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My stomach hurts and my throat is on fire. I wish I could sit on the toilet and re-read all seven Harry Potter books, but I can’t do that right now. I’m a working man. Kind of. I have to put in some good hours so that they’ll hire me at the end of this internship. I miss college so much, but I try not to dwell on the good times I took for granted — Halo 3 marathons and staying up until 3:00 with no repercussions. Time to be a grown up.

New York City is freezing and my blood is barely moving by the time I get to Penn Station. I get home at 11:00 and spare an hour of sleep to listen to LiveLoveASAP again. 2011 was rough. We lost Amy Winehouse, Gil-Scott Heron, Heavy D, and Nate Dogg. There were riots and protests all over the world. But I’ll sleep soundly tonight, heartened by the fact that my new baby cousin has all his toes and fingers and that this year, the following beats were dope.

As is tradition, we gathered some friends to each pick their five favorite beats of the year. 2011′s swaggiest are…

Pete Rock – Soul Brother #1

Big K.R.I.T. –  Mississippi maestro

Mark Ronson - DJ, super-producer, the man

Dave1 – 1/2 of Chromeo, expert funkateer, style guru, life long hip hop connoisseur

Waka Flocka – Hardest in the paint

Georgia Anne Muldrow – Stones Throw lady

Nick Speed – One of Detroit’s finest

PT PrimeTime – 1/3 of Untamed Ent (The 6 Day Equation)

HL – Droptops & Stacy Laptops

Jensen Karp – Pop culture junkie, Gallery 1988 owner, rapper pension plan beneficiary.

Craig S. Jenkins – Potholes In My Blog

Rebecca Haithcoat – LA Weekly

Joey – Straightbangin

And your humble editor, KNOBBZXL aka Evan Nabavian

Adele Adkins, Dan Wilson

Adele – Someone Like You

Big K.R.I.T.: You’d be hard pressed to find anyone that’s making music better than Adele right now. She is an amazing songwriter, producer and vocalist. I’d love to work with her.

Agallah

Agallah – Living In My Past

HL: In 2011 we witnessed enthusiasm for the ill-fated Dipset reunion dissipate into oblivion, leaving behind an unwarranted sequel to Boss Of All Bosses and several blasphemous golden-age Jim Jones freestyles as the final remnants of “the movement to move with.” Perhaps our collective listening ears dodged a bullet, because Harlem’s homecoming would’ve likely sucked dolphin dick with Dr. Dre and AraabMusik the steering helm. If the Dips were truly serious about recapturing that abrasive soul associated with their mid-aughts run, they would’ve considered recruiting the infallible Don Bishop Agallah. “Living In My Past” bears as much energy as anything I’ve heard on urban radio this year, while remaining undeniably New Yitty.

Alchemist

B. – Doo Wop (ft. Planet Asia, Killer Ben)

HL: Alchemist donned several ten-gallon hats in 2011, with each style being distinctly insular. He coughed up blunted ambiance for Covert Coup, delivered inclement paranoia on Black Cocaine, and donated apocalyptic boom-bap to Cats and Dogs. But most notably, Alan provided Blu with his most soulful canvas since “Til I Die.” Minimalism has always been most effective in the hands of those with discerning taste. It’s what separates “Doo Wop” from it’s lazy, awkward, contrived, vastly overrated bizarro incarnation known as “Otis.” This year, and arguably the twelve years prior, belonged to Alan The Chemist.

Curren$y & Alchemist – Smoke Break

Rebecca Haithcoat: It’s not the best song on Curren$y and Alchemist’s joint collaboration, Covert Coup, nor does the NOLA rapper stretch lyrically in it. But Alchemist has crafted the perfect getaway track for Spitta Andretti’s movie. The sleepy-eyed stoner has just pulled off the coup of the century (stealthily touring, collecting girls and both kinds of green at every stop, and blowing smoke in the faces of shady industry suits). As the sun sets on his baby blue Ferrari snaking down the coast, you realize he’s getting away with it. This is the song playing as the credits roll. “Yeah, lil homie y’all can get down, but I bet y’all can’t keep up.”

Roc Marciano – Hoard 90

Evan: We look to artists like Roc Marciano and Alchemist for their marshes of lo-fi fuzz, grit, dust, and dirt. That’s why the adamantine guitar sample on “Hoard 90″ pops out like a sword of light cutting through a blanket clouds. Roc Marc tries to play it as low-key as ever, but bars like, “Laughing as I advertise fabulous rhymes / All that vernacular is fly. / Caught your eye with just one try,” beam like golden revelations.

Ben Frank

Ben Frank – Ova (ft. Q-Mack)

PT PrimeTime: The reason I chose that one is because I can relate to that song a whole lot. That song right there is deep. It shows a lot of pain in that song also.

Listen: Ben Frank – Ova (ft. Q-Mack)

Beyonce, Jeff Bhasker, Kanye West

Beyonce – Party (ft. Andre 3000)

Nick Speed: That kind of reminded me of an 80s song. I just like how Andre came on it, plus I like the Slick Rick sample in. As many times as “La Di Da Di” has been sampled, I don’t think anybody actually took that part. Creative usage of Slick Rick in the beat. The tempo was dope, it reminded me of a Summer barbecue. That was real dope to me.

Big K.R.I.T.

T.I. – I’m Flexin’

Big K.R.I.T.: T.I. is one of the torch-bearers for southern hip-hop. He’s definitely someone I’ve always jammed. Being afforded the opportunity to produce and be featured on his first offering to the public after getting out was a blessing. I’m glad people are digging it the way they are.

Jackie Chain – Parked Outside (ft. Bun B, Big K.R.I.T.)

Big K.R.I.T.: Man, this beat went through so many changes. I spent a few days trying get the drums to hit the way they do. I had to layer them in a real intricate way to get that vintage sound out of them. Also, I had to get the original sample replayed and the musicians who did it nailed it. This definitely turned out to be one of my favorite beats I did this year.

Block Beattaz

Untamed Ent – Million Dollar

PT PrimeTime: The reason I picked Untamed Ent’s “Million Dollar Swag” is because of the energy that it gives off and the whole club feel, the whole radio feel. It’s energy, straight energy behind. A lot of people liked it. It’s always good to have energy.

Boi-1da (additional production by Noah “40″ Shebib)

Drake – Headlines

Dave1: Headlines, I think is incredible. That kick drum sounds fucking phenomenal man. That kick drum is unbelievable.

Brandun Deshay

Danny Brown – Pac Blood

Dave1: The way [he] flipped “Nautilus” by Bob James, and that song has been used to death. He used it with another filter underneath and they just gave it a new life.

Bronze Nazareth

Bronze Nazareth – King of Queens

Joey: Sample of the Year, not for its technical intricacy, not for its obscurity, not for its inventiveness. Merely because this joint knocks. Truly, this is hip-hop. The tempo is perfect, strolling along over the snares while Bronze spits in a relaxed cadence. You can’t help but nod your head, shake your shoulders, pump a fist, or maybe all three.

Clams Casino

Lil B – Motivation

Craig S. Jenkins: A major musical obsession began in earnest early in the year when I copped Based God’s Angels Exodus (which, fuck what any forgetful end-of-the-year round-up tells you, remains the best Lil B release of the 2011) and checked the production credits only to find one name listed. The name was Clams Casino, and the track was “Motivation”, whose titanic instrumental brews with Clams’ personal pet sounds: human voices stretched and manipulated until they sound like whales moaning, shimmering blankets of static-laced synth haze, and tribal percussion breakdowns. I never found out who produced the rest of the album, and I can’t say that I care. I’d already found my favorite producer of the year.

Cool & Dre

Game – The City (ft. Kendrick Lamar)

Pete Rock: Kendrick Lamar kills this record. The melodic sound of the beat and the singing make this one of my favorites of 2011.

Game – Good Girls Go Bad (ft. Drake)

Jensen Karp: More soul sampling on this one, it’s the highlight (“Ricky” is a nice second place) of a decent Game album that most people either ignored or underrated. Great claps lead the way, do yourself a favor and give this album a shot. I’m not a huge Cool & Dre fan, but this one sings for sure. Drake references Milhouse on the song, so even if I’m wrong, it’s worth that laugh.

Daedelus

Daedelus – Penny Loafers (ft. Inara George)

Evan: Inara George’s velvet purr makes my brain warm. Daedelus takes her beautiful cadence and drapes it with exotic drums, well-to-do strings, and burning synths. I knew when I pressed play on Bespoke that there would be at least one song that would own me for the next 8 months. “Penny Loafers” is for ballroom dancing on the sun, for house parties where expensive cheeses are served. Stop me before I start writing sonnets.

David Banner

David Banner – SWAG

Big K.R.I.T.: Shout to the big homie for spoon feeding people some healthy and hearty brain food. And, the beat jams.

DJ Burn One

G-Side – No Radio (ft. Bentley)

PT PrimeTime: “This shit ain’t for radio, this no BDS, this the shit that you listen to when relieving stress.” Basically, it’s hard. It’s something hard with G-Side. I like that.

Rittz – High Five

Big K.R.I.T.: Pure country rap tunes right here. This shit knocks. That Tommy Wright III sample flip worked out.

DJ Two Stacks

Kreayshawn – Gucci Gucci

Jensen Karp: Roll your eyes and shake your head all you want, but keep in mind this is a list of hottest BEATS, which has nothing to do with everyone’s most hated white girl. This beat is the main reason (along with the video director) Kreayshawn became a household name so quickly (keep in mind that household was destroyed in a earthquake 6 months later). Need proof? Listen to Lil’ Wayne’s version from the No Ceilings mixtape. I’m right, you’re wrong.

Rebecca Haithcoat: This song should play when 2011’s time capsule is opened. Two Stacks’ brew of warbly synths, yipped “mews,” a cartoonishly menacing undertone, and Kreayshawn’s own ridiculously catchy catchphrase “One big room, fulla bad bitches” is brilliant. Though not her own work, the lines couldn’t have been delivered any better by anyone else. It remains to be seen if she’ll be a one-hit wonder, and she has a nifty writer and Odd Future to thank for the layup, but she slam-dunked this one.

Exile

Bun B – Brolic

Georgia Anne Muldrow: This one is just ooozing funk. And the rhythmic space is incredible.

Harry Fraud

French Montana – Shot Caller (ft. Charlie Rock)

Waka Flocka: That’s the anthem right now. My brother French killing that right now.

Hit-Boy, Kanye West, Mike Dean, (additional production by Anthony Kilhoffer)

Jay-Z and Kanye West – Niggas in Paris

Nick Speed: That track right there was an original track. It kind of reminded me of a mix between a game show, like The Price Right, and they also had a little gospel sample in there. That’s the sample of some “The Baptism” I think is the name of the song by some Southern reverend. So I thought that was real creative, because it’s a keyboard beat with a little bit of gospel in there too. Not to mention they performed it like seven times every time they went out.

Dave1: What’s cool about Paris, that it never really kicks in. It’s always just kicks and snares and it’s cool, it’s a really elliptical programing, it’s so simple and clean. The first time I heard it I actually didn’t think it was that good and two listens in I was sold. [In the club?]  Yeah, that shit cray.

Tha Hydrox

Yelawolf – Hard White (Up in the Club)

Rebecca Haithcoat: Dixie’s silver-tongued hope darts in and out of this straight banger of a beat. An unapologetic club single, Yela nonetheless elevates it by basically shitting on every rapper who actually frequents the club with a precision of flow that’s unmatched. It doesn’t matter if you’re so drunk you only catch Lil Jon hollering, “Happy Birthday!” Whatever Yela’s saying in fast-forward coupled with the shotgun drum blasts will hype you up. They better not play this at a redneck hoedown in the Dirty.

Jahlil Beats

Meek Mill – I’m a Boss (Ft. Rick Ross)

Dave1: Oh man I love that, that’s bananas. That’s that 80′s, you’re [probably] surprised that I like all the kickboard shit. I couldn’t even tell if it was a sample or original. It’s got that original 80′s feel to it. Those are like those Just Blaze beats for the Diplomats, that’s what that reminded me of.

Justice

Justice - Audio, Video, Disco

Mark Ronson: This is what prog should sound like in 2012. The melody, chords, vocals, it’s fucking awesome. The tempo is slighty awkward to play it in my DJ set, I imagine it will probably take a dubstep remix to turn it into a dancefloor hit.

Just Blaze

Drake – Lord Knows

Jensen Karp: Under a choir that would make Tim Tebow satisfied, these drums could make even the worst rapper sound good (word to Rampage the Last Boy Scout). I’m assuming at least 50% of people asked to partake in these lists picked this song, and they wrote about it in great detail, so I’ll use this last sentence to promote my art galleries (gallery1988.com).

Wale, Meek Mill, Pill, Rick Ross, Teedra Moses – Self-Made

Craig S. Jenkins: Just Blaze pulverized pretty much everything he touched this year to the point where picking the best is really just a game of favorites. He caught me with “Self Made,” the Maybach Music Group album opener and title track, though. That live band largess, the hollowed out bits where he lets Teedra Moses’ vocals bleed into the fore, the bits under Meek Mill’s and Wale’s verses where he peels back a couple instruments and lets the keys and guitar vibe out, the alarm clock that announces Pill’s verse, the string section breakdown toward the end, the piano breakdown after it, the sample of Wings’ “Jet”… Like, fuck.

Rick Ross – I Love My Bitches

Nick Speed: First of all it inspired me to want to make a beat. Secondly, that also had a little gospel influence in it too to me, but it also had soul samples in it. The drums was crazy. He had a lot of drum fields and a lot of drum breaks. Not sampled drum breaks, but he had a lot of different programming. His loop might have been 16 bars or something. He definitely got his program on, like he always does.

Kanye West

Jay-Z and Kanye West – Otis

Pete Rock: The way they spit the song made me like the beat.

Kanye West, Pete Rock (additional production by Mike Dean, Jeff Bhasker)

Kanye West & Jay-Z – The Joy (ft. Charlie Wilson, Kid Cudi)

Pete Rock: This one made it because I produced it. Lol. The Curtis Mayfield sample does it for me with this record.

Mark Ronson: Kanye has been very grateful as of late to the legendary producers who gave birth to a lot of our styles, RZA, Q-Tip, and Pete Rock etc… And Pete’s been on fire the past few years anyway (check “Be Easy” and any of his tracks off ofApollo Kids). “The Joy” is a perfect example of Kanye’s gratitude paying off in spades for all involved: the Curtis vocal, the Syl Johnson “uh” for extra golden-era cred, and the sputteringly late snare, they all frame Kanye & Jay’s vocals and make this feel like long lost classic.

Download: Kanye West & Jay-Z – The Joy (ft. Charlie Wilson, Kid Cudi)

Knife Knights PLCRS

Shabazz Palaces – Are You… Can You… Were You? (Felt)

Craig S. Jenkins: The beauty of “Are You…,” of all of the latest Shabazz Palaces album Black Up, really, is the way the music pairs classicist hip hop production with the modern avant garde. “Are You…” takes what seems to be a simple chop and outfits it with shambling, intricate percussion and experimental electronic noise like some kind of retro-futurist take on modern rap.

Lee Major of The Inkredibles

Rick Ross, Meek Mill & Wale – Play Your Part

Jensen Karp: If you told me in 2010 that a Wale song would be on any list I’d compile, I would’ve laughed at you and told to clean my room (my room is messy, nothing to do with the music). I don’t know much about Lee Major or The Inkredibles, and I won’t Google either just to seem smarter, I’ll just say it’s a great beat in the fashion of J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League (a usual mainstay on my favorite beats list), and I love hearing D.A. on the hook as the whole thing just sounds very big. Good stuff, rich guys.

Lex Luger

Waka Flocka – Round of Applause (ft. Drake)

Waka Flocka: This record is going to be big. All the ladies loving it. The clubs are on smash with this one for real.

M16

Young Jeezy – I Do (ft. Jay-Z, Andre 3000)

Pete Rock: Great bass line.

Madlib

Declaime – Apocalyptic Music (ft. Aloe Blacc)

Georgia Anne Muldrow: I love this track, it’s real involved. Madlib got the widest range in beats.

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib – Thuggin’

Evan: “Syringes, rubber bands, needles, the 60s.” That particular Ghostface refrain is what comes to mind when I listen to “Thuggin’” Maybe it’s the ambling psychedelia of the beat paired with Gibbs’ surgically precise flow. Maybe the high, clear staccato guitar (?) reminds me of “Verbal Intercourse.” Or maybe it’s just the hook, which perfectly matches the high I get from this track, “And it feels so good. And it feels so right.” People aspire to be Dr. Dre or DJ Premier. No one aspires to be Madlib because they know they’ve got no chance.

Mad Lion

KRS-One - AZTECHNICAL

Georgia Anne Muldrow: Amazing. It’s exactly the way a scroll should sound.

Martin “Doc” McKinney

The Weeknd – Wicked Games

Dave1: That’s crazy. It’s a Portishead hip hop thing. I mean listen, sonically what they’re doing, and it’s really tough for me to say this since I’m from Montreal, but Toronto is killing it this year. I tip my hat to them man, they are murdering the game production wise.

Nick Speed

Danny Brown – Detroit 187

Evan: Nick Speed told me that Danny first recorded this song in his low voice, but I’m so glad he switched to the insane high pitched cartoon voice. Combined with the brooding, tinker toy beat, it makes “Detroit 187″ one of the more delightfully weird tracks on XXX. Like getting lost in an asylum.

Noah “40″ Shebib

Drake – Free Spirit (ft. Rick Ross)

Craig S. Jenkins: Hip hop heads hate Drake like he stole their high school sweetheart and dumped her after he beat, but I don’t get it. He’s obviously just a harmless R&B guy who just happens to rap, and what’s more, annoying though he may be, he makes sure to surround himself with a talented stable of collaborators at all times. Producer Noah “40” Shebib is arguably the wind in Drake’s sails musically speaking, and his spectral touch made 2011 urban radio a very strange place. Non-album cut “Free Spirit” showcased 40’s knack for taking not-so-cool source material and turning it into moody pop. Here 40 takes an old school Sade track and flips it into muted, vaguely Southern boom bap replete with his trademark industrial-sounding drums, barely there bass, and light guitar accents.

Oh No

MED - Where I’m From (ft. Aloe Blacc)

Georgia Anne Muldrow: Song is baad! Oh No is one of the most consistent brothers doing it on the beats and that’s real.

Perseus

Mark Ronson - Record Collection 2012 (Ft. Pharrell, MNDR, Wretch 32 & Wiley) (Perseus Remix)

Mark Ronson: Of any remix of one of my songs, this may be my all-time favourite to actually listen to (outside of the club). I love the way he changed the chord progression and then cleverly tuned MNDR’s vocals to match it. And the arpeggiating synth sounds like something out of an 80′s Michael Mann film like “To Live & Die In L.A.” Gildeas from Kitsune commissioned this mix and as soon as I heard it, I had to find out who this kid was.

Pete Rock

Blu – The Clean Hand

Joey: Hip-Hop’s ghosts live on this track, the dusty, dulcet tones recalling the Digable Planets and Tribe, inviting everyone from early Busta to the late Biggie. Fresh though, “Clean Hand” enjoys some pop thanks to Blu’s sharp vocals and the lively undercurrent pushing the track forward. Most impressive, the beat holds its own against some of the best Pete Rock joints.

Quelle Chris

Danny Brown – Monopoly

HL: At this point you should certainly be familiar with Quelle Chris. After all, he was responsible for roughly 37.5% of The Hybrid’s brilliant soundscape. When I asked Quelle why he didn’t hoard “Monopoly” for his solo endeavor, he claimed the production simply didn’t fit into the mold of Shotgun and Sleek Rifle. Fortunately, it gelled perfectly with the zany atmosphere of Danny Brown’s XXX. In retrospect, passing this instrumental along to a more animated vocalist that could match its aggressive quirkiness proved to be an outstanding decision, and resulted in one of the strongest rap songs of 2011.

Rich Green

A.F.A.C – Left 2 Right (ft. PT PrimeTime)

PT PrimeTime: The reason I like this song is, I’m a big fan of Bravo and I’m a big fan of PT PrimeTime. I’m a big fan of myself. I like the energy in that song also. I like the way each artist was able to ride the beat with the flow and stay on cadence. Rich Green, he’s an awesome producer.

Riff Raff McGriff

Riff Raff McGriff – Moon Baby Morse Code

Georgia Anne Muldrow: This cat’s a boom bap genius. You can literally hear the morning mist on the battleground on this one.

Listen: Riff Raff McGriff – Moon Baby Morse Code

Salaam Remi

Nas – Nasty

HL: One of my huskiest beefs with fellow chip-toothed fanboys is their failure to muster up the testicular fortitude to defend Salaam Remi. This year ”Nasty” joined the ranks of classic street singles such as “Thief’s Theme” and “Made You Look.” Unfortunately, their latest collaboration never trickled down to the actual streets, and was confined to the virtual boulevards, avenues, and cul-de-sacs of the blogosphere. But lack of impact and influence shouldn’t detract from the quality of the record. Salaam provides a back-drop brimming with the type of grimace inducing low fidelity we’ve come to expect from southern California’s resident recluses, Blu and Madlib. So briefly suspend your unjustified hatred for Salaam Remi, pour a modest glass of cognac, light up a Cohiba Behike, and enjoy ”Nasty” in all it’s distorted glory.

Skywlkr

Danny Brown – Bruiser Brigade

Nick Speed: I had the album a little bit early, so the whole summer, I was just riding to that shit, we was getting drunk as hell, rolling downtown, attending wild parties, hanging with wild chicks and just listening to “Bruiser.” Just a laundry list of liquors and beers that he’s running down on that song and then not only that, but he had the Waka Flocka Flame adlibs added to it. For the beat itself, it had like a dubstep bassline, 808s, just the tempo. So it kind of satisfies my guilty pleasures. That was my party rocker for this year.

Southside

Wooh Da Kid – Feeling Good

Waka Flocka: Bricksquad Monopoly you already know. 2012 is gonna be big year for us. We taking over.

SpaceGhostPurrp

ASAP Rocky – Keep It G (ft. Chace Infinite, Spaceghost Purrp)

Evan: The ultimate riding tune, “Keep It G” glides on a serpentine trumpet melody that I’ll never get out of my head. I’m convinced that time slows down when I play this song. ASAP Rocky was the one rapper who broke out with a distinct sound that instantly made me a fan.

Download: ASAP Rocky – Keep It G

Spaceghostpurrp – Suck a Dick for 2011

Rebecca Haithcoat: Whether it’s the squealing synth, the muffled kick of the drum, or the fact that Miami’s Spaceghostpurrp chants “Suck a nigga dick fa 2011” for a full 45 seconds, his voice covered in a thick fuzz of reverb, this was my favorite in a year chock-full of anthems. Purrp’s is not the work of a prodigy producer cranking out purposefully lo-fi recordings in his parents’ basement — it’s messy, the song a C-section scarred-stripper dances to in the Deep South. Bucking rap’s traditional takes on oral sex, he directs shots neither at other rappers nor women. Instead, he shames those not having safe sex and reveals a feminist tendency. He really is straddling 1991 and 2011.

Listen: Spaceghostpurrp – Suck a Dick for 2011

Swizz Beatz

Rick Ross – The Transporter

HL: “The Transporter” was born out of the short-lived “Monster Mondays” promotion series, which oddly never lead up to an actual project. Quite frankly, I find it difficult to believe Swizz Beatz had a hand in this beautiful composition. But assuming he actually pounded this out on the MPC, God bless him for inspiring Rick Ross to channel his Deeper Than Rap era alliteration and flamboyant mafioso imagery. Unlike the bulk of Swizzy’s discography, ”The Transporter” isn’t repetitive, but in fact quite layered and capricious.

Download: Rick Ross – The Transporter

T-Minus

Drake – Make Me Proud (ft. Nicki Minaj)

Waka Flocka: I like this song because it just shows my ladies I’m proud of what they doing. Going for theirs. Ya know?

Drake – The Motto (Ft. Lil Wayne)

Mark Ronson: I first heard Seb Chew play a leak of “The Motto” on London’s Rinse FM and it was the first beat in recent memory that made me go, “Who the fuck made that?” There’s not one drum sound or sample in it that you haven’t heard before and you could say that it’s a distant relative of some classic Too Short shit; however, it’s still wholly original in its own right. Plus, there’s a snare on the downbeat–which is hard as fuck to get away with in a club track. And the icing on the cake is that Drake sounds like he’s having a ball on the track, a rare occurrence on Take Care. Anyway, once I looked up who had made this track, I realized that T-Minus had already produced my other favourite hip-pop track of the year, “I’m On One”–which reminds me of Art Of Noise go Trap.

T-Minus (additional production by Noah “40″ Shebib, Kromatic)

DJ Khaled – I’m On One (ft. Drake, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne)

Dave1: I think T-Minus is my producer of the year, I’ve been telling that to everyone. You saw what he did right? He did “I’m on One” he did fuckin “She Will.” But yeah, so T-Minus, “I’m On One,” number one beat of the year. The keyboard lick, when it really kicks in…you’re waiting for it. It’s crazy man, all the change ups, and it’s still sort of subdued. That’s my shit.

Pete Rock: I like the beat and the sampled sound they used on this joint.

Tyler, The Creator

Tyler, The Creator – Yonkers

Jensen Karp: Although the whole album was a minor disappointment, nothing hit harder in 2011 than Tyler’s first real jump into mainstream, both lyrically and behind the boards. Stabbing chords, spastic drums, screeching hook – this painted the picture that would take the streets/malls/Hot Topics by storm, without any commercial structure or precedence. The pop anti-pop. Say what you will about Odd Future, but to ignore the lane, the sound, the groundwork they created this year would just be hating.

Rebecca Haithcoat: Hitchcock would have wanted this sparse, creepy opening strain to preface the shower scene in Psycho. Tyler exacerbates the effect with his equally ominous and sexy voice, which sounds like he just swallowed his rage but it’s barely contained. Plunked piano chords lend the song a wistful melancholy, a perfect contrast/complement to the callousness/vulnerability of the lyrics. If I were a 15-year-old misunderstood, teased male, I’d play this over and over while plotting my revenge.

Nick Speed: That beat right there was like a rebirth of the Wu-Tang movement. I think that that kind of brought back that sound to the forefront in the mainstream where it was getting attention from people like Pharrell and MTV. They took it back to not only Wu-Tang, but 90s independent hip-hop 12″ college radio kind of sound. And they actually brought that to the people where it was acceptable in a mainstream or commercial world.

Dave1: It has that WuTang feel, it’s like look man, I just recognize when I see guys like Tyler, ASAP, Danny Brown… I come from the underground, I came up with the underground. This gives me that feeling again, I mean I’m 33 and I’m waiting for a mix tape to drop on Monday like a fucking teenager? What the fuck is wrong with me?! For something in music to give me that feeling again, it’s been a while in hip hop.

Tzarizm

9th Prince & Midaz – ThunderCats

Joey: Like walking through a valley of terror. The drums climbs high, the discordant synthesizers menace the shit of a listener, and it blares along like an assault. In an age of crooning Canadians and threadbare tough talk, something so elemental, grimy, and raw commands special respect.

Wiley

Wiley – Numbers In Action

Mark Ronson: If you took Ying-Yang Twins’ “The Whisper Song” across the Atlantic Ocean and filtered it through the lens of a generation of UK grime music, it would sound like this. Like “The Motto”, i doubt there’s much in this beat that can’t be found in a Roland drum machine, but the way it’s crafted is wholly original. It’s an instant neck-snapper.

Young L

Young L – How I Got Here

Young L – Loud Pockets (TIE)

Craig S. Jenkins: Young L is the future. He does whatever he wants behind the boards. Left field drum patterns? Sure. Ear-splitting synths? OK. Whole mixtape of songs sampling nothing but Imogen Heap? Why the fuck not? Of the three projects Young L released this year, Domo-Kun, followed was probably my favorite, closely followed by Praktica. That’s mostly thanks to ratchet ass instrumentals like  “Loud Pockets” and “How I Got Here”, both of which cleverly pit swatches of wonky synth melody against impossibly massive drums. Crank this shit up to max volume and dumb the fuck out like I’m doing as I write this. BASS!

Jake One

Freeway and Jake One – Never Gonna Change

Zilla Rocca: When I first heard Jake One’s “Rock Ko.Kane Flow” from De La six year ago, I realized someone had added a new trick to the hip hop production manual–heightened and chopped/screwed effects to a simple four count beat. The last 2 bars of each verse from Doom, Dave, and Pos dictated the MCs to either pick up the pace or yank their voices down into sub-octaves with either dashing kicks and snares or molasses meters that almost stopped the track dead. “Never Gonna Change” takes the same approach without wondering into glitch hop or IDM, where time signatures skip out while you’re still trying to perfect the initial neck snap. It’s a soul sample and drums, diced up, stacked, lit on fire, put out, then bathed in gasoline while awaiting another match to be struck. It’s dramatic without being too busy or pandering to the new genre of Arena Emo Rap Where This is Obviously IMPORTANT sounding. Freeway tells a vivid story in his eager rushed flow, but you get the picture in instrumental form–things are cool, then tension rises, then shit hits the fan. All within Jake One’s new technique of aggressive beatmaking while keeping it boom bap.

Freeway & Jake One – Throw Your Hands Up

Moss: Putting Jake on this list was easy, trying to figure out which beat to pick took a while. Jake One has the sound I take to, so really anything he’s done this year could be on this list.

Freeway & Jake One – One Thing (ft. Raekwon)

DJ Eclipse: Although the whole album was dope, this one right here was definitely a stand out cut. Didn’t hurt that they put Rae on it either. Jake’s use of vocal samples had everybody singing along. More proof that “underground” producers have straight heat that everyone can appreciate.

Ghostface Killah – Troublemakers (ft. Method Man, Redman, and Raekwon)

Joey: In my dreams, this is what hip-hop sounds like: a stiff drum, a horned-up sample that is looped just so that your head nods, and a simplicity that is neither boring nor distracting. That the song serves Wu-Tang masters is all too perfect, because a blazing “W” looms above my own, personal hip-hop utopia.

Kanye West (co-produced by Jeff Bhasker)

Kanye West – All of the Lights

Craig Jenkins: The horn section on this song might just be my favorite musical development of 2010. That coupled with the deceptively simplistic bassline and the industrial percussion make for a beat that’s full of win. Thing is, “All of the Lights” doesn’t just coast on it’s killer melody. The strings and piano under Cudi’s verse, the fuzzed out bass under Fergie, and the plunking synths under Rihanna all give the song a melodic versatility and range of instrumentation not normally heard in modern rap. Heems from Das Racist called this “regal boom bap.” That about sums it up.

Will Power: Because he enlisted eleven guest vocalists, namely Alicia Keys, John Legend, The-Dream, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Elton John, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, Elly Jackson, and Rihanna, who sings the song’s chorus.

Kanye West (co-produced by Jeff Bhasker, No I.D.)

Drake – Show Me a Good Time

JLB: Pour out a little liquor for the baby water fowl they stepped on repeatedly to lend its voice to this stellar beat. As usual, Yeezy is a champ with the piano loops and the stuttering drums make spilling your drink to this totally worth it.

Kanye West, Mike Dean, No I.D.

Kanye West – Gorgeous (ft. Raekwon)

Joey: “Gorgeous” is subtle. On the surface, it’s a simple melody underneath assertive rhyming. But the track is textured so expertly that it finds new life upon close inspection. The primary sound is driven by a hazy guitar riff, one that evokes the sense of an aspiring garage band. That looped progression is set atop a somber, grave synthesizer that steadily pushes along until Raekwon comes in. When the Chef arrives, the synthesizer gives way to clarion piano notes, the guitar loop is replaced by a stronger solo, and the clutter leaves the air as a crisp and clean sound takes over. Most impressive might be the scratchy character of the vocals throughout. Both Kanye and Rae sound as though they’re flowing through a computer, only “Gorgeous” has enough restraint to resist amplifying that vocal effect so that it grows beyond ambient. Raekwon’s voice always sounds like he’s been smoking, and the track benefits from both MCs sounding more coarse than one might have expected. It’s a small enhancement, but it multiplies the track’s unique character. The beat and the vocals are as symbiotic as you’ll ever hear.

Kanye West, No I.D. (co-produced by Mike Dean)

Kanye West – So Appalled (ft. Jay-Z, Pusha T, Cyhi da Prynce, Swizz Beatz, RZA)

Ivan: Bolstered by fuckin’ redickyuliss synths and strings courtesy of a bridge portion from Manfred Mann’s “You Are – I Am” (1979), “So Appalled” takes the term “epic” to new, um, epic proportions. This isn’t just a beat – it’s more like the soundtrack to an undiscovered planet.

Kanye West, No I.D., RZA (additional production by Jeff Bhasker & Mike Dean)

Kanye West – Dark Fantasy

JLB: It seems that RZA has finally mastered this sample-free formula he’s been tinkering with over the past few years. The shadowy ciello strings duel with synth stabs that sport a decidedly Wu-Tang menace but with a buttoned-up posture. This is RZA in a suit. James Word Is Bond.

Kanye West, S1 (additional production by Andrew Dawson, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean)

Kanye West – Power

6th Sense: I’m talking about the finished, mastered, masterpiece that’s on the album. This beat has so many colors. S1 brought “Cold Grits”, King Crimson, and Afromerica. We don’t get sample collages like that in this day and age anymore, it just doesn’t happen. And then all of the crazy guitars, pianos, strings, and the synth outro that Kanye brought to the table. The beat is a true masterpiece. Oftentimes, before a show backstage, Outasight’ll put “Power” on even a laptop speaker and it gets us pumped up to rock a show. I also remember Elliot Wilson wanting the Afromerica sample, and me telling Marley Marl in person about the Afromerica sample.

Khrysis

HaLo – Nevermind (Remix) (ft. Big Remo, Sundown)

DJ Eclipise: If I had to narrow down my choices to one producer for the year it would have to be Khrysis. I probably could have listed him for all of my top five beats of 2010. This joint here is ridiculous. Original version was dope too, but this one just brings the MC out a rapper. A great freestyle beat to throw on.

