More Than The Trap: A Highlight Of Up and Coming Atlanta Producers

Easily some of the most popular music out right now is coming out of Atlanta. In early June, the city of Atlanta’s public school system announced that they would be cutting the district’s music program from the curriculum, effective immediately. With zero warning, all music teachers in the system were jobless and students have been left without these courses.

It’s common knowledge that there is inherent value in music education. Not only does it benefit students cognitively but more specifically, studies show that musicians tend to have increased linguistic skills including a broader vocabulary, literacy, sound processing and retention.

The loss of these programs will directly affect the output from Atlanta in the future, minimally by lack of exposure to music education to students at a young age. Big Boi, half of legendary duo OutKast, voiced his disappointment on Twitter the day the cuts were publicly announced.

With the frequency of new and talented artists consistently coming out of the Atlanta, we highlight some native, up-and-coming ATL producers. These guys are capable of creating more than just a trap beat and easily could’ve been doing other things besides music had these programs not have been part of their childhood and exposure to music.

DYLAN TRAN

Although it seems Dylan Tran has removed a recent track with Rellajamu and Rome Fortune, the banger “Yes, Yes” from Soundcloud, he still has plenty of other work, particularly his own project, Cocaine Tears. He’s heavily worked with Two-9, under Mike Will Made It‘s label, Ear Drummers. Above you’ll find the March-released track he premiered with us, “Half Past Moon.”

KEITHCHARLES SPACEBAR

His own squad, Awful Records, named him the best producer among them. KeithCharles SPACEBAR not only produced his own project We’re All A Little Trifilin’ in it’s entirety but is also responsible for a handful of tracks on Father‘s Who’s Gonna Get F***** First and Archibald SLIM‘s The Brothers Slim – Dichotomy. The above track is “Always 1” featuring Father and RichPoSlim is off of KCSB’s latest EP. Also, before heading out on tour he was releasing one track a day, everyday. Attitude on “five beats a day for three summers.”

DEXTER DUKARUS

Some artists put in a lot, A LOT of time before achieving a Boiler Room Set. Dexter Dukarus and KeithCharles SPACEBAR have been tasked with holding down a two part set for the Awful Records introduction. Dexter’s own catalog includes fully producing projects with Pollari, Archibald SLIM and Slug Christ as well as individual tracks with Key!, ILoveMakonnen and Two-9. If you dig a little deeper into his SoundCloud you’ll also find some dope edits of Telepopmusik, Little Dragon and more recently, How To Dress Well.

LILTURTLESHAWTY

The wildcard. Although there aren’t many new tracks on his SoundCloud, or ones that received a lot of blog coverage, he does have a recent track with ATL rapper, Reese. It seems LilTurtleShawty’s style is significantly different than the majority of the producers in the A. If you scroll right below the fold of his SoundCloud, you’ll find what seems to be a six-track project from easily 10 months ago that has a few drum machine-heavy tracks along with some that sound as if they could be Arca-inspired.