Thursday, December 22, 2005

THE MEN BEHIND THE MUSIC!
This post is dedicated to some of my favorite producers! The production is actually my favorite part of most records! If the production is wack, I can give a dizzam about what the artists are talking about in most cases! I put a list together of my top 10 favorite producers of music that I have a deep respect for! Now, these are not the "best" producers of all time, but in my world they have definitely contributed to my fascination with music as a whole! This is only 10 of my favorite producers, but in my opinion these dudes have changed the game at one time or another with their production. These guys are/were risk takers when it comes to their beat patterns, music samples and instrumentation on the production tip! Let's start with RZA for example, he was the first producer I heard using sound clips from vintage kung-fu movies in his production! Wu-Tang's whole sound revolved around the martial arts, which changed the game and nitched him a spot as one of the top producers of his time. Then you have veterans like Pete Rock, with his pattened horns, JayDee with that famous bounce-clap, and DJ Premier with his unmistakable scratching techniques! All of which gave them a distinctive sound of their own! These katz definitely influenced the trend of hiphop back in the day!

In the newer school category, you have Pharrell, M.F. Doom, Madlib, 9th Wonder, DJ Spinna, and J-Zone! Pharrell and the Neptunes shook the industry back in 1998 when the world heard the production on the cut, "Super Thug" by N.O.R.E! The Neptunes had several chart topping hits after that, and are still going strong today! Pharrell has taken their sound even further with his own brand of clever production as a solo artists! Check for some new production from Pharell on the new T.E.R.I.Y.A.K.I. Boyz album release! M.F. Doom originally from the group KMD (Peach Fuzz) took the underground hiphop world by storm with his off-beat, unpolished and choppy style of production! To some his productions sounds like a bunch of noises that makes no sense, but when you take time to analyze what this man is doing, it is something incredibly original! When I heard the song, "Hey!" for the first time, I was immediately hooked! Now M.F. Doom has produced for some of the great underground MCs, and he has a cult like fan base that is unmatched! Madlib is one of my favorites because he has heavy jazz influenced production! The brother can take a Miles Davis or Roy Ayers groove, flip and chop it up, and make you think it was originally a hiphop sample! Not too many producers are as respected in the jazz community like this man either! DJ Spinna is one of the most overlooked producers in my humble opinion? He has produced tight tracks in all genres of music from house, soul, rock, acid jazz and hiphop! Not many producers can say the same. He has a sound that I would call, Spacey...because I can't think of a better word to describe it? As some of the greats lik Pete Rock, Jazzy Jeff and Primo, Spinna is actually a real DJ! He can rock a party with his mixing abilities, and he has several mixed albums to his credit! He is one to check for!

The last two producers on my list are J-Zone and 9th Wonder! I stumbled on J-Zone looking for some new hiphop back in 2000! At that time he was pretty unknown, but I was able to hear the independent release, "A Bottle of Whup Ass" EP...and I have been a huge fan ever since! He takes strange music samples from opera to classical, and loops them together in ways I had never heard before! This dude is nice on the boards! 9th Wonder of Little Brother fame brought hiphop back on track in the new millenium when it was losing its focus in my opinion! Ever since the breakup of essential groups like Pete Rock & CL Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest, EPMD, etc... there was a void in hiphop that was not being filled? Out of the dark shadows, here comes 9th Wonder to the rescue with his soulful loops and samples that could not be denied! Now, he's a household name, which I think he greatly deserves! Some critics feel that his sound is repeditive, but in my opinion...9th Wonders second hand-rehashed beats are better than mosts in these grim, lack of originality days of hiphop!!

After reading my list of producers, you are probably thinking, how could I not mention the other great producers like Kanye West, Dre, Marley Marl, Just Blaze, Scott Scorch, Rockwild, Rodney Jerkins, Puff Daddy, Jermaine Dupri, Diamond D, The 45 King, etc., that have also made industry changing records over the years? Well, the answer is....the ten producers I chose were my personal favorites that I felt have made the greatest difference in my life musically! If I ever make a top 20 list of my favorite producers, you can best believe all of those names would be on it!!

I put together a mix.."Dedicated 2 the Producers" with some of my favorite tracks produced by these katz! Check it out!

Tracklist: 1) One In A Million - Pete Rock & CL Smooth (Pete Rock), 2)Forth & Back (Original Mix) - Slum Village (JayDee), 3)C.S.S. - Jigmastas (DJ Spinna), 4)190 - Al Shid (J-Zone), 5)Flip The Script - Gangstarr (Primo), 6)Hityawitdat - Lootpack (Madlib), 7)Solid - Jean Grae feat. Phonte (9th Wonder), 8)Poisonous Darts - Ghostface (RZA), 9)Hey! - M.F. Doom, 10)All The Places - Pete Rock & CL Smooth (Pete Rock), 11)3-6-5 - Skam feat. Eminem (DJ Spinna), 12)Get It Together - Slum Village (JayDee), 13)What Is It - Busta Rhymes (Pharrell), 14)Speak Ya Clout - Gangstarr (Primo), 15)Daily Operation - Justus League (9th Wonder), 16)Fine Print - M.F. Doom, 17)Stroke Happy - J-Zone

Click here to download for a limited time!

4 comments:

DJ SoundNexx said...

DMecca - It was hard narrowing this list down, but I just thought about songs that made a difference to me over the years! Originality was another major factor as well!

Soundnexx

DJ SoundNexx said...

Harmone - U are definitely correct on those Marley Marl comments! Marley was the producer of some of the most critical hiphop tracks of his day, and he influenced a few kats on my favs list for sure! Now, I have to dig out my Marley's In Control Vol. 1 to reflect!

Anonymous said...

Hey Cuz..
This site is soo awesome. I took a quick glance a couple of weeks ago and decided that work wasn't the place to really get into it. (smile).. but now its my week off and I'm reading thru this site and its definitely hot. I've sent it out to all of my friends.. GOOD JOB!.. I'm scrambling to listen to a few cds so I'll have some "music type" comments to post. I miss you. Love ya.

DJ SoundNexx said...

Cynamon - I'm glad to hear from ya! Hope you had a great Christmas? Glad you like the site! I still have some work to do in my opinion, but I am having fun! Thanks for stopping by!