Little Brother – 24 (ft. Torae)

Brandon: Other than big, stupid nostalgia, there’s no reason to keep on mourning 9th Wonder’s split from Little Brother. One of the things Phonte and Big Pooh immediately did upon the exit of the Fruity Loops king was find beats that quietly reinvented and hyper-modernized their soul loop sound and there’s no better example of this than “24,” the last track on the last Little Brother album we’re ever gonna get. For “24” (a twenty-four bar rapping exercise), Khrysis gave the guys a stuttering, underground glitch-hop track, with three or four different drums thumping through it, and integrated into the loop, a bunch of weird whoops, wheezes, and coughs. Then, it’s just over. No fade-out or anything. The end.

King Midas

H.I.S.D. – Rockin aka Space Up

Von Pea: When I heard this I was being a beat snob and hoping it was going to do what I thought it was going to do…am I making sense? There are multiple snares and a second before the next one would hit I was like “isitgonnabeYES…isitgonnabeYES…isitgonnaTHISISTHESHIT!!!!” As a producer this is the kind of track I would be afraid to play for people if I’d made it. It’s perfectly choppy yet fluid and brilliantly random. I haven’t heard this in a car yet and I have to do that ASAP.

LA Riot Music

Freddie Gibbs – National Anthem (Fuck the World)

Joey: Tearing and languor prevail, with the string narrative that carries the track allowing the bubbling drums and the building layers to only explode during the chorus. Even then, the track feels pained and desperate. The mood is perfect for a song about the struggle, and for a rapper whose entire persona evokes the staple images of indigence.

Lee Bannon

Lee Bannon & Chuuwee – Need That (ft. C Plus)

Moss: If you don’t know, you better learn quick. Sacramento’s the home for both these guys. Lee has mastered that boom bap sound everyone’s looking for and Chuuwee just has “it”. Dope EP, filthy song.

KNOBBZ: Without a doubt, this is my favorite beat of the year. Lee Bannon took Dilla and Madlib’s raw lo-fi sound to a new place. You can hear where he chopped the sample and you can hear the white noise before Chuuwee goes in. Bannon shows you the strings holding up the actors, but that just makes it so much more mesmerizing. The electric guitar loop exudes nostalgia. I’ve listened to this song every day since it dropped.

Lex Luger

Rick Ross – B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast) (ft. Styles P)

Block Beattaz: Only a few beats exist that can move everybody! Simple, but everything is placed properly.

Will Power: Self explanatory. Straight jammin.

Jackie Chain: Lex Luger’s been killing the game. Especially for Lex to be 19 years old, I think that B.M.F. beat was super, super hard. He just came with some heat. When that song comes on in the club, it’s like the whole club gets geeked off it. That shit rocks the club.

Lil Jon

Big Boi – Hustle Blood (ft. Jamie Foxx)

Aaron: All about that bass line, alternately swerving liquidly and slamming and pounding. The chiming guitars float over the mix while the buzzing synths smoothly with Foxx’s chorus. Those slaps and thunderous heartbeat 808s have a way for knocking their way into your synapses. The weirder parts are all Daddy Fat Sax – even the moaning breakdown works. Who knew the mastermind behind “Yeah!” had this in him?

Low Limit

Low Limit – Trapper Keeper

Daedelus: Low Limit is one half of Lazer Sword, a truly formidable duo, this beat just rocks out something special. From their Numbers label release.

Madlib

Madlib – London

Paul White: Hey, he called a beat ‘London’!

Marco Polo

Marco Polo & Ruste Juxx – Death Penalty (ft. DJ Revolution)

DJ Eclipse: Marco has basically taken the boom bap sound and improved on it. He makes sure his samples and drums are loud and aggressive as demonstrated here. This song is the trifecta. Producer meets MC meets DJ. Quality product.

Marco Polo & Ruste Juxx – Wings On Your Back (ft. Sean Price)

Aaron: Marco Polo absolutely killed this entire record but “Wings” stands out most to me for its utter sonic weirdness. Polo loops up a tightly wound Morricone guitar and alternates it with three note synth buzzes. There’s a great sense of space, that one second pause between the guitar and the synths creates a real momentum that keeps the listener’s attention without a chorus.The beat drops out for Sean Price’s shit talking, while those thick, steady drums ideally set the backdrop for Juxx’s verbal massacre.

Mark Ronson

Mark Ronson & The Business Int’l – Circuit Breaker

KNOBBZ: Give it up for Mark Ronson for putting this epic space battle instrumental on his album. So many sounds, colors, and textures, it sounds like the final boss level of every video game ever put together. I wish the radio sounded like this.

Mo Kolours

Mo Kolours – Syncro System

Paul White: Lovely natural vibe, its all about the feel!

My Dry Wet Mess

My Dry Wet Mess – Yours Truly

Daedelus: Not from Cali, but Barcelona. Not to be outdone, he channels plenty of the swagger that makes the region a focus whilst borrowing more of the restraint in the minimal dubstep sounds. I’m a fan first and for disclosure, I’m releasing his sounds on my Magical Properties label.

Nottz

Nottz – Fair Warning

Von Pea: I don’t even know how Nottz does this. I mean, technically its about where the drums fall, but feeling-wise it’s more than that. And this is the type of track this brother can make in his sleep! Insanity. The drum selection and how they swing, the flute sound that should sound corny but is FAR from it because of how he did it, and at this point in the game we don’t even have to mention the Nottz bassline. I want to make it sound effortless like him when I grow up.

The Olympicks

Rick Ross – Mafia Music 2 (ft. Chrisette Michele)

HL: Over the last two calendars Rick Ross, Reakwon, and Roc Marciano have managed to triple handedly stabilize the waning pulse of Mafioso rap. When properly executed the sub-genre almost always offers excess of some sort (usually shellfish), but let’s just say you know when you hear it. The Olympicks’ “Mafia Music II” composition is unmistakably Mafioso. Nothing says La Cosa Nostra like beautiful, soothing violins. Unfortunately, this track was inexplicably excluded from the retail version of Teflon Don. Shame on Def Jam.

Oh No*

Gangrene – Freshest Rhymes

*Ed. note: We’re guessing Oh No produced this. If anyone knows for sure, please tell us in the comments.

KNOBBZ: You could sum up Gangrene’s disease and squalor motif as an exercise in gross out humor, but “Freshest Rhymes” from the Sawblade EP belongs under the label of black comedy. The overbearing orchestral sample and pounding bass call up images of destruction and people running for safety. But Alchemist and Oh No mock Armageddon. The song starts with a clip from an ad for a collection of kids stories which launches into some of the most evil sounding hip-hop found anywhere. The duo stand on a pile of lesion-covered bodies and tell you that theirs are the freshest rhymes in the world. This kind of left-field boom bap is the most exciting school of hip-hop production and Alchemist and Oh No are best in class.

Quelle

Danny Brown – Re-Up

“Re-Up” was my introduction to Danny Brown’s music. The easiest way to convince me to listen to a new artist is by proclaiming “it sounds like some old Wu-Tang shit”. Although it does indeed sound like some old Wu-Tang shit, Quelle’s Rza-esque production would be more at home as the c-side to Royal Fam’s “Something’s Got To Give/I Declare War” release, rather than Liquid Swords. Perhaps my love for this instrumental is driven by nostalgia, but it possesses an intangible quality that makes it work.

Rich Kidd

Shad K – Listen

Moss: The most slept on producer from Toronto. This guy’s got more talent in his fingers then most have in their entire bodies. Shad’s arguably one of the most slept on Canadian artists. Together they made this heat. When you can combine “lyrics” with music that sounds like this you’ll get my money every time.

Rick Rock

E-40 – The Server

Aaron: Rick Rock is a fucking genius. Sampling what sounds like Afrobeat chants for the chorus and playing them off Emergency Broadcast horns. The drums come out like bursts of machine gun fire. Rock throws shuddering bass under the verses and drops sci-fi Theremins that rotate around the percussion every couple beats. E-40’s thick, syrupy flow bounces off it perfectly, a production that no other rapper could handle. “The Server” places you in an alternate reality where Fela Kuti is fighting aliens in the hood. Extra points for the bananas video that makes the sample literal.

Roc Marciano

Roc Marciano – Panic

Von Pea: Where is Rap City when we need it? I heard this for the first time on someone LAPTOP from across the room and it made me ball my face up and nod like a madman. Riot music if I ever heard it. I mean come on.

HL: One of the most impressive elements of Roc Marciano’s debut effort was his sparse yet cinematic approach to production. Marcberg provided an alternative to the rich soundscapes found on many of the other notable albums released in 2010 (Teflon Don, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Pilot Talk, etc). “Panic”, however, stands in stark contrast to the rest of the record. Heavy synths, faint organs, and literally more cowbell successfully create an apocalyptic atmosphere.

Roc Marciano – Pop

Zilla Rocca – Like most of the beats off Marcberg, “Pop” hovers on a single filthy drum break and a chilling four bar sample that you’ve never heard before. Call it the Havoc Method, and Roc Marciano is the star pupil on the boards. “Pop” is the distant cousin of “G.O.D. Pt III”, younger, more distressing, pissing in the parking lot, staying out late, and ready to to blam up ya man’s for nothin’. It sounds like the moment before a man with leather gloves, lithely stepping behind you with drug store rope, chokes you to death for dipping your fingers into city poison that has no antidote.

Salaam Remi

Miguel – All I Want Is You (ft. J. Cole)

6th Sense: I must say that at this point I am so sick and tired of hearing this song on the radio. But when the song first dropped, you couldn’t deny it. The beat is ridiculous, and Miguel’s vocal performance was top notch as well as the awesome effects on his background harmonies. I don’t think anyone could disagree, that even as an “R&B” joint, this was one of the best beats this year.

Scoop Deville

Fat Joe – (Ha Ha) Slow Down (ft. Young Jeezy)

6th Sense: I really wish this song could’ve been bigger for Fat Joe. I wish he could’ve got to perform it at Summer Jam. Regardless this joint kinda put a little spark in New York. Just a dope beat, with the Soul 2 Soul sample flip, hard drums, and a deep sub every couple bars. Fire.

Ski Beatz

Curren$y & Stalley – Address

HL: Ski Beatz really knocked this one out the park. “Address” is an absolutely angelic piece of music. You almost feel as if Curren$y and his co-pilot are actually navigating through the clouds in the troposphere as they deliver their verses.

SMKA

Aleon Craft – Donkey Kong

Aaron: I’ve always enjoyed songs that know how to freak a videogame sample properly and “Donkey Kong” is no exception. SMKA deserves serious dap converting the titular theme song of the Arcade game into a minimalistic booty anthem. Aleon’s warped Beach Boys harmonies wrap brilliantly around the analog bass line and 808s and soundchip percussion. “Donkey Kong” is way too offkilter to actually work in a club context and that’s exactly what makes this song so appealing.

Soul Nana

Smoke DZA – Divine Music / Bishop Lamont – Hollow Eyes (ft. Anjulie)

Ivan: What impresses me most is the evocation of dual tones: the track is both somber and intimidating. The synths and woodwind chirps are as carefree as a light gust, hovering above some of the meanest, most ominous low frequency sounds in recent memory. Props to L.A.’s own Soul Nana for unleashing this monster. Real talk, I thought it was a Dr. Dre beat ’til I was informed otherwise.

or

Sound Mob

Killa Kyleon – Swang Real Wide (ft. Z-Ro)

Aaron: Pealing, melancholy violins mingle with fiery organs. Rolling bongos drive the whole composition. There’s an incredible attention to detail, to the keys that come in for Z-Ro’s verse to the organ spurts that punctuate Kyleon’s words every few bars. “Swang” sounds a blend of ‘98 Pimp  C and a Roc-era Just Blaze production played at half speed. The epitome of country rap music, this song bleeds Houston, drank and all.

Teebs

Teebs – Anchor Steam

Daedelus: A treasure released on the Los Angeles 10″ series from All City, it is just as atmospheric as the gorgeous Ardour (Brainfeeder) whilst showing off some tempo tricks as well.

Tightface

Tightface – During The Pop Crackle

Paul White: Dope producer, always keeps me on my toes!

Tobacco

Tobacco – TV All Greasy

Zilla Rocca: Tobacco makes synth-based hip hop inspired beats like David Lynch makes clean American melodramas–fucked the fuck up. Maniac Meat is his second solo LP and his twisted interpretation of what pop music sounds like. Tobacco is from the same town as Wiz Khalifa and Girl Talk, but ain’t shit sweet when he makes music for the radio. It is not “Black and Yellow” nor ironic floor-rushing getdowns for the trust funders. It is knocking drums and melodic sweeps born from soundbanks of bitcrushed machines. “TV All Greasy” is J Dilla scoring The Terminator or Mantronix stuck in Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” video for eternity. Oddly, Tobacco could probably work well with Wiz Khalifa down the road. But “TV All Greasy” is the kind of beat that would get an A&R at Atlantic Records thumbs broken, which means it’s one of the best beats of 2010.

True Master

KRS-One & True Master – One of Them Days

Ivan: Basement boom bap at some of its finest! Hearing KRS over grimy Wu-Tang-ish beats was one of the most pleasant surprises of 2010, which begs the question: why didn’t The Teacha think of this earlier? Turn this up!!

Will Power

Yelawolf – Box Chevy (ft. Rittz The Rapper)

DJ Burn One: Will Power expertly combines a spaced out rhodes riff with an 808 that would make DJ Magic Mike proud.

Yelawolf – In This Club

Block Beattaz: The Southern Hospitality team threw this on in the club in Norway. This song was absolutely electric. Properly placed synths, bass and hi hats. Good song.

Yelawolf – I Just Wanna Party (ft. Gucci Mane)

Jackie Chain: That was definitely a hard beat. I actually was on that song at first. It’s just a real good song. Just like the title says, it was a real good party song. A lot of the house parties I went to, they would play that and they would go nuts. I think it’s a good party record. He picked the perfect beat for a party record. It definitely gets the ladies on the floor. He gives me a shoutout in the song and I’m in the video.

XXXChange

Kele Okereke – Tenderoni

Ronson: Bloc Party were this huge huge huge British indie band that I think sold a million copies on their first album. Indie rock fans can be especially kind of… he definitely did something brave: he came out of the closet and he made a dance record this year, which was a super brave thing. I just love this song. It’s not often I get to play a that’s like a 150 beats per minute up there in that super-heavy dance energy set, but whenever I can get away with it, I play this record. It’s just dope. The melody is fucking great, the track is really good. It’s kind of progressive-ish. It’s progressive enough dance production, but mainly it’s just like a hard bassline and when it breaks into the chorus, it’s super-huge.

But there were some bright spots. Christopher Nolan continued to push the boundaries of film for the better. The World Cup justified AM drinking. And “The Dude” won an Oscar.

As always, the (good) music never stopped. The year will best be remembered for Kanye’s second-semester ubiquity, from his tweets to the leaks to his almost-masterpiece. Eminem solidified his comeback, with the only album (besides Taylor Swift) that sold well this year. Dame Dash continued his own resurrection, too, cleverly hopping on the Curren$y bandwagon. Janelle Monae finally released a full-length, which was arguably the year’s best. Big Boi proved his independence worthwhile. B.o.B. went pop, which is good for him, I guess. And Jay-Z rapped over a Pete Rock beat. God is good, sometimes.

Special thanks to Devin Chanda of Scheme Engine and The Smoking Section for blessing us with the introduction.

If you listened closely, you caught a lot of great music this year. If not, we’ve got you. We gathered our friends to tell us their five favorite beats of the year. DJ Eclipse got to pick six because he’s special. You can find part two here. Forming today’s musical brain trust we have…

Mark Ronson – DJ, super-producer, “the best-connected man in pop”

DJ Eclipse - DJ, La Coka Nostra, host of Rap is Outta Control on Sirius/XM

Jackie Chain – Mr. VIP, his mixtape Who Da Mane is out now

Daedelus – underground LA beat man

Will Power – producer of Yelawolf’s Trunk Muzik, the most buzzing mixtape of the year

Block Beattaz – Alabamian monster production duo

DJ Burn One – country rap expert, DJ, producer of Starlito’s Renaissance Gangster

Moss – producer for Ghostface, Raekwon, and this year’s At Last with Eternia

Von Pea – rapper, producer, 1/3 of Tanya Morgan, his album Pea’s Gotta Have It is out now

Paul White – maker of incredible beats

6th Sense – underground NY producer

Zilla Rocca – rapper, producer, your favorite blogger’s favorite blogger (Clap Cowards)

Jerry Barrow – NODFACTOR.com and TheUrbanDaily

Brandon Soderberg – No Trivia

Aaron Matthews – Canned Thinking

Joey – Straight Bangin’

HL – Droptops & Stacy Lattisaw Tapes

Ivan Rott – Hip Hop is Read

Craig Jenkins – Prefix Magazine and Potholes In My Blog

And your Metal Lungies editor in chief/youngest in charge, KNOBBZ aka Moose

Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson

The Roots – Doin’ It Again

6th Sense: How I Got Over is another classic in The Roots catalog. That and Kanye’s album were my favorites this year. I could’ve picked anything from The Roots album but I chose this one cause it’s so big! Sample a live John Legend recording? Sure, why not! And shouts to Jason Goldstein on the mix.

Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson, Jeremy Grenhart, Karl B. Jenkins

The Roots – Now or Never (ft. Phonte, Dice Raw)

Joey: Let those of us now in the throes of our youth’s twilight take a moment to thank the Roots. A song about the turmoil of change, the ambivalence of growth, the onward march of time did not have to be so generously paced, so dulcetly scored. Ahmir et al. might have opted for a song that was severe and lurching, self-aware and self-indulgent as it sought to lecture and mean something. But the Roots, as usual, were smarter than that. Serious but still fun, and walking swiftly rather than sauntering or sprinting toward the abyss, “Now or Never” is the quintessential grown-folks rap song. Stripped of its poignant rhymes, the track would likely succeed as this kind of champion all the same. The drums are insistent but sparse in a fashion that calls a listener to attention but doesn’t crowd him. We must own up to who we are, but we aren’t going to be judged. These percussive demands echo across a commodious keyboard landscape that is soft enough to be accommodating. The track creates a canvas. Thompson, Grenhart, and Jenkins then fill it with brisk cymbals and an ever waning hint of guitar. Collectively, the elements are a wonderful mixture that captures the pivot for which the song is intended. Luckily, it’s not such a sudden change, nor such a severe referendum.

Anonymous Twist

Theology 3 – IT’S THEO3

DJ Eclipse: This is my sleeper joint of the year. Not as many people are familiar with either the MC or producer compared to the other names on my list, but damn this track bangs! One of those records made for DJs to cut up. Good to see the art form isn’t lost on the youth.

AraabMuzik

The Diplomats – Salute

Brandon: Previously known for last year’s screeching, mini-epic, “Get It In Ohio,” off Cam’ron’s Crime Pays, AraabMuzik spent 2010 producing pretty much everything Cam rapped on, and making a name for himself with live MPC performances that are more like avant-garde noise workouts than anything hip-hop-related — or maybe he took rap back to when it was a little closer to avant-garde noise? Sampling Nosferatu’s “The Desolate One,” a chunk of goofy trance that already has New York hip-hop in its sonic DNA (Nas’ “Hate Me Now”), the young producer turns it into the theme from Psycho (love that scream that drops at just the right moment) for the Lex Luger generation: all horror movie atmosphere, with drums that pound like 90s rap and skitter like 2000s rap.

Audible Doctor

Joell Ortiz – Battle Cry (ft. Just Blaze)

DJ Eclipse: This joint was dope out the box, but the Just Blaze’s mixed version of AMD’s beat just made it stand out that much more. And Joell tears this track up. Blaze’s adlibs hype it up that much more. Good build up of anticipation until Joell starts. Banger for sure.

Baths

Baths – ?

Daedelus: Another new sound on the scene was Baths LP Cerulean, wherein his own vocals against never easy beats became quite a blunted uplift.

Beanz N Kornbread

Paul Wall – Round Here (ft. Chamillionaire)

Will Power: This beat is infectious. Paul Wall and Chamillionaire killed the hook.

Benga

Katy B – Katy on a Mission

Ronson: Benga and Skream and a few of those other producers have been making underground records for awhile, but I feel like this is probably the first one with a female vocalist and actually becoming a fucking big pop record. I guess you could sort of count Skream’s remix of La Roux as the first dubstep kind of pop remix, whereas Katy B is like an artist to come out of that scene. [The song] basically shows that [Skream and Benga] can make a hit for Britney Spears or anybody. That sound has suddenly become so ripe and it’s certainly the most exciting thing on British radio when it comes on. The first time I heard dubstep, it was hard for me to understand what separated it from other genres, because it’s got elements of hip-hop and drum and bass, but I guess the thing is the throbbing huge sub bassline that makes it special and I guess the style of the drum programming. That was the breakout pop hit of that dubstep scene.

Bink! (additional production by Mike Dean)

Kanye West – Devil in a New Dress (original version)

Zilla Rocca – He might wax his chest and do anthills of cocaine off Icelandic linens now, but at his core Kanye West is still a soulful loudmouth from the suburbs of Chi-town who is a master of utility. Case in point, bringing in Bink! for “Devil in a New Dress.” It’s been almost a decade since The Blueprint, where Bink!’s contributions “The Ruler’s Back,” “All I Need,” and “Momma Loves Me” rivaled anything from young ‘Ye and Just Blaze. My Dark Twisted Fantasy walks the ladder of excess like Bad Boy’s expense account in 1998, but “Devil” is simple, elegant, and gorgeous. The Smokey Robinson sample “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” takes center stage. It’s drenched in nostalgia and mournful soul. When that beat kicks in, you forgive Kanye for all tantrums and radical impulses and misguided attempts to become a world-turning avante garde rap artiste because he had enough sense to fly Bink! out to Hawaii and snag this effortless banger.

Download from Kanye West: Kanye West – Devil in a New Dress (original version)

Kanye West – Devil in a New Dress (ft. Rick Ross)

6th Sense: Early on in the year, The Kid Daytona brought me over to Bink!’s place ‘cause they were working on some stuff. At some point, Bink! just started playing beats and this beat came on. To this day, I use my reaction to that beat as a litmus for other beats. I started LAUGHING. Hard. That’s how ill the beat was. For months I would tell close peers about this Smokey Robinson beat that Bink! had. Thank you Mr. West for killing that beat and making a classic with Bink! He’s such a talented dude, he can play every instrument, and I’m looking forward to all the new stuff he’s got coming.

Big K.R.I.T.

Big K.R.I.T. – Now Or Neva

DJ Burn One: The epitome of country rap tunes in 2010. K.R.I.T. has been honing his production the past few years and joints like this prove just how cold he is. 80s inspired funk over southern drums. What more could you ask for?

Big K.R.I.T. – Country Shit

Will Power: I love this beat. I’m a Big K.R.I.T. fan for the beats and rhymes!

Black Milk

Black Milk – Deadly Medley (ft. Royce da 5’9″, Elzhi)

Joey: The twang in the melody sounds as though someone made a mistake while playing. Only, this is a rap track produced by a masterful sampler. The music is not original, nor was it re-created in studio. Within those re-calibrated parameters, then, that notable fissure in the music’s purity instead might suggest that the plastic of a tape got stretched out ever so slightly, and this contaminated the sound as it was transferred from a tape deck to a computer. A tape would make sense; “Deadly Medley” is dusty. It sounds like you’d need a pencil to fix. Only, that wouldn’t be right, either, because the original Blackrock joint from whence this music comes is just as screwy. Once you learn that, the track’s brilliance finally comes into focus. Stretched across booming drums in a fashion that makes the melody seem like a hide set out for tanning, those distorted notes absorb punishment and emerge well worn. Accommodating intense rapping from Detroit’s finest, “Deadly Medley” sounds old but new, and passive but powerful, almost like the city, itself. “Medley” also stands as a microcosm for Black Milk’s singular talent: no one is as adept at imbuing creaky soul with modern vitality.

Black Milk – Black and Brown (ft. Danny Brown)

HL: I was once told by a stoner that Album of the Year blew his high due to “all those fuckin’ drums”. Although I don’t indulge in the funny cigarettes (D.A.R.E. class of 1993), I can definitely identify with the critique. That’s not to say the instrumentals are horrible (individually they’re each admittedly well crafted), but as a collective the beats become quite repetitive with the exception of “Black & Brown”. The kicks on this song are indeed thunderous, but in a good way. Not in the way that gives me the urge to jump through a wormhole, travel back to September 2009, and jam at least half the pads on Black Milk’s MPC.

Block Beattaz

Jackie Chain – This is Not Enough (ft. Assasyn, Mali Boy)

Jackie: Who was that sample by? Tots or tits or toto or tutu or something? But that “This is Not Enough” beat is one of the hardest beats I’ve heard this year.

Boi-1da

Drake – 9 AM in Dallas

Moss: The best song on Drake’s album to my ears. I have to tip my hat to what 1da managed to do this year.

Bossman

G-Side – I’m Sorry

Block Beattaz: Used vocals as an instrument. Low tight bass with great track and vocal manipulation.

Cardo

Wiz Khalifa – Mezmorized

DJ Burn One: More cowbell. Every beat could use more cowbell. Apparently Cardo agrees, because he mixed one up on here with a fuzzy synth lead and a jamming sub bassline. The perfect backdrop for Wiz Khalifa’s blunted melodic tales.

Block Beattaz: Great album opener. Laid back, but aggressive. He delivered the verses as designed by the track.

Christolph & Free

The Niceguys – Toast

Craig Jenkins: I have always wanted my own superhero theme music, but I could never find a band that was willing to be paid in french fries and PBRs. Sucks, right? Luckily the Niceguys came out with this banger. Those horns sound downright triumphant, and the more attentive listener will notice how the keys play a quiet melodic counterpoint to the epic brass. Also, the marching band rendition of Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” that’s folded into the fray pleases my inner 70s pop fan greatly. I would love to see a picture of what my face does whenever this song comes on. I must look ridiculous.

Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams

N.E.R.D. – God Bless Us All

Ronson: I was doing a photoshoot for some French magazine with Pharrell and he took me in the back room and [they were] trying to finish the N.E.R.D. record. So he played me some stuff and I was pretty blown away. And I’m surprised it hasn’t made a bit more of a splash. I think it’s just more of a sign of how fucking horrible and homogeneous radio has become. The thing about N.E.R.D. records is, usually that’s where they indulge their sort of live side and they usually have a lot of musicality. What I like about this record is that it has a lot of the musicality, but it has those hard drums that remind me of the Clipse records like “Cot Damn” or “What Happened to that Boy.” The beat is kind of hard and it’s got beautiful chord changes and stuff.

Damian Marley

Nas & Damian Marley – As We Enter

Ronson: It says it’s produced by Damian Marley, which, I mean, I don’t know if he was hunched over an MPC or cracking the whip on some little kid producer Puffy style, but it doesn’t matter really. It’s just a fucking great beat. There’s a certain kind of hip-hop beat that’s dying a slow death. When you think of like a great sample and some tough drums – it doesn’t have to sound like a golden era record, but I feel like “As We Enter” kind of did that. It’s like tough drums, got that horn break — it doesn’t hurt, of course, that Nas and Damian Marley are going back and forth and they’re in two completely different dialects, but they sound like they could be EPMD or Smif-N-Wessun. They’re obviously supposed to be going back and forth. They just go so well together. I just love that track. That’s probably the record I played out the most in my DJ sets this year as well.

DJ Burn One

Starlito – GH

Brandon: Like Curren$y and Ski Beatz’s Pilot Talk series, Starlito and DJ Burn One’s Renaissance Gangster is what happens when a casually brilliant rapper and a quietly experimental producer enter collaborative mind-meld mode. “GH” is closing credits music with somber Quincy Jones chords pulsing through a haze of almost in-the-red Aphex Twin-like electronics. The drum programming is elaborate and full of counterpoints and quiet shifts in tone — it’s more like Burn One’s composing than beatmaking here. In the same year that Kanye West sampled Aphex Twin (“Avril 14th” on “Blame Game”), Burn One just made his own melancholy, melodic rap beat in the vein of Richard D. James.

DJ Clark Kent & the Remedy

Rick Ross – Super High (ft. Ne-Yo)

JLB: With so many people eating off of the sample-resurgence it was nice to see one of the original don-dadas get his due on the radio. The way he put some octane to a sliver of Enchantment’s “Silly Love Song” to help RAWSE make a…silly love song is just perfect.

DJ Burn One: Hear that bassline? yeah – best of the year.

DJ Premier

Big Shug – Spit Six

DJ Eclipse: I don’t think any year could go by without having a Premier beat in the top 5. Many joints to choose from of his catalog this past year as well, but this one he gave Shug is definitely a head nodder. Different from a lot of the other Premo produced joints he put out this past year.

Joell Ortiz – Project Boy

KNOBBZ: I breathe differently when I listen to this song. The beat constantly builds toward a violent outburst, but never reaches it. It’s definitely not bombastic enough for a killing spree. Rather, “Project Boy” is for when you’re twirling the blade in your pocket, trying to picture your landlord with the lower half of his face missing. Tense. Menacing. And I grew up in the burbs!

Don Cannon

STS – Fuck A Hook

JLB: Jay-Z must be kicking himself for passing on this one. Electric guitar has been a punchline in hip-hop thanks to the GZA bus, but cannon seamlessly layers it with piano, synth, and alternating kicks and claps to make one of the most slept on beats of 2010.

Dready

Young Jeezy – Stop Playing With Me

Brandon: All that party rave trash from your favorite hipster DJ or cornball South African joke-rap duo should sound this ruthless and indefatigably A.D.D. There’s your typical Jeezy track hidden inside of this one (the booming synths, the epic simple drums), but Dready just piles on the sounds, while folding it all into a loop, so there’s still something for your ears to latch onto, and enough open space for a groaning, monstrous rapper like Jeezy to fit-in his talk-raps. Sci-fi movie sounds squeak and wail, a dying battery keyboard provides melody every once in a while, and a chipmunk vocal climbs to the top of the mountain of noises before then falling back into the mix. There’s maybe an e-mail alert sound in there too?

Drew Byrd

Dom Kennedy – Me Again

Ivan: Produced by L.A. beatsmith Drew Byrd, “Me Again” is a fitting outro to Dom Kennedy’s From the Westside with Love, one of the year’s greatest mixtapes. The beat really resonates with me as Dom’s nostalgic lyrics and delivery are perfectly complimented by wistful soundscapes and a sonant soul sample. It’s beautiful.

Droop-E

E-40 – Back in Business

Brandon: Droop-E hands his dad some nutty Bay Area slap with film noir movie clips in lieu of a chorus. Those samples could’ve been finely-chopped, EQ’d, and whatever else until that Cagney-esque “we’re back in business” was all we hear, but Droop-E lets some of the melodramatic, doom-filled Hollywood score and the grit of the aged audio sneak into the track. This is a legendary streetwise rapper and his tripped-out, beatmaker son (who got to be a producer weirdo because his dad was a streetwise rapper) in concert with one another: That gloomy gangster movie score snippet is a weird sonic flourish and a subtle way to hint at the sort of dread E-40 has always sneaked into his crime rhymes.

Drumma Boy

Waka Flocka Flame – No Hands (ft. Roscoe Dash, Wale)

Jackie Chain: I thought that beat was real hard. I always liked the song, I like Waka, I like Roscoe Dash, I like Wale, so I thought it was an usual and good collabo. I thought they all complemented that beat pretty good. My homies the Motion Fam shot the video. The beat, the song, the whole package – I thought it was a real good look this year. I fuck with Drumma Boy too.

El-P

El-P – Meanstreak (In Three Parts)

Zilla Rocca: El-Producto makes future pain funk, but 2010 saw him start whipping cats from the BDP boombox with a dash of reasonable radio, and dare I say accessible, options. His remix of Justin Bieber’s “Baby” proved what we all feared–this guy could one day potentially rule the minds of unconscious pop lovers if his mass damper was tuned into that frequency. “Meanstreak” is a cat batting around a helpless mouse: Part 1 sounds like a hectic train-dodging outtake from I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead. Part 2 lifts the Zapp drums we grew up on from “Bounce to the Ounce” and instead of EPMD-ing with moooree bounce or paying homage to Biggie’s favorite west coast destination, he spills a rolling synth from “Lost in Space” everywhere. Part 3 finds the Rick Rubin/LL Cool J tribute in full swing, but instead of “Going Back to Cali”, El-P takes us to Dune in a drop-top with Dade County donks rattling the nightmare strip. Yeah, just another go ’round from the pioneer of indie hip hop who slips absinthe and paranoia in the party punch.

El-P – Drunk with a Loaded Pistol

Craig Jenkins: El-P has always had a knack for dense, cinematic beats, and he really put his foot in “Drunk with a Loaded Pistol.” I like how the music here resembles the title. The ticking clock, the somber synths, the chunky bass, the frantic double-timed snares, all these things on top of one another sound like a kind of personal hell. A word of advice: go out, get bombed, put this track on, bug the fuck out.

Elvis Williams, Polow da Don

Usher – Lil Freak (ft. Nicki Minaj)

Block Beattaz: Stevie wonder sample used perfectly. Track is intense and suspenseful. Low end bubbles during the whole ride.

Ronson: I think the way that they flipped the Stevie Wonder sample is really clever. It’s weird because, that sample that they used is just the turnaround in the Stevie song. But out of context, it’s something that sounds all sinister and kind of Middle Eastern. It almost sounds like it was lifted from “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin or something. It’s just dope. I like Polow da Don, I like his drums. This was the first time I ever heard him flip a familiar sample and taking Stevie Wonder, it better be fucking seriously dope or it seems like a bit of a waste. It’s definitely stacking it up against you when you’re sampling Stevie, because it’s gotta be so different from the original that it’s great. You don’t wanna just loop up the horns from “Sir Duke” and have someone rap over it. It would be fucking horrible.

Fly Union

Fly Union – We Out

Von Pea: Speaking of Car Music, I can’t NOT nod my head to this. I’ve tried and it’s impossible. Fly U is really good at making cool music for you to ride to…even if you’re on the train. In a perfect world this would be a hit song and I’d be tired of hearing it by now, but instead I’m on listen 100 in my iTunes.

