An Impromptu Interview With Mr. Collipark, the Atlanta Producer Who Helped Shape Southern Party Rap

"Back in the day, I ate up the slow-mo snap bounce he cooked up for the Ying Yang Twins' " Wait (The Whisper Song)," but I absolutely couldn't stand his work on David Banner's " Play," which was basically the same thing except with gym-floor squeaks that drove me crazy. I played his horn-rich beat for Jeezy's " Trap Star" endlessly, and I flipped the channel whenever the minimalist jig of " Ms. New Booty " popped up on BET."

"Mr. Collipark has been on my mind all summer. One day, on the benches of Marine Park in Brooklyn, I was half-watching a cricket match while bumping T.I.'s Southern fried debut, I'm Serious, in my headphones. Outside of the Neptunes-produced tracks and the autobiographical " Still Ain't Forgave Myself," the album had always been a blind spot for me, and, on this listen, Atlanta trap godfather DJ Toomp's twerk beat for " Do It" really caught my attention."

Mr. Collipark produced influential beats for artists including the Ying Yang Twins, David Banner, Jeezy, Hurricane Chris, and Soulja Boy. His productions span slow-mo snap bounce, horn-rich trap, minimalist jig, and polarizing party-rap megahits that elicited strong personal reactions. Exposure to DJ Toomp's production for T.I. prompted exploration of early Atlanta bass and MC Shy D's heavy drum sensibility from the late '80s and early '90s. Tracing these producers reveals sonic links between early Atlanta rap, later trap and twerk beats, and how signature drum and horn choices propelled regional styles into wider recognition.

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