Yea I'm not disagreeing with you. I just thought that was an interesting point.
To be fair JD started during the early years of hip hop, so he basically relied on NY hip hop for his influences
That’s the issue. JD represents the era that was desperate for NY approval. That changed when Dre 3000 said what he said at the 1995 Source Awards. After that it was cool to be yourself regardless if NY accepted it.
JD WAS the sound across R&b and local bass music for quite a while. Metro’s album is only “authentic” for the post 2006 generation of Atlanta.
JD is just a more versatile producer and isn’t afraid to add elements from other regions, because that’s how a lot of Atlanta hip hop sounded before 94. He had his fingers in plenty of real ATL music.
JD never produced any real ATL music. He didn’t produce those So So Def Bass Allstars (that was Lil Jon nem)&.
What you're thinking of as "real ATL" music is what the sound became/what became popular.
Early ATL rap music was heavy on outside influences like Florida bass, NYC, and especially Rap-A-Lot when they took off. JD has been around through pretty much all of it, so his production always reflected that. His ear is spans the whole spectrum.
Go look at his rap production discography. His production never reflected what was the actual street/club sound of ATL rap. He always wanted that acceptance and still isn’t getting it due to chasing NY radio.
Even his song “Welcome To Atlanta” has a East Coast beat that didn’t reflect the actual sound of Atlanta like Pastor Troy, A-Dam-Shame, etc (who got their sound from Memphis but that’s a whole nother convo
He has never know how to authentically tap into the local culture. When he made a last ditch effort to sign local acts when he lost his posts at Virgin & Universal, notice they all were signed off local songs they had made themselves and the follow-ups with him at the helm tanked.
