Hip Hop Producers

Hip Hop Producers Provided by Hip-Hop-Music-Classic.com

Industry's Finest

• Dr. Dre'
  
• Kanye West
  
• The Neptunes
  
• David Banner
  
• Jermaine Dupri
  
• Lil' Jon
  
• Timbaland
  
• The Alchemist
  
• Just Blaze
  

[ Hip Hop Producers ]

Dr. Dre
[ Hip Hop Producers ]

Soon, most rap records imitated its sound, and his productions for Snoop Doggy Dogg and Blackstreet were massive hits. For nearly four years, G-funk dominated hip-hop, and Dre had enough sense to abandon it and Death Row just before the whole empire collapsed in late 1996. Dre retaliated by forming a new company, Aftermath, and while it was initially slow getting started, his bold moves forward earned critical respect. Dre (born Andre Young, February 18, 1965) became involved in hip-hop during the early '80s, performing at house parties and clubs with the World Class Wreckin' Cru around South Central Los Angeles and making a handful of recordings along the way. In 1986, he met Ice Cube, and the two rappers began writing songs for Ruthless Records, a label started by former drug pusher Eazy-E. Eazy tried to give one of the duo's songs, "Boyz-n-the Hood," to HBO, a group signed to Ruthless. When the group refused, Eazy formed N.W.A. -- an acronym for Niggaz With Attitude -- with Dre and Cube, releasing their first album in 1987. A year later, N.W.A. delivered Straight Outta Compton, a vicious hardcore record that became an underground hit with virtually no support from radio, the press, or MTV. N.W.A. became notorious for their hardcore lyrics, especially those of "Fuck tha Police," which resulted in the FBI sending a warning letter to Ruthless and its parent company, Priority, suggesting that the group should watch their step.

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Most of the group's political threat left with Cube when he departed in late 1989 amid many financial disagreements. While Eazy appeared to be the undisputed leader following Cube's departure -- and he was certainly responsible for the group approaching near-parodic levels with their final pair of records -- the music was in Dre's hands. On both the 1990 EP 100 Miles and Runnin' and the 1991 album Efil4zaggin ("Niggaz4life" spelled backward), he created dense, funky sonic landscapes that were as responsible for keeping N.W.A. at the top of the charts as Eazy's comic-book lyrics. While the group was at the peak of their popularity in 1991, Dre began to make efforts to leave the crew, especially after he was charged with assaulting the host of a televised rap show in 1991. The following year, Dre left the group to form Death Row Records with Suge Knight. According to legend, Knight held N.W.A.'s manager at gunpoint and threatened to kill him if he refused to let Dre out of his contract.

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Dre released his first solo single, "Deep Cover," in the spring of 1992. Not only was the record the debut of his elastic G-funk sound, it also was the beginning of his collaboration with rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg. Dre discovered Snoop through his stepbrother Warren G, and he immediately began working with the rapper -- Snoop was on Dre's 1992 debut, The Chronic, as much as Dre himself. Thanks to the singles "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," "Dre Day," and "Let Me Ride," The Chronic was a multi-platinum, Top Ten smash, and the entire world of hip-hop changed with it. For the next four years, it was virtually impossible to hear mainstream hip-hop that wasn't effected in some way by Dre and his patented G-funk. Not only did he produce Snoop's 1993 debut, Doggystyle, but he orchestrated several soundtracks, including Above the Rim and Murder Was the Case (both 1994), which functioned as samplers for his new artists and production techniques, and he helmed hit records such as Blackstreet's "No Diggity," among others, including a hit reunion with Ice Cube, "Natural Born Killaz." During this entire time, Dre released no new records, but he didn't need to -- all of Death Row was under his control, and most of his peers mimicked his techniques.

