The Originator Non-Greater
Who is more important in hip-hop culture the DJ/Producer or the MC?Most fans of the genre would easily respond with a resounding MC. However, to fully understand the culture one must know its beginnings. You know that thing about how history is so important. Well that same principle applies in this case. It was a DJ that brought this culture to where it is. That DJ was named Kool DJ Herc. He traveled from Jamaica where he was known for looping breakbeats in songs to make it more danceable.
Following in his footsteps Grandmaster Flash took the art a little further by cutting and looping multiple songs together in succession to create what sounded like one contiuous chorus or rap. Then came the supreme evolution. This revolution in hip-hop came when DJ Grand Wizard Theodore popularized the art-form that we now refer to as scratching. This set off a chain of events that eventually lead to the hip-hop producer.
In its beginnings hip-hop producers were merely DJ's that looped and scratched samples from other songs together in order to create an instrumental. That same instrumental would be chanted over by a hype man who would eventually become a rapper. There were two schools of thought concerning the art-form. First, the DJ and hype man should work together to get the crowd as hype as possible by playing and chanting over the most dancer friendly portion of the song. This became referred to as a breakbeat and today is known as the bridge. The second school of thought was that the music should be conscious and help motivate people to elevate from a negative situation while providing the truth. In 1980 Kurtis Blow recorded the first full-length song, The Break, that fused both of these thoughts together. In 1984 Run DMC recorded the first song, It's Like That, that had no samples and relied completely on created production.
This ushered in the producers. Producers have came full circle from the days of a DJ. They are now just as important as the rapper themselves. There is a lot of debate as to who is the greatest producer of all-time and who originated certain styles. This list will examine that and humbly present the greatest of the production wizards in the culture of hip-hop.
30) Dan the Automator
29) Erik Sermon
28) Swizz Beatz
27) Just Blaze
26) Large Professor
25) Rick Rubin
24) Da Beatminerz
23) DJ Quick
22) No I.D
21) Lil Jon
20) Mannie Fresh
19) Deric D-Dot Angelettie
18) The Alchemist
17) DJ Danger Mouse
16) 9th Wonder
15) J-Dilla
14) Timbaland
13) The Neptunes
12) Eminem
11) Kanye West
10) ?uestlove
09) Scott Storch
08) Organized Noize
07) Prince Paul
06) Marley Marl
05) Afrika Bambaataa was born Kevin Donovan and help to revolutionize hip hop culture through his spacey techno-funk driven beats. Bambaataa was a Bronx gang-banger that changed his philosophy after a trip to Africa. He is responsible for popularizing the b-boy and graffiti artists that rose to prominence from hip hop culture. He even organized the first European Hip-Hop tour.
Most notable production: Planet Rock
04) Pete Rock, named Peter Phillips was the protege of Marley Marl who surpassed his teacher. In many ways one could argue that Pete Rock is the best producer of all-time. There are not many prominent artists that he has not produced tracks for. He has influenced other producers like 9th Wonder. His signature sound is looping jazz instrumentals over drum break beats.
Most notable production: T.R.O.Y (They Reminisce Over You)
03) The RZA (Robert Diggs) is the leader of a movement in Hip-Hop known as Wu-Tang. His influence as a producer is legendary. He has impacted everyone from Kanye West to Just Blaze. The sound of RZA has evolved over time. Initially his beats were simple drum patterns that included Kung-Fu movie sound effects. As time passed he began to add sped up soul samples and samples from Kung Fu movie instrumentals. This made his sound very authentic in rap music.
Most notable production: Triumph and Kill Bill vol. 1 and 2 (entire scores)
02) Dr. Dre aka Robert Young to his peers. Dre has arguably contributed to more classic rap albums than any other producer in Hip-Hop culture. He began as a DJ in California during the mid 80's as a teenager. Dre's style is best described as revolutionary within the genre. He is responsible for two major revolutions within the genre. The first is the implementation was funk within rap music. The sound that pioneered west coast rap even before it was main-stream was the funk instrumentals of the 1970's. The second revolution that he introduced was the sound of keyboard strings in succession. This style is almost as imitated as scratching records in songs.
