He’s The Producer, I’m The Rapper: 10 Of The Greatest Producer & Rapper Combos In Hip-Hip

Some things just go together: peanut butter and jelly, movies and popcorn, washed up entertainers and reality shows. The same principal applies to rappers and certain producers. Certain MCs and certain beat makers just have that magic touch when they link up in the studio [II]. Sometimes, when the force is that strong, rappers and producers forge a relationship that goes past making a single track and leads into forming a group or banging out an entire album.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But the fact is this formula has birthed some of the greatest Hip-Hop music to date. Though not as prominent as of recently, the one producer recipe continues to be used with act likes Rah Digga and Nottz (Classic), Killer Mike and El-P (R.A.P. Music) and Curren$y and Harry Fraud (Cigarette Boats).

That got us to thinking. Who are some of the best rapper/producer combos to put it down? With the criteria being the producer had to produce at least one album in its entirety for the rapper, here are 10 of Hip-Hop’s best producer/rapper tag team duos…

*Rapper helped produce beats, too.

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Photo: BBC

Timbaland – Missy*

Albums:
Supa Dupa Fly
Da Real World

The Virginia duo made up of arguably the most prolific female Hip-Hop artist and one of the music industry’s biggest producers has produced two platinum albums as a 1-2 punch. In the process they’ve collab’d to make numerous hits including, “Sock It 2 Me,” “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”, “Hot Boyz”, “Get Ur Freak On”, “One Minute Man”, “Work It” and “Pass That Dutch,” and fathered mad styles.

Dr. Dre – Snoop Dogg

Albums:
Doggystyle

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg only solely worked together for Snoop’s debut Doggystyle. What did they do with that one opportunity? Just come together to make arguably the greatest west coast album of all time. That was enough to stamp them as one of the greatest and most influential producer/rapper tag teams in rap.

Premier – Guru*

Albums:
Step In The Arena
Daily Operation
Hard To Earn
Moment Of Truth
The Owners

On the outside looking in, it may have seemed like an unlikely tandem, but when the producer from Houston and the rapper from Boston formed the lasting lineup of Gang Starr in 1989 it was a match made in heaven. Five albums and too many classic hits to name later, and the pair are still as one of the best producer/rapper hook ups to ever go down in Hip-Hop. Rest In Power Keith “Guru” Elam.

The Neptunes – Clipse

Albums:
Exclusive Audio Footage
Lord Willin’
Hell Hath No Fury

Clipse and the Neptunes just had that chemistry. Straight dope boy raps over unorthodox Hip-Hop tracks. The Virginia Beach gang worked on three albums together (two considered by many to be classics) before Clipse branched out on production for their 2009 album, Till The Casket Drops. That was only after conjuring several hits including the essential dope boy anthem “Grindin’,” “Cot Damn” and “Mr. Me Too.” Lord Willin,’ there will be more to come from the Tunes and the Play Cloths boys.

Photo: Brian Bedder/Getty

DJ Muggs – Cypress Hill

Albums:
Cypress Hill
Black Sunday (- one track)
Cypress Hill IV
Skull & Bones
Stoned Raiders

DJ Muggs and Cypress Hill formed a bond few rapper/producer collaborations can compare to. Muggs worked as sole producer on five of Hill’s eight studio albums and produced some of their biggest hits like, “How I Could Just Kill A Man,” “Hand On The Pump,” “Insane In The Brain” and “Hits From The Bong.” Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Eric B – Rakim*

Albums:
Paid In Full
Follow the Leader
Don’t Sweat The Technique

The God MC Rakim and his DJ/producer Eric B were an unstoppable force in Hip-Hop’s golden era. While Eric B was laying down some of Hip-Hop’s most memorable tracks (with help from Ra), The R was penning some of the genre’s most potent lines. The duo solely produced three of their four albums, and influenced an entire generation rappers and spectators alike.

The Bomb Squad – Public Enemy

Albums:
It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Fear of A Black Planet

“911 Is A Joke,” “Don’t Believe The Hype,” “Rebel Without A Pause,” “Night of The Living Baseheads,” “Can’t Do Nuttin’ For You Man,” “Fight The Power,” all classic Hip-Hop hits by PE produced by the Bomb Squad. For Public Enemy’s second and third albums they chose to use all beats from production crew (which included Chuck D himself). The collaborations brought forth a new sample drenched sound and the songs helped to mold the ideals of the Hip-Hop generation.

BONUS: The Bomb Squad – Ice Cube

Organized Noize – Outkast

Album:
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik

Outkast’s debut opus Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is a certified classic. And at the helm of every track was Dungeon Family production outfit Organized Noize. The A-town connection birthed an album for the ages, and numerous hits, stamping the tandem as one of the best that ever collaborated.

BONUS: Organized Noize – Goodie Mob

RZA – The Wu Tang Clan

Album:

Enter The 36 Chambers

The Wu Tang Clan is one the greatest Hip-Hop groups, ever. The outfit owes much their signature sound to producer/group member, RZA. Solely responsible for every track on the crew’s classic debut, Enter The 36 Chambers, Prince Rakeem’s Kung Fu flick tinged soundscapes helped set the tone as the cohesive glue that held the nine-man outfit together like Voltron. And let’s not forget he handled the lion’s share of beats on Method Man’s Tical, ODB’s Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, GZA’s Liquid Swords and Ghostface Killah’s Iron Man. All classics.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth

Albums:
All Souled Out (EP)
Mecca And The Soul Brother
Main Ingredient

The Mount Vernon, NY duo was the perfect fit. Pete Rock’s jazzed out soul beats mixed with CL Smooth’s philosophical perspective. The group released one EP and two well received albums, dropping heatrocks like “Straighten It Out” and “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” before calling it quits in 1995. A reunion album is reportedly in the works, but for now we can reminisce over the good old days.