What would music be without producers? From the well-known ones like Quincy Jones, Dr. Dre, and Teddy Riley, to the more underground ones like The Alchemist and Conductor Williams, producers have shaped the way music is made for over half a century. But, the one genre where producers are the most recognized is, of course, hip-hop, due to its heavy reliance on sampling. A good producer needs to have a musical ear for things that most humans might not hear, it could be a one-second snippet, or many layered chops of random parts of a song. This series will comprise the best sample flip from producers from each coast (East, West, Midwest, and South). The criteria is simple: each producer can only have one song to their name, the beat has to contain a sample, the song needs to be officially released, and the track has to include rapping on it (so no ‘beat tape’ albums like Donuts or Special Herbs).
Dr. Dre – “Xxplosive” (1999)
Probably the most recognizable person on this list, Dr. Dre has produced for many east and west coast artists, and started the whole subgenre of G-funk. The problem is, Dre isn’t really ‘known for using samples. Some of his most iconic beats (“In Da Club”, “The Real Slim Shady”, “Still D.R.E.”, “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”) don’t use any samples. So, I’m going with some sort of a deep cut here with “Xxplosive”, which samples “Bumpy’s Lament” by Soul Mann & The Brothers (that name can only be used for a band in the 70s, I swear to god). The flip is relatively simple, with it literally being in the first second. The beat, Kurupt’s explicit lyrics, and Nate Dogg carry in my opinion, and I think the better version of the track is when Erykah Badu used Dre’s instrumental to remix “Bag Lady.” Honorable mentions go to “Nothin’ But a G Thang” and Eminem’s “My Name Is”
J-Swift – The Pharcyde’s “Officer” (1992)
J-Swift is a more underrated producer, being the main beatmaker for The Pharcyde for their debut album (Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde), and produced the hit singles “Ya Mama” and “Passin’ Me By”, but I think his best work on the production side came from the 10th track, “Officer”. On the track, J-Swift mixes sections from “The Mighty Quinn” by Ramsey Lewis with the iconic “Funky Drummer” drum break. The song is pure native-tougues-inspired comedy. Parodying Public Enemy’s classic song “Black Steel in the Heart of Chaos”, as instead of Chuck D getting a letter from the government to join the army, Fatlip gets a letter from the DMV saying his license was suspended.
Mustard – Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” (2024)
I feel like many people forget about Mustard and his hit-making prowess. He made Big Sean & E-40’s “IDFWU”, Chris Brown & Lil Dicky’s “Freaky Friday”, and Roddy Rich’s “Ballin” and “High Fashion”. But, I think the entire hip-hop went nuts when they heard his producer tag on Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”, and it may be the recency bias, but he absolutely murdered the beat, which samples “I Believe To My Soul” by Monk Higgins at 29 seconds. After adding some trap dumbs on top, the track becomes a West Coast banger. Meanwhile, Kendrick calls Drake a p*dophile and tries to get the club to chant “Ov-hoe”. Even better, Kendrick and Mustard performed this song 5 times on Juneteenth, getting Dr. Dre to do the “I see dead people” on the intro. I’m gonna miss 2024 when it’s all set and done.
Hit-Boy – Nas’s “Moments” (2021)
Hit-Boy is definitely in the eschalon of producers that should be talked about more than they are, as, even with modern technology, he still has a great ear for sampling. On “Moments”, he samples the saxophone line on J. Kelly’s “She Calls Me Baby” (2 seconds in) and the drums on Christine Perfect’s “And That’s Saying A Lot”. The song is definitely one of Nas’s most reflective cuts, as he thinks back to all his failures and successes in life. Honorable mentions go to A$AP Rocky’s “1Train” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Backseat Freestyle”
DJ Pooh – Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day” (1992)
Mostly known as Ice Cube’s main producer, DJ Pooh has a bunch of classics under his belt (“Check Yo Self” and “New York, New York” just to name a few) but nothing that Pooh has made has ever come close to “It Was A Good Day”. Not in sales, not in billboard placement, not in popularity, and not as an instrumental. The song samples the opening guitar and drum notes of the Isley Brothers’s “Footsteps in the Dark”. Then, Pooh takes a random section where Ronald Isley says “Do I” at 43 seconds, pitches it up, and uses it as a cool sound effect during the chorus. But, you probably knew that, as “It Was a Good Day” is so popular nowadays that it isn’t even a song any more, it’s a legend. Honorable mention goes to Ice Cube, WC, and Coolio’s “Color Blind”.