Flying Lotus

Flying Lotus – Do The Astral Plane

Daedelus: More housed then the rest of the fantastic Cosmogramma, Flylo’s jacked swing was my summer soundtrack.

Flying Lotus – Computer Face//Pure Being

Craig Jenkins: The week Cosmogramma dropped, I could be heard for miles around declaring it to be the album of the decade. I’ve eased off the trigger a bit since, but I’m no less blown away by the way Flying Lotus blends so many genres together and still manages to sound so effortlessly good in the process. “Computer Face//Pure Being” is full of seemingly incongruous sounds: skittering, rickety dubstep drums, airy 8-bit synths, cartoon sound effects, and beats with shifting accents. It shouldn’t work, but it really does.

Frank Dukes or Statik Selktah

Reks – This or That

or

Ghostface Killah – Purified Thoughts

Moss: Tie because both used the same sample almost the same way. Just a dope sample.

Gaslamp Killer

Gonjasufi – I’ve Given

KNOBBZ: A lot of great albums fizzle at the end but A Sufi and a Killer wraps with a psychedelic dirge about unrequited love, punctuating the album with a wild eastern melody and beautiful instrumentation. Don’t get antsy and skip because of the long intro. “I’ve Given” is well worth the wait.

Georgia Anne Muldrow

Georgia Anne Muldrow – The Language of the Flame

Paul White: Love Muldrow’s magic music, really inspiring for live stuff!

Illmind

Skyzoo & Illmind – Speakers On Blast

JLB: It was hard for me to pick just one beat from this album, but anyone that can take filtered chimes and and bit crunch them on an AKAI s20 to make it sound like a sample should be applying for for MENSA membership post haste.

J Beatz

Big Boi – General Patton

Craig Jenkins: OK, so the whole 808s-and-a-sample thing has been done to death by now, (see: the Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, and Young Jeezy catalogs for evidence), but “General Patton” seriously knocks. I like how J Beatz lets the drums function as the bassline, while the orchestral hits and compressed horns smack you in the eardrums. This is some old storming Normandy shit, some real hostile takeover music. How could Big Boi not spit acid on this?

J Dilla

J Dilla – Bars & Twists

Paul White: Stupid ill beat, the imagination and creativity here is amazing!

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League

Rick Ross – Aston Martin Music (ft. Chrisette Michele, Drake

Will Power: Real classy shit.

Jackie Chain: I mess with J.U.S.T.I.C.E. hard too. Everything I’ve heard from J.U.S.T.I.C.E League pretty much is good. They’re real talented cats. They was on my DJ Smallz mixtape. They’re real musical. They use a lot of intricate sounds and they go a route a lot of producers don’t go. A lot of their beats could be R&B songs. It was just something I could really ride to. I actually had that as my ringtone for awhile and I only use my own shit for my ringtones. When it comes on, it just makes you feel good. If I had an Aston Martin, that would be my theme song. Even when I was rolling in the Jag. Usually I like the hard BMF style beats, but that’s a real nice riding song. Something when the sun’s out, roll the windows down, roll the windows down, roll one up and just ride out. You could play it back to back.

J.R. Rotem

Mann – Buzzin’ (ft. 50 Cent)

Ivan: What can I say? This one’s a guilty pleasure. Who else would’ve thought of sampling Nu Shooz? No, really. All bets seem to indicate that J.R. Rotem is the rightful heir to Puff Daddy’s “take hits from the 80s” throne (who’s Diddy?). And the track’s fire. I dare you to stop yourself from bopping your head and snapping your fingers to this one.

Jack Sample Pros

Pac Div – Don’t Mention It

Von Pea: The groove of this track is just so damn cool. Pac Div is probably best known for the 808 old school Cali beats, but on this project there was a little bit of everything and the closing/title track was my absolute favorite. I don’t know if that lead trumpet is a sample or a well EQ’d keyboard, but it’s hypnotizing. The bassline is like the audio version of sitting in a hot tub. Add in the drum track borrowed from Mr. Yanceys “African Rhythms” (fellow Dilla heads be quiet, he sampled and he can be sampled, it’s all good) and it all makes for a great finale.

—
Check out part two here.

At least there were some cool beats.

For our end of the year Beat Drop, we asked our friends to pick their favorite beats of 2009. Part 1 featured artists; today we have everyone else.

Today, our contributors include

• Jerry Barrow of The Nod Factor /  The Urban Daily
• Devin Chanda of GIANT (Pre-RIP) and The Smoking Section
• Quan of HaterPlayer
• Riggs Morales, A&R at Shady Records
• Khal of rock the dub
• Brandon Soderberg of No Trivia
• Joey of Straight Bangin’
• Sweeney Kovar of the defunct Classic Drug References
• Ian of Different Kitchen
• Joesph of Geek Down
• Travis of Wake Your Daughter Up
• DJ RTC of Ruby Hornet
• Jerome Baker III of Better Than Yours
• Dom of Hold The Throne
• jben.ok of Funkadelic Freestyles
• Young H of Go In Radio
• DJ Franchise of Know The Ledge
• Ivan Rott of Hip Hop Is Read
• Jabari Johnson of IamJabari.com
• BMUSE of Always Hustle
• Morph and SimpleSteve of Hip Hop Gremlins
• Jorge of bang the box
• Justin4Q and Josh of The 4th Quarter
• Enigmatik of Boo Goo Doo Boom
• And of ML’s very own Knobbz, Buhizzle, and Rostam

Note: Due to our massive list of contributors, we had to cut A LOT. We may have a part 3 with the outtakes.

Aeon

Download: Tanya Morgan – She’s Gone

Jerry: This was by far my favorite track on Brooklynati. Young Guru once told me that the the perfect mix combines the low end of a Tribe Called Quest record with the clarity of a Dr. Dre production and Aeon nailed both requirements with his subsonic bass and beautiful vibes. I’m looking out for more from The Lessondary crew.

Alchemist

Download: La Coka Nostra – Choose Your Side (ft. Bun B)

Ivan: This hypnotic concoction by The Alchemist is a culmination of the best sounds from Madlib’s Beat Konducta in India with some added bark and bite. The drums and bass reverberate throughout each bar loop as LCN and Bun B crush the building with their threat-filled raps. This is the textbook example of a banger track.

Download: Alchemist – That’ll Work (ft. Three 6 Mafia, Juvenile)

Quan: Three 6 Mafia is perfect for this track because this Alchemist beat is along the same lines of Satanic hip-hop that Three 6 came up on earlier in their career (and the style they went back to this year). The difference being that Three 6 beats sound like gargoyles, church steeples, and bloody goblets and shit. This beat sounds like a record being played backwards, twisting a nice sunny melody into a secret message from Lucifer.

Buhizzle: This sounds like the sort of beat that Alchemist would make for a Mobb Deep record… right before taking a bunch of hard drugs and tweaking out over a drum machine. If you try to nod your head to this, you’ll probably find yourself nodding at several different speeds throughout the song (assuming you can last through the entire song). With the various all-over-the-place sound effects and the moaning female vocals in the chorus, some may say that this beat was executed sloppily… but, I think that was the point. And, in that sense, this beat was executed perfectly.

Download: Raekwon – Surgical Gloves

Khal: From the opening chords, I knew this beat was going to be a problem. ALC has some of the freshest sounds out there, but the excellence behind this instrumental is realizing how he fleshed the sounds out – it’s something like 5 bars then it re-loops? It’s so off-kilter, and I guarantee if you’ve not heard it, you’ll get halfway into the first verse and have to wheel it back – professional shit right there.

Ant

Download: Brother Ali – The Travelers

Morph: A decent drum loop but the marimbas definitely make the track and play in an endless loop in your head for the hours to follow. Honestly though, Ant spazzed on this album and all of the beats could go up here but this one’s left field use of the marimbas sets it apart from the rest.

Apathy

Download: Banana Leaf – Perverts In Love

SimpleSteve: No matter when I give this burn, It never ceases to give me the chills. Co-founder of the underground powerhouse that is the Demigodz, CT native Apathy laces Holly Brook, a talented songstress from Wisconsin, with an eerie yet beautiful arrangement of middle eastern sounding strings and pianos pieced together over a drum track that is although simple, so necessary.

Apple Juice Kid

Download: Wale – My Sweetie

Devin: Apple Juice Kid (best or worst name ever, depending on who you ask) produced this, sampling an African joint, “Let Me Love You” by Bunny Mack. So, Wale hopped on it to give something to “everybody who was ever forced to go to African parties wit they parents in the 80s 90s.” Now, I’m not African but this joint knocks like some soca joint, so cats on both sides of the Atlantic can get down to it. It was originally slated for Attention Deficit and though the beats that did make the album were far from formulaic, this joint would’ve been the most refreshing.

Bangladesh

Download: Mario –  Break Up (ft. Gucci Mane, Sean Garrett)

Riggs: As has been the case for the last 5 years, R&B tracks have surpassed hip-hop tracks when it comes to having a fresh and distinct quality to it. The melody and simplicity in this track make it easy for anyone to get on it and sound tolerable. It could have been a rapper’s single, but seems few saw this for the gem it was, expect for Sean Garrett. In another life, this one could have made for bangin’ De La Soul track.

Best Kept Secret

Download: Wale – Pretty Girls

Rostam: I love go-go. So when Best Kept Secret decided to sample one of the greatest bands for a track with the most prominent DC artist, I was all for it. I’ve enjoyed a lot of beats from Best Kept Secret, but the duo have never scored like they did here. You can dance to it and it bumps in the damn trunk. Greatness

BK-One

Download: BK-One – Philly Boy (ft. Black Thought)

Joey: There were likely years when a slow rap song with a lonely guitar ambling along across an otherwise sparse vacuum would not have registered with me. But time marches forward and tastes change. As a result, “Philly Boy” has resonated. Most basically, the song falls into the general category of head-nod music, a track which one can’t help but bob along to. The steady rhythm, punctuated by that tambourine, is hypnotic. The track grabs you, but you don’t know it until you feel it in your neck and snap out of whatever loose thoughts had invaded your consciousness. That’s another of the understated song’s strengths: I lose myself in thought while listening to this song more than I do with almost any other. The melancholy tone renders Tariq’s vocals just another instrument, a white noise that, somewhat paradoxically, sharpens the guitar. Divorcing the words from their intrinsic power, “Philly Boy” transforms into a blank slate onto which a listener can easily project his mind’s contents. From a lazy day around the house to errands in the car, “Philly Boy” suits almost any activity precisely because it is such an inviting, innocuous beat. Admittedly, the softness and the quietness, the tenderness–these things might skew toward something sad. But really, the beat is one of reflection, warm or cold, and that it can evoke an unwitting, visceral response so regularly is testament to its simple power.

Block Beataz

Download: G-Side – In The Rain

Quan: I bet Block Beataz think they’re so damn clever for naming this “In The Rain” and then having all the keys and strings and vocals keep poking in gently, pitter-pattering like raindrops. Well they are. And it just so happens that the production is fucking beautiful, like in a “purify your soul”-type of way.

Download: G-Side – Rising Sun (ft. Kristmas)

Brandon: The music that plays at your town’s Chinese food buffet sent through Auto-Tune. A hard-ass Slim Thug sample underscored by mournful piano. A wave of ghetto-tech “Hey!”s and 808 stutters that grow more desperate each time they rush through the background of the song. Yes, it sounds incredible, but it’s also the only soundscape expansive enough for G-Side’s edifying rhymes.

Download: G-Side – Feel The (ft. 6 Tre Gangsta, AC)

Joseph: Before 6 Tre’s verse he shouts a “rest in peace” to “Wild Bill,” which seems warmly song-specific. Block Beataz songcraft is so honed and specific to a context I’m not attune to, that when I hear something like “Bill-dubby-bass” in the background-chorus of this song, I assume it’s something personal (as opposed to a sample) referencing the same “Wild Bill.” That nearly all elements of the chorus come from 6 Tre’s verse also speaks to this. Block Beataz all ready have this unique aesthetic that involves heavy synth-layering and gradual speeding/slowing of vocals that when they use a sample from the same song, it comes off spectacular and inhuman. Not to get all pothead, but it’s like hearing a fractal. The layering of this beat is so intense, building upon itself and covering a wide range of the frequency spectrum, creating this warm, inviting environment to inhabit. When I put this song on I hope it lasts forever.

Chris Zane

Dam Funk

Download: Dam Funk – Come On Outside

Jerome: The double time drums/echo effect/ I don’t know what it is of this song make it beyond dope. Dam is all about synths and when the synth included in my favorite song on his CD kicks in you already know this is going to be quite the fantastic. Everything just works here: keys, drums, etc. My favorite song/beat of 2009.

Damu The Fudgemunk

Download: Damu The Fudgemunk – Prosper (ft. Raw Poetic)

Travis: Damu The Fudgemunk of Washington D.C. and Y Society fame, took the blueprint of classic 90′s golden age beats and added to it for the beat on “Prosper”, from his Killawatt Vol 1 EP. Sounding like a cross between classic Beatminerz and D.I.T.C. sounds, Damu hooks up fairly familiar samples and breathes new life into them.

DASECA Productions

Download: Mavado – Sixteen

Enigmatik: You didn’t hear a single MC spit over this fire track because it wasn’t made for rappers. This dancehall riddim was one of my favorite beats of ’09 and for that reason I had to include it in my top 5. I shared this track with khal (Rock The Dub) and he helped me to craft a megamix featuring some of the top deejays doing their best to out-voice the other on the track. My personal favorite version was Mavado’s take on the riddim. Pure madness on this one.

DJ Fresh

Download: D-LO – No Hoe (Remix) (ft. E-40, Beeda Weeda & The Jacka)

Joseph: This beat is so daringly minimal… with a trashy, deflated bass drum and an 808 kick+clap, DJ Fresh creates the negative space D-LO and his Bay Area compatriots use to detail the pros and cons of tracking girls out on Craigslist. The beat helps paint an absurd and hilarious picture of what “pimping” means in modern-day Californian culture. Where pimping once signified an unironic statement of status and class, we now get puns about Pro Tools and Yoko Ono… There are only two simple melodic lines that accompany the minimalist bounce of “No Hoe”… and the sound, akin to the lovechild of Snap and Hyphy, welcomes everyone to throw their hands up in ecstatic joy regardless of what side of the track they’re on.

DJ Khalil

Download: The Clipse – Kinda Like a Big Deal

Riggs: This is some B-Boy shit with a modern twist. It’s more bap-boom, than boom-bap. It knocked hard and left space for worthy spitters to kill it with ease. Good to see DJ Khalil get his just due after years of being ahead of curve.

Dom: DJ Khalil has emerged the past couple years as a go-to beatmaker, whether it’s in-house for Aftermath or Fabolous, Talib Kweli or the fellas of Slaughterhouse. His finest moment, though, came in the form of this banger from Clipse’s long-awaited Till The Casket Drops. Signature drums are a staple of the Los Angeles-based producer’s discography, so there’s no surprise that this beat is driven by its progressive kick-snare variations and effective bongo strikes. A menacing guitar riff rides the drums, as synth-y flares and a wild screaming sample pop up occasionally to provide the track with depth. Even ‘Yeezy puts aside his ego to tear up Khalil’s thumping production, best played while cruising in the whip, which is why “KLABD” is the featured single on one of ‘09’s top discs.

Justin4Q: This was unofficially the street anthem of the year. DJ Khalil made the entire beat with no samples only using crazy guitar licks from Chin Injeti, matching percussion and bass, and a little computer effects. When finished, Khalil had a true banger on his hands. Now add the Clipse and Kanye West to the mix and you have got iPods, CD players, and stereos everywhere on repeat. I know I used my repeat button several times over the summer with this track.

Download: Slaughterhouse – The One

RTC: DJ Khalil got everything right on this one, the perfect infusion of rock, a beat that bboys could love, and a vocal that sounded like it was ripped right out of the 90′s Grunge Era. Garbage is eating their hearts out right now.

DJ Premier

Download: Blaq Poet – Ain’t Nuttin Changed

Knobbz: Producers, don’t get any ideas. DJ Premier is the only producer who can get away with using an Akon sample. Only Premo would think to do a call and response between Akon’s lightly Auto-Tuned voice and Blaq Poet’s gravelly growl. As much as we praise our left-field underground producers, Premier is still leagues ahead of all of them. Still the greatest of all time.

DJ Quik

Download: DJ Quik & Kurupt – 9x’s Outta 10

Knobbz: I loved the warm West Coast jams on BlaQKout, but it was the amelodic “9x’s Outta 10″ with its irregular drums and big empty spaces that really blew me away. Its bold new sound is truly beyond comparison. The best I can muster is “Drop It Like It’s Hot” meets “Grindin.’” You would think DJ Quik’s heyday is long past, but this will be one of the defining songs of his career.

Download: DJ Quik & Kurupt – Hey Playa!

Buhizzle: Like several hyped-up West Coast side projects before it — Helter Skelter (Dr. Dre and Ice Cube) and the N.W.A. reunion (with Snoop in place of Eazy-E) always come to mind — the thought of a Quik-Kurupt collaboration album seemed too good to be true. But, it came true… and, in my opinion, it was too good. Quik has never taken a step backwards in his production, and Kurupt was the perfect type of “MC’s MC” to rhyme over the experiments that Quik cooked up this time around. Honorable mention goes to “Do You Know” and its “Anniversary”-chopping-and-chipmunking, but “Hey Playa!” just has that undeniable nod factor. The female-sung chorus is a well-executed example of the West Coast’s hip hop aesthetic, while Quik adds an international flavor with the Mariachi-sounding instrumentation laid over sampled Moroccan chant-like vocals (which Quik cleverly lifted from an episode of Bizarre Foods).

Dr. Dre

Download: Eminem – Taking My Ball

Riggs: Dre’s use of Bob James’ “Mardi Gras” on this joint could have made this track a club smash for the ages, but my boss chose to “shove a Tonka truck up a little kid’s butthole” and got sick with the flow from an MCing stand point. Fly joint…but the stuff on Detox is flyer.

Download: Raekwon – Catlaina

Dom: Aight, hear me out right quick. As much as OB4CLII is a modern classic compliments of the Chef’s verbal tenacity, it should also be recognized as a musical masterpiece on the production tip. I honestly could have picked any number of tracks for this Beat Drop, so this was not an easy decision. The reason I’m highlighting Dre’s effort and not RZA, J Dilla, Alchemist or even Necro is because “Catalina” possesses a distinctly different sound on an album crammed with coarse, brutal beats. As a sparkling piano melody floats over a rumbling bassline, it invokes a festive mood that starkly contrasts the Mafioso plots and street storylines that fill the album. Dre shows that he’s aware that every tale of hardship or violence needs its happy ending, to reflect on what’s in the rearview. I could easily picture Rae and Lyfe Jennings as passengers on Dre’s yacht, dictating that surviving is reason enough to rejoice.

Duck Sauce

Download: Duck Sauce – aNYway

Jerome: Duck Sauce is the pairing of A-Trak & Armand Van Helden, and by joining forces they combined to make the best dance song of the year. By using a SWEEEEET Final Edition sample, fist pumpers throughout the nation joined forces w/disco house heads and did it anyway they wanted all night long.

Exile

Download: Exile – Love Line

BMUSE: This beat just brings back everything I love about music. It’s a blend of classic sounds and futuristic sounding effects. Perfect samples, perfect tempo, its just a very good listen. I could vibe out or freestyle to this all day. My head is still bobbing. Still bobbing….

Download: Fashawn – Samsonite Man

jben.ok: The standout track off Fashawn’s Boy Meets World features a terrific sample – Billy Paul’s rendition of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” – and just happens to include some of the best drums I’ve heard all year. “Samsonite Man” is a driving, forceful soundscape that invokes nostalgic memories – and I’m JUST talking about the beat.

Download: Fashawn – Hey Young World

Devin: I heard the album back in June, so I had to wait until September for the watermark to arrive. As soon as it did, I told the editor with the loudest speakers to pop the disc in and skip to track three (this one). I was fiendin’, to say the least. One of the fashion editors overheard the track and asked if it was some vintage Nas joint. In a sense, she wasn’t far off.

Fatboi

Download: Gucci Mane – Hurry

Joseph: I remember “Hurry” most as the fist track on Writing on the Wall (the first mixtape when I really started paying attention to Gucci). The urgency Fatboi creates here has to do with the falling melody of the verses… it’s like listening to something constantly collapsing and trying to correct itself to a standing position. Gucci’s awesome, post-jail rhymes have a lot to do with building the constant momentum of “Hurry,” but Fatboi does a lot with the broken-Casiotone melodies that fold in and out of the track. The synth lines awkwardly ride the wave of Southern stereotype and rave-ish ecstasy binges… it’s a brilliant sound that never finds a balance amidst the nervous energy of “Hurry.”

Flying Lotus

Flying Lotus – Cat Leaf (unreleased)

Sweeney: I have to admit, I always had a great deal of respect for Lotus but I wasn’t necessarily his biggest fan. The stuff I’ve heard in the past 6 months of living in LA has definitely changed that. He has been growing at an incredible rate in the past few years and is finally, in my opinion, started to congeal into the type of legendary artist he will ultimately be.

The Inkredibles

Download: Rick Ross – Mafia Music

Joey: A song for doing work. Am I wrong? That opening piano note strikes, the strings and organ start to build, then the Lamont Dozier sample hits and it’s on. This beat is straight cinema, and it’s unfortunate that Ricky’s video did it such a disservice. Real mafia music–like this track–demands a tinted-window whip riding through the night, on some Michael Mann cinema-verite shit. Or maybe I just think this song could have found a home in Heat. It isn’t about handicam shots of a fat guy eating himself to death. Regardless, the steady, engrossing track plays out with malevolent intentions. This is not a track that you take lightly. You throw it on with a sense of purpose. “Mafia Music” also stands as a welcomed divergence from the cheap, electronic sounds and frenetic drum programs which tend to characterize Miami’s prominent hip-hop. Rather, the Inkredibles tapped into the sort of dark, bleak, angry mood that appears to fester in parts of Virginia (see: the Clipse). It’s a legitimately gripping soundscape, and it has stayed in heavy rotation as a result.

Infamous

Download: Fat Joe – Hey Joe

Ian: Joey Crack gets clowned all the time by the internet contingent of the hip-hop peanut gallery. He has never gotten his due as an artist despite having not only survived but endured and been a force in the game for damn near 20 years now, dropping solid album after solid album. Whatever you might think of his MC skills, his beat selection ear has usually been pretty on-point and this beat is no exception. The production and sound are both epic: a massive Hendrix loop that is built upon with layers and layers of drums, effects and others sounds to create a gigantic, anthemic banger that is nothing but a pure hip hop wall of sound!

J Dilla

Download: J Dilla – Blood Sport (ft. Lil Fame)

Khal: Another “instant screw face” track, this has been my ringtone for a good part of the year. I remember hearing “Code Of The Streets” from the Dillagence mixtape, and lovin’ how Dilla could manipulate the rage that niggas like MOP and Busta Rhymes has, and to realize how ill that combo is, whether posthumous or not, is excellent. The 2nd beat is dope, but doesn’t hold a candle to the wicked first beat.

Download: Raekwon – House of Flying Daggers (ft. ft Inspectah Deck, Ghostface & Method Man)

Jerry: This is my pick for best beat of the year for both practical and sentimental reasons. I haven’t heard the Wu sound this amped since Triumph and Dilla managed to do what Bink! did on GZA’s “Animal Planet”: run with RZA’s style but leaving your own footprints on the track.

Download: Mos Def – History

jben.ok: Mos Def’s The Ecstatic was a bit of letdown for hip-hop fans (but which post-2000 Mos Def album wasn’t?), but surely enough, there were some shining moments. While most of the posthumous releases from the late producer Jay Dee aka J Dilla can’t be deemed “extraordinary,” his sample of Mary Wells “Two Lover’s History” on “History” certainly is. The brilliance of “Dilla time signatures” was perhaps best exemplified by a live performance with The Roots on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, which included The Dirty Projectors singing the Wells sample along with the beat.

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League

Download: Rick Ross – Magnificent (ft. John Legend)

Josh: The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League had a number of hot tracks in 2009. This time they took an Angela Bofill sample that had been used a few times in years past and turned it into a track that has you feeling like you’re riding shotgun with a mafia kingpin who’s swimming in women. These were the kinds of songs that made people forget or not care about the whole CO scandal. My favorite mainstream beat of the year.

Download: Rick Ross – Maybach Music 2 (ft. T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Kanye West)

Ian: The DJ Khaled school of anthem rap is kind of like musical comfort food: it tastes good, goes down easy and fills you up. But like bad fast food, it can also tend towards the generic. And on a casual listen, this track could be dismissed as more of the same but a closer listen reveals it to be something more: live instrumentation that sounds like they had an entire orchestra, led by a mad conductor, on a giant soundstage laying down these sounds. But its not a conductor here, but the production trio, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League acting as the Hip Hop Gil Evans to Rick Ross’ Miles Davis creating this masterpiece. Yeah, I know I just compared corny-ass Rick Ross to Miles Davis but as far as this beat goes, the instrumentation and arrangements on this track are verging on cinematic music score levels, much like the music on Evans and Davis’ Sketches of Spain, in terms of their scope and sophistication. Say what you want about the MC but this was easily one of the standout beats of the year.

Dom: For every thing about this jawn that is wrong (starting with Officer Ricky), J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League diverts my attention long enough to enjoy all that is blissfully right.The lush opening sequence, the jazzy Miles Davis-esque trumpet blares, the Friends of Distinction sample, the crisp drum pattern, the crescendo to a vibrant chorus, and the larger-than-life atmosphere interconnect for a platform on which the trio of MCs brag away. Often times I block out the rhymes and Teddy PenderAss hook to vibe free from vocal interference. A line-up like this called for a grandiose instrumental, and Rook, Colione & Barto delivered one as elegant and stylish as the luxury vehicle referenced in the title.

Download: Rick Ross – Rich Off Cocaine

Jerry: This song was the definition of guilty pleasure for me. If not for the hook I’d have been playing this a lot more. Their use of WIllie Hutch’s “Color Her Sunshine” was nothing short of amazing, in both choice and execution and Avery storm’s voice complements this so well I wish he’d pull an Alicia Keys and do his own version without Ross.

Download: Ghostface Killah – Guest House (ft. Fabolous)

Download: Rick Ross – Yacht Club ft. Magazeen)

Buhizzle: Nelly (remember him?) may act trife when he hears producers sell the same beat twice, but I don’t think J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League is to blame for this one — rather, the production team sold the beat to Def Jam, who must have thought that no one would notice the same beat appearing on two of the label’s ’09 album releases. It would be easier to be mad at Def Jam if it weren’t for both tracks being dope — I’d like both Deeper Than Rap (which I liked a lot) and Ghostdini: Wizard Of Poetry In Emerald City (which wasn’t really my cup of henny, but respectable) each a little less if these respective tracks were removed. The fact that the beat was used so differently by each artist goes to show how great the beat is — while it’s smooth enough to serve as background music for Officer Ricky to eat fried fish and make out with like eight broads to (hope he chewed some gum in between, for the girls’ sake), those same horns that sound playful behind Magazeen’s rasta hook also build up suspense as Ghost vividly narrates yet another adventure (here, walking in on his wife getting an after-hours cable installation from Fios-Fab).

Jeff Bhasker, Plain Pat

Download: Kid Cudi – My World

Rostam: This track is a mix between Three 6 Mafia and Gnarls Barkley. The synth heavy hook makes it seem like something that was held off 808′s and Heartbreak because it was TOO epic. Jeff Bhasker and Plain Pat produced this track. It seems like Bhasker uses the synth heavily in a lot of his songs, but I can’t blame the guy.

Jermaine Dupri

Download: Jay-Z – When The Money Goes

Devin: The story goes this was an American Gangster leftover that “Fallin’” probably took the place of, given the lyrics. To me, “Fallin’” relied too heavily on the vocal sample to bring those emotions of insecurity and weakness, while the strings on this did a better job at that. The joint was too ill to be left on the cutting room floor so Fab had to reuse it for his own AG retread, thus reminding us that when he isn’t mismanaging Janet’s career, Jermaine can make a dope beat, word to Daddy Mac.

Juicy J

Download: Juicy J – Purple Kush (ft. Gorilla Zoe, Project Pat)

Quan: A beat made up primarily of incessant chanting (seriously, the chanting is the melody or something), pulsating bass, and some excellent drum programming (especially that tinny drum fill leading into the hook that’s so rapid, it blurs together). And then Gorilla Zoe raps with all this bass in his voice, like the opposite of Auto-Tune or something. And then this gothic-ass church music fades in for no reason during Project Pat’s verse. This is gangster as hell and I love it.

Joesph: Hypnotize Minds had the greatest 2009. Count among their successes: brilliant solo albums from Juicy J, DJ Paul, Project Pat and Lil Wyte, and a handful of excellent mixtape releases. This is my favorite beat of the year period, let alone from the Hypnotize Minds Camp Posse. Another minimal beat of only drums and vocal samples, its catchiness is like a worm that digs itself deep into the subconscious. This is the version that came out on Juicy J’s Realest Nigga Alive mixtape (the official version on Hustle Till I Die has an extra piano part that comes on during Project Patta’s verse that sort of kills the mood).

Just Blaze

Jay Electronica – Exhibit C

Rostam: Did I say Put Me In The Game was the anthem for victory? Fuck that. This is the anthem. On the surface it seems like the sample makes this song, but the piano is what makes this great. It’s a late entry, but this is easily one of the best beats of the year

Sweeney: Jay Electronica is the best rapper out right now, period. Only Blu can hang with him as far as current quality of output (not releases, sorry, I know y’all get mad when I start talking about shit I cant let people hear). This beat reminds me of Just’s Blueprint era beats, only better. Jay of course murders it. Best rap song of ’09, easy.

jben.ok: Just like the Oscar season, the best projects tend to be released at the end of the year. Lucky for you, Jay Electronica and Just Blaze happen to LOVE suspense – they premiered this musical masterpiece in the last month of 2009. It’s true that Jay can spit – and lyrically, he murdered everyone on this track – but what makes the “Exhibit C” beat one of the best of the year? Perhaps it’s the spacey overdrive sound at the beginning and end of each verse, the epic sample, or the bar lounge keys at the song’s conclusion. Overall, this song just has it all – and has restored my hope for truly unique compositions in hip-hop.

Franchise: I know this will be on everyone’s list but I would like to add my opinion on it. I think we can all agree that Jay Electronica’s flow murders the track but Just Blaze’s beat stands alone w/o Jay’s verses. The Billy Stewart sample and banging drums is the beat to beat in 2010. Sadly, I predict this will be “A Milli” 2010.

Jay Electronica – Dear Moleskine

SimpleSteve: All I can say about this work of art is that it’s simply amazing… Just Blaze really outdone himself on this one, boy… I would have been satisfied if all it was was the intro with the tinging guitar, but then it proceeds to blow your mind with the beautiful arrangement of flutes and some-what funky backing guitar that seem to mesh flawlessly with the ever-so simple drum loop. Although this has yet to be released as a full song (or even a legit snippet), It’s safe to say that if this can’t be considered my favorite beat of 09, it sure as hell is gonna be my pick for 2010.

Kanye West, No I.D.

Download: Jay-Z – Run This Town

RTC: I wanted to stay away from picking a Kanye joint or a heavy-heavy radio joint, but there is no denying this song. Kanye and No I.D. made a rallying cry, and the perfect soundscape for a true anthem. The subtle and repeating echo is a detail that puts it over the edge, and creates a real inspiring tone. I know it can be hard to separate the beat from the finished song, but either way, this was one of the year’s best.

Brandon: The way the whole thing kinda quiets down for Kanye West’s scene-stealing verse and casually builds back up, piece by piece is thrilling. The military march drums, the scrunched-up guitars, and the best use of a bird squawk since The W’s “Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)” make this the radio track of the year.

L.A.U.S.D.

Download: Dom Kennedy- Of All Time (ft. BJ the Chicago Kid)

Justin4Q: This was my personal anthem of 2009. A slow, melodic beat provided by the Los Angeles Unified Sound District with a seemingly effortless flow by LA’s own Dom Kennedy sets the mood for this track. BJ the Chicago Kid provided a soulful harmony for the chorus and paints the perfect scenario. Picture me cruising down Sunset Blvd on a sunny Cali day, both windows rolled down, all black shaded on, and blasting this song from my speakers. Yep. Perfect.

Madlib

Download: DOOM – Absolutely

Rostam: We’ve heard a lot of great work from the Loop Digger this year, but this beat stands out among the best he has ever done. The samples are on point and really mesh with DOOM’s depressing lyrics on this song. I’ve been looking like a fool for this instrumental since I first heard it and I don’t even rap!

Download: Madlib & Guilty Simpson – The Paper

Knobbz: A master of exotic samples, Madlib turned some African tribal shit into a Guilty Simpson Detroit banger. Even if another producer found this sample first, they wouldn’t have thought to add the finger snaps after each bar or cut the gong sound short. It’s considerations like these that set Madlib apart from every other hip-hop producer. If I ever get five minutes alone with Ahmadinejad, I’m going to play this while I go Bear Jew on his ass.

Download: Strong Arm Steady – Chittlins & Pepsi (ft. Planet Asia)

Joey: Surely, Madlib’s done nothing groundbreaking here. He’s taken a drum pattern, he’s looped some samples on top of themselves, and he’s added in that good ol’ Madlib filler. But…that’s hip-hop. He’s created a wholly new song out of disparate parts. “Chittlins” has that dusty, worn feeling, like an old couch on which you’re ambivalent about lounging. The cushions are soft but the threads are pilled up and it has the smell of a expired fabric. On the one hand, it’s comfortable, and there is the meta reinforcement the comes from knowing that sitting on such a couch is kind of funny in the first place. So you go with it, even though, on the other hand, you probably aren’t doing your hygiene any favors. This beat channels that experience; it’s technically proficient and experientially goofy. And that, too, is sort of hip-hop.

