BRANDON “BRANNU” FULTON: THE MAN BEHIND THE KINGDOM
- Shantel C
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Brandon “Brannu” Fulton grew up in the Brownsville housing projects of Brooklyn, New York — one of the toughest zip codes in America. Horses weren’t part of the plan. Neither was Atlanta. But one ride at Jamaica Bay Riding Academy, paid for by a grandfather who scraped together every dollar, planted something in him that nothing could uproot.
He became a sought-after DJ, moved through the music industry, and eventually found himself back in Atlanta for good. He traded the studio for a saddle, slept in a horse stall for nearly a year with no plumbing, and began building Believe Kingdom at Camp Creek — a community sanctuary at 3332 Butner Road SW where people can picnic by the creek, walk their dogs, meditate, and watch wildlife return to land that was almost paved over.
Then South Fulton County came. The property sits in the Camp Creek corridor — a stretch of Southwest Atlanta increasingly targeted by logistics companies and commercial developers due to its proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Under AG-1 agricultural-residential zoning, every structure, every animal, every disturbed patch of earth became a potential code violation. What Brannu built with his hands, the county turned into a court case.
“I didn’t have a criminal record until I came to Atlanta. Never been arrested in New York City. You do the math.”
In His Own Words
BOSS XL MAG: You grew up in Brownsville. Not exactly horse country. How did you go from the projects to owning a ranch in Atlanta?
BRANNU: Brownsville never saw it coming — that’s the honest answer. When you grow up in the projects you’re surviving, not dreaming. My grandfather took me to Jamaica Bay Riding Academy and that changed everything. I’m sitting on this animal that doesn’t care what block you’re from — horses read your energy, not your address. I named my first horse Spinderella, after DJ Spinderella from Salt-N-Pepa. Hip-hop and horses always lived in the same place in me. Horses are like records. The way you read a horse is the same instinct as reading a crowd. I never let go of either one.
BOSS XL MAG: You walked away from a career most people would kill for to sleep in a horse stall. What made that the right move?
BRANNU: My body was there but my spirit was lost. The music world wasn’t building me up — it was using me. I was the entertainer. I wrote myself a note: ‘I just want to be happy. Ride horses.’ I went to Mexico and saw a man on a beach with horses. Simple man. Not wealthy, not famous — just at peace. That was the first day I felt complete. I came back, got a horse, slept next to her. That was my reset. You truly are what you promote. And I promote freedom. I promote the land.
BOSS XL MAG: South Fulton County has been coming for your land. What do you want people to understand about what’s really happening?
BRANNU: I’ve never been arrested in my life before this. Never had a criminal record until I came to Atlanta. Now I’m in court over animals on land I own. When you’ve got something of value — land, cattle, space near the airport — certain people see that as a problem. Developers go corner to corner. That’s not coincidence, that’s monopoly. I’m not here to entertain anyone. I’m here to build. Build in community. Stay there. Build your own table. That’s what Believe Kingdom is.
While the legal battle continues, the world is watching. ‘Brannu: The Urban Horseman’ — a thought-provoking, nuanced documentary about Black land ownership, identity, and the fight to exist on your own terms — has swept the festival circuit.
OFFICIAL RECOGNITION WINNER — Best Local Documentary Feature | ATL DOC 2026 WINNER — Best Georgia-Produced Documentary | Urban Mediamakers 2025 SPECIAL PRESENTATION | 50th Atlanta Film Festival 2026 FINALIST | Peachtree Village International Film Festival 2025
The film closes out the 50th Annual Atlanta Film Festival on Closing Day. If you haven’t seen it yet, this is the moment.
NOW SCREENING Brannu: The Urban Horseman Closing Day • Sunday, May 3rd • 12:00 PM Plaza Atlanta • 50th Annual Atlanta Film FestivalTickets: atlff26.eventive.org • Link in bio @brannu_film
Off screen, Brannu is expanding. As a SAG-AFTRA certified horse stunt performer, he’s moving into film and television — a lane as natural to him as the saddle. The horses are still on the land. The pavilion is still standing. The creek at Camp Creek is still running. And Believe Kingdom is still his.
“Build in community. Stay there. Build your own table. That’s what Believe Kingdom is.”
For a kid from Brownsville who was told horses were for someone else — Brannu is proof that the land remembers who shows up for it.
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