The 100 Best Hip-Hop Beats of All Time, Ranked

Producer: Young Chop
Album: Back from the Dead
Label: Glory Boyz Entertainment

Chicago's drill origins don't start with "Don't Like"—at that point you had figures like King Louie and even Lil Reese, and Lil Durk already bubbling—but the song took drill global (with Kanye jacking it and slightly fucking up the beat in the process). “

To this date, “I Don't Like” is still one of the more notable drill beats: it starts off soft and twinkling before exploding into something more ominous…and the drums kick in.

Producer: DJ Quik
Album: Quik Is the Name
Label: Profile
Isaac Hayes’ "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" is the basis for Quik’s debut single, “Born and Raised in Compton.” With the help of a 4-track Tascam recorder and an SP1200 drum machine, Quik transformed Hayes’ original into the perfect basis for a story about his own origins.

Producer: MCVertt & Synthetic
Album: Pink Tape
Label: Profile

Lil Uzi Vert is from Philly. But on “Just Wanna Rock” he tapped into the energetic Jersey Club scene to help elevate this song. This accessible track doesn’t overcomplicate things. The beauty of Jersey Club is, as legendary DJ Lil Taj explained, that you don’t have to know the words to the songs to dance to them. It just is.—Jordan Rose

Producer: Ayo & Keyz
Album: AM I THE DRAMA?
Label: Atlantic Records

Take away the explicit shock level of “WAP”, which stands for “wet ass pussy”, and the high-level rapping—Cardi's all charisma, Megan spitting like a technician—and you're left with the beat: a truly energetic and innovative flip of Frank Ski's Baltimore club classic “Whores in This House.” This came during an era where rappers were more openly digging through regional Black club music of the past (think Kanye West's “Fade”) but none of those flips were this wet. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: 808 Melo
Album: Meet the Woo
Label: Victor Victor, Republic

How did "Dior" become the defining Pop Smoke anthem—one that found utility in the club and at Black Lives Matter marches? You can start with the beat, a masterclass by 808 Melo, featuring a rubbery bassline and a flip of a twisted violin sound from Australian composer Peter Gundry. The results are a modern-day Brooklyn classic. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: 30 Roc, Datboisqueeze, Zentachi
Album: Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial
Label: Bird Vision, Atlantic

The stove click. The gun cock. The bed creak. The water drop. The tea kettle whistle. There have been many iconic sounds used as beats throughout rap's history. Roddy Ricch's "eeh err" squeaking sound—featured throughout "The Box"—instantly goes into the random-sound pantheon, making for one of the best beats of the last decade. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: Organized Noize
Album: Soul Food
Label: LaFace, Arista

What does paranoia sound like? I'd argue it's the piano riff that dominates this song. But it's not just that—there's the random crackle, which makes it sounds like something a witchdoctor would orchestrate. Even with the vast repertoire of Organized Noize (who could do it all, from sweaty country twang to NYC-inspired boom bap), there are few beats as instantly definable in their catalogue as this one. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: Mike "Fresh" McCray
Album: I Got Shit on My Mind
Label: Luke Records, Atlantic

According to WhoSampled, there are 129 songs that have sampled Luke's "I Wanna Rock." Seems low. Luke's hyperactive Miami bass classic has stayed stubbornly embedded in pop culture—from random sayings and catchphrases like "Don't stop, get it, get it," to, really, the sped-up "I Wanna Rock" vocal sample that is the heartbeat of the song. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: Cool & Dre
Album: The Documentary
Label: Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope, G-Unit

By 2005, the West Coast was getting restless and was looking for a savior. It found one in the Dr. Dre approved Jayceon “Game” Taylor whose debut album The Documentary became a classic in large part to its astounding production. Legendary names like Buckwild, Timbaland, and of course Dr. Dre all contributed top-notch beats but it was relative newcomers Cool & Dre who stole the show with the 50-assisted single, “Hate It Or Love It.”