Matrax

Download: Rhymefest – Pulls Me Back

Brandon: Rhymefest’s about to cry flow rubs up against 80s cheese and a go-for-broke reggae hook and it’s as deeply moving as it ridiculous. Subtle details counter-act and justify the Puffy-like excess: the way the “Africa” sample slowly fades-in, those random spurts of expanding and contracting electronics. Somehow, it makes sense that ‘Fest would rap about lost jobs and the shorty that shot the mall up, over a crucial flip of Toto’s “Africa”.

Mos Def, Preservation

Download: Mos Def – Casa Bey

Jorge: Casa Bey is the third single from Mos’ latest album effort, The Ecstatic. From Mos’ flow on the first 8 bars I was hooked and over the next 4 minutes the track just evolves into a grandiose musical affair complete with horns, keys and everything in between. It’s a very masterful progression from hip hop to full-on soul. I had the opportunity to hear Mos perform it live and it was huge.

The Neptunes

Download: The Clipse – Showing Out and Door Man

Devin: Both cuts are easily the Clipse’s illest bangers since “Grindin’.” With that crescendo on “Showing Out”—as the horns are piled on—Chad must’ve had DMX or M.O.P. in mind when he was making the beat. And on “Door Man,” the quick trombone before the explosion of other horns is too perfect. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaaa…..

No I.D.

Download: Jay-Z – D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)

Riggs: The sour face joint of 09. This was the only aggressive cut an otherwise mellow album and was the only beat wearing brass knuckles and a black hoodie on day time radio. It’s one thing to find the sample, yet another thing to do something with it in a way that makes it untouchable for years to come. Break diggers chased down the sample in record time and NO ID reminded everyone why he’s the Yoda of this hip-hop beat shit.

Jerome: I’m a sucker for obscure samples and an even bigger fan of NO I.D., and his production. This is just hip hop production at its finest to me: sampling the drums, reworking parts of the song to make it an even better production and letting the horn play just a second to long.

Travis: No I.D. and Jay-Z? Hell five years ago, I would have taken it as a sign of the apocalypse was approaching. My how things have changed. I love tracks that provide a lot of energy, and No ID brings the energy on “D.O.A.” Forgot the message, which I agreed with, No I.D.brings a mix of whiney sax and bluesy guitar riffs all layered over a slammin’ drum kick. Sampled from a fairly obscure 1970′s record, No I.D. hooked up a nice soundscape for Jay to deliver his message. Problem is, the package took away from the message. Oh well, get that break, No I.D.

Dom: This was undoubtedly the biggest and best of ’09. When Funk Flex debuted “D.O.A.” on Hot 97, I sat in my car for the entire half hour presentation going absolutely crazy. Not for what Jay was saying as much as the beat snapped my neck from the first clarinet blast then had me nodding more than a fiend for the duration.

Khal: I had to do it. The beauty of this track is not the anthem Jigga penned over it; it’s the fact that, this could’ve been an instrumental and had the same title. Niggas don’t really auto-tune over chopped samples like this (hat tip to Ivan for the ID), and when you hear the original and see how No I.D. fleshed this one out? Murder. I was rockin’ with Flex and Mister C and their rewinds, not even for Hov’s lines… just for that BEAT!

Oddisee

Download: Diamond District – Who I Be

Quan: This beat’s like 95% low end bass thump, real menacing, like everything’s lurking in the shadows waiting to beat the crap out of you with billy clubs. The ODB sample and all the siren-y background noises add an appropriate touch of “crazy” to that menace. The DMV sounds like a scary place.

Download: Diamond District – Streets Won’t Let Me Chill

Young H: In case you were in a cave or a coma this past spring the Diamond District’s In The Ruff project shook up the internet, showing us the grittier flipside of the DMV coin that Wale doesn’t represent. The group is spearheaded by Oddisee who is their main producer as well as the rapping go between for the battle rap styling of yU and the street realism contributed by X.O. “Streets Wont Let Me Chill” is a rousing number that takes no prisoners, with horns that accentuate the track, allowing each of the group’s members to wax poetic in their own unique fashion.

RTC: What’s great about this beat is that from the beginning it has a sense of urgency. There’s a creepy/errie tone that makes me imagine a gritty alley, or an empty Chicago street at like 4AM. The vocal sample jumps in and adds to the franticness of everything. Oddisee’s drums are his classic boom-bap style, and all together it’s one my favorite beats of ’09.

Download: Diamond District – In The Ruff

Brandon: This Oddisee beat sounds claustrophobic, and walls closing-in but it’s elegant (that gauzy loop of bells, voice, and maybe guitar) and damned catchy too. Just like all the 90s boom-bap Diamond District are talking to, this is dusted, angular, sideways pop. And man, that foggy, vinyl fuzz coda is worthy of the interludes on Mecca & The Soul Brother or something. No really, it is.

Download: Diamond District – I Mean Business

Jerry: Oddisee is so sick on that ASR-X and this single is just one of the reasons In The Ruff is one of my favorite albums of 2009.The organs, the drums…the sprinkling of the Vic Juris sample from Gang Starr’s “Mass Appeal” was a great wink to Preemo. When soldiers in Iraq write you telling you how good a song motivates them you’ve done your job.

Paten Locke

Download: Paten Locke – Ventilation

Travis: Paten Locke aka Therapy of the AB’s and Smile Rays hooks an dreamy like beat. Equipped with piano keys, airy strings, scratching, a hypnotic vocal sample and a flute like sample, this beat would make a mean dream sequence for some movie. It really captures the essence of the song, making the lyrics mean more and producing a feeling of euphoria. Sounds like some crazy trip, but it won’t show up on a drug test.

Reefa

Download: Red Cafe – Hottest In Da Hood

Ivan: If Red Cafe was as popular as Lil Wayne, “Hottest In Da Hood” would’ve been the ’09 version of “A Milli”. This is the kind of infectious beat that everyone would want to hop on, and indeed many remixes were born from this Reefa heat rock. I even found myself nodding off some freestyle bars to this one. “Hottest In Da Hood” is the front runner for the best mixtape beat of ’09 in my book.

Ro BLVD

Download: U-N-I – Hollywood Hiatus

Josh: Ro Blvd flipped New Edition’s 80s hit “Cool It Now” to give U-N-I an unusual, yet addictive, uptempo hit. You wonder what made him sample that particular song until you actually hear what he was able to do with it.

RZA

Download: Raekwon – New Wu (ft. Ghostface Killah, Method Man)

Ivan: Wu-Tang is forever and “New Wu” is the proof in the pudding. Released sixteen years after the Clan’s debut, it’s a marvel that such a perfect sample for a Wu track would still be hiding in the crates. Enter 2009. It’s not just the great dig and loop that’s worth mentioning. RZA’s slicing snares and his keen ear to detail make this a head bopper worthy of the repeat button.

Franchise: New Wu? Ironically, this song sounded so much like the old Wu that the “Wu Ohh” title would’ve fit better. Like most hip-hop heads, knowing that RZA produced this beat brought back the nostalgia and excitement for the energy that a strong Wu record can only bring. With a haunting soul sample and ear-shattering drums, I can see DJ Khalil going back to studio to see how he can keep up with RZA.

Sa-Ra Creative Partners

Download: Sa-Ra Creative Partners – Love Czars

Sweeney: Sa-Ra (Shafiq Husayn, Om’Mas Keith and Taz Arnold) have been ahead of their time for a few years now, it finally seems like the masses are catching up. This is my favorite off their latest album, the beat is ridiculous, the way the drums drive it is amazing. The remix with Jay and Ta’Raach was dope too, but in my opinion wasn’t fucking with the original. If we’re lucky they’ll leak the original version of the remix with Jay’s verse over the OG beat.

Download: Sa-Ra – Love Czars II

Knobbz: Jay Elect’s monotone suits this beat especially well. It’s soulful and abstract without the cliche wailing vocal sample and the bass pounds especially nice. Sa-Ra are pushing a unique, lavish production style full of live instrumentation. Their mainstream equivalent would have to be J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and there’s no question who’s iller in that comparison.

Sabazi

Download: Blue Scholars/Common Market – Coffee & Snow

Travis: A beat so nice, that they used it twice. Sabzi who is in both Blue Scholars and Common Market, hooked up a piano centered beat reportedly during a rare Northwest snow storm. Both MCs, Geologic of Blue Scholars and RA Scion of wrote to, with Geologic getting his version out first. The beautiful piano melodies provide a simple, yet effective harmony that causes one to just close ones eyes and just nod along calmly to the beat. Who said that hip-hop can’t be good music? And for the record, I’ve always favored the Blue Scholars version, more into Geologic as an MC than I am Scion, who is nice as well.

Samiyam

Download: Samiyam – Ridin Dirty

Sweeney: Samiyam is the most underrated producer in hip hop. I say hip hop because his beats are just that, beats. They have a slump and quirkiness to them that makes them unique, but really it’s just a natural evolution of the DJ Premiere, early 90′s east coast sound. This beat is one of his more straight-forward ones. I can’t wait till MC’s start doing justice over his beats, one already started–Blu.

Scoop Deville

Download: Snoop Dogg – I Wanna Rock

Riggs: This is a really dope, contemporary twist on “the intro” of a timeless hip-hop record…that bangs. I’ve heard some other attempts at that sample from other producers, but this one had mass appeal. The balance between simplicity, creative and a tempo that’s part head-nodding, part body movin’ made this THE joint every rapper wishes he had, as evidenced by the “A Milli” treatment its getting from every rapper who wishes he had it.

Scram Jones

Dowload: Raekwon – Broken Safety (ft. Jadakiss, Styles P)

Buhizzle: For the years of anticipation that pegged Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II as a sort of Wu-Tang/Aftermath joint effort, neither RZA nor Dr. Dre really stole the show with their production efforts. I’d personally give that honor to the late J Dilla, an ML first-ballothall-of-famer, who was some sort of three-headed monster on this album — evoking pure emotion on the ODB tribute “Ason Jones”, channeling the headache-inducing dopeness of “Liquid Swords” on “10 Bricks”, and leading a musical death march on “House Of The Flying Daggers”. If this were the last we ever hear of James Yancey’s work, then no doubt he left us on a high note. I couldn’t argue with giving the honor to Scram Jones, though, and while his work on the closer “Kiss The Ring” and the bonus track “Walk Wit Me” were both stellar, it was “Broken Safety” that’s received the most replays from me. I love how the beat (which is so dusty you could cough) drops in with its ghostly echoes right as Jada kicks in with his flawless opening verse — the rawest track on ’09′s rawest album.

Small Professor

Download: 5 O’ Clock Shadowboxers – Bottom Feeders (Small Professor Remix)

Travis: Another energy packed track, the Small Professor remix for “Bottom Feeders” is chock full of fuzzy guitars, guitar loops and horns. It’s one of those beats that makes me want to run through a wall while throwing haymakers and guzzling down a bottle of Jim Beam. Small Pro, a Philly producer, added a new twist to an already dope track from Zilla Rocca and Douglas Martin.

Statik Selektah

Download: Statik Selektah – The Best (ft. Reks, Termanology, JFK)

Ian: This record kind of gives me the feeling of what it might have sounded like if 9th Wonder had produced OC’s “Times Up.” The track is so soulful I was surprised it had been produced by Statik Selektah. Dude is definitely an underrated beatmaker but to me always came off in the past as a producer who made grimy, no-nonsense, classic East Coast-style hardcore hip hop in a vein similar to his fellow DJ-turned-producer, Green Lantern. With its sunny, throwback feel, like something off a BBE or Ubiquity records compilation album, this is a track I could listen to on repeat all day.

Streetrunner

Download: Royce Da 5’9″ – New Money

Knobbz: Streetrunner provided the perfect beat for Royce to flex his lyrical muscle. The ascending chords and rapid drums push Royce to rap harder and stronger while the hook in the middle of each verse gives him a reprieve before he dives in again. The result is a marathon track that would be perfect for a Nike commercial if it weren’t about stacking cash.

Download: Slaughterhouse – Sound Off

Joey: When I first heard the Stylistics’s “It’s Too Late” flipped in a hip-hop context, the result was Ed O.G.’s “Just Call My Name.” Ed O.G. made a proud, meandering track that was content to ride the escalating horn sample and little else. It was a great record, with the horns given room to breathe alongside Ed’s clarion vocals. Then I heard the same horns this year, their free-range accommodation replaced with a claustrophobic hi-hat, intermittent snares, and an endless, subtle electronic ribbet. The beat was the same and yet totally new. Rather than relying on the horns to defiantly ring out on their own terms, “Sound Off” recasts what it borrows from the Stylistics as a counterweight to the strength of the Slaugterhouse vocals and the energy of the piped-in noise. No longer do the horns soar, taking the track higher. Instead, they pull it back up to level, lest it furiously bore into the surface, compelled by the energy of its many other elements.

Supa Villain

Download: Rich Boy – Put Me In The Game

Rostam: This beat is the perfect mix of Sample, Bass, and BUMP! The drums really make this song the banger that it is, but the sample makes it an anthem for victory. Hopefully we’ll see a lot of Supa Villain tracks on Rich Boy’s album which drops in Neveruary.

Swizz Beatz

Download: Jadakiss – Who’s Real (ft. Swizz Beatz, OJ Da Juiceman)

Ian: Swizz may never get his props for being the great producer or innovator he truly is despite all the hits he’s put on the board. But its inarguable that he was one of the first NY/East Coast producers to embrace the new keyboard-based hip hop sound pioneered by Southern producers like Mannie Fresh and Lil Jon as enthusiastically as he did dusty samples dug out the crates. His brand of hook-heavy, militaristic synth-driven rap production has helped ensure that NY hip hop didn’t become the rap equivalent of Delta Blues music: revered and respected but dated and irrelevant. “Who’s Real” was the embodiment of that aesthetic: enough knock to satisfy East Coast heads but fresh enough to appeal to ears in the south and the rest of country and fit the flow of one of their new heroes, OJ Da Juiceman who guested on the track.

Buhizzle: I’ll be the first to admit that Swizzy’s music can be pretty formulaic, but that shouldn’t prevent him from getting praise when warranted. This track took me back to high school, circa 1998 — back then, if you weren’t talking about DMX or Juvenile, no one was listening. The call-and-response energy and aggression is reminiscent of classic Ruff Ryder records like “Ruff Ryders Anthem”, “Get At Me Dog”, “Wild Out” and “Ryde Or Die” (and, yes, I know Swizz only produced 2 of those 4). I think OJ’s useless 8 bars in the middle drew people away from what should’ve been a much more strongly-received record.

Warren G

Download: Wale – Rhyme N Reason

Jerome: SUUUUUUUUUPER sparse head nodder from my dude Warren G (I’ve been a fan since his first album when you were probably 8). Literally, the bass kick and drum are highlights of the song and the keys that come in every 4 bars give you a reminder that simplicity can work better than a screaming sample or badly played keys. The beat also works because without all of the audible distractions, you get a chance to hear what Wale is saying and digest it.

Young RJ

Download: De La Soul – Forever

Ian: From their 45 minute Nike + Run: Are You In? mix, this is another track I could listen to on repeat all day. In fact, I copied Pos from De La on a tweet saying I needed a 30 minute instrumental mix of this track and he replied, “Yeah, RJ really put his foot in that one. The chop of the original is serious.” Given the fact that De La Soul were one of the first established groups to work with a young J. Dilla (I remember the first time I met the quiet kid with the magical MPC at a session for the “Stakes is High” remix at the now-defunct Platinum Island studios), its fitting to now hear them spitting over a beat by one of his proteges, Young RJ.

Download: Slum Village – Dope Man

Joey: You know a Detroit record when you hear one, and usually it’s something pretty powerful. “Dope Man” stands on these shoulders. Admittedly. It’s a great beat, but it’s made even better because the continuous groove that vacillates in emotional tenor and incorporates powerful down beats, haunting synths, and even a bubbling drum kit is so very much Detroit. Young RJ has authored another step in evolution. Divorced from context, the beat remains strong. As noted, it’s melange of sounds makes it interesting but not busy, and the control exerted over these disparate elements is impressive. “Dope Man” is powerful music, not only for its pounding percussion, but for its ability to convey emotion through tempo changes and its melodic hardening and softening. To use an imperfect metaphor, the beat is almost like a T-1000, this metallic composition that seamlessly flows from shape to shape, always itself but also able to assimilate.

Zaytoven

Download: Gucci Mane – First Day Out

Brandon: Usually, a great beat brings together a bunch of disparate chunks of sound into a dope, cohesive whole. This beat by Zaytoven does the opposite: It stacks the same sound (a ping-ponging Zombie movie synth) on top of itself until it’s a crawling mess of bleeps, bloops, and whines, all up in your speakers. It’s deceptively simple and the power comes from the like, casual chaos of it all…the seemingly accidental rhythms and syncopations that stem from this sound-stacking.

9th Wonder

Download: Skyzoo – Metal Hearts

Jerry: While “For What It’s Worth” is my favorite cut from The Salvation as beats go I was just impressed with 9ths Barry White chop for Metal Hearts. I didn’t think anything would dethrone his laceration of Bob James for Murs but the way he programmed the original snares had my neck bobbin for real.

Raekwon is more trustworthy than Dr. Dre. No one believed either of ‘em when we were told that Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II and Detox would drop in our lifetimes (R.I.P. to those that didn’t make it long enough), but Rae played the role of the tortoise, creeping upon the finish line, while Dre continues to stroll, seemingly uncommitted as to whether his magnum opus will live up to the hype. In the meantime, we have a handful of average-quality sounding reference tracks (with a surprising amount of T.I.), a Dr. Pepper commercial featuring a beat that may make Detox (though, it has already been utilized by Wale and Rick Ross & Birdman), and some $300 headphones (to enhance the listening experience of music that actually sees the light of day).

Albums don’t matter anymore. At least, that’s one rationale as to why Eminem is not one of MTV’s 10 hottest MCs (despite selling 600K of Relapse, his first release in five years, in its first week), omitted in exchange for several MCs who either did not drop albums this year (Weezy, Jeezy and Yeezy) or dropped mediocre-at-best albums (Fab). (Sorry if I’m downplaying the “heat” of Katie Couric interviews and Taylor Swift speech interruptions. Also sorry if I’m implying that MTV’s list has that much credibility.)

Not even 50 Cent can sell records in today’s industry — and this is the same 50 Cent that once sold Curtis to the buying public! Maybe it’s time to redefine “flop” — not that we ever had a Webster’s definition for it — because if 50 flopped, then what do you call Wale’s first week numbers? That’s not a diss, either — I like Wale a lot, and ML’s been tracking his career since 100 Miles & Running back in ’07. In fact, the only reason I don’t have a physical copy of Attention Deficit nearby as I type (I had to resort to iTunes) is because I couldn’t find one on any Best Buy store shelves — though, for whatever it’s worth, the Best Buy employee who told me that they didn’t have any copies also told me that it was dope (I should’ve asked him where he copped his copy).

Gucci Mane is a rap star. I never would have imagined this based on his first two videos — to me, he was just another terrible rapper from the South with no charisma. Now, he’s a pretty good rapper with, well, a little charisma. Good enough, I guess.

Rappers continue to diss Jay-Z and get no response. Game put out a diss record, which was kind of sad (in a lame, pathetic sort of way). Beanie Sigel put out a diss record, which was also kind of sad (in a “doesn’t feel right” sort of way). 50′s been trying to bait Jay for a while, but to no avail — The Blueprint 3 didn’t have a “Takeover”, let alone a half-a-bar for everyone to share. The only rapper to get a response record from Jay in the last few years? Jim Jones. That may be what’s the most sad about all of this.

And, last but not least, the following beats are dope…

For our end of the year Beat Drop, we asked our friends to pick their favorite beats of 2009.

Part 1 is rappers and producers. Check back tomorrow Monday for part 2 with our picks and those of our fellow bloggers/other very important people.

Note: Due to our massive list of contributors, we had to cut A LOT. We may have a part 3 with the outtakes.

Contributing this time, we have

• Statik Selektah
• Von Pea and Donwill of Tanya Morgan
• Blu
• Yelawolf
• Marco Polo
• 6th Sense
• J57 of Brown Bag AllStars
• Co$$
• Black ELement
• Jermiside
• Apex and Mojo of Dujeous
• Lyriciss
• Small Professor
• $port
• Theo Martins

Afta-1

Download: Afta-1 – Love Suite 2 (Sit Still)

Jermiside: I could honestly put a number of Afta-1 joints in this slot. I just picked this one because I know for sure it came out this year lol. I’m a huge fan of instrumental hip-hop and this guy kinda fills a void that Fat Jon has left (where is he anyways?). With that said, the O.G. version of Love Suite was (and still is) one of my favorites from the brotha. “Love Suite 2″ is just as smooth and groovy with that nice synthy bass line and spaced out sound that I’ve grown accustomed to hearing from him.

Alchemist

Download: Alchemist – Smile (ft. Maxwell, Twista)

Statik Selektah: This record would have been on Top 40 in a perfect world. It’s hard to make a beat that you can relax to or feel energized to. Really soulful too. The swing to it is crazy.

aLIVE

Download: Muamin Collective – The Bus Stop

Blu: ThatSmashThatIBeLookingFor,MusicToDriveTo

Boi-1da

Download: Drake – Uptown (ft. Bun B, Lil Wayne)

Von Pea: One day while listening someone pointed out the sample that was buried in the background of this songs chorus (I won’t name it to avoid possible dry snitching) and I thought it was brilliant. It’s the illest juxtaposition to a song about stunting and…stunting some more. Also the hi hats are the shit. I love this song overall.

Download: Drake – Best I Ever Had

Torae: A lot of people love Drake and he gets a lot of hate as well, but I can’t see how you can front on this record. The catchy singalong hook, the infectious track — it had hit single written all over it. It’s also one of those records that transcends age, race, sex and all that. Just a dope feel good joint. Boi-1da did the damn thing and Drake came through with the heat.

Crada

Download: Kid Cudi – Hyyerr (feat Chip The Ripper)

Black Element: Sit back, get your Cheech & Chong, grab your Nia Long and hit the…

Small Pro: A quick Wikipedia search revealed the relatively unknown name behind this gem (buried near the end of Cudder’s 2009 emo-opus); a string heavy, smoothed out, g-funk-meets-808s concoction. A smokin’ joint made for smokin’ joints.

Dae One

Download: Drake – Successful (ft. Trey Songz)

Yelawolf: This fuckin’ beat puts you in an Aquimini type of trance . Minimalistic and full of drama, simple and selective with his sounds. Beats like these are the hardest to make. If you’re not a Drake fan by now then you’re gonna have to at least respect his ability to hear a track like this and turn it into a dope song. Most mainstream artists wouldn’t have the balls!

Damu The Fudgemunk

Download: Damu The Fudgemunk – Prosper (ft. Raw Poetic)

Small Pro: Blow the (Pete Rock) horns (c) M.O.P. With this track, Damu takes both ears by the hands and takes them on a tour through his crates. The defining moment of a 90s disciple.

DJ Khalil

Download: The Clipse – Kinda Like a Big Deal

Marco Polo: I love Khalil because he’s making huge records for mainstream artists but still keeping it raw, funky and hip-hop to the fullest. This song is dope. Beat is catchy as hell. Sounds like some sampled shit but isn’t. The guitars sound like crazy voices after he got done mixing the shit. Great song and DJ Khalil is a monster.

Download: Fabolous – Imma Do It (ft. Kobe)

Statik Selektah: Khalil changed the game this year and created a whole new sound. He’s definitely my favorite producer as of late. The way the organs are a different pattern than the drums is bananas.

Download: Drake – Fear

6th Sense: I’ve made this confession public many times, and let me reiterate. Much love to all the dope producers out there, but DJ Khalil SCARES ME. He had a lot of fire this year, but I think this Drake track took the cake. Love the live feel of everything, even the drums. The horns are awesome, but goddammit those strings.

Small Pro: A mellow yet dramatic canvas that says one word: introspection. The usage of what HAS to be live musicians means this was most likely produced in the traditional sense of the word; ironically enough, the end result came out so potent that no instruction for Drake was needed besides “Go in.”

Download: Slaughterhouse – Cuckoo

$port: There’s something wrong with this beat. I can picture Cobra Commander putting his mask on to this in the morning. Khalil has a way of adding just enough swing to where the beat is loose enough, but not sloppy. I don’t know how he comes up with this stuff.

DJ Premier

Download: Blaq Poet – Ain’t Nuttin Changed

Marco Polo: Premo used multiple records to make this beat which makes it so dope. It bangs with classic Preem drums. Proof that rap music NEVER needs to be overproduced. Simple, raw shit. The best kind of rap.

DJ Quik

Download: DJ Quik & Kurupt – The Appeal

Donwill: Chances are you didn’t hear this song or the album but DJ Quik is a pillar of the production world. So hearing he was doing an album with Kurupt pretty much consumed my attention span since I knew he was gonna be taking the boards. From the walking bassline to the sparse synth lines this is a joint you *NEED* to hear on speakers with a decent range of dynamics.

DJ Toomp

Download: Rick Ross – Valley Of Death

$port: Rawse sure can pick ‘em. Part of the appeal of a Rick Ross album is that you know you’re going to get some great beats. And you wouldn’t know Toomp did it unless you read the liner notes. It’s a step away from his usual stuff, for sure. He even managed to show some dope chopping skills. While we’re at it, shoutout to the engineer on this thing. The mix is grade A. Once the first kick drops, it’s pretty much a done deal from there on out.

Fizzy Womack

Download: M.O.P – Stop Pushin

Marco Polo: LOUD NOISES!!! © Brick from Anchorman. Those f*ckin horns are perfect. Hype and much needed energy from one of my favorite groups of all time. Love this sh*t.

Fonetik Simbol

Download: Co$$ – Khakis & Taylors

Co$$: Surprisingly its not because its my song, lol, I really think this beat innovates what I consider the “West Coast” sound…It brings that mid 90s gfunk into the 21st century, its like “what’s my name” on acid….

Exile

Download: Fashawn – The Score

Von Pea: Chaos!!!!!! This shit sounds like exile taped the record to his mpc with duct tape and threw it off the roof. During an earthquake. This is a compliment by the way. I love chaotic, offbeat, sloppy, perfect beats like this. When I got my hands…um, ears on this song the only thing that stopped me from zoning out with the mean face was all the old white folks on the 4 train that day.

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League

Download: Rick Ross – Maybach Music 2 (ft. T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Kanye West)

Statik Selektah: This beat is crazy… It shows that dirty South music can have substance and soul, even with T-Pain and Officer Ricky.

6th Sense: I can recall being on the BQE late night with a FULL BODY head nod to this joint, I was literally catching air in my seat. To me the highlight is the beat and T-Pain’s hook. And all the sax and strings on the intro and outro. It’s a beginning/middle/end composition and I gotta tip my hat to those guys. The track is so banging.

Small Pro: The J.L. were the main culprits behind “Deeper Than Rap”‘s lush, larger-than-life sound, and this track sums up that aesthetic perfectly. Lifting generously from Dexter Wansel’s “Time Is The Teacher”, the beauty here is found in their arrangement. “Maybach Music 2″ in one word: epic.

J Dilla

Download: DOOM – Gazillion Ear

Dujeous: “Gazillion Ear” has so much going on in it—organ, chopped vocal samples, plucked bass, Dilla’s trademark air raid sirens, and more. J then transcends the madness by completely switching up the beat 32 bars in, dropping his twisted take on the “Theme from Midnight Express” sample, used by Outkast and others. It’s the kind of laced-with-dust street shit that used to only come out of the Wu catalog. Dope.

Jake One

Download: DOOM – Ballskin

Jermiside: This is that straight hardcore kinda hip-hop that gets me amped up. You can always count on Jake One for a good banger. I like the little tinge of swing in the drum pattern that lets the instruments just kinda sit off in the pocket real tight.

Just Blaze

Jay Electronica – Exhibit C

Blu: AnthemOfTheYearShit

Lyriciss: At the end of the year, Just Blaze decides to drop a soulful banger to say “fuck your club track and its trademark dance”. And it still hits hard enough to blast in the whip and compete with any Gucci Mane that the guy in the Crown Vic next to you with the dingy doo-rag on may be pumpin’ in his car. The only thing better than this beat are the rhymes Jay Electronica laid down on it, but that’s a whole different discussion. I just hope it doesn’t turn into “A Milli” with everyone rhyming on it.

Small Pro: The silence of an overall quiet year from The Megatron Don was disrupted in a major way when he dropped this on Tony Touch’s Shade 45 show at the end of October. The instrumental is deceptively repetitive; it’s the little things that take this beat over the top: the addition of live piano (something we saw on “Exhibit A (Transformations)”, also) and synth, the way that after the beat loops for 8 cycles, a 9th sequence (“Oh my God…keep GOING!”) resets everything, reminiscent of “Brooklyn’s Finest”. Hotter than the muthafuckin sun, check the thermometer.

Donwill: Just when you think you don’t really care about not ever getting to hear Saigon’s album you get an audio post-it note like this that comes in the form of a swift kick in the teeth. Even though Just borrows a quote from Puff at the top of the song its the chops and overall mood of this track that makes the initial listen sorta feel like the first time you heard ‘Who Shot Ya?’. When you couple those elements with the keys and synth line this is just a masterful flip. Hearing that he linked up with Eminem for a handful of tracks on his new LP is as much reason for celebration as the approaching new year.

Dujeous: Every single thing Just dropped this year was insane, so he had to make our list, but we could only choose one. We were partial to Skyzoo’s “Return of the Real” after we played that live for his release party—the dynamics and switch-ups of that beat really take it to another plane. But then there was the triumphant production behind “Exhibit C,” the perfect backdrop for Jay Electronica’s mind-bending lyrics. The drum breakdowns make the deceptively simple loop one of the hardest yet most emotional beats of the year.

$port: I think I’m so partial to this joint because, for one, I stayed up til about 7AM to watch this whole song come together via UStream. The thing about the whole Exhibit trilogy is that it kind of serves as a reminder to those people who, for whatever foolish reason, forgot that Just could make something so berserk. I mean, Live Your Life is a great record (and it definitely paid the bills), but sometimes you have to smack folks upside the dome.

Download: Jay Electronica – Exhibit A

Torae: This shit gives me chills. As do Exhibits B & C. This was just the out of the blue madness though. Just murdered this. It’s the perfect backdrop for Jay Elec’s voice and pennage. This record has gotten constant burn this year. I must have drove my friends, family and neighbors crazy bumping this.

Kanye West, No I.D.

Download: Jay-Z – Thank You

Von Pea: We are really high, really high tonight. They had to be when they made this. This beat made me want to call my boy aeon up and stick to just rapping. I’m a sucker for mad snare decay, groovy ass basslines, random vocal samples, and horns…and guess what? This song has it all.

Theo: Marcos Valle’s ‘Ele El Ela’ is a feel good song, jazzy even. Kanye West – who has impressed me with his chopping skills – turned this record upside down. When I first heard this record I thought to myself Dre was on the drums as they sounded nothing like Kanye drums. They hit hard. It was obvious by listening to the original sample that the song was down pitched, but it sounded like the actual drums and horns that were replayed had also been down pitched as well. Kanye West makes things work and this beat is a perfect example. I feel like I should be smoking a cigarette with shades on at night when I hear this beat. I don’t practice either by the way.

Marco Polo

Download: Marco Polo & Torae – Danger

J57: This beat is the definition of a “banger.” Every aspect of it; from the anthemic melody to Marco’s flawless bass and drums – this beat is a monster. I was privileged enough to hear the Double Barrel album shortly after it was mixed and when ”Danger” came on, I immediately started to throw chairs around in Marco’s studio. Alright, the last part wasn’t true, but I knew this beat/song would be one of the obvious stand out cuts on the album…how could it not be? The funny thing is, when I was when I told Marco that ”Danger” was my favorite song on from Double Barrel, he informed me that it might not make the album. I’m extremely glad it did. As millions of you know by now, this song is actually on the new ”Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.”

Marley Marl

Download: Raekwon – Pyrex Vision

$port: Marley and Raekwon knew exactly what they were doing by making this only 52 seconds long. The replay value is ridiculous. This is the prime example of the idea that sometimes all you need is a fire loop and nothing else. It’s crazy because I remember when this sample appeared on OC’s Jewelz album way back when. It was okay then, but there’s an extra touch of grit here that gives it that edge and places it in the pocket with the rest of the album as a whole. If I had to bag up some..uhh…..’stuff’, this is what I’d have on repeat.

No I.D.

Download: Jay-Z – D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)

Statik Selektah: This set a new tone for east coast hip-hop — that people can still have big records making grimy shit. Clap for ‘em!

6th Sense: This track is just disgusting. Every time I would be in the club hearing the same old BS, this song would come in and I would actually feel alive. The sample flip is incredible and I don’t enjoy people’s under appreciation on that front. This beat actually heavily influenced a particular track I produced, I’ll let ya’ll figure that out.

Yelawolf: NO I.D killed this break beat and sample . . the way he used the horns as a breather, the guitar chops are ridiculous . . this beat is classic Jeep Shit!! . . makes you want to move to NY throw on some Tim’s and and beat up auto tune recording artist!!!

Nottz

Download: Snoop Dogg – Protocol

J57: This is one of those beats that make me want to run immediately to the studio and try to make a beat. Nottz has always been good for doing that to producers from past tracks like: Scarface & Trey Songz’s “Girl You Know” as well as Snoop Dogg featuring & R.Kelly’s “That’s That Shit” and Kanye & Lil Wayne’s “Barry Bonds.” The intro to this beat was a pretty dope idea, it gives the beat real emphasis when it officially drops in. The organs were done to perfection and the random synth crescendo that pops in every couple of bars keeps the listeners attention until the vey end of the track. Oh, and the drums knock hard, even on really bad computer speakers.

Download: Royce Da 5’9 – Street Hop 2010

Marco Polo: This beat/song gives me the ultimate shit/scrunch face. Nottz creates a bounce that deserves it’s own planet. The bollywood sample gives it a dark vibe that makes this one of my favorites of 2009. Royce also murders it as usual.

