My top 12 Hip Hop producers of all time: a thread

No. 12

Havoc

Best produced project - The Infamous

From Mobb Deep's commercial debut The Infamous, Havoc has been infamous to be one of the pioneers of the grimy east coast hip hop sound. (1/2)

His manipulative use of obscure samples and his snappy use of drums has proven to be both influential to the 90s scene, and hip hop on general. With modern day figures like Joey Bada$$, Roc Marciano, and many Griselda members being influenced by this style of production.

No. 11

DJ Shadow

Best produced project - Endtroducing...

DJ Shadow exploded on to the instrumental hip hop scene in 1996 with his debut Endtroducing... It has since been hailed as a classic and one of the most important album to instrumental hip hop. (1/3)

It's hypnotic use of funky sampled drum grooves and eclectic samples and layering has proven to be one of the most influential things in it's genre. His beats also inspired much of trip hop and psychedelic music as well. (2/3)

His beats tended to be long, although to me they never got dull as it always had something new. Sadly, he couldn't be placed much higher on the list despite his talent due to the rest of his discography being kinda weak in all honesty. (3/3)

No. 10

The Neptunes

Best produced project - Hell Hath No Fury

The Neptunes have essentially mastered the art of simplicity. Their beats aren't super intricate or detailed, the beats don't very much vary as they go along, nor are they meant to. (1/2)

Neptunes have learned how to make catchy hooky beats that don't get boring. The beats give perfect room for the rappers to delivery a great verse. Their use of synthesizers and tinny programmed drums have been especially influential to the mainstream of hip hop production. (2/2)

no. 9

Kanye West

Best produced project - Be

From his early days producing for Jay Z to his experimental edge in his later projects, Kanye has proved to always have a new direction in his beats without diverting too far from his style. (1/2)

Kanye mastered the art of recontextualizing classics. The samples he uses are not super obscure, they are a lot of the time very well known songs. However he knows how to take these and make something his own. His peak in 2005 can have examples of this like Faithful, and Tesitfy

no. 8

Pete Rock

Best produced project - Petestrumentals

Pete Rock has been a key pioneer of the jazz and funk tinged methodical sound of many beats in hip hop. His beats usually go a little long. Enough to gradually build on a beat in order to achieve a jazz addled bliss.

no. 7

Dr. Dre

Best produced project - The Chronic

Dr. Dre has proven to be one of the most influential figures in hip hop. He essentially pioneered the west coast G Funk sound that dominated the 90s. Despite his sound being very "of the time", it's aged like fine wine.

no. 6

Q-Tip

Best produced project - Midnight Marauders

One of the greatest artists in hip hop. He's been a pioneer of the much more conscious, laid back, and jazzy side of hip hop appearing in the late 80s. (1/2)

His beats contain very hypnotic head bobbing grooves and jazz laced ecstatic instruments. He's proved to have one of the best staying power of any producer as well, making one of the best produced projects of the 2010s in We got it from here... thank you 4 your service.

no. 5

9th Wonder

Best produced project - The Minstrel Show

I see 9th Wonder as the master of the soul sample. His chops have always been top tier producing some of the most soulful beats in hip hop. (1/2)

They can be super detailed and intricate, yet give perfect room for the rappers. He can always master the style of who ever he's working with and make quality. one of the most underrated goats in hip hop.

no. 4

DJ Premier

Best produced project - Moment of Truth

DJ Premier is one of the most influential and essential producers in East Coast and just hip hop in general, yet doesn't get praised that often outside of his most popular beats. (1/2)

Premier's style of chop heavy jazz laced boom bap style has been hugely influential, but to a much more subtle degree than some others on this list. When you hear something from Preemo the production immediately sticks out, yet doesn't take away from the rapper.

no. 3

RZA

Best produced project - Liquid Swords

Even from making 36 chambers beats from his basement with almost no budget, RZA has shown a raw gritty talent unmatched by any produced. His beats while very rough, are extremely detailed, creative, and overall just go so hard.

Even his most refined and subdued beats like "Can it all be so simple" still have a raw and rough underbelly. even with his most chaotic beats like Gold or 7th Chamber, rappers are still able to ride them without flaw. He's really a goat all around (2/2)

No. 2

J Dilla

Best produced project - Donuts

J Dilla is hands down the most influential hip hop producer of all time. his style of drumming without a grid to give a more human feel touches every corner of modern music, from Rnb to Jazz. (1/2)

while in the hospital in 2006, he produced his magnum opus Donuts, a beautifully soulful sample based project displaying some of the most skilled beats in hip hop. It has since been hailed as one of the greatest hip hop album from detroit, and just hip hop in general. (2/2)

no. 1

Madlib

Best produced project (it was very hard to choose) - Madvillainy

I don't have enough good things to say about this guy. From his production debut in 1999 with soundpieces, the loop digga has had a raw production prowise unmatched by most. (1/4)

While his repetitive use of manipulative sample loops may seem simple on the surface, the closer you look you see how meticulous his beats are. Even something as simple as Meat Grinder has tons of small details that i even have yet to hear despite how much i've heard. (2/4)

His versatility is unmatched. From the eclectic electronics of Theme for a Broken Soul to the experimental jazz of A Tribute to Brother Weldon. (3/4)

His catalogue is insane as well. Aside from his most popular works, he has things like The Unseen, Shades of Blue, Beat konductah series, rock konductah, mmc, etc.

this man can work with any artist, can sample any style of music and it my definitive goat

if you've made it this far thank you ily