What made the beat so dope was the way they cleverly removed the drums at key intervals. It’s best heard in the opening seconds of the song as 50 starts flowing over what we imagine a peaceful Compton sounds like when it’s soaked in California sunshine. Then the drums kick in and the song takes off. For most songs that’s enough, but not “Hate It Or Love It,” which does the same trick for the opening of both of Game’s verses—giving this fairly subdued beat more ups and down than you’d expect.

Producer: Warren G
Album: Regulate...G Funk Era
Label: Def Jam, Violator

When Warren G decided to make his own version of "I Keep Forgetting" by former Doobie Brother and king of "Blue Eyed Soul" Michael McDonald, the totally unconventional sample took G-Funk to new heights and created an international smash in the process. The well-placed Young Guns intro and the outstanding vocal performance of Nate Dogg made this a song that even the staunchest East Coast rap supporter couldn't resist.

Producer: DJ Premier
Album: The Sun Rises in the East
Label: Full Frequency Range Recordings

"Come Clean" is the sound of raw rap. Armed with nothing more than loud drums and something that sounds like Chinese water torture, Jeru stepped to the plate to prove why he was the D. Original Dirty Rotten Scoundrel as he kicked his unique vocal science. Much like that other 1994 underground classic, O.C.'s "Time's Up," this track was also notable for featuring a scratch hook that makes no mention of the song title whatsoever.

Producer: DJ Paul Juicy J
Album: Underground Kingz
Label: Jive

There's a bunch of lore around "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)," but let's start with the fact that the song's beat—a clever flip of Willie Hutch's "I Choose You"—started out as a Project Pat song. UGK and OutKast got their hands on it and did something truly innovative: four rappers, four different flips of the sample—André rapping over the loop, Pimp C getting the drums, Bun B getting the handclaps, and Big Boi getting the vocals stripped away. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: David Banner
Album: Mississippi: The Album
Label: SRC, Universal

Much ink has been spilled about David Banner the rapper and commentator. But really just as impressive is David Banner the producer. Not only might he be the person singlehandedly responsible for creating the production tag, but he's given out a range of classics to other Southern icons, like T.I. or Three 6 Mafia. However, he saved the hardest beat for himself with "Like a Pimp," a monster of a song that not only separated him from his Crooked Lettaz origins but put him on the map as a Dirty South star. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: The Beatnuts
Album: Stone Crazy
Label: Relativity
Psycho Les and Ju Ju's inspired use of this flute break from the Electric Company children's TV show is one of their best known records, as it blended a great loop with scratched-in drums and a catchy vocal snippet in classic Beatnuts fashion.

The 'Nuts would later accuse the Trackmasterz of biting their "Watch Out Now" beat for Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny From the Block," and resulted in them taking shots at J-Lo on "Confused Rappers."

Producer: Lil Jon
Album: My Ghetto Report Card
Label: BME, Sick Wid It, Warner Bros.

Hyphy—which is as much a lifestyle as it is a sound—was first coined by Keak da Sneak in 1994. Local legend Mac Dre became synonymous with the movement, via his Treal TV DVDs and music, in the early 2000s. But it got its big major-label look when E-40 took it national with the Lil Jon–produced "Tell Me When to Go," a thumping, energetic song that put the spotlight on the Bay in way that was rare. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: Tyler, the Creator
Album: Goblin
Label: XL Recordings

Tyler is known for being a perfectionist, taking his art dead serious and being thoughtful about every part of the music making process. So it's ironic that this beat—unquestionably one of the best rap beats of all time—was mostly a lark. Here's Tyler, the Creator, explaining the making of "Yonkers" in 2016:

"Niggas don't know that that beat was made as a joke. I was trying to make a shitty New York beat and we was just rapping like we was from New York like we were retarded. And then, I just had some random verses and I was just like 'I'll just record it to this beat, this beat is kinda cool.' And then niggas really liked it."

Over his career Tyler would become more lush and key-driven, but it's hard to top a beat this spare and tactile. Maybe he should joke around more often. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: Jay Dee, De La Soul
Album: Stakes Is High
Label: Tommy Boy, Warner Bros.

J Dilla is a tricky artist because his best production continually evaded pigeonholing. Sure, there was the typical Dilla beat, but ask any fan and they’ll tell you their favorite was the track that chucked the rulebook out the window, or that pulled a particularly evocative performance from an unexpected artist.

