Interior cloth seats and cheap plastic
I drive a geo metro with a blown gasket
We do a lot of top 10 lists in here but have we done a top producers list? That pete rock article has inspired me
1. Ant : did you really think i'd list anyone else? Guy is an unparalleled genius
2. DJ Quik : Nobody does the west coast sound better. He doesn't just throw together a good beat, he perfects it, focuses on the little details to make it stand out. All Eyez on Me owes it's production success to three men; Daz, Johnny J, and DJ Quik. Daz and J made the beats, but Quik fine tuned and tweaked them into the brilliance they become.
3. Pete Rock : Pete Rock is the ying to Premier's yang. He has the most insanely solid catalog, perhaps of all time. He defines that classic golden era of the early to mid 90's of hip hop, without him that whole era would never have been.
4. Premier : his consistency has waned over the years, but to me Premo is the king of that heavy New York sound. You can always tell a premo beat the minute it comes on.
5. Dr.Dre : regardless of his missteps recently, he has still made a long list of beats that nobody else on earth can touch. His ear for talent and the way sounds comes together is unparalleled.
6. Dilla : He proves the old saying "less is more". His brilliance lies in how he could make a seemingly simple beat sound so damn good. Often times just a simple drum loop, bassline, and a little extra thrown in here and there. The kind of thing you'd think would take 5 minutes to throw together...and yet it sounded amazing.
7. Prince Paul : The legend that gets overlooked. He produced so many classic albums. De La Soul wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful or remarkable without his incredible production that took sampling to entirely new heights. Whether it's Stetsasonic, Gravediggaz, Handsome boy modeling school, or his countless remixes, you've heard this man's work and loved it.
8. Havoc : For a time, Havoc was the best new york producer in the game. Infamous and Hell on Earth are production masterpieces.
9. Bomb Squad : From Ice Cube to Public Enemy to Slick Rick to fucking 3rd Bass. The late 80's belonged to the Bomb Squad. They left a huge footprint on hip hop, being the defining sound of that era.
10. Timbaland : I don't care about anything he's done in the last few years. As far as I'm concerned he fell the fuuuuuuck off so hard he left a crater in the ground. But from about 96 to about 2004 he was putting out fantastic and unique production that nobody else had done before.
11.Organized Noise : Outkast and Goodie Mob's success is just as much a result of the incredible and refreshing production from ON as it is the rapper's talent.
12. RJD2 : I really wish he would work with more artists. His solo instrumental albums are mindblowing and inspire me to produce better. If you haven't heard this guy, you owe it to yourself to listen to his stuff.
13. Kno : I don't have to really explain this, HHgaf has a hard on for this guy, and it's well deserved. As much as I am somewhat underwhelmed by his ability as a rapper, he more than makes up for it with his incredibly production. If he keeps it up, he'll be top 10 within a few years.
14. Aesop Rock and Blockhead : I put these guys together because they might as well be a production team. Their incredible talent for production is often overlooked next to Aesop's unique delivery and presence. None Shall Pass (the song) has some of my favorite production of all time.
Make sure to listen to Blockhead's solo albums (The Music Scene is his latests, released in 09).
15. Sir Jinx : Death Certificate. Thats all I should have to say. No? How about Kill at will, predator, lethal injection, and AMW? How about Xzibit's underrated near classic 40 dayz and 40 nightz? Or WC's debut album? It's a shame he keeps dropping out of sight for years at a time, but word is he is helping with Detox...but that may have been before Dre had a breakdown and switched gears.
Honorable mentions : Kanye, Alchemist, Muggz, RZA, Neptunes, Marly Marl, Easy Moe Bee, Ant Banks and many more.