It was only a matter of time before New Jersey cloud rap pioneer Clams Casino jumped into the mix with his full-length debut, 32 Levels. Call it the “Jamie xx Effect.” While Jamie xx isn’t necessarily a “hip-hop producer,” his debut solo album last year was the first major example in a wave of producer-helmed records, including noteworthy recent entries from Kaytranada and DJ Esco. The tables are starting to turn, however. He caught flack for using rape language to describe rappers benefiting off of broke producers, but his point of Future’s music being “Metro Boomin featuring Future” carries some weight. Last month, Flying Lotus went on a Twitter rant about the treatment of producers in rap music today. Unless you were the type to dig through the liner notes and pay close attention, it’d be hard to know who was behind some of the best beats on the radio. That quickly started to change in the late ’80s and through the ’90s as the rappers themselves became the stars, with notable exceptions like Dr. The artists behind the boards and turntables were often given higher billing and were also the higher selling points at the time.
In the early days of hip-hop, producers were king.
