“He was on the front end of the next wave of southern rap music in the late 1990s,” said Smith. “We had our own music scene that wasn’t really respected at one point. We had Raheem, Kilo Ali, Hitman Sammy Sam, Red Money. Then there was the Jermaine Dupri and Goodie Mobb wave. Atlanta music still hadn’t broken until Jermaine broke through. When Outkast cut through, it kicked the door open for not just Atlanta Hip Hop, but southern Hip Hop as well. It was a game-changer. Chris came after that and pushed through when that door was kicked down. The Timbaland collaboration record [Phat Rabbit released in 1998] he did really skyrocketed,” said Smith.
