Top 50 Greatest Producers In Hip Hop and Rap

One of the foundations/elements of Hip Hop & Rap music is the debate. Because of this, I just can’t wait see what fisticuffs this latest list will spark. Here for your reading enjoyment is my personal list of the Top 50 Greatest Producers In Hip Hop. I already know that a few West Coast heads are going to have a few heated words for me, but that’s ok, the hostilities are welcomed. The first 10 producers are presented in order, with the remaining 40 there to round out the list.

Enjoy!

1. DJ Premier
2. J Dilla
3. Pete Rock
4. RZA
5. Timbaland
6. Dr. Dre
7. Q-Tip
8. Large Professor
9. Havoc
10. Diamond
11. Showbiz
12. Beatnuts
13. The Neptunes
14. Ski
15. Buckwild
16. Prince Paul
17. Da Beatminers
18. The Alchemist
19. Eric Sermon
20. Madlib
21. Marley Marl
22. DJ Muggs
23. DJ Spinna
24. Eric B.
25. DJ Scratch
26. Minnesota
27. SD50’s (Stimulated Dummies)
28. Lee Stone
29. Kanye West
30. 9th Wonder
31. Hank Shocklee & The Bomb Squad
32. Organized Noize
33. Just Blaze
34. D.R. Period
35. Hi Tek
36. Lord Finesse
37. O Gee
38. NOID
39. E Swift
40. Herbie Luv Bug
41. Peanut Butter Wolf
42. EZ LP
43. Scott Storch
44. Dan the Automator
45. MF Doom
46. Easy Moe Bee
47. DJ Quick
48. DR Period
49. Salaam Remi
50. DJ Jazzy Jeff

133 thoughts on “Top 50 Greatest Producers In Hip Hop and Rap”

  1. alchemist, dilla, doom and madlib- the only producers that really matter. “j dilla changed my life.” rza is dope too.

  2. Umm, personally, i’d put Dr. Dre in #1, cuz he basically created Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem and turned 2pac from a good rapper to a superstar (even if 2pac hated him).

  3. WTF is this bull shit timbaland over dre WTF Tim does songs with Miley Cyrus and albums with Justin timberlake while dre does songs with PAC and albums with people like snoop and em ….

  4. Love the posts but have to agree with those who say move Marly Marl up the list…definitely.

    I’d push Timbaland down the list as well.

    What about Tony D? In his heyday with PRT and YZ and them, the work was solid.

    And though his track record was short-lived and way back…Mantronik was nice back then. But that’s my old school showing.

    -Martay

  5. the first 6 are cool but not in that order @ all. whom ever put the list together needs to check themselves into a basement with those producers work, then re-do the list & they’ll see that Dr. Dre, Premier & Dilla are 1,2 & 3. IN THAT ORDER .Check the bodies of work.

  6. How are you going to put Large Professor, Havoc, Diamond, Showbiz ahead of Just Blaze. Not to mention, if you really listen to their records, Pete Rock, RZA, Prince Paul – these guys don’t have HARD Drums. They might be gritty, but they aren’t sonically powerful. Not to mention the the samples they flipped were not taken in the most creative routes possible. This list contains a lot of over-rated names

  7. What no Crazy C. from Houston. He was one of the rap-a-lot heavy hitters. He also did some hot remixes in the 90’s like the wu-tang clan method man rmx, the outkast elevators remix and naughty by nature’s craziest. Speaking of Naughty K-gee isn’t here. Ya’ll are buggin’ ….. to use an old school phrase

  8. Your crazy how u don’t got swizz beatz in this list I expected him to be atleast on top 5 and max top 10!

    You better make this list again

  9. DJ Quik at 47 this list is a joke and no Daz. Before you make a list listen to the pioneers of the G-funk era when producing tracks was the main part of the records. Listen to any of DJ Quiks albums and its easy to see his talent the greatest musician ever in the hip hop.

  10. I can tell this site is ran by NY niggaz. Timbo and Dre should be 1 & 2. Underground music is underground for a reason, it doesn’t reach the masses. Great producers reach the masses and crosses color lines. Dre’s shit is bumped by the hood niggaz and radio that’s a sign of a great producer. The top 4 producers on this list is a JOKE, most people don’t even know who these guys are or their music. GET real, this list is BullShit!

    • LOL@”reach the masses.” Please, that’s nonsense. Real heads couldn’t care less about whether or not their fave producer reaches the masses. This is about making dope beats. As great as Dre is, he doesn’t work enough. Besides, he assembles work from other producers, adds his own touches and gets the credit on a lot of his work. Daz and other producers have accused him of stealing their work. For this Detox album, he’s having producers submit beats so he can rework ’em. LOL…Ever see Premo do that?

