Hip-Hop Producer Sonny Digital Joins Generation Now to Further Fulfill His Dreams as a Rapper

Rap producer Sonny Digital is yearning for more. After having his handprints on some of the genre’s biggest records of the 2010s, including ILoveMakonnen’s “Tuesday” and Travis Scott’s “Stargazing,” Digital looks to take his career a step further after signing with Atlanta-based label Generation Now as a recording artist.

“It feels great. I have genuine support,” Digital tells Billboard. “Not to say I needed any help, but everyone has to have some help. It is dope to have someone from home rocking out and helping me push the music.”

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Under the leadership of Generation Now co-founders Leighton “Lake” Morrison, Don Cannon, and DJ Drama, who have cultivated young rap superstars like Lil Uzi Vert and Jack Harlow, the sky’s the limit for Sonny’s ascension as a recording act. Cannon tells Billboard, “Sonny Digital has been on the forefront of rising new talent for a little over a decade,” while Drama considers the premier producer a “living legend in his own right.”

Since 2010, Sonny Digital cemented himself behind the boards on RIAA-certified hits like YC’s “Racks” featuring Future, 2 Chainz & Kanye West’s double-platinum-certified anthem “Birthday Song,” Future’s classic shout-along “Same Damn Time,” and many more. Like Ye and Pharrell, Sonny hopes to assert his dominance as a recording artist after serving as a proven force on the production side over the last decade.

Below, Billboard chatted with Sonny Digital to discuss his signing with Generation Now, his journey to garner respect as a recording artist, and his forthcoming full-length debut album, Mr. Digital.

Why do you feel like now is the perfect time to drop a project?

It’s a good time because I am going through a change. I am even changing my hair right now, so it feels like a new start. I have been ready to drop music, but it is happening like this; you feel me?

Like Kanye West & Pharrell, you are a star on both sides of the board. Talk to us about your mindset when you are in rapper mode.

It’s usually more fun. I can go in with a completely open mind. I never go in with previous ideas, and I always start from scratch. I like letting the vibes flow.

You are now signing with Generation Now, home to Jack Harlow & Lil Uzi Vert. What made Gen Now attractive to you?

This is family. I have been rocking with their whole team doing business with Jack and Uzi for a while now. Even someone like Seddy Hendrix, we have been cool for years. He is in my studio more than Generation Now. My relationship with Don [Cannon] is what made me want to do it. He has been around since Metro Boomin came into the game. He was always there for us, and helped us as if he had some financial interest in it, even when he didn’t. It feels good to bring it all together and start doing business together.

Generation Now is like a team with multiple coaches. Explain what Lake, DJ Drama, and Don Cannon bring to the table that differs from the other?

Sonny: I will start with Lake. Lake handles all of the business for the whole team. Drama is a solidified, well-respected brand, like a walking billboard for Generation Now. He’s solidified so he can go in certain rooms that not everyone can. Cannon is in tune with everything. He might be a bit older, but he is in tune with everything popping up in the streets. He makes everyone feel important, and I think he has the most crucial role.

After landing success on the Billboard charts as a producer, which record from your forthcoming LP, Mr. Digital do you believe in its potential to reach the same heights for you as a performing artist?

I am not sure, I just make the music. The people have the choice of what hits the charts. Also, there is some politics in it. If it were up to me, everything would be on there! It just takes specific steps to get there.

Your newest record, “Guess What,” featuring SSG Kobe, is great. Is the rest of the project in this same lane, or can fans expect different vibes throughout the project?

With Mr. Digital, I am just having fun! So this project will most definitely be aligned with that sound. It is me just connecting with the younger acts and rocking out. I did not even think I could rap on those types of beats at first. To me, it was something that did not feel too young or too old. It just further shows my versatility as a creator. You cannot put two of my beats together and tell that they came from the same person. Whether making a beat or rapping, I am just making music.

Atlanta has been leading the charge in hip-hop for years now, and you are a big part of the city’s sound. What are some of your proudest contributions to Atlanta’s music culture?

I feel like everything I did in the last ten years. Being here in Atlanta, I am reminded all the time — the people here always show love, especially if they know what’s happening. It doesn’t matter if it is only one or two records. It all contributes to how people look at me and respect me.

Club Digital was a phenomenon on Clubhouse and in real life. Explain what that is for people who do not know, and why it is important to you?

It came together on Clubhouse. We were some of the first people on the app. Therefore, we were the main ones hosting conversations and inviting many people in there. After a while, I decided to invite everyone from the app to a party I had at my studio and just called it Club Digital. Over the past years, I have taken it more seriously. It became a staple in the city, and it has gotten to the point where I cannot even promote it, or it will be too many people here. I cannot believe what it has become. I am just living it, though. It is funny when I sit back and think about it.

Now back to playing both sides of the board: Is it safe to say you are the happiest when you are rapping? What about rapping makes you feel good?

I am having way more fun when rapping, because I have not reached a certain level when it comes to rapping. Production-wise, people expect a hit from me every single time, because I have done that before. I am still having fun whenever I create, but there is less to worry about when I am rapping.

What do you think it will take for fans to truly respect your transition as a rapper?

You know, I do not know. I always wonder if I should cut out being so humble and start flexing my accomplishments. I don’t know; I am still trying to figure that part out. I do know it takes music. I need to drop more content, and people need to see me being an artist more. I do not want to stop being a producer, but I do not want it at the forefront anymore. There are a lot of factors that make this wheel turn. We are working on everything to figure it out. There is a community of people who do this, and I might need to be the one who jumps out for everyone, besides Kanye, and let them know that this is possible.

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