10 Producers accused of making the same beat over and over again

[Street Knowledge]

http://www.complex.com/music/2014/10/producers-who-sound-the-same/

Swizz Beatz

Beat blueprint: Three note synth riffs and Dr. Rhythm drums
Signature beat: DMX “Ruff Ryders Anthem” (1998)
Beat clones: Eve “Gotta Man” (1999), Noreaga “Banned From TV” (1998), Drag-On “Down Bottom” (1999), Ruff Ryders “Scenario 2000” (1999), Jay-Z “Jigga My nikka” (1999)

When a teenaged Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean started placing hard but simplistic beats on multi-platinum Ruff Ryder releases in the late ‘90s, it was all too easy to dismiss the young nephew of label founders Dee and Waah Dean as a beneficiary of nepotism. But 15 years later, Swizz is the most successful survivor of the Ruff Ryders era, and it’s not just because he married up. He kept making club beats you can dumb out to, but he changed the formula every few years to keep the sound fresh, whether it was the simple addition of synth horns or, for a while, sampling Jay-Z lines for hooks.


DJ Premier

Beat blueprint: Boom bap drums, scratched vocal samples, dramatic string loops
Signature beat: Nas “Nas Is Like” (1999)
Beat clones: Mos Def “Mathematics” (1999), Jay-Z “So Ghetto” (2000), Royce Da 5'9” “Hip Hop” (2003)

Throughout Gang Starr’s early run, DJ Premier invented and refined what is still, for many fans, the platonic ideal of a hip-hop beat. But by the late ‘90s, Premo’s command of that sound, and his status as the only producer still selling those kinds of beats to superstars in the jiggy era, made him begin to seem a little staid. Since then, he’s stayed in his comfort zone, and his ability to stitch several lines from different songs into one coherent hook has come to be expected.

 

[Street Knowledge]

Eminem

Beat blueprint: Moody keyboards and rigid 8th note drums
Signature beat: Eminem “Lose Yourself” (2003)
Beat clones: Eminem “The Way I Am” (2000), Jay-Z “Moment of Clarity” (2003), Nas “The Cross” (2002)

With his inventive flows and rapidfire delivery, Eminem established himself early on as a rapper who knew a thing or two about rhythm. But when he began to play a bigger and bigger role in the production of his blockbuster albums, first co-producing with Jeff Bass and then making tracks on his own, it became clear that Em was far more of a minimalist as a beatmaker than as an MC. All that empty space in his slow, spare beats left the perfect amount of room for Marshall Mathers to rap his ass off.



Lil Jon

Beat blueprint: 808 kicks and claps, gang chants, shrill synths and whistles
Signature beat: YoungBloodz “Damn!” (2003)
Beat clones: Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz “Get Low” (2002), Bravehearts f/ Nas & Lil Jon “Quick To Back Down” (2003), Usher “Yeah!” (2004)

Lil Jon kicked around Atlanta for years, rocking crowds as a DJ and curating the So So Def Bass All-Stars compilations, before he became the screaming, pimp cup-brandishing mainstream face of crunk music. With crisp, hard-hitting beats, Lil Jon permanently made the 808 handclap the default snare drum of Southern rap music, while the rowdy shouts of the producer and his crew the Eastside Boyz created an air of chaos around his steady 16th note hi-hats.

After his iron grip on Atlanta rap slipped, Lil Jon diversified with forays into hyphy and EDM that showed he was capable of other sounds, but there remains no question of what a Lil Jon beat sounds like.