      And Timbaland doesn’t do enough hip hop tracks to make a fair judgment. His strength is his drum programming and crazy sounds, but hell, Pharrell is better at that than he is all day long.

      • Come on Tony, Pharrell better than Timbo? When was the last time you seen Pharrell on the charts? ALL producers have help putting tracks together, be it a friend, dj, engineer or hired help. There are alot of producers who buy tracks and then redo them, hell that’s what sampling is all about, taking one song to make another song. Yes dre doesn’t work enough I’m with you on that, but premo is only hot to niggaz who like that boom bap shit. To be a great producer you have to move forward with the times and the top 4 guys are still doing the same shit they were doing 10 yrs ago.
        Tell them niggaz that it’s 2010 not 1988. Timbo and Dre should be 1 & 2.

    • Eh bud your an absolute moron. To tell you the truth you would have sounded much more intelligent if you didn’t write anything at all. Saying that beats that reach the masses are the best? That in fact is so wrong i could knock you over the head with a 2×4. Underground is underground because people like you live in this world that listen to brainwashing shit music that tells you to go get rich have 50 cars, 20 sluts by your side and million dollar chains and rings. Underground is REAL hip hop. It is the only hip hop left in this world. It is people speaking their minds about important and actual relevant things taking place in the world today, i.e. illuminati, poverty, struggles of the hood/projects, etc. You are just another ignorant asshole who probabaly thinks kanye west should be in the top 10 too. DJ Primier is by far the best producer of all time. Dre was amazing too, but should be second on every list because Primo should be first on every list. After them i’d probably throw RZA, Marley Marl, etc. Use your brain you uneducated douche bag.

  11. Man this is a haters list you got all these no names over the DOC. Who are all these no hit wonders getting more credit than Dre. Yall list is fraudulent. Lol. On the real make a true list.

    starting

    DR Dre
    scott storch
    Runners
    Mike Dean
    Scott Larock
    battle cat
    Premier
    Havoc
    Organized Noize
    Timx (Cash Money)
    Eric Sermon
    tone capone
    marely marl

    Hit Makers

  12. WTF PERSONALLY I THINK THIS IS BULLSHIT …WHERE IS DJ STOUPE THE ENEMY OF MANKIND ..IN MY OPINION HE SHOULD BE IN THE TOP 5!!

  13. Wth, why isn’t Johnny J on the top 3, did all of y’all forget about tupacs # 1 producer ???? Dr. Dre ripped him off many times by claiming his beats and work. This is fact tupac & daz brought this info to the light. Plus a lot of these big name producers just buy some low level producers beat, and tell an engineer to change it up a bit, and then they put there name on it.

  14. not impressed with the list, just my opinion though. you dont have mannie fresh who made cashmoney records billions of dollars. KLC who done the same for No Limit Records. What about Polow Tha Don? i mean i see Kanye West on there..which i dont claim to be that great of a producer (compared to the other ppl on the roster) but come on now..what about shawty redd? who makes banging tracks. shew!

    • u aint lying about cashmoney but to my opinion i do think is some BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he made them billions of dollars. lyk what the fuck yo!!!!!!!!!!!

  15. where’s sir jinx, Oh No, Trakmasterz, True master, Swizz Beats. Rockwilder, Allah Mathematics, T-Ray, Clark Kent, LES, Khrysis, E-Swift, Larry Smith, Howie Tee, Nicolay, Nottz and Domingo? and you gotta rank Madlib much higher!

  16. Yo man it seems that they only put east coast producers in the top ten. If your going producers that changed hip hop you have to put dr.dre in that along with mr. West. And quik and what about battle cat. His production is un touch when it comes to using different sounds. I just hate it when they do this type of list. Same when they did top wrappers most of the top ten was east coast. They should give respect to those who really deserve it and not basing it on where they are located.

  17. Im new to the site!Im KontraX. Im a music producer, among other things. As a lover of music, I appreciate this list of producers.. Im from the midwest. Cincinnati, Ohio to be exact. Our music scene and history, consists of funk and r&b. We haven’t really made our mark in the hip hop world of music. Our most successful hip hop artist is Hi Tek. I see he made the list so I cant complain. Its a pleasure to be amongst the likes of true hip hop heads and music lovers! Peace and blessings to all!

  18. what about slick rick. he da truth lyk 4 real. this list is a ripe off!!!! wtf!!!!!

  19. what about slick rick. he da truth lyk 4 real. this list is a rip off!!!! wtf!!!!!

  20. The top 6 is in a good order in my opinion. Some of you commenters need to learn more about Hip Hop. 9th Wonder should be higher though. And Rockwilder, Statik Selektah and Daz Dillinger all need to be up there.

Comments are closed.