Who is the Greatest Beatmaker (Hip Hop Producer) of All Time?

Just as numbers don’t lie in baseball, I believe that they don’t (or at least shouldn’t) lie in hip hop/rap music either. Take for instance the greatest beatmaker of all time debate (I prefer to use beatmaker because “producer” is often misused and misrepresented and not every producer actually makes beats.)  Ask someone who the greatest beatmaker of all time is, and they’re more likely to give you an answer that reflects their personal favorites than they are to give you an answer that objectively considers the available facts.

Back to baseball for moment.  Mariano Rivera is the best closer in baseball history, it’s a fact, not an opinion, not a question of my favorite closer. If you ask a knowledgeable baseball person who’s the greatest closer of all time in Major League Baseball, they’ll reply: Mariano Rivera. But does that mean Rivera is the best pitcher in baseball? Some say yes; some say no because he was a closer.  Again, in major league baseball, numbers don’t lie. Just look at the Yankee’s sure-shot first-ballot Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera, who in 2011 season recorded his 603rd save, giving him the all time major league record — and he retired with 652 saves, a record that will likely stand forever…

In baseball, the closer usually enters the game in the 9th inning (sometimes the 8th) when the game is on the line, when a team needs to save a victory from defeat, or when a team needs the score to remain close (usually tied), preserving the opportunity for their team to win. Thus, the role of the closer is very different from that of the starting pitcher, who usually pitches roughly 6 or 7 innings (the bulk of the game). And because of this, closers aren’t typically in the final discussion about greatest pitchers of all time. But Mariano Rivera isn’t your typical closer. For starters, 652 saves is nothing to sneeze at; and note he had only 73 blown saves, which means he save 89% of the games that he was called on to save. And then there’s his post season wins record — 42 wins! Again, in the post season, when the games count the most.  This is even more astonishing when you consider his ultra low ERA (Earned Run Average). In other words, the guy was basically un-hittable all the time but especially when it counted the most. That’s why when Mariano Rivera entered the game, it was usually lights out for the opposing team. Also, Rivera retired with the most games finished by a pitcher: 952.  Numbers don’t lie…

Yet when it comes to the question of Who’s the Greatest Beatmaker of All Time, I’ve found that many people either ignore the numbers, or they believe that numbers do indeed lie. If you examine hip hop/rap music from 1985 (roughly the start of the Modern Rap era) to the present, how many people can realistically lay claim to the “greatest” beatmaker title? If we go by the numbers — in this case, the sheer catalog, the number of quality songs with quality lyricists; the reach of influence on future beatmakers; the number of years and consistency; and similar metrics— can we draw a consensus? I believe so, easily in fact.

Also, after considering the many conversations that I’ve had with various people — across geographic, race, and age spectrum, and taste in music — about this question, and reading some “greatest” lists online, I’m often left asking three questions: (1) What criteria are most people using to determine who the “greatest” is?; (2) Are most people loosely broadening the definition of “greatest” in favor of an interpretation that merely allows for inclusion of their favorites?; and (3) How much history do most people actually know about hip hop/rap music?

That said, from 1989 to 2019 (and still going), has there been anyone who’s dropped —chronologically and consistently — a larger overall body of acclaimed beatwork than DJ Premier? Clearly no disrespect to Marley Marl (not producing as frequently as he once did); RZA (not really making beats anymore); Dr. Dre (retired); Pete Rock (still going and despite “T.R.O.Y.” the numbers gap to high to overcome), Just Blaze (still going but numbers gap to high to overcome), J Dilla (unfortunately died young), all of which who all certainly deserve to be in the discussion for who’s the greatest of all time. But in terms of the numbers — quality wins and impact songs;  number of works with icons of rap; credited album and single work; work with key lyricists; and range of influence over other beatmakers (many acclaimed in their own right) — over the longest period of time (not just five years), can there be a dispute as to whether DJ Premier is the greatest beatmaker of all time?

Opinions vary with questions like these. Of course everyone has their personal tastes and biases. Moreover, it’s understandable that many people will favor the beatmakers that are linked to their age and era; nostalgia is real. And as I mentioned previously, there are a handful of names that should no doubt be in the discussion, for various reasons. So frankly, I don’t know if there ever will be complete consensus on the “greatest beatmaker of all time” question, even though there should be consensus on this question.  But one thing’s for certain, when you consider the inception of the art of beatmaking (more than 40 years ago), and then scan year by year with a cold, objective eye, all the way up to the present, examining the catalogs of each beatmaking icon, patterns (and sometime indisputable anomalies) inevitably emerge.