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The Death Row dynasty held strong until the spring of 1996, when Dre grew frustrated with Knight's strong-arm techniques. At the time, Death Row was devoting itself to 2Pac's label debut, All Eyez on Me (which featured Dre on the breakthrough hit, "California Love"), and Snoop was busy recovering from his draining murder trial. Dre left the label in the summer of 1996 to form Aftermath, declaring gangsta rap dead. While he was subjected to endless taunts from his former Death Row colleagues, their sales slipped by 1997 and Knight was imprisoned on racketeering charges by the end of the year. Dre's first album for Aftermath, the various-artists collection Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath received considerable media attention, but the record didn't become a hit, despite the presence of his hit single, "Been There Done That." Even though the album wasn't a success, the implosion of Death Row in 1997 proved that Dre's inclinations were correct at the time. Both 2001 and its companion instrumental version followed in 1999. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

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Dre Website #1

Dr. Dre' Main Site

Kanye West
[ Hip Hop Producers ]

One of the few truly unique hip-hop artists to revel atop the commercial side of the industry during the early 2000s, Kanye West spent most of his time producing flavorful hits for Jay-Z and other top-tier rappers, yet he eventually seized the opportunity to launch his own rapping career as well. Granted, West himself wasn't a phenomenal rapper, but he had a lot going for him. For one, he was witty, coming up with off-the-wall lyrics like "She's got a light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson/Got a dark-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson" that were smart and funny at the same time, even if they didn't employ elaborate rhyming schemes à la Rakim or street-prophet motifs à la Nas.

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Secondly, he had a singsong flow that made him seem like an Everyman rapper as if he were your homeboy from down the street (or perhaps you yourself), even though he was, in fact, a seasoned rapper who'd been spitting game since he first heard Run-D.M.C. way back in the day. Moreover, his beatmaking skills were peerless: a trademark pitched-up, chopped-up use of somewhat recognizable samples for his hooks, and a likewise trademark stutter-step drum-programming touch for his rhythms -- a simple yet potent combination. And lastly, because of his hitmaking credentials, he had ties to some of the top names in the industry, from Jay-Z and Ludacris to Dame Dash and Jamie Foxx, all of whom helped West get his solo career off the ground with a bang. That bang happened during the opening weeks of 2004, when not one but two songs featuring him as a rapper ("Through the Wire" and "Slow Jamz") were downright ubiquitous, saturating music-video television and urban radio all the while skyrocketing to the top of the charts. Of course, West was no stranger to success, having produced hits for years, but suddenly he wasn't just an in-demand producer -- he was It, the latest in a long line of momentarily brand-new, red-hot rappers thrust into the mass-media spotlight.

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Yet at the same time, West wasn't your ordinary superstar rapper. Again, he was very much your Everyman rapper, relying more on his wit and his earnestness (and his own beatmaking) than the usual cocktail of sex, drugs, violence, and street dreams (though he did have a good car-accident back-story) -- all of which, of course, was refreshing circa 2004 in the wake of 50 Cent. From out of left field (i.e., Chicago, anything but a hip-hop hotbed), West was an unlikely sensation and more than once defied adversity. Like so many others who were initially inspired by Run-D.M.C., he began as just another aspiring rapper with a boundless passion for hip-hop, albeit a rapper with a Midas touch when it came to beatmaking. And it was indeed his beatmaking skills that got his foot in the industry door. Though he did quite a bit of noteworthy production work during the late '90s, it was his work for Roc-a-Fella at the dawn of the new millennium that took his career to the next level. Alongside fellow fresh talent Just Blaze, West became one of The Roc's go-to producers, consistently delivering hot tracks to album after album. He first caught everyone's ear in 2001 when he laced Jay-Z's earth-shaking Blueprint album with "Takeover" and "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)." Both songs were enormous successes, partly so because of West's trademark beatmaking style, which was largely sample-based -- in these brilliant cases the former track appropriating snippets of the Doors' "Five to One," the latter the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."

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More high-profile productions followed, and before long word spread that West was going to release an album of his own, on which he'd rap as well as produce. Unfortunately, that album was a long time coming, pushed back and then pushed back again. It didn't help, of course, that West experienced a tragic car accident in October 2002 that almost cost him his life. He capitalized on the traumatic experience by using it as the inspiration for "Through the Wire" (and its corresponding video), which would later become the lead single for his eventually released debut album. That debut album, The College Dropout (2004), was continually delayed while West continued to churn out big hits for the likes of Talib Kweli ("Get By"), Ludacris ("Stand Up"), Jay-Z ("'03 Bonnie & Clyde"), and Alicia Keys ("You Don't Know My Name"). [ Hip Hop Producers ]

