5 Best Hip-Hop Producers Right Now

5. Kayne West 

Credits: Pusha T DAYTONA; Kanye West & Kid Cudi KIDS SEE GHOSTS; Kanye West ye

While much of the media on Kayne West in the past year has been on his political stunts, many have forgotten the prolific run he has been on as a producer. Producing five beautiful and diverse albums Kayne has been on a tear in the last year showing that he can work with any sound. While every album over the last summer was a masterclass of production, one album stood out among the rest: Pusha T’s DAYTONA. A classic Hip-Hop album DAYTONA not only featured some of the best lyrics of the year, from Pusha T, but also some of the best soul and funk samples from Kayne’s career. Looking at Kayne West purely for his music it would be foolish to not put him among the best producers right now and because of this Kayne came in as the fifth best producer on this list.

 

4. Mike Will Made It

Credits: Jay Rock “King’s Dead”; Eminem “Fall,” “Greatest”; Lil Peep “Falling Down,” “Sunlight on Your Skin”

While Mike WiLL Made-It wasn’t nearly as dominant as he has been in the past few years, he still fleshed out the menacing and innovative beat for Jay Rock, Future, James Blake, and Kendrick Lamar’s “King’s Dead” which has been seen by many to be one of the best songs of the year. Besides “King’s Dead” Mike WiLL Made-It produced numerous hit songs such as Lil Peep and XXXTentacion’s posthumous collaboration “Falling Down” and the Platinum-certified single “Powerglide.” While some may point to his hit-and-miss soundtrack for Creed II as the reason he shouldn’t be in this list I would have to argue that his sinister production on Edgewood, by Atlanta Rapper Trouble, made up for any mistakes he may have had on Creed II’s soundtrack.

 

3. Murda Beatz

Credits: Drake “Nice For What”; 6ix9ine “FEFE”; Cardi B “I Do”

Since his humble beginnings, Murda Beatz has been dominating the Hip-Hop scene with 808 heavy drumlines and smooth samples. Murda Beatz in the past year has been a mainstay on the Billboard Hot 100 with hit singles like Drizzy’s “Nice For What” and Quavo’s “Bigger that You”. His highlights from last year weren’t all hit singles though, as he did a joint project called Bless Yo with up-and-coming artist Smokepurpp which received good reviews for the production of the album. From a number 1 song with Drizzy to successful solo records featuring Lil Yachty, Ski Mask the Slump God, and Yung Bans, Murda Beatz looks poised to continue dominating in the upcoming years.

 

2. Metro Boomin

Credits: Metro Boomin “10 Freaky Girls (feat. 21 Savage)”; Metro Boomin “Space Cadet (feat. Gunna)”; “No Complaints (feat. Offset & Drake)”

One of the pioneers of the modern Hip-Hop sound, Metro Boomin is widely recognized as one of the greatest producers in the modern era. His contributions to the Hip-Hop genre have been invaluable. Bringing heavy 808 basslines into mainstream Hip-Hop, Metro Boomin has helped to define 21st century Hip-Hop. In the last year, Metro has fallen away from producing singles and rather has been focused purely on building his name through his own albums. His recent album NOT ALL HEREOS WEAR CAPES has been praised for its unique dark, hard-hitting production. The only thing that held Metro from the number 1 spot was his reluctance to produce singles for other artists which caused his recent production catalogue to be quite slim.

 

1. Tay Keith

Credits: Travis Scott “SICKO MODE”; Drake “Nonstop”; BlocBoy JB “Look Alive”

Tay Keith absolutely dominated in 2018 and 2019 with numerous breakout hits like BlocBoy JB’s “Look Alive” and Metro Boomin’s “Don’t Come Out the House” which were both praised for Tay Keith’s exceptional piano-powered production. What’s even more impressive that Tay Keith’s incredible tear in the recent years is that he did all of it while he was studying in College. In fact the same week he celebrated “SICKO MODE” going to No. 1, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Middle State Tennessee University. Now that Tay Keith’s graduated from school, it will be interesting to see how his career continues to develop considering his focus will now be fully on producing. 

 

 

Honorable Mentions: Kenny Beats, Boi-1da, and Cardo