Rap music producers have an interesting job. Their duties often include creating a song’s beat, syncing up the vocals to the music, and, essentially, keeping the entire project moving forward. Although the music producer could arguably have as much impact on a track’s performance as the artist, he is rarely given any public credit.
Twenty-seven time Grammy winner Quincy Jones once said on an episode of The Colbert Report, “If the cover is bad, if the tempo’s too slow or too fast, if the key is wrong, you’ve got the wrong instrument, you’ve got the wrong studio, the wrong background singers, the wrong arrangers, and the song doesn’t work, it’s the producers fault; if it’s a hit, it’s the artist’s.”
Top 5 Rap Producers
The legendary musician knows what he is talking about. Music producer is a thankless job, and if the track bombs, the blame is often placed squarely on his/her shoulders. However, through great beats, hard work, and a natural ear for music, a small number of music producers have gained mainstream recognition and success.
Lil Jon--#5
Don’t let his thug-like appearance throw you. Lil Jon possesses a fantastic mind for beats. Perhaps best known for his coarse yelps of “O.K,” “hey” etc, the Atlanta born “crunkster” produced one of the most wildly successful singles of the 2000s decade: “Yeah” from Usher’s diamond selling album Confessions.
His powerful, in-your-face beat in said song provided the perfect medium for Usher’s crooning and Luda’s rapid rhyming. Lil Jon also produced Pitbull’s international hit “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” from Rebelution.
David Guetta--#4
This French DJ and record producer first came to the attention of an international audience when his catchy, if not cleverly titled, collaboration with Akon, “Sexy Chick,” became a 2009 summer anthem, topping over a dozen charts worldwide.
Lesser known are David’s production contributions. The album that made the Black Eyed Peas a pop culture powerhouse, The E.N.D., had three Guetta-produced tracks, including “I Gotta Feeling,” which set the all time iTunes sales record. David also produced the dance floor hit, “Club Can’t Handle Me,” from the soundtrack to the movie Step Up 3D, and “Wavin’ Flag (Remix),” Coke’s official World Cup 2010 song.
Kanye West --#3
Before he was a controversial hip-hop icon, Yeezy was one of Roc-A-Fella Record’s most skilled music producers. His work on Jay-Z’s The Blueprint earned him acclaim and marginal fame within the rap game.
However, once he “blew up” and released his own albums, he, as a rule, produced all his own tracks, including his #1 hits, “Slow Jamz,” “Gold Digger,” and “Stronger.” West also produced the singles “Forever Young” and “Run This Town” from Jay-Z’s The Blueprint III, the latter of which he also contributed a verse to.
Dr. Dre--#2
Dr. Dre is well known as the discoverer and mentor of Detroit rapper, Eminem. As such, he also served as the executive producer behind all of Shady’s albums, including his newer ones, and created the beats of most of his biggest hits such as “The Real Slim Shady,” “Just Lose It,” and “Crack A Bottle.” Dre also produced the international hit “In da Club,” by Eminem protégé, 50 Cent.
Dr. Dre’s most notable song may be “California Love,” by the late Tupac Shakur. Dre, as music producer, created the beat and also contributed one of the two verses. Based on the work done by each artist, one could make the argument that the song is more Dre’s than Tupac’s.
Sean Combs--#1
Whether he goes by Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, or just plain Diddy, Sean Combs has proven himself to be not only an impeccable rapper, but a skillful music producer as well. As well as producing his own two #1 hits, “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and “I’ll Be Missing You,” Combs has produced some of the most recognizable and influential hits of the past fifteen years.
Sean discovered and signed to Bad Boy Records Christopher Wallace, better known as Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, Big Poppa, etc. A close friend of the portly rapper, Combs was the executive producer behind each of Biggie’s two studio albums and produced all of his biggest hits, including “Juicy,” “Big Poppa,” “Hypnotize,” and “Mo Money Mo Problems.” Combs also produced pop songs, most notably Mariah Carey’s “Honey,” also a #1 hit.
Sean and Dre are in a very close race for the top rap producer of all time. Both produced a large number of #1 hits for other artists and created near-perfect beats; however, in the end, Sean’s personal production discography put him ahead of the “California Love” music producer.
Tristan Devereux - Tristan James Devereux was born on March 18, 1983 (though you would never guess it based on his picture.) As a child his favorite past ...