Then, just as "Through the Wire" was breaking big-time at the tail end of 2003, another West song caught fire, a collaboration with Twista and comedian/actor Jamie Foxx called "Slow Jamz" that gave the rapper/producer two simultaneously ubiquitous singles and a much-anticipated debut album. As with so many of West's songs, these two were driven by somewhat recognizable sample-based hooks -- Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire" in the case of "Through the Wire," and Luther Vandross' "A House Is Not a Home" in the case of "Slow Jamz." West earned 10 nominations for the 47th annual Grammy Awards, held in early 2005. The College Dropout won the Best Rap Album award, "Jesus Walks" won Best Rap Song, and a songwriting credit on "You Don't Know My Name" had West sharing the Best R&B Song award with Alicia Keys and Harold Lilly. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

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Kanye West's Website

The Neptunes
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The Neptunes quietly emerged from Virginia Beach at the turn of the century and quickly became the hottest producers within the rap industry, then the entire pop music industry. The peerless duo began their ascendance in the late '90s with a few party-themed hits: Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Got My Money" (1999), Mystikal's "Shake Ya Ass" (2000), and Jay-Z's "I Wanna Love U" (2001). The Neptunes crossed over from rap to pop in 2001 and began producing tracks for the likes of Britney Spears ("I'm a Slave 4 U"), *NSYNC ("Girlfriend"), and Usher ("U Don't Have to Call"). In addition to these pop stars, the duo continued producing hits for the biggest names in rap, working with everyone from LL Cool J ("Luv U Better") and Busta Rhymes ("Pass the Courvoisier") to Bow Wow ("Take Ya Home") and Nelly ("Hot in Herre"). Furthermore, the Neptunes began their own rap-rock group, N.E.R.D., and introduced another one, the Clipse. By this point, the duo -- Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo -- had become the pop-rap industry's most demanded producers, on a par with other big-name producers like Dr. Dre and Timbaland, if not perhaps even supplanting them. Their debut album, Neptunes Present... Clones (2003), confirmed their across-the-board popularity, topping Billboard's album chart and moving roughly 250,000 units during its first week. Amid all of this success, they continued to churn out hits, most notably alongside Justin Timberlake ("Rock Your Body") and Snoop Dogg ("Beautiful") as well as for their longtime standbys (Jay-Z's "Excuse Me Miss") and even themselves (Pharrell's "Frontin'"). ~ Jason Birchmeier

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David Banner
[ Hip Hop Producers ]

One half of the rap duo Crooked Lettaz, David Banner helped put Mississippi on the map in 1999. In 2000, he released his first solo album in Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1. Originally on Penalty Records, he realized quickly that a New York-based record label just didn't know how to handle the south. With the help of his crew, he managed to sell over 10,000 copies of his first album in his hometown alone. He also claims to use the Crooked Lettaz website to "cyberpimp" his CDs online. ~ Brad Mills

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Jermaine Dupri
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Beginning with breakout success in 1992 upon the discovery of teenage rappers Kris Kross, Jermaine Dupri became one of the most consistent and all-persuasive producers of the 1990s, producing practically the entire careers of many artists on his label, So So Def Recordings (including platinum entries like Xscape and Da Brat as well as Kris Kross). In addition, Dupri provided a steady hand to many of the most high-profile R&B albums of the decade, such as TLC's CrazySexyCool (ten times platinum) and Mariah Carey's Daydream (eight times platinum). His promising musical career began before he was even ten years old. His father, Atlanta manager Michael Mauldin, had coordinated a Diana Ross show in 1982; to the delight of concert-goers, Dupri managed to get on-stage and dance along with Ross. He began performing around the country, appearing with Herbie Hancock and Cameo before he opened the New York Fresh Festival, with Run-D.M.C., Whodini, and Grandmaster Flash. Dupri's production career began in 1987, when at the age of 14 he produced and secured a record contract for the trio Silk Tymes Leather. Two years later, he formed So So Def Productions in Atlanta; by 1991 Dupri had found his first platinum act.

After seeing the pint-size rap duo Kris Kross performing in a local mall, he signed them and prepared their debut album. Totally Krossed Out spent two weeks at number one, and quickly sold four-million copies. The pair's lack of staying power was somewhat obvious, and Dupri kept working, producing tracks on TLC's first two albums, which sold over 15-million copies between the two of them.