“Stakes is High” is a sidestep, at once a mutation of a rugged Havoc-style beat and the perfect fit for a track intended to present once-benevolent Posdnous with the gravitas necessary to critique the very art form that had made him.

The beat to “Stakes is High” couldn’t fit its title any better, capturing a cocktail of tense, uncertain concern that granted its MCs the moral authority they needed.

Producer: Zaytoven
Album: N/A
Label: Quality Control

Zaytoven has been making classics for 20 years. And yet there's no song more associated with him than the Migos breakout "Versace." People credit Drake's verse on the remix and the ad-libs, but it's that mix of sweet and sour—the bright keys against the grimacing horns—that played just as vital a role in the song's breakout. —Dimas Sanforenzo

Producer: Pi’erre Bourne
Album: Die Lit
Label: Interscope Records, AWGE

Before Whole Lotta Red, the most aggressive Carti mosh anthem was "R.I.P.," which—from the gritty video where punk-looking freaks mosh one another into oblivion to its breakneck production—is the north star for the rap underground.

Pi'erre Bourne was smoking something crazy when he mashed the chirpy synths from Jodeci's "What About Us" over these utterly destroyed 808s and haunting keys. On the rapping front, Carti is all charisma, dropping lines like a line, "Bought a crib for my mama off that mumblin' shit.” —Antonio Johri

Producer: Mustard, Sean Momberger & Sounwave
Album: N/A
Label: Kendrick Lamar & Interscope Records

In 2024, "Not Like Us" transcended the realm of diss tracks and firmly entered the collective pop culture zeitgeist, to a degree that would make even Drake envious. Yes, obviously Kendrick's vicious disses and pedophile jokes played a part, but you can't discount the beat: a song with an almost cheerful, cinematic intro before it drops into something more sinister—a simple violin loop letting the boogeyman cook. —Jordan Rose

Producer: Dr. Dre
Album: Doggystyle
Label: Death Row, Interscope, Atlantic

"Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" may be more well-known and "Deep Cover" is a lot grittier, but in terms of classic Snoop and Dre team-ups, this strikes just the right balance between catchy and hardcore.

Dre perfected the G-Funk sound he'd introduced on The Chronic for Snoop's debut album, with "Gin and Juice" displaying an excellent example of that formula—a masterful blending of popular samples (George McCrae's "I Get Lifted"), live bass, high-pitched synths, and hooks that update old funk staples with hedonistic new lyrics.

Producer: Salih Williams
Album: Who is Mike Jones?
Label: Asylum, Swishahouse, Warner Brothers

The combination of the Slim Thug vocal loop, a "William Tell Overture" sample, and Paul Wall informing us that he's "got the Internet goin' nuts" made this Mike Jones' biggest hit and a breakout song for the then burgeoning Houston rap scene.

The original version with Chamillionaire featured the same vocal loop, but it wasn't until Salih Williams remixed it with the ill Gioachino Rossini loop that it reached its full potential. It turns out the Swishahouse crew was somewhat partial to classical music, as "The Nutcracker, Act 2, No 1: Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" is used on "Got It Sewed Up" from the same album.

Producer: Da Beatminerz
Album: I Got Cha Opin 12"
Label: Wreck

While certainly not the first record to ride off the dream-like, wafting strings and horns of Barry White's "Playing the Game, Baby," Black Moon holds the title for the most effective use of this popular loop.

Mr. Walt and DJ Evil Dee laced Buckshot with the precise platform to showcase his commanding post-LP vocabulary spill. This and the "Buck 'Em Down" remix set the standard for 12" releases at the time—complete remakes of album tracks with brand new B-side exclusives.

Producer: Beats By the Pound
Album: True
Label: No Limit, Priority

The Beats by the Pound production crew became synonymous with "assembly line" production, lumped together with pen and pixel cover art, colored plastic, and Miller brothers guest verses as a part of what made No Limit’s reign so distinct.

