1: J Dilla

• Signature Sound: J Dilla’s career may have been cut short due to his passing in 2006 but his influence and legacy live on. He famously pioneered an Off-beat, distinctively swung drum programming style. This signature, slightly drunken swung sound has become possibly the most imitated and replicated technique in hip-hop and RnB.
  
  Dilla combined this unorthodox rhythmic approach with highly melodic and often unexpected musical sample choices. These would encompass a wide range of sources including progressive rock and folk, Modal Jazz, Deep Soul, and avant-garde Electronica. His beats often felt “imperfect” due to their unquantized nature, giving them a human touch.
• Techniques: J Dilla famously used intricate chopping techniques and the swing function on the Akai MPC 3000, Later in his short career he would introduce live synths and instrumentation.
• Signature Equipment:: Akai MPC 3000, Technics SL-1200 turntables for sampling vinyl records.

2: The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo)

• Signature Sound: The Neptunes completely dominated the late 90s and early 0’s with their instantly recognizable sound. Their minimalist, rhythmic, and futuristic beats relied on live performance rather than sampling. Their melodic content was stripped down and featured instruments like hard clavs, synths, and guitar. Spacy FX as well as percussive hits would also be a big feature of their sound. Their Drum programming and kits were also highly distinctive. Pitched up abrasively snappy snares were favoured with very little in the way of reverb. Subtle percussive interplay also featured heavily in their funky drum patterns.
• Techniques: The Neptunes sound relied heavily on live instrumentation featuring live guitar and synth sounds. Pharell in particular favoured unorthodox chord progressions often mixing both major and minor scales.
• Signature Equipment: The Korg Triton Workstation Synth. Ensoniq ASR10 Sampler (used mainly for drums)

3: DJ Premier

• Signature Sound: Considered by many as the king of Boom-Bap, Premier’s signature sound is all about funky, strategically placed sample chops over basic mid tempo 4/4 programmed drums. While Premier will occasionally loop samples he usually identifies the choicest sample snippets, chopping and reprograming them to syncopate perfectly with the drums. His programmed drums have a very subtle swing to them but are generally quite basic and reserved in nature. The way Premier processes and mixes his drums give them a highly distinctive flavour. He will often reuse his favourite drum sounds. This only adds to his beat’s instantly recognisable nature.
• Techniques: During his classic era Premier would use his MPC60 to trigger samples from his S950. Premier remains secretive about his precise process but will always produce beats for artists on the spot, dialling into their particular style.
• Signature Equipment:: Akai MPC60 and Akai S950

4: Timbaland

• Signature Sound: Timbaland was a pioneer of complex, syncopated rhythms with a heavy emphasis on unconventional percussion. In an era of heavy sampling, Timbaland bucked the trend, instead favouring original composition. Unlike his rhythms, that were complex and highly original, the melodic content was often stripped back and simple. He used a lot of minimal yet catchy repetitive melody lines. His production style would also often include elements of beatboxing.
• Techniques: Timbaland is known for incorporating unusual sound effects and simple melodic off-beat patterns. He would also incorporate pitch-shifted and processed vocals as instruments in the mix. Timbaland’s tracks are mixed with an emphasis on low and mid frequencies. His mixes often sound quite raw and overdriven rather than clean and shiny.
• Signature Equipment:: Ensoniq ASR10 (Workstation sampler), Korg Triton (Workstation Synth)

5: Swizz Beatz

• Signature Sound: Swizz Beatz’s signature sound helped shape the sound of late-90s and 2000s keyboard-driven hip-hop. He pioneered non-sampled beats, instead focusing on rudimental keyboard melodies. He became famous for brash aggressive synthetic brass melodies played over super hype drums. His main focus was the energy of a beat using vocal chants, whistles and percussion to great effect.
• Techniques: Swizz uses melodic simplicity to ensure the focus remains on the energy and rhythm of the track. Horn and synth sounds are used to create bold, dramatic accents in his tracks, often placed at the beginning of bars or during transitions to increase the tension and impact.
• Signature Equipment: Korg Triton (Workstation/Synthesizer) Akai MPC 3000

6: Dr Dre

• Signature Sound: Dre is famous for his big epic-sounding productions. His career has spanned almost 40 years and over this time his style has developed. His influence on the classic West Coast sound is undeniable. He helped to pioneer a sound known as G-Funk which drew heavily on 70’s and 80’s P-Funk influences. While his 80’s and 90’s production was very sample-heavy by the late 90s Dre was moving away from direct sampling. Instead, Dre would interpolate samples as well as create original sample-inspired compositions with the help of musicians like Scott Storch and Mel-Man.
  
