Sep 25 2008
Producer profile: Dj Toomp
In honor of my homeboy Nate who moved to Atlanta recently, this weeks producer profile is about the ATL’s own DJ Toomp. Born Aldrin Davis, Toomp made a name for himself producing for T.I. including “24’s”, his first hit single, and “What You Know”, probably his biggest single to date. He’s laced tracks for Jeezy (”I Luv It”), Luda (”Mouths to Feed”), and Pastor Troy (Ridin Big”) in Atlanta, as well as artists around the country like Kanye(”Good Life”, “Can’t Tell Me Nothin” , Jay-Z (”Say Hello”), and Nas (”N.I.G.G.E.R.”).
His signature sound is big drums and cymbal clashes on the rhythm side, and lush strings and synths on the melody side. People who hate on Southern rap music have always secretly admired the beats, and DJ Toomp was the first producer to make a lot of these people admit they like Southern beats. His instrumentals have been covered on mixtapes by pretty much everyone. His productions have come to define what “industry ready” sounds like. Like all requisite superstar producers he has done a couple R&B joints (Mariah Carey), but the fundamentals of his music stay rooted in the street sound he has championed.
Recently Toomp has started his own label, NZone Entertainment, and he continues to develop talent for the label. For more info and samples of his work, his myspace is linked below. So now you can stop wondering who it is behind all that dopeness coming out of Atlanta, and recognize DJ Toomp.
http://www.myspace.com/djtoomp
