Best Local Producer

Experimental beat maker 10th Letter, aka Jeremi Johnson, creates an all-encompassing mix that's as psychedelic and abstract as it is deeply soulful and direct. His talents are best showcased on the recent digital LP Yesterdays Dreams//Tomorrows Paths. Every noise morphs under the direction of Johnson's thoughtful knob-twiddling. Similar to Madlib's crate-digging enthusiasm and Prefuse 73's cut-and-paste wizardry, 10th Letter touches on the best of retro-sourced vibes and forward-thinking techniques in songs such as "Return to Yesterday," "Let Me Know, Miss Electric Veins," and "Yesterdays Dreams." More than just a master of multiple methods, 10th Letter has surfaced in 2013 as a jack-of-all-trades, upending hip-hop instrumentals and lending a curious touch of peculiarity to Atlanta's expansive electronic music scene. www.10thletter.bandcamp.com. less...

Ever since ALDRIN “DJ” TOOMP produced T.I.’s Grammy-winning hit, “What You Know,” he has been the go-to guy among Atlanta’s scores of hip-hop producers. His fingerprints adorn hits by Young Jeezy (“I Luv It”) and Kanye West (“Can’t Tell Me Nothing”), and his distinctive, orchestral keyboard sound has become a trademark. It’s the unlikeliest of triumphs for a man who got his start back in the ‘80s making bass tracks for MC Shy D. Who could have predicted that, nearly two decades later, he would be poised to become an ATL beat king as ubiquitous as Lil Jon and Organized Noize?

www.myspace.com/djtoomp

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