On occasion when the Musicologists get together and watch some NBA action, someone will inevitably drop a “Yo, remember so and so?”  That “so and so” is never an obvious kat, like Michael Jordan.  You remember the guys with all the folklore. But these “so and so” trips down memory lane might lead to someone, such as Kevin Johnson and the time this 6’1” kat yammed on “The Dream”.  From there, the conversation usually goes on about how great he was; but also how, unfortunately he played in an era that was dominated by Jordan-Barkley-Hakeem-etc., so his importance and excellence was overshadowed and diminished by time.  Other times the conversation will be about a guy who is playing under the radar today.  It feels good to recognize the prowess and talent of individuals that have long been overlooked or getting ignored as we speak.

Keeping in mind that February marks the one-year anniversary of the passing of one of the best ever on the boards, J-Dilla, we are honoring his memory with a dedication to producers.  But, whereas Music Dude puts the careers of the consensus-giants in perspective, we’d be remised if we didn’t offer some space to historically unrecognized greatness and current dopeness getting ignored – the slept-on producers.

We couldn’t shine on everyone, so I chose a few worthy beatmakers that warrant applause…

Legends of The Game:  Known by their peers and some well-informed hop-circles as great, but have escaped deserved accolades, for the most part.

Diamond D—a member of DITC (Fat Joe, Lord Finesse, O.C., Big L, Showbiz and AG) and therefore producer of a lot of their music, which speaks volumes. If you don’t know Diggin’ In The Crates music then perhaps that’s where to you should start.  They are easily one of the best crews to ever assemble, and Diamond D is one of the strongest members. Outside of the crew his credits include, just to name a few: Brand Nubian-“Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down”, Freddie Foxxx-“Bumpy Bring It Home”, The Fugees-“The Score”, Mos Def-“Hip-Hop” and Pharoahe Monch-“The Truth”

Organized Noize (Rico Wade, Ray Murray, Patrick “Sleepy” Brown)—people know their work all over the world, working on several multi-platinum albums, and ushering in the sound of Atlanta in the early 90s.  What multi-platinum selling artists were coming out of Atlanta in the early 90’s, making real waves in hop? That would be Outkast. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzic, their debut album, just happened to have been produced entirely by Organized Noize. Goodie Mob’s Soul Food is yet another classic that was entirely done by Organized.  Just for kicks, the also happened to do the score for the recent feature film remake of Miami Vice.

Large Professor aka The Extra P—He is only responsible for two of Hip-Hop’s shining moments. The first is Main Source’s first album Breaking Atoms.  It was on this album that we first heard Nas (the second shining moment) on “Live at the Barbeque”.  Nas’ first two solo singles, “Half Time” and “It Ain’t Hard to Tell”? Large Pro did that.  Not to mention his work with legends like Pete Rock & CL Smooth and Tribe Called Quest. Extra P was a large part of why NYC Hip-Hop had the sound it had in the early 90’s.

Torch-bearing Vets: The names you know, but perhaps not quite the extent to which those names are all over the music you love.  This is ultra-important, some of these guys could go on to become legends.  In another 10 years they might be cracking the new top 10.

9^th Wonder—as the producer of Little Brother he has released 2 albums with the group, along with some remix albums like God’s Stepson (remix to Nas’ Godson) and Black is Back! (remix to Jay-Z’s Black Album). In addition, he has also done projects with Murs – Murs 3:16: The 9^th Edition, and Buckshot – Chemistry.  He also did tracks like “Threat”- Jay-Z, “Heartburn”- Sean Price, and “Church” – De La Soul. This doesn’t cover half of what he has done since 2002. 9^th reminded us that the South isn’t all about gettin’ crunk and snappin’, thank you.

No ID—along with Common, he introduced us to Chicago hip-hop. No ID was the sound of Chicago before we ever heard of Kanye.  He is man behind the wheels on the majority of the first three Common albums which produced classics like “Resurrection”.  More recently working with Chicagoin Rhymefest-“Feva” from Blue Collar and Ghostface on The Pretty Toney Album.

MF DOOM—his prowess on the mic has been well- chronicled, but DOOM has shown to be almost equally skilled behind the boards.  Special Herbs is a series of instrumental albums which contain the tracks from DOOM’s albums which were produced by none other than DOOM himself.  He did several tracks on Fishscale, and has an upcoming project with Ghostface called Swift & Changeable.

New Blood:  These are the guys who are making things happen in the game today.  They’re hungry and making moves in hop by making dope tracks. Keep your ears and eyes open.

B.R. Gunna (Young R.J. & Black Milk)—Their initial credits include great work on Detroit Deli and Slum Village. At times, they work together, other times, individually.  Standout songs like “Reunion” (a song that several people after hearing were under the impression was done by Dilla) and “EZ Up” speak volumes to how talented they are.

Kev Brown—He produced tracks on Jazzy Jeff’s The Magnificent, worked with De La Soul, and is responsible for The Brown Album (remix to Jay-Z’s The Black Album); all of this culminating with the release of his own album I Do What I Do which was entirely produced by Brown.  Brown’s sound has been called similar to many of his predecessors, one being Pete Rock.

Khrysis—the production half of Away Team and a member of The Justice League, which may have something to do with frequent comparisons to 9^th  Wonder.  Has done tracks with Little Brother like “Third Party” from The Chitlin Circuit 1.5 and “Watch Me” from The Minstrel Show.  He also worked with Sean Price on Monkey Barz.

It goes without saying that there are far more producers out there who have gone under the radar than the ones listed and more are sure to come.  When you hear a beat that moves you, make sure you check to see who was on the boards.  At one point, Dilla wasn’t a house hold name.  Not all the great producers shout their name on the track so you know it’s them.  When Dilla was doing “Itsoweezee” for De La back in ’96, he had folks checking credits and telling their friends about him.  Let’s continue to read liner notes to lift these guys above and beyond the radar.

-- Uncle Harry

uncleharry@thisisrealmusic.com