KLC is likely the most notable Beats by the Pound producer, and had no small role in forming the core group of artists that would become the No Limit empire. Not only did he produce the underground anthem “Down for my Niggas” for C-Murder, and the ultimate No Limit pop moment with “Make Em Say Uhh,” he was also responsible for Master P’s first true crossover, and one of the greatest hip-hop beats of all time: “Bout It Bout It,” a track that seethes and undulates like the fearsome, grime-textured beat has a life of its own.

The production was so good, KLC would go back to the well two more times, remaking the track for Master P’s Ice Cream Man and again for the Diplomats in 2003.

Producer: EPMD
Album: Business As Usual
Label: Def Jam, RAL, Columbia

Heralded by the dramatic opening horns and gong of Mandrill's "Lord of the Golden Baboon," the beat launches into a relentless "Tramp" loop (complete with BT Express drums), before those Gladys Knight & the Pips horns announce the chorus.

This seemingly simple formula belies the genius of this song, which results in unstoppable bouts of head nodding when listened to repeatedly. Erick Sermon may be the better known producer of the duo, but beats like this were clearly the brainchild of PMD, who was strictly about snapping necks.

Producer: The Neptunes
Album: R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece
Label: Doggystyle, Star Trak, Geffen

One of the most incredible minimalist beats ever, The Neptunes crafted a No. 1 Billboard hit for Snoop Dogg with nothing but tongue clicks, keyboards, and a drum machine beat so simple it sounds like anyone could've thought of it but, of course, no one but The Neptunes actually did.

The highlight of the beat was certainly the two seconds when the keyboard (which we’re assuming Pharrell jacked from a spaceship) comes in and lands in stark contrast to the rest of the production. Once again, Chad and Skateboard P showed that when it comes to production, sometimes less is more than you could have ever imagined.

Producer: Kanye West
Album: Kamikaze
Label: Atlantic Records

There's the chorus. But, also, there’s how the chorus interacts with the instrumental. "Play something these hoes would like" just doesn't have the same ring without the sped-up vocals of Lenny Williams singing "Cause I Love You" in the background. Kanye's sped-up vocal era wasn't as long as people remember, but it was impactful, and "Overnight Celebrity" is the peak—with the instrumental bridge at the end, during Twista's monologue, being a perfect 30-second stretch. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: DJ Ski
Album: Uptown Saturday Night
Label: Profile

Sometimes a sample can do all the hard work by itself—it's just a matter of finding the right part to loop. For "Luchini," Ski grabbed the opening of Dynasty's "Adventures in the Land of Music," pitched-it up a notch, programmed some thumping drums, and threw extra keys over the hook, allowing the cascading horns to drive the show.

Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede mesh their suave Uptown delivery with the lush track, creating an unmistakable sound that built off the buzz of "Coolie High" and set Camp Lo apart from the pack in 1997.

Producer: Hit-Boy, Kanye West, Mike Dean, Anthony Kilhoffer
Album: Watch the Throne
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Roc Nation, Def Jam

The highlight of Watch the Throne was this super-spectacular celebration of international zone coasting, as the two biggest rappers on the planet boast about living that private jet lifestyle. The beat sounds like a cross between chopped and screwed Miami Bass, European techno, and a distorted NES game, somehow delivering a feeling of urgency and euphoria at the same time. Dropping in the Will Farrell as Chazz Michael Michaels dialogue is a fourth-wall breaking moment of genius.

Producer: Lil Jon
Album: The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Welcome to Trillville
Label: BME, Reprise, Warner Bros.

Of course, Lil Jon's most experimental beat was made while fucking around. While at Stankonia Studios, Lil Jon was rocking back and forth in a chair, and everyone noticed it was creaking in time with the beat being made. He told Rolling Stone in 2018, "So we mic'd up the chair, I put on headphones, rocked back and forth, and we recorded that and put it into the track."

That's the origin story of "Some Cut," a rap classic that's been flipped dozens of times, including this year with the success of Saucy Santana's "Quiet on the Creek."

