The fact that J Dilla is our Febuary T.I.R.M. Legend speaks volumes. It means that we consider his genius and contribution, at the very least, somewhere near the level of giants, like Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane and James Brown (previous Legend-selections). Dilla impacted so many lives and was such an integral part of our collective musical-experiences that his death hit us all like twenty tons of bricks. It’s why we’re dedicating this month’s issue to his memory and it’s also why we chose to focus on producers for our February Musicology topic.

You can read Music Dude’s take on who he believes to be The Seven Greatest Producers of Hip Hop’s Modern Era (1993-present) And in addition to a look at the recent acclaimed beat-makers, Uncle Harry pulls back the curtains on some great producers that have been functioning under the radar in his Sleepers essay.

So, with Dilla’s career as a compelling backdrop, The Musicologists would like to salute hip hop’s music-makers.

Is Primo over Pete Rock? What’s more important: making the ill beat or producing the complete song? How much impact did Rza really have? Who’s the greatest? Music Dude attempts to answer all these questions while choosing the Seven Greatest Producers of Hip Hop’s Modern Era.

Seven might seem like an arbitrary number, but it isn’t. We figured five was too exclusive and we’d risk leaving out stone-cold geniuses. Ten, on the other hand, seemed too inclusive. We thought seven was an accurate median. We also feel like hip hop changed its nature, sound, direction and technique in 1993 (generally considered as the beginning of the Modern Era) and the years that followed. NWA, Ice Cube, Big Daddy Kane and Public Enemy were giving way to the new vanguards – Wu-Tang, Nas, Biggie, Snoop, OutKast. And more importantly (especially for the sake of this list) the Bomb Squad and Marley Marl and even Eric Sermon were no longer dictating what hip hop sounded like. It was a new day. With February being Dilla’s month, not only did we find this as a more accurate way to assess his place in the Pantheon, but us Cologists also have plans for a historical look at hip hop’s foundation for a later month, where we’ll delve into the kats we call The Creators. Until then, check the list and feel free to start a couple arguments.