i agree completely. my old head kind of sneers when i see so many calling themselves a producer bc the term to me means all the things you said here. not just the ability to write your own stuff but to be good enough to hear others music and make it better or fulfill some potential. but then i have to stop myself from being a music "elitist" bc both definitions i guess are true.. just different like you said.

 

nice, but the bass indeed could go back by "a little bit", the kick might not need all the beater thump, and the snare is fine in particular. the overall drum sound needs to be "in a room" or something, that does feel claustrophobic for this style of music, and parallel compression especially on the drums are your best friend here, it doesn't necessarily have to be on each shells. like the drums, the keys and the guitar might also need to be "in a room", which basically means you have to use the reverb as a send instead of insert (you make an individual reverb track, you put the tracks you want to "put in the room", and blend the reverb to taste).