Oddisee

Download: Diamond District – Who I Be

Von Pea: Now I heard of a beat making you want to fight, but this shit makes you want to chop a body up in the middle of the woods. Okay maybe not, but the eerie Michael Meyer-esque sample against what sounds like (effectively) over-compressed drums make this a song to play over and over again. And again.

Download: Diamond District – Streets Won’t Let Me Chill

Marco Polo: I could actually pick a few more beats from this album but this one is definitely the stand out. 100% raw, pure hip-hop music. Shout to Oddisee. I did a remix for this album that should drop soon.

Donwill: The open break full of compressed air and hissing at the top of this song is just perfection. By the time it opens up to the bassline and obscure go-go sample for the hook you are literally reeled in and accepting of whatever the MC’s have to say. This is a pretty dense piece of work production-wise but it meshes so well you can barely even notice the layers.

Download: Diamond District – Get In Line

Dujeous: Oddisee is just an all-around amazing talent, and this beat really shows his strengths: dusty chops and crazy, live-sounding drum programming. This starts out simple enough, with xylophone stabs interrupted by snippets of guitars and strings. But then the hook comes in, and Odd drops this insane, cinematic horn sample while drum fills start hitting you in the head. Pure sickness.

preHISTORIC

Download: Nike Nando – Super Nike Nando

Lyrciss: Another track that you might not be hip to if you’re outside of the DMV. Azizi Gibson and Whitey (preHISTORIC) took maybe the most awkward Japanese anime sample you could find, looped it, and threw in some effective drums. Simple formula, crazy outcome. I dare you to hear this beat and not start rocking.

Sa-Ra Creative Partners

Download: Sa-Ra Creative Partners – Love Czars

Blu: HipHopShitFromTheCollective,DrumsSonSten,Bass

Download: Sa-Ra Creative Partners – Soul’s Brother

Blu: MyFavBeatSince”Let’sRide”ByDilla

Scoop Deville

Download: Snoop Dogg – I Wanna Rock

Yelawolf: Scoop de Ville might be an Ice Cream shop chain on the West Coast, but make no mistake about it, SCOOP DE VILLE the producer ain’t servin’ no fuckin’ ice cream! Selecting sounds that are timeless in nature are key to making classics. Synth lines that resemble Kraftwerk, drum programing somewhere in between Dilla, Timbaland, Pharell/Chad, and of course a nostalgic vocal sample from ROB BASE “IT TAKES TWO” perfectly chopped and placed correctly! This record cant be remade, although I know people will try. Don’t bother unless Snoop invites you himself. This to me is the best beat of ‘09!

Scram Jones

Download: Raekwon – Kiss the Ring

Dujeous: There had to be at least one beat from OB4CL2 on this list, and in this case our old homie Scram Jones’ triumphant album closer takes the cake. The sped-up choral/string sample and pounding open hi-hats perfectly capture the mood of the song: Old dons kicking their feet up, looking back and celebrating both their achievements in the game and the completion of an amazing album. It’s simple, but it works.

Von Pea

Download: Tanya Morgan – So Damn Down

Von Pea: There’s nothing wrong with taking pride in your own work right? My bassline got some of the funk knocked out of it in the mixdown but this is still some ol’ ghetto disney hip hop shit. Yep, ghetto disney. It just makes you want to hop around and shit like a fool. Not shit like a fool but…forget it. Anyway, its one of my favorite tracks I’ve ever done, I had to include it here.

Download: Tanya Morgan – On Our Way

Donwill: Cry favoritism if you want but the fact of the matter is that if you follow Von Pea’s production this song really showed his growth. From his stuttery but smooth dusted breakbeat production that peppered Moonlighting this song let you know that not only was be back but he broughtalot of experience with him. The synth line combined with the lazy guitar licks just creates some kinda futuristic jamboree effect.

6th Sense

Download: Outasight – Brand New Day

6th: Yes, that’s me. Thanks to Metal Lungies for letting me put at least one of my tracks in my top 5 (I had to do it!). I made a lotta dope joints this year, but it always comes back to this one. I had the melody/arrangement the whole thing in my head for months. When it came time to do it, I just went at it. I don’t wanna talk too much about it, I’ll just let ya’ll be the listeners.

9th Wonder

Download: Skyzoo – Beautiful Decay

Donwill: I have a soft spot for anything ‘Sylvers’ related. I think it dates back to discovering Dr. Dre replayed Misdemeanor for D.O.C.’s “Funky Enough” and going on to discover how dope a lot of their catalog is. So when you couple that with a very skillful chop done by Ninth, it’s a no brainer. Ninth definitely has a ‘sound’ and this track is exemplary of his aesthetic. The bell layered on top of the snare just ices the cake.

With the all-too-real “sophomore jinx” phenomenon that is as prevalent in music as it is in sports, dropping a second album that is a complete transformation in sound from one’s debut is a risky move. Yet, despite a platinum plaque, a Source Award for Best New Group, and loads of positive reviews (a 4.5-mic rating amongst them), Andre Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton decided to make such a transition. From smoothed-out to spacey. From Caddies to comic books. From portraying a pimp’s lifestyle to questioning the existence of life forms on other planets. From “If you smoke a dime, then I’ll smoke a dime” to “No drugs or alcohol so I can get the signal clear”. From “Talkin’ ’bout her period late, guess what I did” to “Oh yes I love her like Egyptian”.

Granted, there were some points of similarity between Outkast’s first two albums — pieces of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik still prevalent in ATLiens, and vice versa. The “GREETINGS EARTHLINGS” sound effect that kicks off ATLiens was first heard on “D.E.E.P.”, the closing track on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. And, on ATLiens’ two biggest singles, Dre and Big were still talking about “slammin’ Cadillac doors” and “all that pimp shit”.

So, maybe Outkast didn’t pull a complete 180 between their first two albums… but, it was at least a 160. Rappers aren’t supposed to make such dramatic changes in styles and still maintain such a high level of success? Maybe so, but noise isn’t supposed to be organized, either. (Also, noise isn’t supposed to be spelled with a “z”, but let’s ignore that for now.)

The only two things that one could really say was consistent between the two albums was the quality of the music (incredible) and the names in the production credits (Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown). And, as their work within and outside of the Dungeon Family collective throughout the years has shown, it’s no coincidence that the name “Organized Noize” and incredible music go together like fish and grits. Oh ye-yer.

Joining us for this Beat Drop are…

• Brandon Soderberg from No Trivia
• Dom Corleone from Hold The Throne Hits From The Blog
• Jesse Hagen from The Smoking Section
• Sach O from Passion Of The Weiss
• Wesley Verhoeve

Download: TLC – “Waterfalls” (off CrazySexyCool, 1994)

Jesse: I must admit, I was pretty shocked when I first heard that the most singable song of my elementary school years was produced by Organized Noize. The group never made another beat that was as cotton-candy-flavored bubble gum as this, but don’t front — you sing along when DJs spin this on their throwback hours.

Download: TLC – “Sumthin’ Wicked This Way Comes” featuring Andre 3000 (off CrazySexyCool)

Wesley: This was my jam in high school. Soulful and driving. Sidenote — one of the best Andre verses of the time.

Download: Outkast – “Myintrotoletuknow” (off Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, 1994)

Sach O: Andre once said that Outkast’s music was a reflection of the open space typical of the dirty south and that he never understood how New York rap could sound so claustrophobic until he visited the city’s housing projects. You wouldn’t know it by the first song on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, however — an Organized Noise production so dense and smoky it could have been made in any dungeon from Collie Park to Compton to Queens. Drawing on Funkadelic’s acid-fried guitar lines, the haunting organ that would become the producers’ trademark and crashing drums that’d make The Bomb Squad green with envy, “Myintro” announced a new sound to the world that challenged both the West Coast’s funky instrumentation and NY’s atmospheric abstraction. Evoking the steaming hot climate that birthed it, “Myintro” was the first blast in a new wave of Atlanta hip-hop.

Dom: Not only did the lead-in to ‘Kast’s debut launch the rap duo’s ying-yang style, it introduced Organized Noize’s early production technique of gritty drums and multihued instrumentation. The distorted guitar riff rides shotgun here, with rolling double-time snares and occasional horns hopping in the back seat for the trip. Topped off with pinpoint scratches during the hook, ONP constructed an ideal backdrop to start ‘Kast’s smoked-filled, pimp-tastic storylines.

Download: Outkast – “Git Up, Git Out” featuring Cee-Lo and Big Gipp (off Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik)

Brandon: ONP adapted that Marley Marl-turned-boom-bap sound of the East for the South, keeping hard-smacking drums and record hiss — love the wobbly record scratches in the background of this one — but slowing it down a bit and filling in the open space with funk flourishes instead of jagged jazz and soul. This one just keeps going, too, so you get to really obsess over little details, like the wandering Eddie Hazel guitars behind the hook. Also, used really well in Chris Robinson’s ATL.

Download: Goodie Mob – “Thought Process” featuring Andre 3000 (off Soul Food, 1995)

AaronM: The first proper song on Soul Food, “Thought Process” immediately sets the album’s tone with its mellow, meditative loop. It’s got this great woodblock-sounding clap that ONP used on a lot of their production around this time. I love how the instrumental is slowly reduced to just live claps and backing vocals for Dre’s revelatory verse.

Download: Goodie Mob – “Dirty South” featuring Cool Breeze and Big Boi (off Soul Food)

Jesse: The greatest thing about “Dirty South” is that it’s so damn anthemic without making the mistake that most attempts at anthems make — it never goes overboard. Instead, the ONP boys craft a banger with a simple blip, a creeping bassline and a guttural drum pattern that provides the perfect minimalist backdrop for them Southern boys to plant their flag firmly in the mud.

Download: Goodie Mob – “Cell Therapy” (off Soul Food)

Wesley: There’s very few non-East Coast tracks that can make me do the grimy/scrunchy facial expression and headnod like this track. DJ Premier semi-channeled through an original filter Atlanta visions. Dirty, dark, yet enlightening.

Download: Goodie Mob – “Goodie Bag” (off Soul Food)

Wesley: This track has always puzzled me in terms of how hard it is, yet how smoothed out it also is at the same time. Great break down during Cee-Lo’s verse where they play with the bass notes. Great slap-back snare sounds. So simple and effective.

Download: Goodie Mob – “I Didn’t Ask To Come” (off Soul Food)

Brandon: Those like, pumping iron-lung drums that a lot of ONP shit had, here working with a devastating string sample and classic hard-ass, sad-rap humanism from Goodie Mob. Shares sonic space with something like “John Cassavetes 2″ by Ekkehard Ehlers or Gorecki’s “Symphony No. 3″ as much as it does brooding-strings beats like OB4CL‘s “Rainy Dayz” or “Sunshine Into Rain”, that Scarface joint off Miri Ben-Ari’s album (remember that one?), or, more recently, something like “Shotz” off the Paper Route Recordz mixtape.

Download: Goodie Mob – “The Coming” featuring Witchdoctor (off Soul Food)

AaronM: “The Coming” takes the classic blaxploitation sound and sucks all the id out. The beat has the classic ’70s signifiers but they combine for a sound that’s dark and foreboding. Where wah-wah guitar, blurting horns, a thumping one-note bassline and clattering piano keys would normally sound like an upbeat, glossy strut, ONP turn “The Coming” into a swampy, apocalyptic creep.

Download: Outkast – “Jazzy Belle” (off ATLiens, 1996)

Wesley: The ultimate early-days Outkast song. Everything about this beat embodies their spirit and vibe perfectly. Beautiful.

Jesse: For my money, ATLiens is the best Outkast album in their platinum-plated and mistake-free discography. But as much credit (all of which is due) is given to the duo’s superior lyricism and intelligent verses, the disc is held together because of the consistent production sound. Of all the haunting, spacey instrumentals that litter the album, this beat is the most enduring. The eerie guitar feedback opens up to the chilling vocals that carry the hook without uttering even a single lyric.

Download: Outkast – “Babylon” (off ATLiens)

Sach O: Starting with what sounds like Monks humming (!!!) over record static, “Babylon” doesn’t give Andre much of a safety net as he fearlessly starts flowing sans-drums until a massive break drops in to provide the rhythm to one of ONP’s vastest compositions on wax. Little more than sub base, drums, an occasional guitar lick and the aforementioned humming, “Babylon” is all about the vocals, which is perversely why it’s such a fantastic beat. While R&B hooks were increasingly present on rap records in ’96, often for purely commercial purposes, the monastic vibe and sparseness of “Babylon” elevates Andrea Martin’s chorus about battles and faith from “Rap & Bullshit” to psychedelic hip-hop gospel. The track’s unadorned midrange provides little cushioning for the singer, but, as all students of the choir know, it’s a vastly rewarding gambit as it lets her voice flood every inch of the track. In terms of sung vocals on rap records, perhaps only Blue Raspberry’s hook on “Rainy Dayz” can match what ONP and Andrea Martin achieved here.

Download: Witchdoctor – “Hurtin’” (off A S.W.A.T. Healin’ Ritual, 1998)

Wesley: This is essentially just a beat loop, but a great one. Great backwards sample that makes for an eerie atmosphere that works well for Witchdoctor’s lyrical content. Great for dreamy headnodding.

Download: Witchdoctor – “Smooth Shit” featuring T-Mo and Khujo (off A S.W.A.T. Healin’ Ritual)

Buhizzle: I’d be hesitant to label any of the MCs involved in this collabo as “smooth” — granted, not everybody can flow like Jigga, but the coarse, start-and-stop rhyme styles of Witchdoctor, T-Mo and Khujo added to the uniqueness of the Dungeon Family records they appeared on. Nonetheless, this record really is some smooth shit. I dig the live female vocals that lay delicately beneath the verses, not taking the focus away for the rapping, but more lively than a mere loop. And, though the chorus isn’t all that special standing alone, it serves its purpose over this delightful beat.

Download: Witchdoctor – “Dez Only 1″ featuring Outkast (off A S.W.A.T. Healin’ Ritual)

Brandon: A particularly busy beat — loud drums, sad piano, weird sound effects all over the place, lilting guitar — so Witchdoctor kinda shout-ras over it (or, shout-raps more than usual). ONP beats are great because they sound confident, smoothed-out, ready for driving, and downbeat all at the same time. And there’s always something redemptive wrapped up inside of it, like the feeling that shit will get better or you shouldn’t lost hope, without being too grand and epic about it. Along side “13th Floor/Growing Old”, this is ONP’s most moving beat.

Download: Sleepy’s Theme – “Can’t Let Go” (off The Vinyl Room, 1998)

Download: Sleepy’s Theme – “Choked Out Saturday Night” (off The Vinyl Room)

Buhizzle: Amongst hip hop hookmen, I might place only Nate Dogg above Sleepy Brown as far as those whose crooning increases the likability of a hip hop record… and I’d be the first to admit that it is most likely my West Coast upbringing bias talking. I have to give Sleepy his props, however, for his oft-overlooked solo catalog — The Vinyl Room (released under the name Sleepy’s Theme, but essentially a Sleepy Brown solo album) had its own unique feel, not sounding like some collection of hip hop records cast aside from a rapper’s album. Call it claim lack of promotion, or inability to target stubborn hip hop fans with albums of predominantly soul music, but neither The Vinyl Room nor ’06′s Mr. Brown caught much attention (throw in ’03′s shelved Phunk-O-Naut for good measure, if you will). “Can’t Let Go” freaks what sounds like a sample of the theme to The People’s Court (word to Judge Wapner), turning into a nice piece of thick-yet-subdued funk — also, Chad Butler‘s name appears in the credits, and what more could be expected from putting Pimp C and Organized Noize in the same studio. “Choked Out Saturday Night”, in contrast, is a lighter, more piano-and-horns-based example of Sleepy’s soulful solo repertoire.

Download: Outkast – “Return Of The ‘G’” (off Aquemini, 1998)

AaronM: ONP employ an eerie flip of the Midnight Express theme, fleshing out Moroder’s skeleton of foreboding synthesizers with beautiful instrumentation and a multi-tracked sung chorus. ONP’s work on Aquemini is clearly indebted to Curtis Mayfield’s socially conscious work in the early ’70s, and “Return Of The ‘G’” is a stellar example. Listen to the sound effects that accompany Big Boi’s verse, the cascading harp that enters occasionally. On some outerspace pimp-noir steez.

Download: Outkast – “Skew It On The Bar-B” featuring Raekwon (off Aquemini)

Jesse: The conventional picks for the best tracks on Aquemini are “Rosa Parks” and “SpottieOttieDopaliscious”, but I always found myself more bewitched by the hushed flutes of “Skew It On The Bar-B”, which somehow pioneered a middle ground between the dirty Southern funk of Outkast and the grimy kung-fu of the Wu. RZA would even flip the same “Police Woman Theme” 6 years later for Masta Killa’s “No Said Date”.

Download: Lil’ Will – “Low Low” featuring Cool Breeze and Pimp C (off Better Days, 1998/unreleased)

Brandon: That spark of funk guitar and classic ONP drums knocking a little louder than usual sounds like ONP moving into the next decade, predicting the synthethic-but-still-kinda-warm sound of The Neptunes or something. At the same time, though, it’s even weirded and murkier than the Outkast and Goodie stuff. All the sounds usually rolling around in the background of their beats are pushed even further into the background, like a swamp of country rap tunes signifiers.

Download: Cool Breeze – “Watch For The Hook” featuring Outkast, Witchdoctor and Goodie Mob (off East Point’s Greatest Hits, 1999)

AaronM: ONP expertly chop Merry Clayton’s cover of “Southern Man” into pieces and string snatches of its ominous keyboards and a ringing guitar riff together with these fantastic stuttering, stumbling drums. What’s incredible about “Watch For The Hook” is that the instrumental fits each emcee’s voice and flow perfectly — Witchdoctor’s blunted mumble, Cee-Lo’s helium babbling, T-Mo’s fiery bark, Big Gipp’s plain-spoken twang, Big Boi’s slick double-time spitting, Breeze’s authoritative drawl, and so forth. Of course, the lyrics to “Southern Man” share common ground with the more righteous Goodie Mob songs, too.

Download: Cool Breeze – “Cre-A-Tine” (off East Point’s Greatest Hits)

Buhizzle: The bubbly sound effects lead me to wonder whether ONP cooked this one up during an ATLiens session, before realizing that it was just way too intense for that album… so, instead, it ended up in the hands of Cool Breeze, who tears into it, speaking on all sorts of “people who…” at an energy level which would lead one to believe that he doesn’t sit still all that often. If you’re not going to bed anytime soon, check out the video — I would’ve never guessed that ONP could’ve laced a beat to match that imagery if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. I listened to East Point’s Greatest Hits in its entirety for the first time not too long ago, and though it didn’t grab me enough for me to call it “slept-on”, I will say that Cool Breeze deserves credit for making trap music before “trap music” really existed.

Download: Outkast – “So Fresh, So Clean” (off Stankonia, 2000)

Dom: One of the ATLiens’ instantly-recognizable singles, “So Fresh, So Clean” knocks right off the bat with its precisely syncopated drum programming. Then comes the good stuff, as the producers reinterpret soul singer Joe Simon’s “Before The Night Is Over” by bending a sweet synth around soft, melodic keys. The beauty here is the beat’s airy simplicity, evoking a feeling of clarity supported by Andre’s and Antwan’s refreshing verses (pun intended).

Download: Backbone – “5 Deuce 4 Tre” (off Concrete Law, 2001)

Buhizzle: I’ll pass on the big words and fancy synonyms on this pick to get straight to the point — I fucking love this song. Dungeon Family background player Backbone had exactly one commercial single in him — kudos to ONP for finding it.

Download: Ludacris – “Saturday (Oooh Oooh!)” (off Word Of Mouf, 2001)

Dom: Man, them drums! Off Luda’s sophomore effort Word Of Mouf, “Saturday” hits harder than a Tyson uppercut with its thumping kicks layered between shimmying hi-hats and punchy vocal samples. The subtle bassline supports the drums effectively, leaving plenty of room for Luda’s Southern-fried rhymes. You don’t need much more for a trunk-rattling weekend celebration — feel free to drop the top and have some fun to this one.

Download: Bubba Sparxxx – “New South” featuring Duddy Ken (off Deliverance, 2003)

Dom: It takes an often-overlooked track from Bubba’s Deliverance to best summarize ONP’s distinct sound. The guitar loop syncs flawlessly with the melodic whistling in front of a fury of upbeat drumming, creating an atypical fusion of rock and hip hop elements. This is exactly what I mean when I say multi-layered instrumentation defines the production crew — perhaps Weezy should recruit ONP for Rebirth so the masses can experience what real rock-rap should sound like.

Download: Ludacris – “Blueberry Yum Yum” featuring Sleepy Brown (off The Red Light District, 2004)

Dom: I chose this ode to the green leaf from The Red Light District to demonstrate the crew’s versatility on the boards as they tossed away the guitar chords to dig deeper into the electronic sound banks. Borrowing from the West Coast G-Funk era, they utilize a zigzag portamento lick amidst a trippy, electro-synth harmony. The drums aren’t too fancy — they don’t need to be — as a basic kick and snapping snare acts to control the atmospheric melody from blasting off into distant space. Unless that’s your sort of thing, they by all means — prepare for lift-off!

Download: Bubba Sparxxx – “Wonderful” (off The Charm, 2006)

AaronM: “Wonderful” is a bouncy song for a beautiful sunny day when you’re feeling especially great, you got a shiny pair of new kicks, and you don’t have any immediate commitments. It’s the feel that Nappy Roots’ “Good Day” captures, the feeling that Jay Electronica’s “I Feel Good” captures. “Wonderful” combines a lot of overused musical elements that would be irritating in another producer’s hands — acoustic guitar, chopped chipmunk vocals, blaring marching band horns, shuffling 808s. And on “Wonderful”, ONP make all these song parts work wonderfully… it’s nice out today, huh?

Download: Cee-Lo – “Ophidiophobia” (off Snakes On A Plane OST, 2006)

Jesse: It takes a special production team to chop-and-screw the only memorable line from an overhyped movie, turn it into a hilarious hook, and back the effort with a screaming, guitar-laced instrumental, which served as a fitting undercurrent to lift Cee-Lo’s soaring voice.

Download: Sleepy Brown – “Dress Up” (off Mr. Brown, 2006)

Brandon: Let’s begin by pointing out that “Dress Up” has two saxophone solos. And that said sax solos are played by Sleepy’s pops — Jimmy Brown from Brick. Throw in some comely “Boogie On Reggae Woman” drums and anchor the whole thing around a blaxploitation vibe and you’ve got the ballsy, incongruous, kitchen-sink weirdo production genius of ONP in a nutshell. Steeped in tradition, obsessed with aping their musical heroes but somehow internalizing those influences well enough to spit them back up as something wholly original.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As you may have guessed, and likely seen before, that was Timbaland and Jay-Z, from the concert-mentary Fade To Black, taking the first step in the process of crafting “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”. After hearing a couple of beats that he appeared to be none too fond of (one of which ended up as “The Potion” on Ludacris’ The Red Light District), Jay hears the beat that would become “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” and makes the face that should be looking right back at you on your screen… that is, if you paused the YouTube video, like I asked you to do.

That screwface-invoking reaction is the trademark of a Timbaland production. Most great hip hop beats will have you nodding your head as soon as it drops, but, when Timbo provides his magic touch, the head-nodding comes after a brief delay of a few seconds — a moment in time where everything else stops, confusion ensues, and a grown man dancing around with a banana (no Peanut Butter Jelly Time) in his hand is commonplace.

Does that make Timbaland “the best there is”, as he so eloquently puts it toward the end of that clip? If you’ve been following these Beat Drop posts, you’d know how hesitant we are to crown someone at the expense of others. But when it comes to pushing the envelope with production (and not just hip-hop production), Timbo may have a case for the throne. And since he’s lost all that weight since Fade To Black, the crown wouldn’t have to be fitted over that pack of hot dogs on the back of his neck.

Joining us for this Beat Drop are…

• Clinton Sparks
• DJ Franchise from Know The Ledge
• Don Will, 1/3rd of Tanya Morgan (The Bridge available now on iTunes, Brooklynati coming soon)
• Eric from Commonwealth and Whats the Scenario?
• Ivan from Hip Hop Is Read
• Jabari from HipHopGame.com
• Nex Millen from Respect The Culture
• Philly producer Small Professor
• $port from Way More Fresher and What Up, $port?
• Steve from OtherGround HipHop
• Wes from Sit Down Stand Up
• Zilla Rocca from Clap Cowards

Download: Aaliyah – “One In A Million” (off One In A Million, 1996)

$port: Not exactly hip hop, I know. But many of us will agree that Timbo did his best work with his R&B joints. I can say the following without blinking — Timbaland singlehandedly changed R&B music with this one song. I remember when I first heard the track — it was a big “WTF??!” The rhythm was so all over the place, yet Aaliyah came through and smoothed it out. You could be the most gangsta gangsta in the history of gangstadom, but when you hear that first kick, all glocks down.

Download: Aaliyah – “Hot Like Fire (Timbaland’s Groove Mix)” featuring Missy Elliott (original version off One In A Million)

DJ Franchise: Not a hip hop song, but definitely one of Timbaland’s classics. He flipped the song to a dope dance beat with a little “Tom’s Diner” chant for some flavor. I could’ve done without Missy on the track, but back then her and Tim were inseparable. I remember being in college and so mad that this remix was not getting as much play as it should’ve. Plus, the video was one that should be a cult classic on YouTube.

Download: Ginuwine – “Pony” (off Ginuwine… The Bachelor, 1996)

Steve: WTF did he sample for this track?! From early on in Timbaland’s mainstream career, he was able to make hits and did so with a unique style. This beat is still hot over a decade later and it acts as an ongoing testament to its relevance.

Download: Ginuwine – “I’ll Do Anything/I’m Sorry” (off Ginuwine… The Bachelor)

Don Will: I picked this because I didn’t discover the sample to the song until long after I heard the song. One day, a few years ago, I went on a Stevie back catalog binge and I ended up hearing the sampled portion and that kinda blew my mind for some reason. It wasn’t like he did some amazing shit to the sample — he just kinda embellished upon it with his signature stutter percussion, but it’s just something magic about it.

Download: Missy Elliott – “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” (off Supa Dupa Fly, 1997)

Small Pro: No Timbaland list could be complete and not mention Missy, his long-time collaborator and fellow rhythm alien. This may be a cliche pick, but it still is one of my favorites… this, perhaps more than any other Timbo beat, illustrates how sharp and distinctive his ear was — who else could have picked this portion of the Ann Peebles original out to use in the first place? Who else could have flipped it to bounce like this? I remember bugging out like Missy’s eyes in the video when I heard the sample for the first time. When it dropped, there was nothing out that even remotely similiar, and that in a nutshell is why I am and will always be a Timbaland fan — the ear for samples, the distinctive sense of rhythm, the mastery over all things “bounce”, and, above all, the guts to do things differently. We need more Timbalands in the game. Word.

DJ Franchise: I think this was my first introduction to Timbaland’s genius — the simple beat, crazy synths, and signature bug sounds. I just kept asking myself while this song is on repeat — “Where did he get those sounds?” As much as the video gets props for its innovation, I think we forget that without a futuristic beat, there would be no inspiration for the Hype Williams video. Just my opinion.

Download: Timbaland & Magoo – “Up Jumps Da Boogie” featuring Missy Elliott and Aaliyah (off Welcome To Our World, 1997)

Jabari: Although Tim’s work now is great, I was a huge fan of the stuff in the late 90′s. I remember a time when I used to say the hottest rappers in the game were Timbaland & Magoo — I was young)! With that being said, “Up Jumps Da Boogie” was a crazy record. The way Missy, Timbaland, Magoo and Aaliyah all fit on the record was Tim doing what a great producer is supposed to do — making each artist sound as good as they possibly can.

Download: Timbaland & Magoo – “Clock Strikes” (off Welcome To Our World)

Eric: Flipped the fuck out of the Knight Rider theme. Some of the Timbaland’s best beats were also some of his worst songs. This is no exception. “Yo I’m ’bout to get it started like I’m Hammer then I farted/ You retarded if you thinkin’ Brandy really broken hearted/ I departed doin’ dirt lookin’ up your girl’s skirt/ Keep it Steve Martin style, bustin’ loose like jerk” — Magoo… I’m convinced any MC in existence would sound dope over this, and, in the end, isn’t that what a good beat is all about?

Download: Aaliyah – “Are You That Somebody?” (off Dr. Dolittle OST, 1998)

Clinton: This song was so innovative with its double-timed beat, along with Timbaland’s now-signature beat boxing.

$port: Again, this joint changed everything and couldn’t be duplicated by ANYONE. When this came out, I was in junior high. I was on my hoop star shit tough. Imagine a small gym filled to the brim with kids stomping and clapping the drums of this track all in unison.

Eric: I’m pretty sure this was the only reason anyone (including myself) purchased the Dr. Doolittle soundtrack (I was 14, don’t judge me). Timmy bodied Aaliyah’s essence on this track. The cooing baby (how random) was just subtle enough, but made the song everything it was. No matter what you felt about Tim’s rhymes, his verse on this just fit so perfectly. “I’m the man from the big V-A/ Won’t you come play ’round my way”. R.I.P. “baby girl”.

Don Will: I picked this joint for all the random ass noises Tim turned into percussive elements. I mean, it’s kinda hard to just overlook the song writing because that’s what pushes this joint over the edge, but the guy has babies and tongue popping noises in the track and before you can isolate or even know what’s goin’ on, you are rockin’ to ‘em just like they are guitars or keyboards. That’s pretty damn genius if you ask me. Not to mention baby girl was FOINE in that video.

Jabari: The first song that comes to mind when you talk about beats by Timbo is “Are You That Somebody?” Aside from me being a sucker for pop hits, this song was so creative! The dude used a baby’s voice cooing in the hook for crying out loud! The record is timeless, and this is just some of the magic that Tim created with the late Aaliyah, but I think it was some of their best work.

Download: Jay-Z – “Nigga What, Nigga Who” featuring Jaz-O and Amil (off Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, 1998)

Zilla Rocca: Tim had already melted the face of popular music with Missy in ’97 with his off-tempo weird-ass breakthrough beats on Supa Dupa Fly. A year later, he unearthed this double-time mammoth for Jay’s Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, arguably the most jaw-dropping production on an album stacked with heavy hitters behind the boards. Spacious enough for Hov to shine, but technically unmatched by anything in ’98, this song (along with Biggie’s “Notorious Thugs”) made me sit back and marvel at the ability of two East Coast MCs to spit it at a hundred miles an hour and sound great doing so. Another thing I loved about this track was the video — the colors and laser lights looked like how this beat sounded. This dropped during the height of underground movement, but nothing was as next-level and progressive as a Timbaland beat and a song about no one fucking with Jay-to-the-Z.

Small Pro: My Jay-Z bias is so obvious with my picks, but fuck it though. This may be a cliche pick, but it’s a Timbaland beat that for some reason stands above a lot in his discography. It’s empty one second, and then for exactly one count you are bombarded with a flurry of stuttering hi-hats, giving the track a herky-jerky momentum. Even in 2009, it sounds futuristic and robotic, and it’s a style that is wholly unique to Timbaland. Dude’s a one in a million.

Download: Timbaland – “Lobster & Scrimp” featuring Jay-Z (off Tim’s Bio: Life From Da Bassment, 1998)

Wes: This track drips with that perfect level of cockiness and self-assurance and it’s matched by the lyrics (“I hope she likes porno flicks ’cause she’s starring now”). A modern classic.

Download: Timbaland – “Keep It Real” featuring Ginuwine (off Tim’s Bio: Life From Da Bassment)

Clinton: An overlooked record off Timbaland’s album. This was a record that to this day musically still sticks in my brain.

Download: Missy Elliott – “Dangerous Mouths” featuring Redman (off Da Real World, 1999)

$port: What Timbaland managed to do with Missy’s Da Real World album was comical. He saw everybody taking pieces from what he was putting out, then BOOM — all new sounds, new drum patterns and that ONE snare that he instantly made his own. Because of his pop chart dominance, Tim doesn’t really get enough credit for the canvases he’s created for some of the best emcees. Case and point, “Dangerous Mouths” — the beat was prime for Funk Doc. It sounded like you were walking in a lava pit somewhere.

Download: Jay-Z – “It’s Hot (Some Like It Hot)” (off Vol. 3… Life And Times Of S. Carter, 1999)

Small Pro: On this track, you have Timbo freaking the living shit out of a 4-bar loop featuring two guitar notes and claps on the off beats. Quiet as kept, dude is (or at least was) one of the slickest dudes with a sample, because he makes it HIS… this time, he added guitar chords for a couple bars before the hook (the same melody from the dramatic ass intro). It’s funny because I remember reading in Scratch magazine (R.I.P.) about how he doesn’t really like to sample… we don’t believe you, Timothy.

Nex Millen: When I first heard “It’s Hot”, I didn’t think of Timbaland until I checked the credits. It’s built around a slowed down 3-pluck guitar sample no longer than a second. Drums, claps and strings — very simple. Jigga has all this room to create a motion picture with his lyrics — even throws a 50 Cent diss in for extra measure. It gets no iller!

Clinton: With the dramatic intro, you didn’t know what to expect the first time you heard this, and then it drops in with a laid back, undeniable head-nodding beat and a constant clap to add to its awesomeness.

Download: Jay-Z – “Big Pimpin’” featuring UGK (off Vol. 3… Life And Times Of S. Carter)

Steve: For any loop digger, this track is a feat of loop digging patience and persistence. It samples a track called “Khosara” by Abdel Halim Hafez, a classical musician from the sub-continent. Timbo heard this and created “Big Pimpin’”.

Clinton: Another original beat with a sample that not anyone would have thought to use and flip the way he did… genius.

Knobbz: The ubiquity of the word “pimp” today is due in part to this song and “P.I.M.P.” by 50 Cent, the latter of which is a cheap imitation of the former. The appeal of “Big Pimpin’” is that it has a lavish, travel-the-world-and-get-down-with-exotic-women sound rather than the perms, canes and Cadillacs vibe traditionally associated with with pimps. Timbo’s brand of pimping bears a Middle Eastern melody, a thumping club-ready bass and a hook that everybody in the car can sing after they hear it once. The end product is radio-friendly, accessible pimping, but still has monster verses from Jay-Z, Bun B and Pimp C. Jay’s flow tops everything he’s done since and Bun and Pimp give all the people hearing them for the first time something worth remembering. Also, the sheer amount of voluptuous half-naked women in the video snatched me out of my prepubescence. (See also: Jay and Bun performing “Big Pimpin’” in Houston and the whole crowd doing Pimp C’s verse.)

