“I know I don’t get the recognition I deserve, and that’s a fact,” Sonny Digital said while speaking to REVOLT TV at SXSW last month.

From producing rapper YC’s hit single “Racks” in 2011 to co-producing 2 Chainz’s “Birthday Song,” the Atlanta beatmaker has been putting in work for almost 10 years. And not only does he believe that he doesn’t get the love he merits for helping craft the city’s sound, Sonny also feels he’s not mentioned urgently enough when it comes to discussing music’s upper echelon. “When you talk about producers and shit, Sonny Digital don’t come up first though—even though it should,” he said.

Interview | Sonny Digital

“Metro [Boomin] and them wasn’t on. Nobody knew Metro, nobody knew [Young Thug],” Sonny said. “Come on bro, who y’all think y’all know? Nobody knew Cam Kirk. Cam Kirk shot the video [for “Some More”], me and Metro made the beat, Thugger was on the song, Sonny was already in the game. Who you think put that shit out?”

As a possible result of his frustration, but a true passion as well, Sonny shared that he’s now shifting gears and putting all his energy into a career as an MC. “I’m focused on me and what I got going on as far as my artistry, I’m doing my rapping stuff,” Sonny said. “I’m cool on the producing, been producing for a long time, and I got people coming up to me and they don’t know if I’m Metro [Boomin] or Sonny and I’ve been here for like 10 years, so I’m done with that though. I’ll do it as a side job.”

When you think of producers that run the sound of the south, do you think of Sonny Digital? Does the hip-hop world need to put some respect on Sonny’s name and further acknowledge his accomplishments? These are a few things we might need to collectively think about.