During 1993-1994, Dupri debuted two of his new So So Def acts, Xscape and Da Brat. Both debut albums hit platinum, thanks in large part to Dupri, and by the end of 1994, he had become one of the most respected R&B producers in the business. He worked with superstar Mariah Carey and old-school rap acts like Run-D.M.C. and Whodini. Dupri's next major success came in 1997, when he took over the production for a sophomore album by a suave teenage R&B singer named Usher. The album, My Way, became one of the biggest of the year, selling over two-million copies in its first three months of release.

Taking a page from the book of fellow super producer Sean "Puffy" Combs (who debuted a solo project in mid-1997), Dupri returned to performing in early 1998 with a single, "The Party Continues." After collaborating with Snoop Doggy Dogg, fellow Atlanta residents Outkast, Slick Rick, Nas, and Master P, he released his debut solo album (as JD), Life in 1492, in July 1998. ~ John Bush

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Lil' Jon
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The Georgia-based hip-hop trio Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz includes members Lil Jon, Big Sam, and Lil Bo. Leader Lil Jon began his career by DJ'ing at the now defunct Atlanta club Phoenix in the early '90s, a hangout frequented by many top hip-hop/R&B stars of the day. One of the artists who frequented the club, Jermaine Dupri, was so impressed with Lil Jon's skills that he named him executive V.P. of A&R at So So Def Recordings (from 1993 through 2000), during which time Lil Jon oversaw the release of the label's successful So So Def Bass All-Stars compilations. In addition to his label duties, Lil Jon hosted a reggae show on the Atlanta radio station V103, and also remixed and produced tracks for such acclaimed artists as Too $hort, Xcape, Total, Usher, 112, and Whitney Houston, among others. By the late '90s, Lil Jon formed the East Side Boyz, issuing their debut release in 1997, Get Crunk, Who You Wit: Da Album, following it up with Put Yo Hood Up in 2001.

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Lil' Jon's Website

Timbaland
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Timbaland ascended to the top of the rap industry in the late '90s, remarkably balancing his in-demand hitmaking abilities with his outlandish production style. Few rap producers were capable of such a balance between commerce and craft. Timbaland produced an endless list of hits, primarily for a select group of affiliates (Missy Elliott, Aaliyah, Jay-Z, Ginuwine) though also for a number of other A-list artists (Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Justin Timberlake). Yet even so, he always infused a remarkable sense of individuality and creativity into his productions. When you hear a Timbaland production there is no mistaking it for anyone else's work: stuttering bass-heavy bounce beats offset resounding high-end synth stabs, all of this often complemented by his own signature-like quiet murmuring beneath the track; and no sampling. In the late '90s, when Timbaland was still relatively new on the scene, the Virginia native worked extensively with Missy ("The Rain"), Aaliyah ("If Your Girl Only Knew"), and Ginuwine ("Pony"). Later, once he'd established himself with these three, he began working with the top rappers in the industry, namely Jay-Z ("Big Pimpin'"), Nas ("You Won't See Me Tonight"), Snoop Dogg ("Snoop Dogg [What's My Name, Pt. 2]"), and Ludacris ("Rollout [My Business]"). He also worked occasionally with lesser-known regional artists such as Petey Pablo ("Raise Up"), Pastor Troy ("Are We Cuttin'"), and Tweet ("Oops (Oh My)"). As a result of his exceptional success as a producer, Timbaland eventually established his own record label, Beat Club, and began unveiling his own stable of artists (Bubba Sparxxx, Ms. Jade). His records, most co-billed with rapping friend Magoo, spotlighted his access to the top rappers in the business: Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Wyclef Jean. ~ Jason

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Timbaland's Website

The Alchemist
[ Hip Hop Producers ]

Profile:

Hip-hop producer from West L.A. who got his break as a member of Cypress Hill affiliates The Whooliganz. Has since gone on to produce tracks for Dilated Peoples, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, Royce da 5'9" and others and is now one of the most highly regarded producers in hip-hop.

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Alchemist Website

Just Blaze
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Talented and very prolific in-house producer at Roc-A-Fella Records. Has provided many tracks for Jay-Z, Freeway, Memphis Bleek, and done guest production for countless artists including Mariah Carey, Erick Sermon and Joe budden.

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