Ivan: Yet another Timbo beat which sampled Eastern music, “Big Pimpin’” incorporated elements from Abdel Halim Hafez’s “Khosara”. The exuberant array of instruments that were integrated into this track accentuated the lavish content, both lyrically and visually (the Hype Williams-directed music video is a must-see). A massive success, “Big Pimpin’” introduced droves of hip hop fans to UGK and video vixens like Melyssa Ford and Gloria Velez. The single went on to win a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

Eric: It doesn’t matter which side of the country you’re on — when “Big Pimpin’” comes on, the party has officially begun. The video gave us classic Hype, Gloria Velez, Trinidad, the height of Roca Wear, and introduced UGK to the suburbs. How amusing was it that BET blocked out “MTV Jam of the Week”? (P.S. Am I the only who did the Dame Dash dance in the club?)

DJ Franchise: Everything about this combo on paper made me say “WTF?”.  UGK? (This was before it was cool to like them.  C’mon, only the South knew about them before this song.) A belly dance/Middle Eastern song was the main sample? Jay’s rapping about pimpin’? In the end, it all came together for the best Jay/Timbaland collaboration. An anthem from the hood to the white boy fraternities, this song put Jay-Z and Timbaland on a whole other echelon. Again, Jay with a knack for choosing risk-taking beats and Timbaland with the creativity to provide the soundscape.

Jabari: “Big Pimpin’” is one of those records where you don’t really have to say much about it. The way that record comes on, it sounds like you are in some type of grand celebration or something and then Jay comes in with the most vulgar wordplay of how he does not need a women. Classic hip hop.

Download: Jay-Z – “Come And Get Me” (off Vol. 3… Life And Times Of S. Carter)

Wes: Experimental futuristic funk trip and easily the weirdest thing to have been released on a Jay-Z album. Great two-parter beat.

$port: Easily Timbaland’s most gutter track ever. The first beat was silly enough as it was, with that crude-ass high-hat. The second beat??? SMH. It was amazing in the fact that it really coincided with Hov’s subject matter. Timbaland has a knack for making you feel like you’re traveling with the beat itself and on this one, he took it straight to Marcy.

Don Will: 2-for-1 style on that ass! The joint comes out the gate with this plodding backwater-sounding gangster-ass intro that bleeds into an even more sinister-sounding composition. The thing that pushes this beat over the top for me is the chord progressions that take place. From verse to verse, other elements weave throughout the beat and that makes this one hard to only play once.

Download: The LOX – “Ride Or Die Bitch” featuring Eve (off We Are The Streets, 2000)

Knobbz: Hardbody as they may be, the LOX know how to make songs for the radio without completely selling out. This is what pop-rap should sound like. Two-steppable, but vulgar enough to make my parents disown me. Great video to boot. Timbaland is great at this warm, bouncy sound. It’s clean-cut like champagne-era Bad Boy and extra clubby-poppy on some Neptunes ish. This song is number three on my wedding night playlist.

Download: Aaliyah – “Try Again” (off Romeo Must Die OST, 2000)

Zilla Rocca: This is my favorite Timbaland beat of all time, just for the shakers alone. “Tsst tsst tsst tsst tsst tsst” — it’s so distinct and tight. My common problem with most mainstream production is that it lacks swing, but this track is a neck breaker. The arrangement is incredible. The revolving door of simple synth stabs (an owl hooting underwater, Tritons presets to make Swizz Beatz pass out, rolling Moog notes that were just filthy) keep the track interesting without cluttering Aaliyah’s quaint vocals. It was like what the Bobby Digital sound could’ve been if he wasn’t smoking honey-dipped blunts and hanging out with 9th Prince.

Ivan: As if it wasn’t enough that the late, lovely Aaliyah was laying down some aphrodisiac rhymes and vibes, this beat right here oozed with sex appeal. The main layer of the track itself always distinctly reminded me of the syrupy sound of nylon rubbing together. The combination of Aaliyah’s seductive vocals and Timbo’s addictive production propelled “Try Again” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 — the very first song to reach the #1 spot based solely on radio play.

Download: Jay-Z – “Hey Papi” featuring Memphis Bleek and Amil (off Nutty Professor II: The Klumps OST, 2000)

Wes: Jay-Z and Timbaland are a near equal pairing to Nas and DJ Premier. Timbo brings out the thoughtful thug that Jigga wouldn’t fully reveal until Kingdom Come.

Nex Millen: Two words — the sickness. When this first came out, I already knew that Timbo was the illest producer of my era, but damn! The drums on this one, that guitar sample, all the layers — bangin’! Just when you think you have his style all figured out, he comes with a new sound. (Word on the street is that the original version has a 3rd verse by Jay, but the label had to cut it for time reasons.)

Download: Snoop Dogg – “Set It Off” featuring MC Ren, Lady Of Rage, Nate Dogg and Ice Cube (off Tha Last Meal, 2000)

Ivan: The very first time I heard this song was on the third volume of the And1 Mixtape series, back in 2001. Hoops and hip hop have always seemed to go hand-in-hand, and this track right here had just enough bounce to keep my neck swaying back and forth like the soaring basketball across the screen. In order to accommodate all these West Coast legends, Timbo had to hustle to compose some congruent production. Let’s just say it was a slam dunk.

Download: Memphis Bleek – “Is That Yo Chick?” featuring Jay-Z, Twista and Missy Elliott (off The Understanding, 2000)

DJ Franchise: Jay is known for being a great lyricist, but I’ve always like to make sure that he gets credit for being a risk-taker with his beat selection. And I think, much like his joints with the Neptunes, Timbaland pushes Jay to a new level with his flow because of the beat. “Is That Your Chick?” does just that. The intensity and bounce of the beat go back to his early rap years, before the deal, where he went with his fast flow — so fast that I think that people lost the daggers he was throwing. The beat is so dope that he has the strong horns on the chorus, then the cowbell on the extra verses, then Timbo manipulates that reverse sound at the end of the song. So many layers of sound, you would think it was a Bomb Squad joint.

Download: Aaliyah – “We Need A Resolution” (off Aaliyah, 2001)

Zilla Rocca: In the ’90s, I wasn’t big on R&B outside of a few acts here and there (D’Angelo, Shai, Portrait, Jodeci), but Aaliyah grabbed me by the throat. Beautiful, classy, intriguing and subdued, she looked like she always knew something you didn’t. And the beats Timbaland made for her would never sound right with anyone else cooing over them. “We Need A Resolution” has an orchestral sample (I want to say clarinet) that snakes around the patented Timbo beat-boxing, shifting synth lines, and double hand claps. The feeling of the track fit Aaliyah perfectly — sublime but banging, contained but infectious. After she passed, it seemed like Tweet got the left-overs from the Aaliyah disks but never did the beats any justice. “We Need A Resolution” is just butter.

$port: We all know that Aaliyah got first dibs on the crazy stuff. This was a perfect way to reacquaint us with Baby Girl. It was as if he molded beats after her. One of the most fun things about a Timbo beat is the fact that he’ll go in the booth, beatbox… and keep it. Before you know it, you’re doing the exact same thing.

Eric: Right from the start, it has that recognizable sound. This is the true timeless nature that Tim has given us over and over again. He hasn’t achieved anything near this brilliant in a long time (in my opinion).

Download: Aaliyah – “More Than A Woman” (off Aaliyah)

Wes: One of the best pop gems Timbo crafted. Fluid like water, synths going crazy.

Ivan: This track doesn’t profile Timbaland’s production skills any more so than it highlights his crate-digging tendencies. “More Than a Woman” heavily sampled Syrian singer Mayada El Hennawy’s melodic “Alouli Ansa”, but unfortunately, the song was never officially credited. Oops! There you go again, Tim! Regardless of this legal fiasco, the beat always had me mesmerized with its oscillating synths and overall catchiness.

Download: Jay-Z – “Hola Hovito” (off The Blueprint, 2001)

Nex Millen: By the time this joint came out, I stopped wondering why Tim was giving his best hip hop beats to Jay-Z. From the intro to the end, this is my favorite Timbaland song of all time. Just like “Hey Papi”, the ;ayers don’t stop. Just when you think you heard all the sounds, he brings in another, then another. Super big!

Download: Timbaland & Magoo – “Drop” featuring Fatman Scoop (off Indecent Proposal, 2001)

Eric: One of the most energetic songs he’s ever made. The temperature seems to rise when this record is dropped (pun intended). I remember being in the club as a youngin’ and seeing females do a lot of strange things when this came blaring over the speakers.

Download: Pastor Troy – “Are We Cuttin’” featuring Ms. Jade (off Universal Soldier, 2002)

Don Will: I feel like this joint doesn’t get enough love at all. It’s so frenetic. It has this energy to it that sounds like motion. It literally sounds like people dancing. I wasn’t in college around the time this dropped but I can only imagine how many drumlines ended up playin’ this during halftime.

Download: Missy Elliott – “Work It” (off Under Construction, 2002)

AaronM: I feel as if I’ve sacrificed my digger credentials by only picking singles, but fuck it, Timbaland’s singles are THAT good. Tim combines an undulating synth line, what sounds like a theremin and blippy bongo percussion into a seamless, rhythmic groove. “Work It” artfully evokes ’80s hip hop with simply aping it — the Rockmaster Scott sampling into, the scratching at 3:25, and rock the “Take Me To The Mardi Gras” break for the last 20 seconds. Reagan-era cribbing rappers would be wise to take notes. Like any Tim production, it’s the small details that really strike you after the first listen; he uses an elephant’s trumpet to censor Missy on the chorus! Genius.

Download: Lil’ Kim – “The Jump Off” featuring Mr. Cheeks (off La Bella Mafia, 2003)

Nex Millen: This joint was made around the “drumline ” era. A lot of producers tried, but Tim was the only one to crank the BPMs up and make his joint go to town! Lil’ Kim is doing Lil’ Kim on this one and it’s hot (shout outs to Queen B), but the real treat is bringing Mr. Cheeks (of Lost Boyz) in to update the classic hook from “Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz”. Crowd still goes crazy when I drop this.

Download: Bubba Sparxxx – “She Tried” featuring Ryan Tedder (off Deliverance, 2003)

Download: Bubba Sparxxx – “Deliverance” (off Deliverance)

Small Pro: On the real, if I could put the entire sophomore Bubba album on this list (or at least what Timbo did), I almost would… almost. Deliverance as a whole, and these two tracks in particular, exemplify Timbaland’s extraordinary ability to consistently maintain his signature sound and sense of rhythm and yet integrate elements that are foreign to both his style and hip hop (or R&B) in general. “She Tried” is one of those fast, yet slow, Timbo joints featuring melancholy violins and almost bluegrassy guitars (not to mention another one of his complimentary beatboxing routines that are unlike any heard anywhere else) and “Deliverance” is bluesy and soulful, featuring a triumphant string arrangement and handclaps in place of snares; both were made by a Timbaland not seen before or after… this is why he’s hot.

Download: Jay-Z – “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” (off The Black Album, 2003)

Steve: “Bounce coming up,” said Timbo in his back-and-forth interaction with Jay-Z during the studio sessions. [See intro. -- Buhizzle] As soon as Timbo hit the keys on his Triton, the energy was syndicated. This track oozes swag and I’m certain that this track helped solidified Jay-Z as the “best rapper alive” to those that didn’t already think so before.

Ivan: Together with Timbo’s plethora of awe-inspiring synthesizers and hotbox drums, Hov indulged pimps and the uninitiated alike to the swag-tastic tradition of brushing off one’s shoulders. Even President Obama caught on to the craze!

DJ Franchise: The song made it on the list just for Timbaland’s excitement for this joint when he showed he to Jay on Fade To Black. No doubt, it’s a bounce beat, but no one bounces like Timbo. Timbaland knows how to sell his songs to an artist.

Download: Missy Elliott – “Wake Up” featuring Jay-Z (off This Is Not A Test!, 2003)

Zilla Rocca: This beat sounded like Tim doing a cover of Primo’s “Come Clean”. The snare on this track could be a garbage disposal clogging up, or a jab from Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, or the inside of an oil drum beaten with a 2×4. Tim never made a straight gutter track before — he’s had dark and ominous, but this track sounded like punishment. People never call up Tim for the grimy album cut, but if I ever get the chance to work with dude, I want a jawn like this as well as the “weirdo-ass-shaker-electro-Biz-Mark-meets-Bjork-club-banger” combo.

Download: Cee-Lo – “I’ll Be Around” featuring Timbaland (off Cee-Lo Green… Is The Soul Machine, 2004)

AaronM: A brilliant combination of trumpets and clattering percussion for space age soul-type steez. Tim bring in celestial backing vocals on the chorus and adds a winding, Jerry Harrison-esque guitar figure that compliments the call-and-response. Tim even pulls a Pete Rock move and adds extra percussion for his (pretty lame) verse. “I’ll Be Around” summarizes Cee-Lo’s post-Goodie Mob career better than any of the Gnarls Barkley songs ever could.

Don Will: This song sounds like a slower, more soulful “The Jump Off” (Lil’ Kim) if you ask me, but if I had to choose between the two, I’d pick this one because it didn’t do NEARLY what it should have and I’m a fan of the underdogs. It’s a pretty simple song, but he knows how to pick the right elements to make an infectious song. I’m also a sucker for breakbeats and these songs are remeniscent of breakbeats. Tim does that from time to time — another example is Missy’s “Funky Fresh Dressed” or “Pass That Dutch”… damn, Missy had some HITS!

Download: The Game – “Put You On The Game” (off The Documentary, 2005)

Zilla Rocca: This beat truthfully should’ve went to Busta. No disrespect to The Game, but I’ve listened to this instrumental tenfold and his vocal performance is incomparable to the beast that Tim gave birth to. It sounds so BIG — the massive kicks and snares, the frantic chords, the trippy vocal stab on the hook (what the hell sound IS THAT?). This beat begged for a larger-than-life vocal performance. My favorite part of this beat is the outro where Tim goes tech-happy and freaks with the automation panel on his computer — if more glitch hop/IDM had this umph behind it, I wouldn’t be downloading free mixtapes from my inbox each week. Royksopp and whoever — YOU’RE ON NOTICE!

AaronM: For anyone who says Timbaland doesn’t make good hip hop beats, here’s my definitive counter-argument. First, the percussion — booming kicks, shakers and skipping claps. The central beat orbits around a four-note keyboard sequence, coupled with elegaic piano and female backing vocals. Tim pitches a vocal sample so it sounds like a synthesizer and loops it endlessly. Considering the name of this feature, I would be remiss to omit the beat drop at 2:24, where Tim strips the instrumental to the wailing vocal sample and ghostly backing vocals. How did he get the sample to sound like that? The Game is serviceable, but one has to imagine that Jayceon is now a tad embarrassed by the shout-outs to G-Unit on this track.

Download: Busta Rhymes – “Get Down” (off The Big Bang, 2006)

Small Pro: This track probably wouldn’t be in a real top 5 Timbaland beat list from me, but I doubt anybody else will mention it. I remember when The Big Bang came out, there surfaced a video featuring Busta in the studio with Timbaland where Bus mentioned a beat Timbo made “out of a plastic cup and pencils”. Such beat inventiveness is further displayed on “Get Down”, which some message boarders described as “just drums”. Just drums!? Timbo has always thrown sounds not many would use in the mix, and here, you can hear frogs croaking and a bird squaking — on beat, nonetheless — as well as the sound of a swampy marsh. Combine that and thumping percussion, and you have another signature Timbo joint that doesn’t have many brothers or sisters.

Nex Millen: I am a big fan of African rhythms and this joint right here is off the chart. I haven’t heard anything like it yet. Busta is beyond himself — blacking out! Tim is in there with the well timed ad-libs — crazy! Only a few artists can rhyme on a Timbo beat and ace it. You can’t just spit and think it’s going to be a hit. His joints are alive! So you have to rhyme with it, not over it.

Download: Nelly Furtado – “Do It” (off Loose, 2006)

Wes: Best Madonna song that Madonna never released.

Download: Justin Timberlake – “SexyBack” (off FutureSex/LoveSounds, 2006)

Clinton: Once again, Timbo transforms himself into trendsetterbot leading the way for hip hop producers to start incorporating dance and house sounds into their production.

Download: Justin Timberlake – “LoveStoned/I Think She Knows Interlude” (off FutureSex/LoveSounds)

Jabari: I think Tim did a number with Justin Timberlake (with the help of Danja). My favorite record was “LoveStoned/I Think She Knows Interlude”. “LoveStoned” was an alright song, but I remember the first time I heard that song and then the beat switch… I wasn’t ready for it, but something about how smooth that transition sounded was so right. When “I Think She Knows” came on, I was thinking, damn, this is the joint you dance to with the girl at prom you really wanted to go with but couldn’t because her date is the basketball star and yours is your best friend. If Timberlake or Timbaland ever reads this — PLEASE TURN THAT INTO A WHOLE SONG! I know a lot of people who just skip to 4:42 when that record comes on their iTunes.

Download: Timbaland – “Oh Timbaland” (off Timbaland Presents Shock Value, 2007)

Steve: Taking Nina Simone’s “Oh Sinnerman” and cutting it to say “Oh Timbaland” isn’t hard to do, but it’s damn creative. The way the hi-hats fit on this track with the gritty piano sample is masterful (as most of Timbaland’s hats are) and, from a production standpoint, this track is just refreshing to listen to in a time of redundancy and mimicry.

Download: Timbaland – “Give It To Me” featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake (off Timbaland Presents Shock Value)

Steve: Timbo brought swagger to pop music with Justin Timberlake’s album. He continued that trend with Nelly Furtado and had all three artists on this track chest out and taking shots at anyone trying to step up. The fact that JT took shots at Prince should tell you how hard this beat was. Even Nelly Furtado sounded like she had some swag on the track, rebounding from a failed sophomore album. And of course, the piano man got dissed on it, too.

I’ll be honest (probably more honest than most) — I didn’t know who UGK was before 1999. You could’ve handed me a copy of Vol. 3… Life And Times Of S. Carter, pointed to track 11 on the back cover, and said, “This kid right here is the next big thing out of Brooklyn. Jay just signed him. His name’s pronounced ug-kah.” Unless I just flat out didn’t trust you, I’d have no reason not to believe you (though that rap name sure would’ve sounded like a loser).

Radio in my hometown of Los Angeles, around that time, had plenty of local material flooding its airwaves — Dr. Dre (and his newly-discovered protégé Eminem), Snoop, and Kurupt all had hit records out, and a potential N.W.A. reunion was all the rave (yea, about that…). Sure, there were Southern rap records that would break through every now and again — some had undeniable cross-over appeal, some had outshining guest spots from West Coast legends, some were classic records that superseded regional boundaries. But, L.A. radio stations — and probably all major city radio stations outside of the South — weren’t putting aside time during long-drive-home-rush-hour for a duo out a Texas town not called Houston which couldn’t even get promotion from its bum-ass record label.

To be even more honest, it wasn’t until 2000 that I really got to know about UGK, when a visual was given to “Big Pimpin’”. There was Jay-Z, spitting rapid-fire on a cruise ship while Dame Dash poured liquor I couldn’t afford over women I couldn’t afford. Then there was Bun B, spitting even more rapid-fire than Jay, mispronouncing “scenario” just for the sake of not leaving out both sorry and scary hoes from consideration of whom he can’t fuck with. And lastly, there was Pimp C, delivering molasses-slow rhymes (at least in comparison to Jay and Bun) with an undoubtedly Southern accent that seemed to replace the last letter on every word with a “H” (as in “Smokin’ ouh, throwin’ uh…”). And that white fur coat… who would rock such clothing in the midst of a Florida summer? Probably the same type of dude who would brag about his hands-free phone while holding a phone to his ears.

When I think of how to describe Pimp C, his opening bars from “Murder”, off ’96′s Ridin’ Dirty, always come to mind: “It’s Pimp C, bitch, so what the fuck is up?/ Puttin’ powder on the street ’cause I got big fuckin’ nuts!” In the span of two bars, Pimp provided examples of five of the reasons why our elders (more than likely) collectively hate rap music. First, he introduced himself — on how many Beatles’ songs did John Lennon say his own name? Second, he insults his listener — likely a listener who just spent money to support Pimp’s cause (more so the case in ’96 than now). Third, he drops the F-bomb, with another one coming mere seconds later. Fourth, he glorifies drug dealing, by attributing the cause of his trade to the size of testicles… which leads perfectly into number five — he speaks candidly about his genitals. Most rappers not named Todd Shaw would need at least a full song to evoke all of these reactions out of their listeners.

But, if you could look past his outlandish boasts on the mic about partaking in illegal activities of all sorts, you’d find lush musical backdrops, driven by the funkiest of bass lines and the bluesiest of guitar licks, sometimes with vocals sung by the man himself. People that hate the type of music that Pimp C made would probably dismiss him as not being “musically talented” — little would they know just how wrong they were. Being on the late train in becoming familiar with Pimp’s discography made me that much bigger a fan of his — very few hip hop artists in ’96 were making music like him, and even fewer are nowadays.

Chad Butler took his craft way more seriously than he ever took himself. Bun B noted on “The Story” (off his solo debut Trill) how hesitant Pimp was to jump on “Big Pimpin’”, fearful of how UGK’s core audience would’ve taken to it. There’s no greater shame than the fact that Pimp’s death came just as UGK was starting to get recognized for their own achievements, with “International Players Anthem” (off their #1-charting self-titled double album) receiving a Grammy nomination. If there’s any positive spin that we can put on his untimely passing, it’s that, after a career spanning nearly two decades, Pimp C went out on top. To that I say, “Smoke something, bitch!”

Contributing to this Beat Drop (in addition to myself and AaronM) are Noz from Cocaine Blunts, Quan from Hater Player, Ivan from Hip Hop Is Read, Brandon Soderberg from No Trivia, and Jonathan from Screw Rock ‘n’ Roll. And, on the (very, very, VERY) special guest tip, ML is esteemed to have none other than Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, the yin to Pimp’s yang as one half of UGK, joining us. Bun chopped with up with Knobbz (credit due for providing transcribing, homie) to discuss his five favorite Pimp C productions, and provided some great insight and historical anecdotes about Pimp.

The following is in memory of Chad “Pimp C” Butler (12/29/73 – 12/4/07). R.I.P.

Download: UGK – “Tell Me Something Good” (off The Southern Way, 1988)

Bun B: The original EP version, because the album version — the record company changed the beat because the sample didn’t clear. He initially made that beat in like, I want to say the Summer of ’90, and we didn’t release it until… I want to say that record got released on Houston Home Jams on the first week of January ’92 on the radio. It’s my favorite beat because, basically, it’s the one that got us in the door. Out of all the different stuff that we were doing at the crib at the time, that was the one that was like, “You what? This is gonna be the thing.” We had already done it and sat on it for awhile and we we’re doing other styles of music. Pimp had gotten into trying to mix southern hip hop with reggae for the initial, ’cause UGK was called, at one time, 4BM, which stood for “Four Black Ministers”, and everything we rapped to was like roots, reggae or dancehall, which was the theme for the group. When we ended up getting ready to sign with Big Tyme Records, everybody had already said “Tell Me Something Good” was always our best song. And we gave him everything that we had that we were doing new and including the older stuff. That was the one he picked to run with first. We played it on the radio station. It was entered in this contest called Houston Home Jams and we got in on the last day of two weeks of people and we ended up winning that day and because they got so many calls, the radio station ended up having to put the record in rotation and the rest is history. It was the first song I ever got BDS on and it basically opened up doors for us.

Download: UGK – “Trill Ass Nigga” (off The Southern Way)

Brandon: Regional rap classics like Spice-1′s “Welcome To The Ghetto” and Scarface’s “A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die” utilize Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” for the loop, but this early UGK production does it better by playing off the loop and doing all these interesting production tricks, too — the way it starts with only drums, that weird laugh in the background, quick snippets of horns, holding off on Marvin’s voice until the chorus, etc. The best part, though, is the mid-song breakdown, where the drums switch up and go front and center, accompanied only by that creepy chuckle and ever shorter horn stabs, and then Bun comes in and it feels like the song is starting over. The version of this song that ended up on Too Hard To Swallow is slower and funkier, and perhaps more typically UGK-like, but the original is more immediate and just as steeped in musicality, which is the thing that distinguishes Pimp C’s country rap tunes from the beats of many other legendary producers.

Download: UGK – “Pocket Full Of Stones” (off Too Hard To Swallow, 1992)

Bun B: I think when it’s all said and done, I think that ["Pocket Full of Stones"] is going to be the song that UGK is remembered for more than anything. It’s the emblematic song of our whole career, if you ask me. It’s the one that explains us better than anything. It’s the one that really reflects not only what we represent, but it’s one of our first songs where we talk about street shit, we talk about flossing and balling and shining and talk about the hustle and the grind and, at the end of the day, we end up getting caught up in it because it’s something that’s not real. Thinking that we could beat the game was never real, but because we caught the cycle, we ended up going to prison, coming back out and just starting all over again. We had different churches and whatever thinking that we were trying to glorify the trade. We were like, “No, we’re not glorifying anything. We got caught, you know what I’m saying? We didn’t get away with anything, we got caught and we’re actually still caught in this cycle and we’re trying to expose the cycle and show cats what it is. Like, you think you’re gonna beat the game, but you’re really just going to end up stuck in it forever if you hustle without a plan.” It’s still to this day — 15 years after its first release — I can get on any stage in America and perform that song and people go apeshit. In most cities, if not all cities that I’ve performed in, it would be a crime if I didn’t perform that song out of everything else in the 6-album discography, not to mention soundtracks and various feature songs and all this other stuff that I’ve done, to not perform “Pocket Full of Stones” on stage for whatever reason is pretty much criminal.

Ivan: The jazzy horn sample used on this Southern classic evokes the same sound and feel as any great Tribe record — with a Southern twist, of course. The string and bass sample comes courtesy of Eugene McDaniels’ “Freedom Death Dance”, also heard on the intro portion to Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s “Act Like You Know”, as well as Organized Konfusion’s “Black Sunday”. “Pocket Full of Stones” is one of the most — if not the most — memorable and cherished production jobs in Pimp C’s discography.

Download: UGK – “Feel Like I’m The One Who’s Doin’ Dope” (off Too Hard To Swallow)

Brandon: One of the craziest and most disturbing pieces of music ever? Maybe. Kanye West teamed up with the fruit that produced Fiona Apple to make some “crack music”; Pimp C did it without a shit-ton of strings and indicating musical histrionics. It’s just squashed drums, screwed vocals, a synth-line that resonates for miles behind the song’s melody, and a whole lot of open space.

Download: UGK – “It’s Supposed To Bubble” (off Super Tight, 1994)

Ivan: This beat oozes with groove and cool vibes — you just can’t help bobbing your neck and shoulders to this right here. Bun Beata and the Pimp provide one of the smoothest (and definitely overlooked) house party records from out the South. I often think of this track as an H-Town counterpart to the Ice Cube’s Cali classic “It Was a Good Day”.

Download: UGK – “Front Back And Side To Side” (off Super Tight)

Jonathan: Before Mannie Fresh updated it as a T.I. banger on the 2006 King album, Pimp C had already laid out the blueprint on the original “Front Back And Side To Side”. Though his was not as hard as Mannie Fresh’s remake, Pimp C more than compensated with straight-up funk. Thick, sweaty organ swells burst over thwacking drums and sinuous synth-lines, while throughout a subtle ticking keeps time. Few songs are so aptly suited to their subject matter. “Front Back And Side To Side” is built to boom out of big American cars cruising slowly down wide boulevards and baking beneath the hot Texas sun.

Noz: “Front Back” is probably the purest example of the UGK method in action. Those Eazy-E ticks multiplied by Meters’ organs. Dre slump meets gut bucket funk, 808s banging, gorilla in the trunk shit. The beat change in the middle of Bun’s verse is a must rewind moment. (And then you have to rewind again as to hear his Gulfway Boulevard menace talk.) Really just one of the most perfect hip hop beats of all time, especially if you are fortunate enough to have a car with a decent system.

Download: UGK – “Front Back And Side To Side (Bass Remix)”

Bun B: We had two remixes to “Front Back And Side To Side”. One of ‘em was more like a dancey, clubby remix and the other one was a bass remix. What happened was, if we wanted to turn in remixes for the single, we had to do it a weekend that we were in Dallas, Texas at Dallas Sound Lab studio. The only room that was available, it didn’t really have a lot of major equipment. It really only had like a Dr. Rhythm drum machine and like just a regular keyboard and I watched this dude max that keyboard and max that fuckin’ Dr. Rhythm out to the point where it’s still one of a lot of people’s favorite remixes from UGK. He took a song that was originally produced in a full service studio with whatever equipment they had available and also with the ability to rent equipment if needed, and took that fully produced song and remixed it with, like I said, just a Dr. Rhythm and a just a regular little Casio keyboard and made a remix even more stronger and more popular in certain circles as the original record. It really opened my eyes up to the fact that my brother wasn’t just a cat that could make beats, he was a real producer, meaning that whatever he was in the room with, he was capable of making a hit record with it and that’s the real meaning of a producer.

Download: UGK – “Protect And Serve” (off Super Tight)

Quan: Nevermind the funk dripping out of every ounce of this, every bass pluck, every change-up, the hook wins. I’m not sure if the singing comes from a sample or if Pimp hired some singers, but the chorus line is pitch-perfect, empty, limp, achieving a biting, humorous irony that you don’t hear in too many “Fuck The Police”-tracks. And it’s just really catchy. I get the feeling that most anti-police rap songs are just hammering home the same things in the same angry way. That “Protect And Serve” has the nerve to be somewhat playfully mocking makes it stand out and it’s a testament to Pimp C’s abundant charisma.

Download: Big Mike – “Havin’ Thangs” featuring Pimp C (off Somethin’ Serious, 1994)

AaronM: Pimp basically just looped Bill Withers’ “Use Me” for the 1992 UGK track “Use Me Up”. Here, he uses the churning keyboards as a foundation for the beat, and adds soaring organs and hard, metallic drums, along with some subtle twangy guitar riffs. Pimp’s chorus fits the song’s theme and instrumental like a glove.

Brandon: Pretty much everything about Pimp C’s production brilliance is contained in this beat. It starts out with this wonky, stumbling funk melody like “Pocket Full Of Stones” or “Use Me Up”, then there’s this crooned chorus courtesy of the Pimp himself. The drums are hard as fuck but live-sounding, too, and then there’s about twenty other things hiding in the background. A real thick, ugly synth pulses in and out, some countrified organ plays under the hook, the drums are boom-bap hard but sound live, too, and there’s some fascinating interplay between Pimp’s prominent hook and another soulster answering him. Pimp C’s production work is like his rap persona — a mix of sincerity and shit-talking, warmth and ice-cold aggression.

Buhizzle: This track walks that fine line between being musically lush and hard-hitting that is so characteristic of a Pimp C production. Fans of Young Buck probably already know the hook from Buck’s sophomore album (though, with slightly different wording), but, if your a fan of Buck, then you should be a fan of Pimp regardless… unless you’re just a G-Unit stan… in which case, you’re probably not much of a fan of Buck’s anymore, so nevermind.

Jonathan: Every great Pimp C beat is thick, slow and low, and few things come thicker, slower or lower than his beat for Big Mike’s “Havin’ Thangs”. Butler contributed his own sneer to the hook; his nasal singing offset perfectly the grimy interplay between the crisp organ washes and the dirty, rippling low end. The chorus dares you to deny Big Mike and Pimp c their rightful acquisitions; the beat backed up their pugilism.

Download: Master P – “Break ‘Em Off Somethin’” featuring UGK (off Mr. Ice Cream Man, 1996)

Ivan: The first time I played Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I recognized some of the same sound effects used on “Break ‘Em Off Somethin’”. The beat is emblematic of a segment in hip hop culture during the mid-’90s — a point at which Master P and No Limit were at the top of their game.

Download: UGK – “One Day” featuring 3-2 and Ronnie Spencer (off Ridin’ Dirty, 1996)

AaronM: At this point it’s cliche, but it’s still worth mentioning — “One Day” feels eerily prescient with Pimp C’s passing. His passing really made me appreciate what he did behind the boards. His instrumental sets the song’s tone, constructed around mournful wah-wah guitar riffs and a thick bassline. Pimp adds programmed shakers, tambourines and 808s for that Southern feel. Singer Ronnie Spencer sounds eerily like Ron Isley, and his cooing chorus and occasional interjections complement the song perfectly.

Ivan: I’m a fool for any track that samples some good ol’ Isley Brothers. Pimp C flipped a loop from “Ain’t I Been Good to You?” to craft an evocative narrative of life, death and avoiding the big house. “One Day” is the kind of track you’d assume would find its spot at the back of an album. Instead, UGK added it as the kick-start to Ridin’ Dirty and it worked just fine! This is hip hop and soul at some of its finest.

Jonathan: The key to this beat is the guitar. Pimp C uses its hushed, brooding chords like a bassline, and, unlike guitar-wielding rap producers, Pimp makes the instrument the rhythmic center of the track rather than a melodic feature or incidental coloring. But it’s not like a rock guitar, either; your average rock band would have little idea what to do with a chord progression so subdued and repetitive. If anything, like much of Pimp C’s production, it hearkens back to the instrumentation on which early soul or blues tracks were built. The direct, soulful rapping makes “One Day” one of UGK’s most beloved tracks, but those lyrics would not sound quite so good without the straightforward and emotional beat beneath them.

