The Cash Money Lineage

Mannie Fresh built the sound of Cash Money Records as its in-house producer, shaping records for Juvenile, Lil Wayne, B.G., and the Hot Boys, then scoring his own hit "Still Fly" as half of Big Tymers with Birdman. His bounce-driven production is treated as foundational by nearly every Southern producer who followed.

Juvenile appears in the archive as well. His album 400 Degreez sold more than four million copies and pushed the label into the mainstream, and "Ha," "Back That Azz Up," and "Slow Motion" became permanent Southern rap standards.

New Orleans exported a rhythm that Atlanta absorbed and rebuilt. Sitting with the people who made that rhythm is part of how producers learn it — not from a stream, but from the room.