Ian Burke on Mount Vernon Roots, The Dungeon Era, and Building Atlanta’s Music Legacy
Ian Burke — known throughout hip-hop and R&B as the DreamWeaver — is one of the quiet architects behind Atlanta’s rise as a global music capital.
Born in Mount Vernon, New York and “made” in Atlanta, Ian’s 30+ year journey runs through the rooms where culture actually gets built — from loading equipment as a roadie to living inside The Dungeon during the Organized Noize era, to shaping early development moments around TLC and Xscape, and witnessing the 60-second decision that led to signing Akon.
Ian and Jeffrey connect over their unexpected Mount Vernon roots before tracing Ian’s path from DeVry student to trusted creative executive during Atlanta’s most formative years. Ian shares what it was really like inside The Dungeon — one couch, one bathroom, chains falling into the cushions — and how relationships, instinct, and timing built movements before the world caught up.
They dive into:
Discovering Left Eye and meeting T-Boz at 2AM
The early Jermaine Dupri era
Managing inside the Organized Noize camp
Why Atlanta’s R&B story gets overlooked
His chapter at Elektra and ASCAP
Building without a mentor
His mission to tell the full Atlanta story through film and television
This is Mixed and Mastered with Ian Burke.