Producer: Tarentino
Album: 56 Nights
Label: Epic Records, Sony Music Entertainment & Freebandz

"Dress it up and make it real for me" is the first thing you hear before heaven's gates opens. Tarantino is but an instrument of the Lord, and Future is His prophet. This beat is simultaneously spiritual and haunting. Macbeth heard the "March Madness" beat right before the witches spoke to him, and he let the faint sound of piano keys drive him insane. "March Madness" is Hendrix's epic, making Nayvadius rap game Homer. This is space music; Neil Armstrong wrote the hook, and Buzz Aldrin could have played this when he landed Apollo 11 on the moon's surface. —Angel Diaz

Producer: Butta & Polow da Don
Album: Rich Boy
Label: Interscope

Polow da Don was a journeyman producer when, in 2001, he bumped into a mechanical engineering student at Tuskegee University who handed him a beat CD. That student would eventually become Rich Boy, signing to Polow's Zone 4 label and releasing one of the best songs of the 2000s. “Throw Some D’s” is a perfect rap anthem, but its real star is the beat—a soulful, nostalgic, lush flip of Switch's '70s R&B cut "I Call Your Name."

Producer: Timbaland
Album: Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life

Label: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam

The trade-off for hip-hop heads who have to share Timbaland with R&B fans is that, at least for his peak in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, the producer was the king of reinventing himself.

Each track was exceptional, a reimagining of the possibilities, from the urgency of “Is That Yo Bitch?” to the epic scope of Bubba Sparxxx’s “Nowhere.” His other major accomplishment was in how he approached rhythm; Timbo was one of the first to recognize that rather than being a formal defining characteristic of the genre, the breakbeat was holding the genre back. There’s no better example than the spastic “Jigga What, Jigga Who,” a song that plays with syncopation and is as concerned with negative space as filling it. It was this production that made an art out of sculpting rhythm, challenging Jay and Jaz-O to continually top themselves with patterns and variety.

Producer: KLC
Album: No Limit Top Dogg

Label: No Limit, Priority

Maybe the most iconic No Limit beat, this track has transcended generations. It's been embraced by the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Miami Heat, flipped by Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and of course, sampled by Kanye West on "Blood on the Leaves." And why wouldn’t it be? KLC’s horn selection is monumental, enough to pump warm blood into the iciest veins. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: Alchemist
Album: Kiss tha Game Goodbye
Label: Ruff Ryders, Interscope

This was originally intended for Ras Kass, but after his record label dropped the ball and didn't pay Alchemist properly for the beat, he gave it to Jadakiss, resulting in Ras getting pissed and leaking his version to mixtapes before releasing a diss track called "Kiss U" aimed at ALC. Regardless, Jada and Styles P do a fine job of verbally "balling outta control" over an expertly-chopped symphony of swirling strings and horns.

Producer: Drumma Boy
Album: The Recession

Label: CTE World, Corporate Thugz Entertainment & Def Jam Recordings

It's hard to find two rappers more dramatic than Kanye and Jeezy. Kanye's dramatics are theatrical; Jeezy's come through the production—usually a slow build that eventually bursts into 808-based southern masterpieces. "Put It On" sees both forces combine, with Drumma Boy's beat lowering the menace for commercial appeal. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: Daz Dillinger
Album: All Eyez on Me
Label: Death Row, Interscope

Who would have thought that Joeski Love's 1986 novelty hit, "Pee Wee's Dance" could sound so menacing? The addition of urgent strings, a tense piano riff, and high-end synth line gives the instrumental a "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" feel to it, which serves as a fitting backdrop to 2Pac's verbal assault as he blacks-out on his enemies. Everyone from G-Unit to Lil Wayne to Cam'ron (who flipped it into the memorable "Live My Life") has rapped over this beat, which became a freestyle staple.

Producer: Daz Dillinger
Album: All Eyez on Me
Label: Death Row, Interscope

OutKast made a career out of unconventional music, but “B.O.B. pushed shit to another level. The rapping here is top notch, but it's the production—a chaotic blend of futuristic electro and drum & bass—that makes this a one-of-one rap song. Like, how many rap singles are 155 beats per minute?

