The biggest reality show last summer in ratings wasn't TLCs' "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."

It was VH1's "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta." While 'Boo Boo" averaged about 2.5 million viewers, "Hip Hop" brought in 3.3 million, peaking at 4.4 million for the blockbuster second reunion show last year. That's more viewers than any "Real Housewives" episode ever.

Question: when the show returns Monday, April 22 at 8 p.m., will the fans return?

My guess is yes. Executive producer and brainchild Mona Scott Young hosted a media/VIP party at Cream this past Monday and despite the fact it was just hours after the Boston Marathon bombing, the place was packed. It appeared almost every African-American entertainment site in Atlanta was there (and apparently, there are a lot of them!).

Young, who worked for 20 years in the hip-hop business as a manager for the likes of Missy Elliott, 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes, has found a sweet spot with the cast of "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta," which entered the show as unknowns or barely-knowns including Lil Scrappy, K-Michelle and Stevie J.

While the soundtrack is very much hip hop, the storylines are pure soap operatic. The most delectable has been the love triangle for the ages: proud Mimi Faust, who has a child with record producer and playboy Stevie J, who has a secret love affair with client and drama queen Joseline Hernandez. Somehow, he even convinces the two women to show up in therapy - together. While Lil Scrappy had his moments choosing between Erica and Shay, that storyline paled in comparison to Mimi-Stevie J-Joseline.

In season two, Mimi finds a new boyfriend while trying to keep the peace with Stevie J, since they have a child together. And yes, she told me at the party she still loves the rascal, even if he's stunted on the maturity scale. Joseline's music career may or may not take off. If anything, Stevie J and Joseline were quite chummy during the party while Mimi kept her distance.

The show, Young said, "is like striking lightning in a bottle. We all knew we had something great initially. We just didn't know how much it would resonate with the audience and become a cultural phenomenon."

When parodies of the characters started popping up online, they knew they had hit a chord.

Here's the funniest parody:

Young credits co-executive producers Stefan Springman and Toby Barraud for making the show look as good as it does. "They make beautiful television," she said. "It was important to us, especially casting African Americans, to get the skin tones right and make sure the environment was beautiful and cinematic."

She knows people believe the stories are all semi-fake (see 'The Hills" or "Big Rich Atlanta") but she insists "everything that happens is completely organic." Sure, they pick the locations and coach the cast members on what to talk about but they don't script what the cast says. "I hear people say it's a new age soap opera," she said. "I called it a hip hopera. We think we've taken an oversaturated genre and given it a fresh twist and a new face with compelling stories."

Young also faces criticism that the show perpetuates stereotypes, the same type of critique other hot shows such as "Jersey Shore," "Real Housewives of Atlanta" and "Honey Boo Boo" have confronted.

She said she has been immersed in the hip-hop world, a naturally controversial place. "It was about finding people who are open and willing to live their lives openly in front of the cameras," she said.

"Hip hop is the voice of this generation," Young said. "This is how they express themselves. I hear criticisms about how the women act. But we are talking about specific women in a specific world, the challenges they face navigating this world. They not only react and act the way they do, it also defines who they."

She repeats what others have said, that these people aren't meant to represent an entire race: "We never set out for this to be a definitive portrayal of all African Americans. This is love and hip hop. These are stories that happen in these lives. None of this is fabricated. This is normal for people in this life."

She said she was happy to bring back all the original cast members for season two, despite rumors that some were being cut.

"Everyone reaps the benefit of doing a show so wildly successful," she said. "It creates a platform that wasn't available before."

But Young wanted to shake things up by adding Hot 107.9 DJ Traci Steele, who will show up in the second episode. (I will post my interview with her later in the week.) She co-parents with DJ Baby Drew.

But of the women, Joseline was by far the most memorable character. The former stripper with a desire to be a hot Latin rapper came across as an arrogant villain in the early episodes season one but her image softened as the season went along and she collected her fair share of fans.

Young's take on Joseline: "She was a little rough around the edges but look at what her life was like. You've got to take those factors into consideration when judging someone. They judged her value as they got to know her and her story and fell in love with her. At her core, she's a wonderful woman who had tough breaks in life. It would have broken lesser people. She had to fend for herself, dance in strip clubs. When she got her first paycheck, she cried. She was so used to having dollar bills. She'd never seen her name printed on a check. That to me said so much where she aspires to be."

And she said the reality show may have brought Lil Scrappy and Erica closer together. "Watching other people's conversations on the show, they realized they wanted the same thing," Young said. For folks who normally don't talk about their feelings, the show forced that out and became cathartic therapy. "Under normal circumstances, they'd put it in a box," she said, "never mind to the world, but to themselves. It's easier to ignore aspects of  yourself and go on about your daily life. When you're forced to deal with them, you make decisions that impact your life."

 TV preview

"Love and Hip Hop Atlanta," 8 p.m., Mondays, VH1, beginning April 22