Most notable production: Nuthin But A G Thang, California Love
01) DJ Premier is the being known as Christopher Martin or Premo to his fans. He was first introduced to his style in Houston while attending Prarie View A&M University. At that time he was known as DJ Waxmaster C. Premo's production style is the most notable style around. He is known for actually creating hooks for the rapper by scratching short vocals from other songs together. For example on Gang Starr's song Piece of Mine from thier 2003 album The Ownerz, Premo scratches Royce' Da 5'9's voice from his song Boom in succession to create the sound "Trust me I'm as live as it gets...my flow is like...live as it gets." Premo is widely regarded as one of the few producers that can overshadow the actual artist on a track by providing such inovative instrumentals.Most notable production credits: Gang Starr, Nas's Illmatic (3 tracks) Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt (3 tracks), Notorious Big's Ready to Die (2 tracks)
posted by Words.worth @ 10:27 AM
18 Comments:
Jazzy Jeff's ommission is a travesty. And that is not just hometown love. Also, no Diamond D and no Beatnutz? Wow. And Dangermouse will have to be explained...
Again, other than those I mentioned, no real objections. Good list.
Scott Storch in the Top 10??????
I gotta agree with Sonnyredd on the omission of Jazzy Jeff & the Beatnutz
Ok fellas let me say that this was the harder than the actual MC's themself. I knew I was going to have to justify this list. It shows how good you guys musical mind is because both of those producers were in the next group that I had 30-35.
Jazzy Jeff- While Jazzy Jeff's production is rooted in hip-hop I also view him as an important figure within the soul genre. (I hate the term Neo-soul). His ommission was simply because at this point I view him as more than a mere rap producer.
Da Beatnutz- ironically were actually number 32 on my list.
Diamond D- did not make the list because much of his relied heavily on the assistance of other producers. This is the same reason that Mike Elizondo does not make the list.
C'mon now Ice Scott Storch is one of the baddest men in the land. Look at the stuff that he has arranged with The Roots. He has proven that he has the ability take on the commercial market and the underground one.
DJ Dangermouse- Is arguably the most prominent rap producer in the UK. Look at what he has done with Gorillaz and MF Doom. He recently collaborated with Cee-Lo for the Gnarls Barkley project. Sonny I know you will appreciate this. He has a collabo with Black Thought that is in the works right now.
Man this was very difficult.
C'mon dog no Noke D or Notz but, Lil Jon made it? You gone have to come see me about that one son.
In my opinion, the true MC cannot exist properly w/o his DJ, and vice versa.
I'm scratchin my head at Scott Storch too...
BTW, Jazzy Jeff is doing JUST fine, he is the mastermind behind Jill Scott's sound and other up and coming Neo Soul Stars.. much respect to him.
Nupe you catchin hades for not including Jazzy Jeff. I gotta defend Scott Storch. Most people do not know about all the ghost production that he is done. You still have not told me why Noke D is not on the list.
Ambboogie, you are absolutely right! The DJ has become a forgotten being but, they are just as instrumental as the MC. Yeah Jazzy Jeff has evolved to more than just a rap DJ/Producer. That was why I left him off the list.
Ray, I did not answer because you know that I am struggling to find a reason not to include him on the list. It is funny how I always get on other people about being biased and then I did the same thing against Noke D because he is from Hueston. Let's call him 31-A. History has just been made. Words.worth was convinced to alter his opinion!
Okay for the most I am with you with the exception of DJ Quick. By the way. Where the Hell is Shock G. Dude's instrumentals help put Tupac on the map not to mention the scores for soundtracks.
BTW you may want to consider adding Jam Master Jay to the list.
Yo G,
Looks like you may need to do some editing to this list and when is the next blog coming. You are back from the ATL now. Get on it dog!
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