Producer: Lex Luger
Album: Teflon Don
Label: MMG, Slip-n-Slide, Def Jam

This is a prime example of a beat that you don't fully appreciate until you're 10 drinks deep at the club.

“B.M.F.” makes you want to slap your mom, break a glass in somebody's face, inappropriately grope a hot broad, and then buy a round of drinks for the whole bar just so there are no hard feelings. Lex Luger's maximalist sound redefined rap and quickly became the most imitated sound in the genre but also gave Rozay a platform for his Maybach Music empire.

Producer: Mike Will Made It
Album: SremmLife 2

Label: Ear Drummer, Interscope

Don’t ever say memes can’t still be a force for good. The Mannequin Challenge propelled “Black Beatles,” the dreamy standout single from Sremmlife 2, to its rightful place atop the charts. Mike Will Made-It’s floating synths and Swae Lee’s penchant for hooks are a powerful intoxicant—it’s a high so good even Paul McCartney himself couldn’t resist.—Ian Servantes

Producer: Shamello & Buddah
Album: When Disaster Strikes
Label: Flipmode, Elektra

The basis of the beat for "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” is taken from "Sweet Green Fields," courtesy of ‘70s soft-rock duo Seals and Croft—while beefed-up drums and shakers are added to deliver the hypnotic, rolling feel that makes this beat so unique. In the end, it was the perfect showcase for Bussa Bus to unleash his trademark verbal gymnastics.

Producer: Metro Boomin
Album: FUTURE
Label: Freebandz, A1, Epic

For all the modern tricks and flourishes Metro Boomin has shown over the years, he sure can flip the fuck out of a sample. For “Mask Off,” he took a song from a tribute album for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and looped it—creating the defining rap song based off of a flute in the process.

Producer: The 45 King
Album: The 900 Number EP
Label: Warner Bros., American Recordings

Respect due to Marva Whitney's "Unwind Yourself" from 1967, which provided the unstoppable horns that The 45 King flipped for his signature instrumental hit. He later recorded a version with Lakim Shabazz dropping vocals on it, before it was given a new lease of life thanks to DJ Kool's hit remake "Let Me Clear My Throat" in 1994. Yo! MTV Raps fans will also recall that Ed Lover adopted "The 900 Number" for his dance theme music.

Producer: Bangladesh
Album: The State vs. Radric Davis

Label: Brick Squad, Asylum, Warner Bros., WMGreen

Gucci Mane’s entire career's been about playing with musical tensions: hard-edged street vibes against pop appeal, songcraft against blatant disregard for convention, dense lyrics against his congested, "stoopid" flow. "Naw I ain't lyrical," he'd claim one moment, before blasting listeners with a dazzling display of imagery and jokes. The respectability he'd actively deny against the success he clearly sought. The threatening and the ridiculous, the dangerous and humorous, the brilliant and the bizarre.

"Lemonade" is the moment all of the conflicting impulses that make Gucci's catalog such a varied, evolving, glorious mess achieve a perfect balance. Anchored by Bangladesh's hooky pianos, a thumping bassline and an interpolation of Flo and Eddie's "Keep it Warm," re-sung by a children's chorus, "Lemonade" wasn't just stacked with an undeniable pop sensibility. It also contained the dense lyricism of his deepest mixtape cuts ("My phantom sitting on sixes, no twenties in my denim/Your Cutlass' motor knocking, because it is a lemon"), his morbid sense of humor ("AK hit your dog, and you can't bring Old Yeller back") and, of course, the pure flamboyance that sealed his legacy as one of hip-hop's most memorable, unique artists.

Producer: Buckwild
Album: Life Story
Label: Bad Boy

With “Whoa!” everyone from Jay-Z to Memphis Bleek to Amil passed on it. But Harlem rapper Black Rob knew a hit when he heard it, and jumped on the song to create one of 2000's most memorable catch-phrases. The beat itself is undeniable—swirling strings, huge drums and deep horn stabs capable of inciting a riot.

Producer: Teddy Riley
Album: It Takes Two
Label: Profile

If any song encapsulates the late '80s sound of rap that makes you want to do the Kid 'N Play kickstep, it's this.

