Favorite Producers

Ever listen to a track and you knew right away who produced that? I mean really produced it not knob turning and placement ala Diddy.

1. RZA-Created the sped up soul sample technique that a certain attention drone claims to fame now. You could tell RZA's tracks by how dirty and unclean the tracks sound. Like he was still in the basement chopping it up with a tape deck and a 2 channel mixer. Way above average rapper!

2. DJ Premier-Premier creates his own hooks for you by scratching them in like a true DJ. I love that signature call sign of his. Pure rap in it's rawest form.

3. Pete Rock-Remember the "Shut Em Down-Remix"? The horns, the xtra treble flavor and of course the pan-mixing (sound travels from one speaker to the next). That's Pete's signature track and he's dropped better jewels! He's a decent rapper too!

4. Large Professor-Stay true to the artform. No gimmicks just tracks that fits the artist, namely Nas. My favorite Xtra P track is "Nas-Your the Man".

5. Dr. Dre-As of late it's now known Dre hasn't really 100% produced everything his name appears on. He's sometimes taken a Diddy role and gave other proteges his vision to follow then coming back and cleaning it up. Decent rapper but seldom writes anything. Jay Z wrote his biggest solo joint "Still Dre". Listen close and you can hear Jay's cadence. He is responsible for that "West Coast G Funk" sound.

6. Kanye West-If it wasn't for his antics overshadowing his musical gifts I would rate him higher. He's awesome but the problem is he tells you he's awesome all the time. The issue is not all of his tracks are awesome just a few great ones. Really has evolved as a rapper. Thanks from always being exposed to the game's best-Jay Z & Common.

7. Timbaland-As of late he's stayed away from rap tracks a bit but he changes his style so often you can't say "Aw Timb did it again". He knows some producers copy him far too much. His best work may have been Aaliyah's second album. Signature stumbling drums were just flagrantly stolen. So he switched it up again!

8. Swizz Beats-He gives rappers beats and a user friendly hook. Once he got away from the keyboard synth simple tracks he was truely a monster. Handclaps are his call sign. Average rapper but adequate. He even took Beyonce's voice and bounced her in the club. Ladies you know the song.

9. Easy Mo B-You need a remix that was just as good or better than the orignal? Call Mo B! Remember "Flavor in Ya Ear" was hot? Well, you loved the remix even more huh? Used to be a rapper.

10. The Neptunes-Would have placed higher but Pharrell has a problem of having to be on track all of the time and the freaking video. Once they left the keyboard stuff alone and the "Neptune Phaser Sounds" alone they exploded. He made Nore a club favorite couple of times over. So-so rapper nothing to rewind your cds over though.

11. Mannie Fresh-On the strength of "Drag Em in the River" and "Project English" I have to give him this spot to him. Single handly is responsible for the entire early Cash Money production catalog. Even RZA let his proteges get some burn to preserve his sound.

12. Hi Tek-Goodness! Who thought the Natti had this talent? Kweli's right hand on the boards and sometimes the mic. I had to look twice to see that he did 50's "Ryder Music" and Game's "Running". It sounds very Dre like but that shows you just how talented he is if he can seamless cross region sounds so well. He's an okay rapper by the way.

13. Hitmen-The real producers behind Diddy projects. These are guys that do it. All of these guys are great producers in their own right but they cook up magic when they are working Badboy projects.

14. Jazze Pha-It's in his gene's he has some very prominent bloodlines from the funk and soul days. His only knock is that he has to be on the track vocally all of the time.

15. Prince Paul-You need a concept album call this former Stetsasonic DJ and Gravedigga producer and DJ. So creative and intelligent he has done some zany projects i.e. Handsome Boy Modeling School and still gets mad love for his ability to tell a story through his production.