  One of the main things Dre is renowned for is his ear for mixing. His signature sound is as much informed by his big-sounding mixes as the beats he produces.
• Techniques: Dr Dre famously farms out much of his production to 3rd party producers and musicians. It is unclear how much of a role Dre takes in the making of his beats. Instead, he is an orchestrator and overseer. This is akin to the traditional producer role where the job is to steer a production, getting the most from all the musicians and artists involved.
• Signature Equipment: Various SSL desks, Akai MPC 3000

7: Just Blaze

• Signature Sound: Just Blaze is famous for Epic, melodic and extremely polished sounding productions. Rather than just one signature sound, Just Blaze has several highly distinctive sounds from hard-hitting prog-rock inspired beats to slick RnB bangers. He was also instrumental in the pioneering of sped-up vocal samples. Just Blaze is an expert in drum and sample layering. His advanced layering techniques help to give his beats their distinctive expansive feel. Another signature element is Just’s iconic “Just Blaaaaaaaze” beat tag. While most established producers shy away from beat tags, Just Blaze recognised that it was a great branding tool and instead embraced his.
• Techniques: Just Blaze has pioneered a number of influential techniques. Rather than just EQing and processing a sample, he will layer complimentary instrumentation over the top. He also combines live drums with programmed drums to accentuate the production adding fills and rolls for extra impact and energy. Another popular technique Just pioneered was the use of short repeating loops (a quarter or half a bar) with a climatic resolve often at the end of the 4 bars.
• Signature Equipment: MPC 4000, Logic Pro X

8: RZA

• Signature Sound: RZA is synonymous with a raw, gritty and often cinematic sound. His production methods are relatively unsophisticated and his beat have an unpolished feel to them. It is however this rawness that gives them there appeal. Sonically it is heavily influenced by kung fu movie samples, obscure deep soul, and funk records. RZA often explores atonal and slightly off-key melody lines adding to the feel of anxiety that can come from his music. RZA also has a select drum library that he often returns to. Rufus Thomas’s Funky Penguin and Otis Redding & Carla Thomas’s Tramp drums are particular favourites.
• Techniques: RZA is drawn to very dirty and grimy samples and his use of these samples is often rudimental. He sees his productions as a cinematic experience and as such incorporates various speech samples and sound effects.
• Signature Equipment: Ensoniq ASR10 (Workstation sampler), E-mu SP-1200

9: Eazy Mo Bee

• Signature Sound: Eazy Mo Bee rose to prominence through his work on Bad Boy records producing for The Notorious B.I.G and Craig Mack. Of all the producers on this list, its the sonic quality of Mo Bee’s beats that give him his signature sound. Heavily reliant on samples, his drums and melodic samples all feature a distinctive 12-bit anti-aliasing effect. His snares in particular are highly recognizable with their trademark vinyl crust. Mo Bee is also famous for overlaying multiple texture samples, all with the distinctive SP1200 ringing quality
• Techniques: Mo Bee would use his SP-1200 with it’s 10 seconds of sampling time to build entire beats. This was done by speeding up the samples massively and then pitching them down. This would give them the iconic anti-aliasing effect. He would also sample short one-shots and create melodies with them by replaying the notes at various pitches.
• Signature Equipment: E-mu SP-1200

10: Pete Rock

• Signature Sound: Pete Rock is considered to be one of the most musically sophisticated producers of the boom-bap era. He famously sampled some of the grooviest music of the 60s and 70s, combining multiple sections and layers to create rich tapestries. Horn samples would become a trademark of his beats. Pete would isolate short horn samples and overlay these on his beats, often adding an echo effect. His productions also feature some of the tastiest basslines in hip-hop, always perfectly complimenting the melody and drums. Talking of drums, Pete’s programming and drum samples are also highly recognisable. Like DJ Premier, Pete often returned to his favourite kicks snares and particularly hats.
• Techniques: Pete is an expert at weaving and layering numerous complimentary samples together, often sampled from different recordings. He is a prolific and surgical sample chopper of both drums and melodic content. Effects such as filtering and delays are applied to samples to produce rich and varied arrangements.
• Signature Equipment: E-mu SP-1200, Akai S950, Akai MPC 2000xl

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