 

[KENNY DA COOKER]

Premier??


fukk outta here....Primo is all original

no 1 on this list should be DJ MUSTARD

 

[Street Knowledge]

Scott Storch

Beat blueprint: Brooding piano chords, Middle Eastern string figures, snap drums
Signature beat: Terror Squad “Lean Back” (2004)
Beat clones: 50 Cent “Candy Shop” (2005), Remy Ma “Conceited” (2006), R. Kelly “Playas Only” (2005)

After breaking into the game playing keyboards for The Roots, Scott Storch ascended into the top ranks of hip-hop production by helping Dr. Dre craft a revitalized new sound in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. And when Storch struck out on his own, it became clear how much his piano work and dramatic string loops contributed to the billion-dollar Aftermath sound. And while he managed an impressive run of chart-topping singles before he crashed into bankruptcy and a beef with Timbaland, it quickly became clear that he was all too happy to recycle the “Lean Back” strings instead of coming up with new ideas.


The Runners

Beat blueprint: Screwed vocal loops, ominous organ riffs, and “ahhh” exhale sound effects
Signature beat: Rick Ross “Hustlin’” (2006)
Beat clones: DJ Khaled “Born-N-Raised” (2006), Beanie Sigel “All The Above” (2007), Curren$y “Where Da Cash At” (2008)

With songs like Lil Wayne’s “Money On My Mind” and Rick Ross’s “Hustlin’” running 2005 and 2006, the Miami production team The Runners proved that slowed down vocal samples didn’t belong solely to Houston, putting their own bombastic twist on the increasingly popular sound. But even as the duo became DJ Khaled’s go-to beatmakers and scored more hits, with and without screwed hooks, all their tire-screeching bangers started to sound the same, until finally their clients moved onto something new.


Lex Luger

Beat blueprint: Hammering synth horns, hyperactive hi-hats
Signature beat: Rick Ross featuring Styles P “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)” (2010)
Beat clones: Waka Flocka Flame “Hard In Da Paint” (2010), Ace Hood “Hustle Hard” (2011), Kanye West and Jay-Z “H.A.M.” (2011)

With a wrestler’s name and an appropriately aggressive sound, Virginia teenager Lexus Arnel Lewis stormed southern hip-hop in 2010 with a loud, busy variation on Atlanta trap music that spawned countless imitators. Lex Luger quickly tried to fight his way out of being stereotyped for the sound of his breakthrough hits with Waka Flocka Flame by making mellower, subtler hits like Wale’s “That Way.” And while he hasn’t remained a consistent hitmaker since then, the splatter of horns and hi-hats that he introduced to the game are still ubiquitous.

 

[Street Knowledge]

Mike WiLL Made It

Beat blueprint: Low pass filters, loud/soft dynamics, and eerie synth whistles
Signature beat: Juicy J “Bandz A Make Her Dance” (2013)
Beat clones: 2 Chainz “No Lie” (2012), Rihanna “Pour It Up” (2012), Future “Neva End” (2012)

Mike WiLL Made It graduated from Gucci Mane mixtapes to rap radio dominance, and then to pop crossover with Miley Cyrus, by perfecting a distinctive sound. Applying filters and beat drops normally associated with dance music to slow, cruising Southern rap beats, Mike WiLL made molasses-slow trap music sound more euphoric and accessible than it ever had before. But songs like “No Lie” by 2 Chainz and “Pour It Up” by Rihanna all followed a soft/loud formula so reliably that some tracks began to blend together.



DJ Mustard

Beat blueprint: Post-hyphy drums, tinkling pianos, barking vocal loops
Signature beat: Tyga “Rack City” (2012)
Beat clones: Jeremih “Don't Tell 'Em” (2014), TeeFlii “24 Hours” (2014), 2 Chainz, “I'm Different” (2012)

You don’t need to hear the famous “Mustard on the beat, ho” drop to identify a track as belonging to the most ubiquitous producer of 2014. With a clear debt to both Bay area hyphy innovators and Lil Jon’s bulletproof club rap formula, Mustard has found a way to spin minor variations on one uptempo style into dozens of hits.

But being instantly recognizable does not make all of his work interchangeable. His snap-driven breakthrough track, Tyga’s “Rack City,” has proven to be something of an outlier, and co-productions like Tinashe’s “2 On” have shown how lush Mustard’s tracks can sound with some outside input.