Teddy Riley's brilliant use of Lyn Collin's "Think" is still a guaranteed dancefloor filler to this day, as it blends repetitive vocal snippets with a layered, high-octane drum track to become a blueprint for the hip-house sound that hit hard in 1989.

Rob Base's entertaining party-rocking rhymes compliment the track nicely, but at the end of the day it's all about that "Woo! Yeah!" sample. Snoop Dogg would later combine the "Space Dust" sample from the intro with Rob Base's hook for "I Wanna Rock."

Producer: Scott La Rock, KRS-One
Album: Criminal Minded
Label: P-Vine

When a brutally honest Mr. Magic told KRS-One and Scott La Rock that their record "Success Is The Word" was "wack,"it sparked the legendary "Bridge Wars."

BDP recorded "South Bronx," aimed at Magic and his Juice Crew, primarily MC Shan, who had been making noise with "The Bridge." Shan retorted with "Kill That Noise," which resulted in KRS delivering the knockout blow that is "The Bridge Is Over." Taking the "Impeach The President" snare from "Eric B. Is President" (which was produced by Marley Marl), KRS played his version of Supercat's "Boops" on piano and borrowed the melody of Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" for the hook to create the ether that made Roxanne Shante's soul burn slow.

Producer: DJ Dahi
Album: Nothing was the Same
Label: Jeans on Cash Money and Republic

"Worst Behavior" features a masterclass performance from Drake—the Ma$e cadence he hits in the third is still perfect—but Dahi went absolutely crazy on here. This beat is so nuts: chopped-up vocal samples, sputtering, chopstick-sounding drums, and heavy bass. Drake has released a lot of classics since 2013, but he's never rapped over production this perfect again.

Producer: Tone Capone
Album: Operation Stackola
Label: Noo Trybe

Based around a loop from fellow Bay Area group Club Nouveau (performing a cover version of a track from a previous incarnation named Timex Social Club), this ode to sharing a bag of ganja was a huge hit that rode off the popularity of weed smoking songs in the mid-’90s. Producer Tone Capone added some triangle synth, peppered it with the inescapable "Get Down" sample from "Jungle Boogie," and laced the hook with a sing-a-long chorus that would deliver a stoner theme song for the ages.

Producer: DJ Muggs
Album: Cypress Hill
Label: Ruffhouse, Columbia

Ruffhouse, ColumbiaWhen former 7A3 member DJ Muggs introduced the blunted hardcore beats of Cypress Hill to the world, it was a breakthrough for L.A. rap. Abandoning the P-Funk samples, Muggs brought his own unique sound to the table, combining the layered sample technique of the East Coast with a more abrasive heavy metal mindset. The gigantic drums of Manzel's "Midnight Theme" meet "Tramp," a vocal yelp, and some Hendrix electric guitar bring the noise in no uncertain terms. Muggs would later refine the Soul Assassins sound with hits like "Jump Around" for House of Pain and Cypress' "Insane In The Brain."

Producer: Kanye West, MIKE DEAN & Rick Rubin
Album: The Life of Pablo
Label: G.O.O.D. Music, Def Jam Recordings & Universal Music Group

Pure, unadulterated glory in the midst of 2016's misery was rare and brief. Case in point: the long awaited reunion of Kanye and his most prodigal protégé, Kid Cudi, lasts a paltry two minutes and 15 seconds. Would it have been nice if Ye had better things to rap about than bleached butts? Yes. Could more G.O.O.D. Music compatriots have added verses to lengthen the song into something more substantial before it pivots to "Panda"? Totally. But what we have is still a joyous, party-exploding reminder of what Kanye West is capable of when he's at his best. —Frazier Tharpe

Producer: J-Swift, L.A. Jay
Album: Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde
Label: Delicious Vinyl

The Pharcyde broke new ground for LA rap when they hit the scene, in no small part due to producer J-Swift's energetic and accessible beats on the group's debut album Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. Swift's care-free production on "Passin' Me By," combining Quincy Jones' "Summer in the City" with the snap of the Skull Snaps drums and a mournful horn hook, was the perfect backdrop for this ode to failed romantic escapades.

