This is positive.
Dave East went from collabin with Breezy, Beanie and Wiz to spending a whole year collabing with a bunch of no-names (Neek Bucks, King Shooter...) he found at his local bodega who ain't even on in NY nevermind anywhere else. His career was literally going backwards, and a lot of us stopped checking.
Glad he linking up with Styles P.
It's much smarter to collab with underground rappers from other markets who got a buzz like you, than to collab with nobodies from your own state. That's how you expand your fanbase. Dave East got everything from his collabs with Breezy, Beanie Siegal, Methodman, etc. Learn from that, collab with some nikkas from West Coast, Philly, DMV, so forth. Some joints with Q Da Fool, AR-AB/Dark Lo, and Joe Blow would be cool cuz they poppin where they from and their styles mesh well. Instead of wasting a mixtape with Vado who can't even get on in New York.