Daz Dillinger/Dat N***a Daz – 2Pac’s “I Ain’t Mad At Cha” (1996)
Being Dr. Dre’s understudy is very difficult, because there are very high expectations to be as good or better than him. But, these comparisons aren’t really warranted, because after he worked with Dre, Daz’s production style began to differ drastically. Instead of sampling Synths and electric instruments like Dre, Daz mixed soul samples like D’Barge’s “A Dream” into some sort of gangsta soul. It’s a shame that 2Pac died, because I feel like this subgenre could’ve taken off if he continued working with it on his next albums.
DJ Quik – Truth Hurts & Rakim’s “Addictive” (2002)
DJ Quik produced songs for so many cali-legends: 2Pac, Toni! Tony! Tone!, etc. But, his production skills shined the brightest when he linked up with Dr. Dre to produce a song for the god MC. This song, “Addictive”, marks one of the first times (apart from the “Paid In Full” Coldcut remix and “Get Ur Freak On”) where a hit rap/r&b song sampled an Indian song. In this case, the sample is “Thoda Resham Lagta Hai” by Lata Mangeshkar at the 3 minute and 4 second and 5 minute and 36 second marks respectively. Honorable mention goes to “Tonite”
Madlib – Madvillan & M.E.D.’s “Raid” (2004)
If any rapper wanted to make a collab album with a producer, Madlib should 100% be their go-to. He is one of those producers that has never had a bad beat in their career. Also, Madlib has 4 classic collab albums: Pinata and Bandana with Freddie Gibbs, Jaylib with J Dilla, and Madvillainy with MF DOOM, which has some of the most excellently produced tracks of all time. But, the best flip of them all was definitely “Raid”, which uses Bill Evans’s “Nardis” for the intro, and then chops up the piano from the opening bars of “América Latina” by Osmar Milito & Quarteto Forma. I love the piano, as it gives a triumphant feel to the track, and I love how M.E.D. hops on the beat and how he brings his own flow to the track. Honorable mention goes to “All Caps” and “Great Day”, again, both by Madvillain, and Your Old Droog’s “DBZ”.
Scoop DeVille – Kendrick Lamar’s “Poetic Justice”
If the phrase 3 hit wonder were a man, it would be Scoop DeVille. He produced 3 absolute bangers in the early 2010s, with two of them having nostalgic samples from the ‘90s (“Calm Down” and “Poetic Justice”) and a great chop with “The Recipe”. I chose “Poetic Justice” because I really love Jannet Jackson, and the song does the sample of “Any Time, Any Place” justice (no pun intended).
Tyler, The Creator – “WUSYANAME”
Tyler is a weird artist. He went from becoming the most polarizing hip-hop artist of the early 2010s, by doing antics like making funny vines, saying crude lyrics, and the music video for “Yonkers”, to all of a sudden caring about the art he puts out and making timeless classics like Flower Boy, IGOR, and Call Me If You Get Lost. “WUSYANAME” samples H-Town’s “Back Seat (With No Sheats)”, and does the monumental task of keeping the vibe the original song has. Many songs, like The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Warning” or Saigon’s “Get Busy”, take the sample, but then change the vibe of the sample into something different, but “WUSYANAME” instead maintains the relaxed and soulful R&B vibe, making it a great summertime song. Honorable mention goes to “A BOY IS A GUN*”.
