and-coming Atlanta artists?

JM: No, not necessarily. Just kind of a broad range of the different artists in their careers, but all of the hip-hop, all of the trap moments, are definitely up-and-coming bands. There was no library used. There is a club episode, and it’s wall-to-wall music, and it’s exactly what would be playing in a club in Atlanta right now. There were no shortcuts.

D: That’s so authentic. It must’ve made your job very challenging but rewarding.

JM: Yeah! We could’ve gone the easy way out and just gone to libraries and stuff, but that’s another thing that makes the show so authentic and so special. We are using these kids that are making beats in their bedroom, or these people who are growing, the SoundCloud artists. One of the kids — I call them kids, but they’re probably not kids — he wasn’t able to get us a .wav file, the high-res file, because that laptop that had it was lost in a park. There were situations like that. But hopefully the placement in this show will lead to more placements and just more eyes and ears and social and just really take it to the next level for some of these guys. That’s the hope, for sure, with the smaller artists. But definitely maintaining the authenticity and having a club scene that is exactly what’s happening in a club right now in Atlanta is a top priority to all of us.

D: Do you think we can expect a soundtrack for the series?

JM: I’m not sure yet. Donald and I have definitely talked about how we’re going to get the music out to people so they know what is playing. Whether that’s a soundtrack or starting with Spotify, or definitely working with FX because they’re just as excited about everything as we are and are super supportive. I’m not sure, but we want to figure out the best way so that people will know when this scene is happening, what song is playing. Besides using Twitter and maybe posting stuff, that’s definitely going to be a priority. Whether it’s using social, we’ve got to figure out how to do that. But that’s definitely something that we want to do.

D: You’ve worked on several different TV shows including Baskets, which is another one of my favorite shows. However, Atlanta is one of the first shows that you’ve worked on that’s really about kind of the music industry. Has that changed the way that you approach your job at all?

JM: Yeah, for sure. I do a lot of work in reality TV, and this is obviously scripted, and in reality we don’t have a script. It’s a very different way of approaching music supervision in general, and it’s a very, very different way of working. Reality TV is so fast, and our budgets are very different from reality TV shows to scripted shows. Working with a song in a scripted show that may have five or six writers or eight different publishing companies, you can’t really work with that, at least in my experience, with reality because it’s just too fast and getting all those clearances and everything — we’re already onto the next episode.

So clearance-wise and getting these songs, some of them were close to impossible, but it kind of became personal because the song is perfect for the scene. It’s something that Donald and Hiro picked out, so there’s a very specific reason why they picked out this song, and so I don’t want to be the one to be like, “No, you can’t get this.” Unless it’s something like the copyrights are in dispute, that’s on a whole different level and there’s not a lot I can do. But whether it was talking to somebody’s mother or dealing with artists in jail, I did what I had to do. In reality [TV], you just don’t have that luxury. In reality TV also you have so many different editors working on so many different episodes. Here, I had only two editors I got to really know and know their taste. It was just a different kind of dynamic. But it was definitely a much bigger music show than I’ve ever worked on, for sure, both with the level of artists and the amount of music in the show.

D: What was the biggest obstacle you had to face in securing the license for a song?

JM: Clearing a song by an artist who was murdered two years ago.

D: That would be difficult.

JM: That was it. And dealing with their court-appointed lawyers. That one wasn’t easy. But again, [this song placement] became personal, because also there’s an estate involved, there’s a family involved that can possibly benefit from this placement, and that’s amazing. There were definitely many spots during that process where I could’ve been like, “OK, we’ve got to call this, we’ve got to get a replacement.” But it was like, “No, I’m gonna figure out how to do this.” We got everything on board, and it was great, and it’s in the show. It’s not the biggest use of the entire series, but it’s a use that is perfect.

D: What artist are you talking about?

JM: It’s an artist Doe B. It is in the first episode when Alfred and Darius drive up to Earn’s parents house. It’s only 12, 15 seconds, but the thing is that it’s exactly what Alfred and Darius would be listening to in a car driving around in Atlanta. Exactly what they would be listening to. So he has been deceased for two years, and I believe it was at a club in Alabama, in Montgomery. [Note: Rapper Doe B died from a shooting that occurred at the Centennial Bar and Grill in Montgomery, Alabama in 2013.]

D: On more of a broad note, do you have a favorite musical moment in Atlanta?

JM: Honestly, there are so many! I don’t want to give anything away, really … There’s an artist, Baby Huey, who is one of my all time favorite artists. I actually got to help get him in the show. When we started, there was a playlist, and when that song was on it, it was like, “Wait, this is Baby Huey! He’s been my favorite for so long.” That whole record is great. That’s a great placement. In the second episode, we have the Bill Withers song. I don’t want to give away too much, that’s the thing.

D: Yeah, and every song is so intricately connected to the plot.

JM: There’s a lot of moments that it are just like, “Man.” A lot the big moments. I definitely don’t want it to come across like, “I chose Bill Withers!” Like, no. But it’s genius! It’s absolutely genius, and it’s so special. So unexpected, so unique, and so special.

D: One more quick question. Do you listen to Childish Gambino?

JM: I do! My husband and I were listening to it in the car the other day. It’s so amazing to work with somebody that talented on every level. Writing the episodes, directing the episodes, he’s hysterical. He brings such an innocent comedy to the show in addition to Darius, of course. But then being able to perform and write records — the ideas he has are just so amazing. And the fact that he is so cool! He’s so cool, he’s so chill, he understands this world. If I didn’t get the Doe B, he would’ve been like, “I understand” because he gets this world. He gets that contracts are sometimes non-existent. And then to have this show and have it be so smart.

Atlanta premieres tonight on FX. You can watch new episodes of Atlanta Tuesdays on FX at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

[Where to watch Atlanta]

Photos: FX