Download: UGK – “Murder” (off Ridin’ Dirty)

Quan: It’s generally pretty hard for me to talk about Pimp C beats because you can’t just say “Here’s the sample, here’s how he flipped it” like usual. Pimp C is a masterful composer who consistently turns out layers of lush, rolling funk that requires some semblance of knowledge of music theory to talk about that I don’t have. But then even in “Murder”, one of the closer things you’ll get to a traditional hip hop loop from Pimp C, you still have to marvel at the subtlety of his composition. This mean bassline no doubt anchors the song, but it’s really everything that he lays around it — “oohs” and “aahs”, whistles, incoherent posse chanting — that make the song. These elements are so quiet that they’re almost not there but they are, so it creates this hollow, kinda haunting feeling. Even the scratched sample for the hook is incoherently fuzzy and you can only guess that it should be saying “Murder” but who can be sure. So it’s there, but sort of not there in a sense, and adds to this chilling ghostliness that you feel in your gut. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Bun rips this beat apart either.

Download: UGK – “Ridin’ Dirty” (off Ridin’ Dirty)

Bun B: It was a Wes Montgomery sample and it was one that he had been wanting to interpolate for years, but he wasn’t really sure if people were gonna understand him fucking with Wes Montgomery. Pimp C was a real big fan of Wes Montgomery and Coltrane and Miles Davis and different people like that and always wanted to incorporate those different elements into a lot of our music, and that was one of the ones where he was able to fully insert something and present it the way he wanted to present it and interpolate it exactly the way he wanted to interpolate it. At that point, he had the keyboards, he had the guitars, he had the bassist and he was able to recreate the music and flip it and produce it the way he wanted to, and I was really proud of him for that, because I knew that that was something that was real close to him.

Download: UGK – “Outro” (off Ridin’ Dirty)

Brandon: This isn’t really a “beat” and there’s not necessarily “rapping” over the top of it, but it shows just how slow and musical Pimp was willing to let UGK’s music go. This is The Meters’ immediacy meets “Maggot Brain”-spaciness mixed with Philly soul or Motown session player intricacy. And it doesn’t scream out “experimental” or “foray into soulfulness”, it just makes perfect sense at the end of Ridin’ Dirty and reminds you of the mournful aspects of the record that get more implicit — but don’t disappear — once “One Day” screeches into “Murder”.

Download: Sleepy’s Theme – “Simply Beautiful” (off The Vinyl Room, 1998)

… also known as …

Download: UGK – “Bump & Grill” featuring N.O. Joe (off I Got The Hook Up OST, 1998)

Noz: Sleepy Brown’s debut The Vinyl Room is probably the most overlooked R&B album of the ’90s, and Pimp’s involvement is even more under-appreciated. As far as I know, his three co-productions on here accounts for the only straight forward soul music he produced, which is unfortunate. One of the beats, “Simply Beautiful”, was originally a UGK track entitled “Bump & Grill” that was featured on the I Got The Hook Up soundtrack. “Simply” more or less turns down the drums a little and adds some light organs, and it becomes a full on soul ballad. The point being that UGK were literally just rapping over genuine soul records. Always.

Download: Crooked Lettaz – “Get Crunk” featuring Pimp C (off Grey Skies, 1999)

Ivan: Listen closely to the beat and you’ll hear the melody to Run-D.M.C.’s “Rock Box”. Adding the patented flavor of southern-brand kicks and hi-hats, Pimp C blended a rock-hop classic into his own unique concoction of crunk.

Buhizzle: Just when I thought I could be the whiz-kid to uncover the fact that the melody to “Rock Box” is tucked under this smokey Pimp production… though, I can’t say that I’m disappointed by being one-upped by hip hop sample god Ivan. I will take this opportunity to say that Grey Skies — the only LP to be released by Crooked Lettaz, consisting of a pre-”David Banner” Lavell Crump and partner-in-rhyme Kamikaze — is an incredible album. And nothing else on that album sounds like “Get Crunk”. And I love “Get Crunk”.

Jonathan: Damn, when I’m in the right mood, I start to think the wah-wah on this track is the best use of the effect since Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile (Slight Reprise)”. It sounds like Pimp C’s voice does — drawled and swaggering. And even though this isn’t a UGK track, the bassline sounds like Bun B — commanding and authoritative, the ideal counterweight for its freewheeling partner. This single, from David Banner’s before-he-was-famous duo Crooked Lettaz, sound nothing like the early ’00s crunk coming out of Atlanta, but it still smacked as hard. Like “Front Back And Side To Side”, it was virtually remade (by Mr. Lee) years after its release, in this case for the harsher, more digital Paul Wall track “Sippin’ Tha Barre”. It was the latter that I heard first, and, though I now prefer the more organic-sounding Crooked Lettaz tune, a beat like this could be revived once every decade and I would not mind in the slightest.

Download: Pimp C – “Got A Thang” (off The Sweet James Jones Stories, 2005)

Noz: Pimp’s underground Live From The Harris County Jail was presumably a work in progress, aborted when he got locked up, and it’s an interesting look at his process. He riffs on old soul hooks over sparse and somber production sketches. “Got A Thang” is his Funkadelic vamp and is a total downer. J. Prince and company completely butchered much of this album for the Rap-A-Lot release The Sweet James Jones Stories. This track was fortunately spared by a pretty fantastic bluesy Mike Dean interpretation, but it’s still not seeing this original. Hopefully, whoever has charge of his archives also has the good sense to let us hear his music how he left it.

Download: UGK – “Chrome Plated Woman” (off Underground Kingz, 2007)

AaronM: The CD credits for this album really show Pimp’s incredible capacity for production and show how far he’s come since Too Hard To Swallow. Instead of simple loops and 808s, Pimp brought in a crack team of session musicians to replay elements of Allen Touissant’s funk classic “Hercules”. It all adds up to perfect riding music, and that’s coming from a white Jew from the suburbs. I couldn’t imagine a better backdrop for Bun and Pimp to floss and brag spectacularly about their rides.

Download: UGK – “Underground Kingz” (off Underground Kingz)

Brandon: This is a stubborn beat. It revels in its out-dated-ness, the 808s, the synthesized horns, and the overall tinny sound of the whole thing, but it’s perfect for a song in which Pimp C brags of “risk[ing] everything to be an underground king”. There’s also a sense that like most Pimp C beats, it grows more immaculate and more complex as it goes on. Like the funk music that obviously inspired Pimp’s production, this beat is all about layering and a bunch of stuff going on at once, but working together, too. That really cool, glam-rock piano intro comes back a few times but never really totally goes away because a soft touch of piano punctuates the entire song and pokes its head out between robotic bass and funk guitar swipes.

Download: UGK – “Quit Hatin’ The South” featuring Willie D and Charlie Wilson (off Underground Kingz)

Bun B: It was a [Kenny] Lattimore sample. It’s literally a sample that we’ve wanted to rap to probably since about ’94, and he would always pull it up and he never kept it. He would always reproduce it every time.  While we were doing the Super Tight album, he produced it, and then was like, “No, it’s not time yet.” He cut off the ASR. Then we were doing Ridin’ Dirty. Produced it again and he was like like, “No, not time yet.” He cut the machine off. I was like, “Jesus Christ.” [Then] Dirty Money. He produced it again. Still, it just wasn’t time. Ended up going to prison, coming back, he was like, “Now, it’s time.” And it’s definitely a lot of people’s favorite song off the double album, Underground Kingz. Like, in the South, it’s most people’s favorite song off that album. And like I said, the beat is something that we’ve been sitting on for years. He had an ear for these things. He knew the time and he knew exactly when people would be ready for these kind of things and he was able to do it. That was a credit to his ear, because if we had done it on say, Super Tight or Ridin’ Dirty, it may not have been as impactful content and lyric-wise as it was when we decided to do it on the Underground Kingz album.

Download: UGK – “How Long Can It Last” featuring Charlie Wilson (off Underground Kingz)

Buhizzle: Charlie Wilson has a hell of a voice — he may not be able to hit the highest of notes, but when he does hit a note, he hits it hard. Before 2007, and since The Gap Band’s hey-day, his talents were really only being put to use by Snoop Dogg — Charlie laced the hook for “Snoop’s Upside Your Head” off Tha Doggfather, and added some always-welcome “ooh-wee”‘s to the Justin-Timberlake-featured smash “Signs”. My already-peaked interest in UGK’s self-titled double-album grew even higher after seeing that Charlie would be featured not once, but twice. Neither of the two tracks failed to disappoint. If anything, hearing Charlie’s voice on a more serious track like “How Long Can It Last”, another song that has taken on new meaning since Pimp’s passing, was a refreshing change of pace from The Gap Band’s many party-starting jams (like “Party Train” and “Burn Rubber”). Credit to Pimp for utilizing Charlie’s talent in such a way. Also, a well-done job slyly inserting a muffled female vocal sample in the background — very Kanye West/Just Blaze-ish in its execution.

You know how most hip hop magazines will have that issue where they go back and gave perfect ratings (5 Mics, XXLs and what have you) to certain albums that they had given lesser ratings to before? You know, basically rewriting history to cover up their prior mistakes? Well, we here at ML have no respect for such tactics…

Just kidding! In fact, we’re kind of doing the same thing now.

Back in June 2007, when DJ01 and I came up with the Beat Drop idea, our guest lists were practically non-existent — in fact, our very first Beat Drop post, covering Alchemist, was just he and I. And I laugh at myself for suggesting in that first post that we’d try to put these out on a weekly basis. I was so ambitious in my early blogging days!

In our past few Beat Drops, though, we’ve established connections with some great hip hop bloggers (and even a couple of artists) — so, we reached out to as many as we could and asked them what ALC productions we missed the first time around (including his work since June 2007, of which we can’t fault ourselves for not picking). In the process, though, we encountered a couple of big-name first-time contributors who weren’t able to read our first Alchemist Beat Drop in advance, so some picks may overlap. Oh well, charge it to the game.

Are we re-writing history? Well, if we are, that would mean that we had made history before, which is something we wouldn’t want to say about ourselves. But, thank you for suggesting it.

Start here with our original Alchemist Beat Drop post — zShare divShare links (zShare’s been acting shifty lately) have updated for your listening pleasure. Then, read on and listen to what our special guests would add to (or agree with from) the list…

Download: High & Mighty – “Top Prospects” featuring Evidence and Defari (off Home Field Advantage, 1999)

“Top Prospects” is one of those beats I’ve listened to dozens of times and still cannot figure out how the hell the producer pulled it off. Released on High & Mighty’s debut album Home Field Advantage in ’99 and featuring Evidence and Defari, this is one of Al’s most surreal productions. The opening, spacy sample sounds like you’re floating in orbit high on oxygen, “calm as a Hindu cow” to quote Tyler Durden. It was Dilla-esque but darker and colder. The change-up for the verses features either a dirty bass guitar or minor piano cord with the octave kicked down to its heaviest and darkest range. In retrospect, “Top Prospects” sounds like a leftover from Deltron 3030 or Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein and suffers from three kinda aiight verses from Mr. Eon, Ev, and Defari, because none of them philosophize on quasars, Robotech, and that spaced out shit that don’t even make no sense. This particular chamber from Alchemist has rarely been revisited but it’s great to know that the same guy who produced the grittiest and most brutalizing beats for Mobb Deep, Freddie Foxxx and company got something for the lazerface in all of us. — Zilla Rocca from Clap Cowards

Download: Pharoahe Monch – “No Mercy” featuring M.O.P. (off Internal Affairs, 1999)

Searching through Alchemist’s catalogue, I was unexpectedly awe-struck when I came across the sleeper joint “No Mercy” on Pharoahe Monch’s Internal Affairs. My favorite CD of 1999, maybe all time. “No Mercy” features M.O.P., the monsters of hard rock rap, and complements the meeting of their raw energetic flows with the maniacally (pronounced meh-nye-ick-lly) lyrical mind of Pharoahe Monch. It opens with a themed yet subtle sample that fades out to introduce a hi- to mid-pitch string melody and an incredibly precise stab rhythmically placed. Inspiring rhymes as quotable as “You know that my hammer is heavy and it got kick like tae kwon do”, “This rhyme/ will remain in the mind/ of my foes forever in infamy”, and “The epitome/ of lyrical epiphanies/ Skillfully placed poems with carefully plan symphonies/ Who would be ignorant enough to have the audacity/ to fuck wit the likes of I and my tenacity?” , which gave me a shameful feeling that I was going to write about the beat “Desire” when I could give an ode to the type of rap that turned me out when I was young. An emotionally-charged backdrop for true lyricism the type of music Alchemist is known for. This beat is a historic landmark in the world that is Alchemist’s career. — Kirk Franco from Hot Block and The Last Dragon

While “Hell”, the track immediately preceding it on Pharoahe’s album, is a glimpse into the dark recesses of Hell, “No Mercy” is an adrenaline-filled ride through Hell itself. The beat sounds like you’re being thrown into the midst of a thermonuclear, biochemical World War III fought between Dick Cheney and Beelzebub. Alchemist salvages this gem of a sample from an obscure, B-grade ’70s action flick, The Last Run, and constructs the beat almost entirely from different elements of it — from the terrifying-but-beautiful string loop to the intermittent stabs to the foreboding flute intro. I like to put this on in the car driving home from work. Because after a long day of slave labor leaves you spiritually broken and battered, nothing else gives you that rush of power like banging your head and screaming “SHOW NO MERCY! For the love of this shit here, niggaz are bloodthirsty!” at the top of your lungs while the three other cars around you in traffic pretend not to look or hear or laugh. But y’know what? Fuck ‘em because this song is serious. — Quan from Hater Player

Download: Prodigy (of Mobb Deep) – “Keep It Thoro” (off H.N.I.C., 2000)

“Definitely “Keep It Thoro”… just the way he pieced it. For one, I know the drums, where he got ‘em from, and as a producer and a person that digs and like to make beats. Other producers like to dissect the beat. Like, I wanna pull the drums apart, figure out the pattern, see, ‘Oh, he got that from there.’‘ I wanna figure everything out to just make sure that I’m that sharp and vice-versa. I’m sure he wants me to be just as sharp on my level. So, the way he pieced it together — and it was so simple — and then Prodigy melted it. It was that dope. That and the joint he did… “The Realest” with Kool G Rap and Mobb Deep on the Murda Muzik album. “Keep It Thoro”, though. Oh, and “We Gon’ Make It”, Jadakiss. All of those are number 1′s to me, all three.” — DJ Premier (transcribed by Knobbz)

Download: Jadakiss – “We Gon’ Make It” featuring Styles P (off Kiss Tha Game Goodbye, 2001)

… also known as …

Download: Ras Kass – “Home Sweet Home” (unreleased, 2000)

Alchemist’s dramatic strings were an ideal backing for Ras Kass, the track’s original owner. But while Ras’ Van Gogh sat in limbo at Capitol, Al passed it on to a rapper who would actually release an album. Jadakiss and his LOX partner Styles tag team the track classically. Ras was obviously displeased. Disses followed, shitty diapers were dropped from bunk beds and when the smoke cleared (yes, shitty diaper smoke), the record proved to be just a minor success for Kiss. Meanwhile, Van Gogh remains unreleased. (Al and Rassy have since squashed whatever beef stemmed from the incident.) — Noz from Cocaine Blunts

Download: Big Daddy Kane – “The Man/The Icon” (12″ single, 2002) (also appears on DJ Babu – Duck Season, Vol. 1)

The weird loops of nostalgia and reverse nostalgia coursing through Alchemist’s “The Man/The Icon” beat are nearly too much to parse out. Let’s start with Alc taking “Lucky Me” — a piece of near disco from Philly soul legends The Stylistics — and chopping it back into the warm R&B they were doing five years earlier. Those disco party strings become warm Thom Bell orchestration, near Santa Esmeralda horns revert back to the gloriously maudlin sound we associate with The Stylistics; it’s all tight and immediate instead of loose and bell-bottom ready. Alchemist’s fingers are no doubt dusty due to DJ Premier, but he’s particularly Primo-like on this track. The sample’s chopped so tight the record fuzz is barely there, and the focused-but-all-over-the-place drums invoke boom bap in a major way. Then, the rapping starts and you’re in the ’80s with Big Daddy Kane. Oh yeah, and there’s scratching from Mister Cee, who goes way back with Kane and had a hand in the ’90s hip-hop too. In a way, Cee brings the whole thing together, musically and conceptually. So, you’ve got a disco song turned into a blaxploitation banger, produced in the style of DJ Premier, with a rapper more from the Marley Marl era, that’s also undeniably the rarified work of the Alchemist. This beat sees beyond all the superficially disparate elements at work and comes together to sound current and nostalgic, with one foot actually in the past; an apt description for Alchemist’s production as a whole. — Brandon Soderberg from No Trivia

Download: Infamous Mobb – “Mobb Niggaz” feat. Prodigy (off Special Edition, 2002)

The ONLY reason I bought the album WAS because of the fact that Alchemist had his hands in a sizable chunk. Lord knows it wasn’t for the lyrical abilities of the ol’ IM3. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a bit of Prodigy in the mix either. The song itself is perfect Champion-hoody-Carhartt-jean-and-concealed-carry music. That stupid horn sample makes you automatically throw on a screw face and limp for no apparent reason. One thing about Alchemist is that he can find that one loop that’ll send us beatmakers back to the lab. Had the Infamous Mobb actually been OK at rhyming, this song could have been beyond belief… but since they weren’t, I just have to marvel at the beat… kicko. — $port from Way More Fresher

Download: Alchemist – “Hold You Down” featuring Prodigy, Illa Ghee and Nina Sky (off 1st Infantry, 2004)

“The first one that comes to mind with Alchemist, ‘cause I just seen the video for it last night on MTV Jams. I forgot about the joint, and when I seen it last night, I was like ‘Damn, that joint was dope!’ “Hold You Down” with Prodigy on it. That track was ridiculous to me when I first heard it. Especially because after I heard the track, I found out that I had the sample, and I was kinda salty about that shit. Like, ‘Damn!’ [laughs]. Wish I woulda chopped it up!” — Black Milk (transcribed by AaronM, full interview coming soon)

Download: Cam’ron – “Wet Wipes” (off Killa Season, 2006)

“Keep It Thoro” goes hard. Simple two-note piano loop on the verses, into that amazing full-on instrumental coda — it’s a really clever structure (“Heavy airplay all day with no chorus…”) and you almost forget how good the beat is because it’s such a showcase for Prodigy’s mobbphonics and infamousbonics. I think the best producers make tracks to complement the artist rather than overshadow them and “Keep It Thoro” is the textbook example… alternately, there are a million people that could have ripped “Wet Wipes” (no offense to Killa), it’s just a dooooope beat on its own. The synth-ed out Earth, Wind & Fire flip is unexpected — sonically, it’s a real departure from Alchemist’s boom bap-ier stuff, but still maintains his signature feel. At the time I thought he was gonna go further in this new direction (see also: Mobb Deep – “Cobra”) but then he went back to shit with a more traditional feel. I like that he’s exploring the sound again on records like the new CNN single “Follow The Dollar” — I’m really looking forward to Chemical Warfare. — Nick Catchdubs (still on tour, too!)

Download: Evidence – “Letyourselfgo” feat. Alchemist and Phonte of Little Brother (off The Weatherman LP, 2007)

I’ve been a fan of Alchemist after first hearing “No Mercy” by Pharoahe Monch (off Internal Affairs) and have since been keeping tabs on his amazing production skills. Before moving to Queens, New York to work tediously with the infamous Mobb Deep, Alchemist lent his hand and MPC to one of Dilated Peoples’ most recognizable albums, The Platform. And, ever since, Dilated front man Evidence and Alchemist formed a close relationship, which in turn inspired the monotone MC to pick production up himself — which leads us to Evidence’s debut solo, The Weatherman LP, where Alchemist handcrafted 5 of the 21 cuts, my favorite being “Letyourselfgo”. The song starts off with his trademark choppage of a soulful sample (I’ve yet to figure out the original sample!) and slow marching drums and a slightly high-pitched synth which occasionally slips in and out. This is definitely a neck breaker — and Evidence sets it off speaking on sticking persistently to his grind in order to reach where he stands today. Phonte lends his vocals for the hook and Alchemist spits the second verse, focusing on his come up from his humble beginnings in LA, the ABB record label, as well as life behind the boards. Although it may not be a certified “classic” track, it works for me, both sonically and lyrically — subtle, yet enough head-nodding snap to give you whiplash. — Ges from KNOWxONE’s Business

Download: Pharoahe Monch – “Desire” (off Desire, 2007)

I’ve been bumping this since June of last year, and I still can’t kill it. Al stretches and stutters some lovely soulful strings and pairs them with thudding claps. The M.O.P. samples woven into the beat are genius. It’s a testament to Al’s talent that a year and a half after “Desire” dropped, I’m still discovering parts of the beat I’ve never noticed before. Put on a good pair of headphones so you can hear the bass line that subtly echoes the melody of the strings. Pharaohe and Alchemist need to do more tracks together. — AaronM

Download: Prodigy – “The Life” (off H.N.I.C. Pt. 2, 2008)

I don’t know what sample Al flipped, or what instrument he played, or what small animal he tortured to create the wailing, screeching sound effect that stretches over every 4 bars of this beat, and sounds like it’s in stereo halfway through. But, whatever is was, it was well worth it, because this shit is beyond ill… unless, maybe, it was that third option. (I’ll take this moment to state that neither ML nor any of its contributors support or condone cruelty to animals.) — Buhizzle

Download: Evidence – “Calmly Smoke” featuring Alchemist (off The Layover EP, 2008 (forthcoming))

I don’t even smoke and I’ve been bumping this nonstop since it dropped. Everything about this track is so precisely put together. The delicate keys over the pounding bassline perfectly create the “psychedelic, dreamlike quality” described by the voice in the beginning. And the beat dropping on the bong hits effectively cancels out those “Just Say No” ads. It’s that awesome. — Knobbz

Download: Alchemist – “Key To The City” featuring Prodigy and Nina Sky (off Chemical Warfare, 2008 (forthcoming))

I’m going to have to put it down on “Key To The City”, the lead single off Chemical Warfare. I could slap this beat on repeat all day and I’ll be vibing out just as hard in the early morning as I would be in the late night. The half-time intro should tip you off to the ridiculous funk that follows — it’s that setup that just reels you in. Alchemist smacked it out of the park with this one. He creates this beefy, organic, absurdly soulful motion that only masterful producers can nail. Sample-wise, I’ve heard Primo hint at this — it just embodies a funk that makes you move. You really can’t help it. This one is something special, feels good. Grown-folk music, you betta check yo’ self, sucka! — Jorge at Bang The Box

As a Wu-Tang stan — and a stubborn one, at that — I always hated reading and hearing people say shit along the lines of the Wu being “over”, or “dead”, or trying to start rumors that they were “breaking up”. Yes, the quality of music coming from the Wu camp is not the same as it was some 10 years ago, but that could be said for roughly 95% of rappers, and that’s an underestimation if anything. And recent history has only further proven the fact that rap crews can’t be on top forever (i.e. G-Unit now, DipSet circa the last time Cam’ron and Jim Jones spoke to each other). It’s as if the fact that the Wu was the greatest shit in the game back in the mid-to-late ’90s means that they shouldn’t be allowed to still put out records today.

As for the “breaking up” rumors, I would always tell my non-Wu-listening friends that the relationships within the Wu dated back to before music — at least, that’s the impression I’d received over time listening to their music, reading interviews and what not. I’d always believed that the Wu would never “break up”, even if they decided to stop recording music together… and, unfortunately, things may have come to this point with the disaster that was 8 Diagrams. (And, when I say “disaster”, I’m referring to the well-publicized complaints over the sound of the album from Wu members, not the actual album itself, which I honestly enjoyed. But, again, stubborn Wu-Tang stan talking over here.)

I say all of that to say this… I was initially skeptical about doing a Beat Drop for The RZA. I mean, I figured it would have to come — if the aim of these posts is to compile different opinions on the greatest beats from the greatest producers, then leaving the Wu-Tang Clan’s maestro out of the equation would be criminal. But, unlike many of the producers that we’ve covered in the past, The RZA’s best almost entirely comes out of one collective group of albums, those being the Wu-Tang Clan and its many members. Likewise, Organized Noize’s best would almost entirely come out of Dungeon Family releases, and DJ Paul and Juicy J’s best would almost entirely come out of Hypnotize Camp Posse releases.

I guess that my skepticism was based around the likelihood that a RZA Beat Drop would come off like a whiny bitch-fit about how hip hop was great before, and sucks now, and so on and so forth. So, I had a by-myself meeting, as I do every evening, and I asked myself, “Self… so what?” That is but a small price to pay to properly honor someone like The RZA.

Robert Diggs has one of hip hop’s greatest ears for music, using innovative samples that helped pave the way for the future of hip hop production, always willing to take risks to advance his sound (though those risks and advancements may not have always pleased everyone). He had the foresight necessary to build the first true hip hop empire, strategically planning out the first wave of Wu-Tang solo projects. And, above all, he’s a really intelligent dude.

I had the honor of hearing him speak back in my undergrad days, during his promotional tour for The Wu-Tang Manual (which I’d still like to read one day). It was an experience that I’ll never forget — hearing him talk about going to his first block party at 8 years old with The GZA, selling newspapers with Ol’ Dirty to save up money to buy equipment, how one could make a breakbeat out of everything from rock-and-roll to samba, how he loved Kung Fu because it reminded him of struggles he encountered as opposed to the black history at the time that seemed to focused on either slavery or pimps. Though I certainly wouldn’t want to take on the task of transcribing his at-times-mumbled words (word to AaronM), hearing him speak makes it clear how hard he has worked to get to where he is, and how humble he has remained. Simply put, success didn’t stumble upon The RZA — he sought it out, made it his, and it can never be taken from him.

Here our all-star list of contributors on this go-round (along with their respective plugs):

• 88-Keys, who, in addition to having produced numerous tracks for Mos Def and J-Live, has his debut album, The Death Of Adam, coming soon, featuring “Stay Up (Viagra)” with Kanye West (cop it here via iTunes) and the greatest promotional campaign ever
• Producer Aeon of Tanya Morgan/Lessondary Crew fame
• Ben from Floodwatch Music
  
• Brandon Soderberg from No Trivia
  
• DJ Eclipse of La Coka Nostra fame (Ill Bill’s The Hour Of Reprisal in stores!), whose “Rap Is Outta Control” show can be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio
• Enigmatik from Boo Goo Doo Boom
• Eric from Commonwealth (VA) and Whats The Scenario?
• Jerry L. Barrow, former editor of Scratch, from Nodfactor
• Joseph from Geek Down
• Khal from Rock The Dub
• Kirk Franco from Hot Block
• ML favorite and occasional passer-by Marco Polo, who recently contributed to Large Professor’s latest album, Main Source, and is currently working on a full-length LP with Torae entitled Double Barrel
• Statik Selektah, whose Stick 2 The Script (the follow-up to last year’s Spell My Name Right) hits stores October 21st
• Zilla Rocca from Clap Cowards

You make the call! I make the call! It’s all for all!

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Bring Da Ruckus” (off Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), 1993)

Knobbz: Enter The Wu-Tang couldn’t have started any other way. When I first heard this song, it was grimier than anything I’d ever heard before. The sample used at the beginning and the end from Shaolin & Wu Tang intrigued me and then the snapping, the chopped-up horns and all the stuff going on in the background knocked me on my ass. This track sounds like a car breaking down. I wasn’t sure if I liked it, but I knew I had to keep listening.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’” (off Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers))

88-Keys: This was the first RZA-produced beat which I was like, “Okay… I’m checking for this dude” (a.k.a. the very first Wu-Tang Clan song I liked a lot).

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit” (off Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers))

AaronM: The unconventional percussion is genius. Who else but The RZA would have thought of combining the drums from “Nobody Beats The Biz” with castanets? RZA took dusty crates to another level by making new records sound like they were old. “Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit” is grime and filth embodied in audio. This track made the theme from Underdog sound menacing, for goodness sake.

Jerry: It’s hard to pick one off of the album that started it all, but I gotta go with this riot on wax. Taking not just one, but two classic drum breaks (“Hihache” and “Impeach The President”) and wrapping them around the theme from the Underdog cartoon? GEEEEZ, what a mind job. Just another example of how he could make anything feel like a kung-fu sample when it wasn’t. An ass-kicking is still an ass-kicking I guess, even if it’s from a masked dog.

Enigmatik: Music to destroy something to… or increase your bench press by 30-50 lbs.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “C.R.E.A.M.” (off Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers))

Statik: This one is self-explanatory, but a lot of people don’t understand how crazy this beat is, and he has the drums in the background slowed down to the point where the bassline in the drums is in key with the piano loop. Craziness. Probably the first RZA beat I ever heard, too.

Enigmatik: The song that started my love for the Wu-Tang Clan. The soulful sample of The Charmels provides the perfect backdrop for the rhymes of two brothers-in-arms painting vivid pictures of life in the hood. You want a classic beat? Look no further.

Buhizzle: The first five seconds of The Charmels’ “As Long As I’ve Got You” (which was produced and written by David Porter and the late Isaac Hayes) was a mere speck of dust in the history of soul music before ’93. The RZA saw something greater within those few seconds, and thanks to him, now the whole world does as well. If you don’t consider this to be one of the 10 greatest hip hop singles ever, it should only be because you consider some other Wu-Tang single(s) to be better.

Marco Polo: Love the piano loop and the hook. Really anything from 36 Chambers could be on this list.

Eric: Debated by many as the greatest track The RZA has ever made. While I’m on the fence in that aspect, this track surely plays in my nightmares. It’s downright creepy. The drums, piano and guitar set up the perfect scare for any unsuspecting listener.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Protect Ya Neck” (off Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers))

DJ Eclipse: When this one hit Stretch & Bobbito’s show, I remember thinking, “Who the hell is this?” Not ready to accept them for a new group, I started thinking, “Is this L.O.N.S.?” I mean, who else has at least 4 emcees in a group? Well, although I was a fan of Prince Rakeem’s “Ooh We Love You Rakeem”, I was no where prepared for “Protect”. The RZA’s minimal production here was perfect to unleash all 8 emcees fury and prepare us for the Wu dynasty.

Statik: This beat changes so damn much it’s ridiculous. Probably the best song of all time with 8 people on it. It just completely represented a raw cypher, back when rappers were good, that is. The RZA changed hip hop with this one.

Joseph: The first time I ever heard Wu-Tang Clan was on the first X-Games compilation on Tommy Boy. I was probably in fifth or sixth grade at the time and it was one of my first CDs. Back then, I only had a tape player, so I always had to listen to my CDs on my parents stereo in our living room. This was pretty annoying because they had these full-ear headphones, that in retrospect were really cool, but felt awkward on my little-kid head and I didn’t really have privacy when listening. I had never heard anything like Wu-Tang Clan until that point. (The closest I probably came was seeing Biggie videos on MTV at my friend’s house.) The idea of people rapping in a way that was simultaneously technical and interesting was completely new to me and I’d be hard-pressed to think of more interesting technical rappers than the Wu, even today. I think The RZA’s influence as the Wu-Tang’s resident producer has just as much impact on their sound as his beats do. To be a producer of eight other members and in charge of the creative direction for such notoriously volatile personalities must take incredible skill. As I step back from marveling at the aesthetic splendor of early Wu-Tang, the fact that everything came together enough to birth these songs is amazing.

Download: Gravediggaz – “Diary Of A Madman” featuring Shabazz The Disciple and Killah Priest (off 6 Feet Deep, 1994) (co-produced by RNS and Prince Paul)

DJ Eclipse: The RZArector (along with RNS and Prince Paul) concoct one of the eeriest tracks to date. I remember walking down the street in NYC right after this dropped and bumping into my man Prodigal Son, who was with Priest and introduced me to him. At that point, both Priest and Shabazz were unknowns. Kind of dope when you go back and find people kicking their first verses. FYI — Wildman Steve from WBAU fame played the judge on this joint.

Download: Method Man – “Tical” (off Tical, 1994)

Brandon: “Tical”, the first song on the first solo Wu album — and the start of The RZA’s hyper-productive 1994-1997 production period — was still rugged and raw, but musically, it felt a little more cohesive and musical; even more of a step away from the Marley Marl-style still prevalent in early ’90s New York rap and kinda there on Enter The Wu-Tang. Thick, rolling drums and an oppressive keyboard line dominate this track and perfectly fit Method Man’s weeded persona, while a foggy cloud of voices talk shit in the background for most of the song. A lot of producers would’ve taken the inexplicable success of stuff like “C.R.E.A.M.” and decided to actively court hit singles after that, but RZA and Meth dove further in, trying to sound as dusted as possible and still pull out a hit.

Download: Method Man – “Bring The Pain” featuring Booster (off Tical)

AaronM: The RZA has always been adept at using the less controlled parts of a vocal sample, like grunts or moans, and integrating them into a beat. “Bring The Pain” centers around an amplified murmur that’s looped until it becomes a steady hum. Occasionally the hum slows down, turning into a bassline before coalescing back into the main beat. RZA tops “Bring The Pain” off with a simple drum pattern, and occasionally adds keys and wah-wah guitar to the main loop. But the humming remains the focus for the entirety of the song, until the last 6 seconds, where it drops out and the keys and guitar play it out. Dark, unsettling, and oddly catchy.

Statik: This was my favorite song when I was 12. The low end is just so crazy and sonically off, but yet perfect. Plus all the random sounds through the beat. He was just on some whole other shit.

Kirk: It’s real. Something you can feel. Pain sounds just like this beat. All I hear is “Bring The Pain” whenever I see my own blood.

Aeon: I’m gonna admit it to the world — when this first dropped, Wu as a whole sort of scared me. This didn’t help! A couple snippets from Jerry Butler’s “Mechanical Man” and you’ve got a Hall of Fame Wu joint that people still go nuts over when it comes on. As a beatmaker who generally takes a lot from a song to chop up, The RZA was one of the few who rarely needed more than a few seconds — if that — to get the shit popping for real.