DJ Yella – N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton” (1988)
Mostly known for being the DJ for N.W.A. (a group consisting of Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, and Eazy-E), DJ Yella has multiple classics under his producer belt, but his most famous, and in my opinion best, was with the title track on their album Straight Outta Compton. But, the reason why has less to do with the song itself and more to do with the impact. Yes, it brought upon the reign of gangsta rap and the hate that hip-hop gets in the suburbs, but it’s even simpler than that. “Straight Outta Compton” was the first hit rap song to use the “Amen Break” (the drum break used in the 1 minute and 27th second mark of “Amen, Brother” by The Winstons). This break has been used over 6 thousand times, and it is safe to say that “Straight Outta Compton” was the song that helped bring that break to the mainstream. Honorable mentions go to “Dopeman” and “Gangsta Gangsta”.
Sounwave – Kendrick Lamar’s “B***h Don’t Kill My Vibe” (2012)
Sounwave definitely has one of the most stressful gigs ever, just before Jack Antonoff (funny enough, they worked together for “6:16 in LA”). He has to make and master music for Kendrick Lamar, a guy who is so focused on his artistry that one slipup can throw away his whole creative process. But, Sounwave has done a great job with the role he has, as he produced multiple classic songs and has mastered multiple classic albums. But, my favorite song he has worked on is “B***h Don’t Kill My Vibe”. The sample is “Tiden Flyver” by the Boom Clap Bachelors. The funny part is that Sounwave really doesn’t do anything with it, he just speeds and pitches it up and adds drums on top. The real transformation is when you hear Anna Wise’s chorus, which works with the song perfectly. Also, please check out the remix with JAY-Z, it is the original version but 10,000 times better. Honorable mentions go to “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”, “Hood Politics”, and “Father Time”
Cool N Dre – The Game & 50 Cent’s “Hate It Or Love It” (2005)
If you are a fan of bombastic production style, please check out Cool & Dre’s work. They produced club bangers like “Phone Home” and “New York”. But, their best flip was their breakout production hit: The Game’s “Hate It Or Love It”. “Hate It Or Love It” samples “Rubber Band” by The Tramps, and Cool N Dre loop it by 8 bars, chop it, and add early-2000s-Kanye drums to make the beat turn from a random trumpet line, to a chill banger.
DJ Muggs – Cypress Hill’s “Insane In The Brain” (1993)
Muggs is the DJ and producer for the latin rap group Cypress Hill, a group known for hardcore hip-hop bangers and out-of-pocket samples. And, nothing is more out of pocket than mixing the opening drums from James Brown’s classic “Say It Loud…” with a f***ing horse neigh. Then, if it couldn’t get any weirder, the track switches beats to a Sly and the Family Stone sample and an outro which contains a sample of The Youngbloods’s “All Over The World (La La)”. And the funny part is, this became Cypress Hill’s biggest hit. Honorable mention goes to “Stoned is the Way of the Walk”.
Knxwledge – Kendrick Lamar’s “Momma” (2015)
Mostly known for being one half of the duo NxWorries with Anderson P.a.a.k., Knxwledge has built up quite the resume of artists that he’s worked for, whether they be from the east coast like Joey Bada$$or from the west like Earl Sweatshirt. But, he worked for one west coast artist in particular whose work towers above the rest. Of course, I’m talking about Kendrick Lamar, and one of my favorite songs from him: “Momma”. “Momma” chops up Lalah Hathaway’s “On Your Own” to absolute perfection, forming a cohesive sentence from a random assortment of chops. The song itself talks about Kendrick’s trip to Africa, where he discovers that he “[Doesn’t] know sh*t” when he talks to a young boy, who gives him a load of wisdom. This song is a must-listen to any conscious hip-hop head, as it has enough power to warm a grown man’s heart (shouts to Spectere for mashing it up with Kanye’s “Big Brother”). Honorable mention goes to “SheUsed”, which uses the same sample as the aforementioned “Moments”.
Next up, I’ll cover the South. Tell me, in the comments, your thoughts about my selections — disagreements welcome. Also, let me know if there’s an iconic West Coast producer I missed.
The Music In My Mind 
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