Download: Method Man – “You’re All I Need (Razor Sharp Remix)” featuring Mary J Blige (original version off Tical) (link goes to instrumental)

Khal: The original was cool — I remember when it first dropped, and my homies and I were in D.C. reciting it line for line. The Puff Daddy mix, yea, that won a Grammy and shit, but RZA’s Razor Sharp Remix was the icing on the cake. The track sort of mirrored Meth’s steelo — a grimy nigga who can still seduce the ladies. The track maintains the original’s feel in the hefty, trunk rattling bassline, but that hard snare and those infectious stabs are what really set this one off. While daytime rap radio had the Puffy version on, the nighttime jocks threw this one on, and the head-nodding commenced…

Download: Method Man – “Release Yo’ Delf” (off Tical)

Jerry: If you can take anything as metrosexual as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” and make it appeal to the hood, genius you are young Jedi. Yes, I was amongst the high and ambitious in my dorm who incorrectly thought he sampled the theme to Rocky for this. Hey, SOMEBODY had to get their ass-kicked after hearing this shit for the first time.

Download: Ol’ Dirty Bastard – “Baby C’mon” (off Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, 1995)

Joseph: My favorite thing about this beat is the breaking glass sample that introduces the first chorus after the intro. It’s something that can be heard more often nowadays but (I’m assuming) at the time it was a pretty inspired choice. It’s also pretty funny that the breaking glass sample is preceded by a missile-taking-off sample. I feel like a lot of the time, The RZA’s work takes on a sound design-ish quality, where he’s creating environments and moods as opposed to narrative-based backing tracks. I think this song is a good example as it’s able to sonically represent the chaos behind Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s verses and evoke an appropriate landscape in the listener’s head.

Download: Method Man – “The Riddler” (off Batman Forever OST, 1995)

DJ01: Such a bizarre beat, but it worked. At the center of it was a very low bassline with nice crisp drums. All around the rest of the beat were weird bumble-bee buzzing noise patterns, and random horns. You couldn’t really figure shit out — maybe that’s how it got the name.

Download: Raekwon – “Incarcerated Scarfaces” (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, 1995)

Kirk: Listen to these drums and you’ll understand that this beat is very necessary. Classic RZA. Samples come in sounding almost random at their entrance, but his composition is flawless.

Download: Raekwon – “Rainy Dayz” featuring Ghostface (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)

Jerry: Wait for it, wait for it… yeah, 52 seconds of yammering and crow squawking before the beat dropped, but it was worth it. The drums knocked like the landlord on the 5th of the month (yeah, I’ve been late before, what?), and those angelic strings weaved around what could have been squeaky brakes on the cross town bus for all I care. What brings rain, hail, snow and earth quakes to beat breaks? The RZA…

Eric: Do you still have your Purple Tape? This track starts off in deep meditation, but as the beat goes on you slowly begin to be brought out. It hits you but doesn’t knock you over. Something you put on during a shitty day and put one in the air. It just puts you in the zone.

Enigmatik: This beat is like crack cocaine mixed with heroin rolled into a joint. Rae and Ghost spit hot fire over a perfectly cinematic track that is absolutely timeless.

DaddyL: One of my friends once formulated an argument that this is the most perfect hip hop song ever created. It went something like, “Dude, when you’re high… it’s like… you don’t even know… seriously.” I found it a little dubious, but I think I’ve listened to the song every day since. Coincidence? Probably.

Download: Raekwon – “Guillotine (Swordz)” featuring Inspectah Deck, Ghostface and GZA (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)

AaronM: “Poisonous… poisonous…” From the moment you hear the kung-fu sound effects, the beat grabs you and shakes you. Pounding, repetitive drums are accompanied by ominous, minor key strings. No hook, no bullshit, and it sounds like the soundtrack to filmed assassination. I love the way the looped strings vibrate and hang on the last note for a few extra seconds. Also, how could I not pick a song where Ghost says, “My career is based on guns, throwin’ cats in wheelchairs”? [Personally, I always enjoyed Rae's (mis-)pronunciation of "stamina." -- Buhizzle]

Download: Raekwon – “Ice Water” featuring Ghostface and Cappadonna (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)

Buhizzle: Long-time followers of these Beat Drops probably don’t may remember on the DJ Premier post, I said that this was my second favorite use of a vocal sample in a hip hop beat (Gang Starr’s “JFK 2 LAX” being #1). This is like pleasant alarm clock music — the type of shit that makes you want to rise out of bed and take on the day.

Download: Raekwon – “Glaciers Of Ice” featuring Masta Killa and Ghostface (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)

Khal: What is being sampled in this track? In various states of my weed smoking days, I’ve tried to dissect what was going on in this track, and can’t pin down each and every sample. Sometimes, I’m just hearing that 4-note loop, but those hurried strings, sounding like a swarm of bees in the ghetto — that shit throws me off. Then you’re ducking the fierce snares, literal gunshots and bomb blasts. What the fuck? The RZA just created a companion to wars in Beirut or something. And you could STILL throw this down in a set and get the crowd hyped. This track alone is one of the reasons why Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is one of the greatest examples of that classic Wu sound.

Ben: Had The RZA never created another track after “Glaciers of Ice”, his legacy as one of the most influential and unique producers in hip hop would have been firmly cemented based on it alone. I’ll confess that it’s ridiculously impossible for me to choose my top five favorite RZA tracks, but I can state with certainty that “Glaciers of Ice” would be in there somewhere. A long time ago I recorded the instrumental version from the B-side of the “Criminology” 12″, put it on an infinite loop, and cleaned the house for 45 minutes. Or cooked dinner. Or installed a ceiling fan. In other words, “Glaciers of Ice” used to soundtrack whatever I was doing. I still can’t get enough of its claustrophobic atmosphere (which rivals “Welcome to the Terrordome” for sheer sonic density), the distant gunshots, that staccato violin, and Blue Raspberry’s atonal wailing.

88-Keys: The very first time I heard this beat, my best friend from high school — Dr. Andres Jiminez — was teaching me how to drive in his brother’s Jeep Wrangler… stick shift… no doors… on the Southern State Highway. “Glaciers of Ice” came on and the beat/song was so charged and full of high octane that I automatically started putting the pedal to the metal. I think I damn near floored it. We did about a buck that day before my boy snapped me out of the zone. A couple of years later, I got my own (first) car — ’79 Mazda RX-7 — and I used to do a buck 20 going to the city. Every single time I wanted to drive fast I had my “Purple Tape” nearby and ALWAYS played “Glaciers of Ice”. Now I have a wife and two baby daughters so that song’s out!

Download: Raekwon – “Verbal Intercourse” featuring Nas and Ghostface (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)

Marco Polo: Dope chop and three N.Y. Giants on it. Classic. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx defined a whole summer for me.

Kirk: It’s so awkward, it fits. Somehow, The RZA has the perfect sound for good lyricism accompanied with fly style. Nas, Rae and Ghost = 3 flyest rappers ever. This song was a supergroup waiting to happen.

DJ Eclipse: A perfect example of The RZA’s slightly-off production style which came into play many times after. Also a good example of a vocal sample loop that Kanye and Just Blaze get most credit for popularizing. And the “Marvel Team-Up” of Wu-meets-Nas made it that much more classic.

Aeon: This is probably one of my favorites for the wrong reasons, but, to me, this shit just made everybody on it sound good, with Nas being no small exception. Classic RZA. That repetitive “I wanna love him, but what if he…” from The Emotions’ 1971 “If You Think It (You May As Well Do It)” pitched down is a perfect example of The RZA’s particular genius. There are only a few producers who were as good at picking out obscure splices of samples, and turning them into monsters — like he is.

Statik: Another one that defined his sound. The voices in the background are so evil. The drums were different than anything anyone heard at that time, too. The intro is so long but it makes the anticipation of the rhymes build. Genius.

Download: Raekwon – “Ice Cream” featuring Ghostface, Cappadonna and Method Man (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)

Kirk: This is the best hip hop joint ever. I mean, The RZA just put together a sample so vicious, it sounds like something you can touch with your hands, but refuse to. This is the reason why everybody on the internet is still talking about the Purple Tape. RZA was at his best on the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx album.

Aeon: Probably in my top-5 Wu joints of all time. Don’t know where the drums came from. Let’s not even discuss the sample. But think back to September 1995 — The RZA had shorties dancing to THIS! This is something you could commit a murder to. Incredibly dark loop, but for some reason that ill juxtaposition of lyrics about fine ladies in the hood spelled instant classic. The drop when Cappadonna spits “Politic ’til ya deficit, step, gimme ya number” — fantastic. Big drums, beautiful loop, GENIUS hook — definitely one of his greatest cuts ever.

Knobbz: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx saw The RZA using fuller melodies to create more cinematic beats. The spooky production on Cuban Linx creates a more vivid picture of New York than any other hip hop album, except for maybe Illmatic. “Ice Cream” starts off with a man wailing “The ice cream man is coming!” and then rides on a heavy bassline and a dope piano loop. Rae, Ghost and Meth rap just as aggressive as always and the result is a sex anthem that’s as filthy as it is hardbody.

Download: Raekwon – “Heaven & Hell” featuring Ghostface (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)

Eric: Everyone’s had those days. The ones where you want to be locked in a room and let all the stresses of life just escape from your brain. This is the track that eases that pain for me. Whether its losing a homie or losing a job, the struggles of life are on full display from start to finish. I don’t think this song can ever get old for me. It relates to yesterday, today, and the promise of tomorrow that we all hope for. Who knew the Wu could be this deep. So, what do you believe in?

Download: Raekwon – “North Star (Jewels)” (off Only Built 4 Cuban Linx)

Brandon: The cinematic, end-of-the-movie type track that an album like Cuban Linx needs, but still done like in the Wu-Tang style. It’s weird how much great movie music The RZA made before he did middling scores for Ghost Dog and Kill Bill. An exercise in production that isn’t beat-making, but production in the traditional sense of mixing and balancing a mess of sounds. RZA has always used voices as a kind of atmospheric instrument — those classic interludes and skits, or often filling out the background of a track with a bunch of Wu-Tangers talking and laughing — and here, Poppa Wu’s speech wanders around on the same level as those Barry White strings or lightly knocking drums. When Raekwon comes in, RZA puts a quick pause in the beat and then drops it again with a huge volume increase and switches those strings to the forefront, lowers Poppa’s voice to the background, and lets Raekwon go wild.

Download: GZA – “Liquid Swords” (off Liquid Swords, 1995)

Khal: First off, not only is this the best intro song to any album I’ve ever owned, but it’s one of the illest intros to any album the Wu has ever put it out. In any case, the fact that this track is built on this skankin’ beat flipped to some solid drums, it just has a crazy swing to it that GZA coasts effortlessly over. Plus, that classic hook (I wonder how long ago they wrote it) is the perfect addition. RZA’s hypeman antics (“weeeeeeeed”) kill me.

Statik: One of my favorites of all time. Just the way he EQ’d it and looped it so crispy yet dirty. Play it loud with the windows down and your good. It defined his sound. That beat screams Wu-Tang. No one else would have down it the same justice.

Download: GZA – “Duel Of The Iron Mic” featuring Masta Killa and Inspectah Deck (off Liquid Swords)

DJ01: Most of it is so simple. No one does kung-fu samples better than The RZA — this track was a prime of example of that. Sort-of-high tempo drums set the tone for GZA, Killa and Deck to pretty much run all over the beat.

Marco Polo: Sounds like Halloween meets hip hop. It should be played yearly to frighten children.

Download: GZA – “4th Chamber” featuring Ghostface, Killah Priest and The RZA (off Liquid Swords)

Marco Polo: The whole fuckin’ album is a masterpiece — the vibe, the themes. Dark and sinister sounding. Possibly my favorite Wu-Tang solo album… I know I just the LP a whole shout, but this is my favorite RZA beat of all time.

Buhizzle: Among the first wave of Wu-Tang releases, Liquid Swords always felt like the riskiest collection of RZA beats. The high- and low-pitched screechs that lay underneath the thick bass sound like a combination of fingernails on a chalkboard, rusty machinery, and screaming cats, but when it’s all put together, it’s something wildly captivating.

Aeon: Maybe my wannabe-rapper clothes are showing. This and “Verbal Intercourse” were tracks that, when they dropped, made me wanna spit. Nothing spectacular except a banging ass loop and boom bap on the drums. It’s a straight lift of Willie Mitchell’s “Groovin’”, but the shit’s so sinister that you owe RZA an act of obeisance ANYWAY.

Zilla Rocca: The whiny West Coast synthesizer bends and cries like a man hanging off a rooftop with one hand. The pounding, fuzzy guitar riff spoonfeeds you broken glass, dirt, and bones. The main melody, lifted from Willie Mitchell’s “Groovin’”, pokes its head out sparingly only to get wacked by the kick drum and the 4-inch thick sub bass. The video for “4th Chamber” showed clips of a battle scene in the woods, but this beat by itself sounds like you’re being chased through the forest in Evil Dead, and your arm is broken, and you’re high on mescaline, and your feet aren’t moving as fast as they normally do. Terrible things will happen.

Download: GZA – “Gold” (off Liquid Swords)

AaronM: There’s so much going on in “Gold” — the ghostly chorus vocals, the foreboding strings, the raucous horns every few bars. This beat is so damn dense that it takes several listens to parse all of the different musical elements The RZA integrated into the song. The skeletal drums hold “Gold” together until the end of the song, where RZA pulls the beat apart and puts it back together again, just in time for the fadeout.

Download: GZA – “Shadowboxin’” featuring Method Man (off Liquid Swords)

DJ Eclipse: It’s safe to say that this is one of the best RZA-produced albums following the Wu’s debut release. Before Bobby went Digital, his analog loops and hard drums had heads boppin’ violently while Meth gave us “You know my steez”. Slang, style and music all derived from the Abbot’s master plan.

Download: GZA – “Swordsman” (off Liquid Swords)

Ben: Is there another track in the Wu oeuvre more frightening than “Swordsman”? Listen to it through a decent pair of headphones with the lights out to see what I mean. The drums tumble like concrete blocks, the bass lurks somewhere at the edge of darkness, and various atonal sounds hover above the mix like a spectre. Respect to any DJ who can seamlessly blend this track into another cut during their set — its clunky rhythm makes it nearly impossible.

Download: RZA – “Wu-Wear (The Garment Renaissance)” featuring Cappadonna and Method Man (off High School High OST, 1996)

Buhizzle: Being a soundtrack cut/clothing line promotion, this track may have been forgotten by many, but it’s a great cross between a gritty Wu-Tang production and an infectious upbeat head-nodder (thanks in large part to Method Man’s hook). The doorbell sound that pops up here and there adds a nice touch.

Download: Ghostface – “260″ featuring Raekwon (off Ironman, 1996)

Enigmatik: The perfect soundtrack to a kick-door robbery. The RZA provides the soundscape while Rae and Ghost take us a on run throughout the track that leaves the listener anticipating the next turn.

Download: Ghostface – “Assassination Day” featuring Inspectah Deck, RZA, Raekwon and Masta Killa (off Ironman)

Ben: I still don’t understand why “Assassination Day” works as well as it does. None of its individual components have any business interacting with each other whatsoever — those dry 8-bit drums, a synthetic guitar motif, the thick scratching of a kick drum, an out-of-tune bass hit, and what sounds like the “siren” button from one of those cheap, shitty keychains from a gag gift store that makes various sound effects. Somehow RZA makes it sound as menacing as a rabid wolf and as serious as a national plague outbreak. It took me years to appreciate the unassuming brilliance of this cut.

Download: Ghostface – “Winter Warz” featuring U-God, Masta Killa and Cappadonna (off Ironman)

Marco Polo: Cappadonna probably kicked his best verse ever on this shit.

Download: Ghostface – “Daytona 500″ featuring Raekwon and Cappadonna (off Ironman)

Aeon: In my humble opinion, top-3 usage of Bob James’ “Nautilus”. What made it more crazy was the incorporation of Wu vocal samples scratched in and around the verses that made it probably one of Ghost’s most classic songs.

Download: Ghostface – “The Soul Controller” featuring The Force MD’s (off Ironman)

Khal: Ironman is one of my top 20 favorite albums ever, and this is one of the reasons why. Those Middle Eastern sounds always worked over straight-up bangers, but The RZA flips some interesting shit in here — from the droning bass that sounds like he sampled someone humming into the mic, to that scattered beat, with the hits dropping on different counts for no reason other than to keep it funky. The real treat, though, is the switch-up around 2:39 (accented by The Force MD’s singing, “A change gonna come”). Forgive me, I’m a sucker for producers who flip dope beats into even DOPER beats while the fucking beat is still playing. Classic.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Reunited” (off Wu-Tang Forever, 1997)

Eric: This record took me by surprise simply because it sounded like something I had never heard from the Wu before. The violins and guitars blew my mind. At the same time, however, key elements were still kept in not straying too far from what people like myself had grown to love and admire.

Brandon: A sharp tangle of avant sounds — free-jazz horns, stabs of descending bassline, squeaking maybe vaguely synthesized violins, even some sound effects — over surprisingly clean (clean for The RZA, at least!) programmed drums, “Reunited” was an effective reinvention of the Wu-Tang sound. In one way, RZA probably could’ve rode that ominous Wu-Tang sound for two more decades, but his earlier beats did lose some of their “Oh shit!”-appeal once you dug up the samples. Back to those violins, though, which are on some 20th Century classical shit. I’m reminded of plenty of string-oriented rap beats, but the stinging strings and violin squeaks also recall stuff like Penderecki’s “Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima” or Shostakovich’s “String Quartet No. 8″ (which was dedicated to all the victims of fascism and war). Wu-Tang Forever is certainly going for that same end-of-days feeling as those dudes’ music and that apocalyptic feeling is established by the one-two punch of Poppa Wu’s intro and “Reunited”, the first proper track.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “For Heavens Sake” (off Wu-Tang Forever)

Khal: What was ill about Wu-Tang Forever was that The RZA blended his styles, from that really dirty, dusty analog shit he bashed us in the dome with on 36 Chambers with that more synthesized sound he started teasing with Ghostface’s Ironman. This track marries both styles, with that deep, fuzzy bassline played underneath that piano loop that just gets shorter and shorter, but still maintains its freshness. That string loop adds a sick element to the track. This cut also contains my second favorite Cappadonna verse, ever.

Ben: During the first week following my purchase of Wu-Tang Forever upon its release, I rarely played any other track besides “For Heavens Sake”, such was my conviction that nothing else on the record could stand in its shadow. Attempt, for a moment, to ignore Deck’s jaw-dropping verse and focus squarely on The RZA’s production, a beautiful maelstrom of fuzz bass, chalky piano comping, disembodied chipmunk vocals, and the urgent “Wu–Tang!” mantra. There simply isn’t another producer in hip hop warped enough to conjure up a track like this.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Triumph” (off Wu-Tang Forever)

DJ01: Do I really have to explain this one? I think the beat alone had yours truly writing “WU-TANG FOREVER” all over his suburban elementary school 5th grade folders. It really sounds like some theme you’d use to motivate troops for a war.

Enigmatik: Five minutes and thirty-eight seconds of one of the top posse cuts of all time. Everyone knows the opening verses and everyone knows the thunderous beat that is purely triumphant from beginning to end. From the little bells and chimes in the song to the pounding drums, the organs and anything else you can think of, this is easily one of hip hop’s masterpieces.

Kirk: I refuse to give any reasons as to why I’ve chosen this beat. This is the reason why The RZA is one of the best producers ever.

Download: Bjork – “Bachelorette (RZA Remix)” (original version off Bachelorette, 1997)

DaddyL: It’s not every day that Bjork gets shine in the hip hop world. Maybe that’s a good thing because a lot of her songs sound like something concocted in an Icelandic lab with hopes of making your brains melt out of your ears. But the strings in “Bachelorette” are wonderfully tripped out and soar in a way that seems perfect for a grandiose hip hop beat. Props to The RZA for branching out and respecting good music, wherever it may be.

Download: Cappadonna – “Run” (off The Pillage, 1998)

Buhizzle: Mentioning a RZA-produced track called “Run” probably brings to mind the more-popular Ghostface and Jadakiss collabo from The Pretty Toney Album (in fact, see below). It’s too bad that this cut usually gets overlooked as a result. Both tracks are great cinematic-sounding “chase scene” music, but while the Ghost/Jada version sounds more fit for a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster, Cappa’s version is more on some independent film type-shit. I love how the violins linger on for so long — it reminds me of Madlib’s production on “The Mission” from Champion Sound. (Dope video, too.)

Download: Funkmaster Flex – “Put Your Hammer Down” featuring Wu-Tang Clan (off The Mix Tape, Vol. 3: 60 Minutes Of Funk, The Final Chapter, 1998)

Zilla Rocca: This outtake from Wu-Tang Forever was extremely out of place on Funk Flex’s 60 Minutes Of Funk, Vol. 3, but Loud Records, home of both Flex and the Wu, didn’t care — we want more Wu-Tang, dammit! A stripped down 2-bar loop taken from a cheesy Vegas funk band was all the Clan needed in ’97. The RZA employed the same strategy of looping two bars and adding almost nothing on Cappadonna’s “’97 Mentality” and Tony Touch’s “Rock Steady”, but “Put Your Hammer Down” is most notable because it’s really — what’s the word — happy! A great contrast to the vicious and hardcore rhymes of Method Man, Inspectah Deck, and co., this beat would be right at home on an early ’90s Diamond D or Prince Paul album.

Download: Big Pun – “Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy)” featuring Prodigy, Inspectah Deck and Roc Raida (off Capital Punishment, 1998)

Jerry: All you homophobes take note — a gay vibraphonist can make some of the illest hip hop! Along with Organized Konfusion’s “Stress”, Gary Burton’s “Las Vegas Tango” helped make this triboro trilogy one of the sickest beats on Pun’s album. It was so dark and crusty I thought it was Havoc at first, but Roc Raida scratches in RZA’s ID around 3:30. Way less annoying than a Diddy adlib.

Download: RZA – “Domestic Violence” (off RZA As Bobby Digital In Stereo, 1998)

Joseph: I first heard “Domestic Violence” in work a few summers ago. I was working this clerical job that required a lot of filing and mind-numbingly repetitive tasks, so I could afford to listen to my iPod and actually concentrate on and think about whatever I was listening to. So I would fill my iPod with music I hadn’t listened to yet, so I could half-assedly educate myself while doing these mind-numbing tasks. I preferred to listen to music with an aggressive bent because it seemed to make time go faster than wimpy-sounding music. (Aggressive music also helps keep you awake when you’re running on two hours of sleep and hungover.) At the time, I was listening to a lot of hardcore, metal and New York rap, which hit the spot perfectly. Anyway, I always notice that there are a lot of hardcore and metal band members who wear those black Wu-Tang shirts with the yellow W logo. Anyone questioning their motives for donning the shirts need only hear this song (even if the shirts are really cliché and lame at this point). “Domestic Violence” hits harder than a floor punch at a Hatebreed show (and Hatebreed are exactly the sort of assholes who would wear Wu-Tang shirts).

Download: “RZA #7″ (off Music From The Motion Picture Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai, 1999)

Ben: I’m not an aggressive or even athletic person by any means, but when the beat drops on “RZA #7″ from the Ghost Dog original soundtrack, I immediately want to start dismembering foes with a series of swiftly-executed jumping lunge kicks. This cut would eventually provide the backing track for “16th Chamber (ODB Special)” that closed out 8 Diagrams last year, leading one to suspect that it’s been a back-burner weapon in The RZA’s beat arsenal for ages. God knows what kind of shit he was on when the beat somehow falls out of synch with itself two-thirds of the way through the track. It’s one of those timeless productions that would make any MC sound like fire spitting on top of it, regardless of talent.

Download: Charli Baltimore – “Stand Up” featuring Ghostface (off Cold As Ice, 1999)

Zilla Rocca: Few random singles from throwaway rap chicks have made more of an impression on me than Charli Baltimore’s “Stand Up”. Sure, her shelved album Cold As Ice had a remake of “Ice Ice Baby” featuring Ma$e, but it also featured one of The RZA’s most dazzling beats of the late ’90s, a time when he should’ve been getting more calls for beat tapes from rappers not named after a Gina Davis/Samuel L. Jackson vehicle. Combining a cold classical piano score with adlids swiped from a crackling vinyl soul sires, The RZA added a crossing guard’s whistle and an ominous Rhodes pattern to bring it all back home. On paper, this formula has no business being good on a hip hop song, yet it’s right next to Big Pun’s “Tres Leches” as one of The RZA’s rare outside productions that knocks just as hard as anything on a Wu record. And bonus points to Ghostface for bragging about getting his “balls licked in hell”. Umm… yeah!

Download: Method Man & Redman – “Cereal Killer” (off Blackout!, 1999)

DaddyL: This whole album is a Wu head’s wet dream. But I always liked this song in particular because it is not overly obtrusive, but it’s funky enough to let the dream duo tear shit up. Plus “The Rub” (by George & Gwen McCrae) is a superb track, and I always appreciate a great sample.

Download: Ghostface – “The Grain” featuring RZA (off Supreme Clientele, 2000)

88-Keys: This was just a straight raw-ass hip hop beat to rap to. This beat should be used when people battle each other with lyrics… or swords.

Download: Ghostface – “Buck 50″ featuring Method Man, Cappadonna and Redman (off Supreme Clientele)

88-Keys: ANYONE who’s used this sample has yet to go wrong — from Q-Tip’s remix to “Scenario” (which was the first time I heard it), to this song Kanye West produced years ago for some R&B group that got dropped from Def Jam (and I only know this because ‘Ye borrowed my Kool & The Gang this sample came from) to the Just Blaze-produced super smash hit “Pump It Up” by Joe Budden. Shit… come to think of it, now I want to do something with this sample. Oh wait! ‘Ye never gave me my record back. There goes my Grammy. **frowns**

Download: Ghostface – “Stroke Of Death” featuring Solomon Childs and The RZA (off Supreme Clientele)

Knobbz: What I love about this beat is how so many people would think it’s broken. The constant scratching makes it sound like the track has gone haywire, but it’s just The RZA being the maverick producer that he
is. On paper, this beat sounds like it would be really irritating, but it’s just not. Very few producers could make a beat like this and have it sound so good.

Zilla Rocca: The weirdest song from the weirdest major label rap album released this decade, “Stroke Of Death” works perfectly in conjunction with the rest of Ghostface’s dada-inspired Supreme Clientele — it’s the sonic equivalent of Ghost’s “disease breath, elephant skin, black Boy George” rhymes. I remember the first time I played this song, I thought my CD was damaged. By shanking the sample with a vinyl cartridge, RZA made a percussive element out of a truly ear-splitting sound. This beat today would work on an album released by Def Jux, Stones Throw, Edan, or MF Doom. “Stroke Of Death” is the kind of beat most consumers skip over and most producers call each other at about 2:00 a.m. like, “YO DIDYOUHEARTHATSHITRZADIDONTHENEWGHOSTFACESHIT??? Yo fam… shit… is… CRAAAAAY-ZEEEEE!”

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Careful (Click Click)” (off The W, 2000)

Knobbz: I think The RZA may have been having a bad day when he made “Careful”; it’s probably his darkest work. Aside from the gunshots and the Clan’s murderous rhymes, the lack of a main melody is what makes this song so unsettling. The melody in the beginning dies out right away and in comes that odd little chime that stands out so much. “Careful” gives you the feeling that there’s someone unfriendly waiting around the
corner. Great song to scare the neighbors with.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)” (off The W)

Brandon: In Joseph Schloss’s really great book Making Beats, there’s a part — on page 141, if you want to look it up — where The RZA’s tendency to not “quantify” his beats is discussed and it’s ultimately cited as one of his biggest “strength[s]“. A good example of that would be the original “Protect Ya Neck”, which kinda clunks along drum-wise, while “Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)” is kind of the antithesis, all ordered and quantified. That intro stir of strings come in at the right time, while the guitar scronk from Lowell Fulsom’s “Tramp” and what sounds like a bird crowing bounce between one another in a way that’s easy to anticipate. Not that there’s anything wrong with being predictable. When the track’s as good as this, it gets a pass. In some ways, “Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)” is the most representative Wu-Tang single because it plays the game of sounding clean and radio-ready, but it doesn’t compromise the Wu sound at all. If radio didn’t grow more corrupt every year, this song could probably be a hit even in today’s rap climate. Start with the first posse cut “Protect Ya Neck” off Enter The Wu-Tang and end with “The Jump Off” — the last great Wu posse cut that doesn’t sound like an approximation — and you’ve pretty much got a history of the part of the Wu’s career that really matters.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Gravel Pit” (off The W)

DJ01: I just love the horns at the start that set off the beat. I really dig the way fast tempo of the beat with some sci-fi mysterious sounds hovering in the background.

Download: RZA – “Bong Bong” (off Digital Bullet, 2001)

Knobbz: The Bobby Digital albums have always given The RZA room to go off the deep end. The beats are always exotic and somewhat atypical of traditional Wu, whereas the lyrics are usually completely lacking subtlety (“I ain’t know she suck dick like that”). “Bong Bong” features outlandish percussion and a very simple two note melody. The song relies mostly on the weird ass sounds and the vocals — something fairly uncommon.

Download: Ghostface – “Flowers (Original)” featuring Raekwon, Method Man and Superb (alternate version off Bulletproof Wallets, 2001)

Jerry: Just when you thought Bob James’s “Take Me To the Mardi Gras” couldn’t be flipped anymore, The RZA slides past the oft-used intro percussion and disembowels the track somewhere around 1:07 seconds. By lifting the bassline out and focusing on the more subdued drums, he makes it hard to believe this beat is in the same family tree as “Peter Piper” and “Rock The Bells”. The final version that appeared on Bulletproof Wallets was a hollow attempt to save the song when the sample couldn’t be cleared… which makes no sense since they still ended up sampling (or replaying?) James.

Download: Tony Touch – “Rock Steady” featuring Raekwon, Method Man and U-God (off The Piece Maker 2, 2004)

AaronM: Sometimes you don’t need more than a 2-bar loop.

Download: Ghostface – “Run” feat. Jadakiss (off The Pretty Toney Album, 2004)

AaronM: Much like his beat for Ghost’s “Stroke Of Death”, “Run” consists of a scratched-in loop and a simple drum pattern. The blaring horns are broken up by a short guitar figure that plays before and after each verse. The instrumental is claustrophobic and seemingly endless, and Ghostface’s frantic, breathless delivery matches its intensity. “Run” is a rare and welcome return to The RZA’s pre-”digital orchestra” sound that he began to favor after Wu-Tang Forever. The sound effects accompanying Jada and Ghost’s verses are a nice touch.

88-Keys: I remember liking this not only because it sounds raw as hell, but also because this sample was on the late/great J Dilla’s beat CD from a while back and I always wanted to hear SOMEBODY rap on it. Ghost and J-To-The-Muah thug’d it out, too. Kudos!

Joseph: I wouldn’t have guessed that The RZA did this beat if I didn’t see it on Wikipedia. It must be because there’s an obvious record-rewind sound in the song. That’s not something I’m used to hearing from RZA, who usually masks whatever clarity his samples have in a thick cloud of dust. As the main loop is only one measure long, it needs to be rewound right before every fourth beat. This constant repetition gives the record-rewind sound the feel of being a musical part of the pick-up, as opposed to some abstract, non-musical sound. It’s so seamless that before I gave the song a close listen, I thought the sound was just overdubbed record-scratching.

Eric: I feel an instant desire to cause some serious chaos whenever this comes on. Bank robbery, looting, or even a high-speed chase — it’s all fair game! The beat comes full steam ahead through the speakers and doesn’t slow down one bit. The horns are on some Dirty Harry shit, and mid way through it seems to revert back to the beginning of the track only to have Jadakiss run (no pun intended) rampant to close out. This track is simply devastating and shouldn’t be listened to by the faint of heart. Next time you have a power outage, just hook up this track up and let it generate the energy needed. It’s that powerful!

Download: Masta Killa – “No Said Date” (off No Said Date, 2004)

Brandon: Underneath the prominent back-and-forth strings and shuffling drums, there’s this casually-rising low-end hum of like cello or something that never goes anywhere, but adds to the gravity of Masta Killa’s verse. It’s the sort of sound that The RZA, a decade earlier, would’ve put to the forefront, but sticks in the background here because he’s constantly on some other shit, for better and worse. It must be hard to be The RZA, smart enough to know it’s a real bad look to tumble into elder statesman status and just make kinda-good, vaguely wack Wu approximations for the rest of his life, but not entirely sure where to go with his more forward-thinking production either. “No Said Date” nails it, though, and has some of that inexplicable catchy, pop appeal Wu can possess, Bobby Digital-style production touches, and a palpable analog hardness that connects all RZA touches to those earliest Wu beats.

Download: Masta Killa – “Old Man” featuring RZA and Ol’ Dirty Bastard (off No Said Date)

DaddyL: The Quincy Jones sample on this track is just too good to be true. “The Streetbeater” is an epic song, if you haven’t checked it out, and The RZA utilizes it to perfection. The way he flipped the Outkast strings (from “Skew It On The Bar-B”) on the title track is also worth noting, but that’s another day. [See above. Needless to say, there's no time for our contributors to compare picks. -- Buhizzle] What I really love about this song is how bright and fresh it sounds. RZA doesn’t get pigeonholed by the grimy darkness of his earlier production (even though that’s arguably his best). In the end, this song makes me bop in a different way than Enter The Wu-Tang, and I like it.

Download: RZA and MF Doom – “Biochemical Equation” (off Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture, 2005)

DJ01: My favorite “recent” RZA beat. It really has to do with the symphony sample and the way he looped it. He somehow made it perfect to rhyme over and yet you can barely make out a bassline on this.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – “Unpredictable” featuring Dexter Wiggles (off 8 Diagrams, 2007)

Zilla Rocca: Take some Hitchcock strings, a bass guitar having a seizure, and a drum break that could appease any b-boy, and you have the newest incarnate of The RZA sound. His years of scoring films are realized on this beat from Wu-Tang’s 8 Diagrams LP. Unlike his efforts on Ghost Dog and Kill Bill, “Unpredictable” is cinematic, striking, focused, and most importantly full of boom-bap, practically begging to get bodied by Inspectah Deck’s 30 bar killing spree. Unlike the over-indulgent “The Heart Gently Weeps”, “Unpredictable” is the perfect blend of “hip hop hippie” and “punch you in your shit” (word to Shallah Raekwon).