Producer: Easy Mo Bee

Album: Project: Funk Da World
Label: Bad Boy/Arista

Despite making a little noise as MC EZ and Troup with his "Get Retarded" single in 1988, it wasn't until this 1994 smash that the world took notice of Craig Mack.

Easy Mo Bee introduced a brand new funk to the rap game with the "futuristic, George Jetson" sound he gave Craig Mack for his breakout Bad Boy single. Ironically, according to the Trackmasters, Craig wasn't initially feeling the beat and Puffy had to basically drag him into the booth, kicking and screaming. As the all-star remix would later demonstrate, however, it was really this incredible instrumental that everyone was hooked-on, and Mack ironically discovered that he was actually the one who wasn't "around next year" on the Bad Boy roster as Biggie Smalls began his rise to rap supremacy.

Producer: DJ Paul, Juicy J
Album: When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1
Label: Loud

Thanks to a surreal, spacy loop from the opening moments of Marvin Gaye's "Is That Enough" that ran alongside bass drops, synths, and crispy drum programming, this dedication to sipping that promethazine codine does a fine job of getting the listener into that leaned-out state of mind.

Producer: Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons
Album: Raising Hell
Label: Profile, Arista

Bob James' "Nautilus" may be the greatest break of all time, but "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" is definitely a close second. When Run–DMC rocked it for their mammoth Raising Hell LP, it was the closest a lot of new rap fans would ever get to experiencing the energy of a park jam, as Run and DMC traded verses back-and-forth over Jam Master Jay's precise break-beating. Never again will nursery rhymes sound so fly.

Producer: Rick Rubin, LL Cool J
Album: Radio
Label: Def Jam, Columbia, CBS

When asked why there are two versions of this iconic track, LL responded, "The ‘Peter Piper’ beat was originally gonna be the beat for ‘Rock The Bells,’ but Rick Rubin gave it to Run and them, because I guess Jam-Master Jay had the same idea as me at the time—may he rest in peace. You can see what I mean, if you think about it." Luckily for rap fans, both versions of this track are great.

The remake that featured on Cool J's debut LP borrowed a percussion break from Trouble Funk, a guitar stab from AC/DC, a little "Rocket In The Pocket" and a whole lotta 808. Another Rick Rubin sure-shot.

Producer: Rodney O
Album: Me & Joe
Label: Egyptian Empire Records

For years, "Everlasting Bass" was more of a cult classic, a legendary electro rap song from the dawn of LA rap's origins. So it's funny that it got another life thanks to artists from other eras, whether it's Lil Wayne to BeatKing or Baby Keem. Really the new peak came when Metro Boomin, Future and Kendrick took those blasting horns and Inspector Gadget energy into a modern day classic. If anything, it shows how ahead of their time Rodney-O & Joe Cooley were in 1986. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Producer: Bink!
Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Label: Universal Music Group, G.O.O.D. Music, Roc-A-Fella Records & Def Jam Recordings

Pairing the soul sample-heavy sound of ’Ye’s early days with the lavish production style of his early-2010s era, “Devil in a New Dress” possesses every musical element we’d ever hope to hear on a Kanye West song. And it all acts as a perfect backdrop to some of the best songwriting of Kanye’s career, as he leans on religious imagery for two intricate verses about, um, consummation.

Although he’s on his Christian tip here, Kanye isn’t afraid to talk his shit. It’s hard to be humble when you’re stuntin’ on a jumbotron. And, as if this thing wasn’t a work of art already, it closes out with a guitar solo and a ridiculously lavish verse from Rick Ross. —Eric Skelton

Producer: Bangladesh
Album: Tha Carter III
Label: Cash Money, Universal Motown

"A Milli" can best be described as an exercise in hypnotic minimalism, proving that deep bass drops, hand claps, and a pitched-down repetitive vocal loop can provide the ideal canvas for Lil Wayne to pitch us his unique brand of wordplay.

"Lollipop" might've been a sell-out record, but even Wayne's harshest critics had to give it up for "A Milli"—one of the few rappity rap songs that actually became a huge hit.

So many rappers clogged up the Internet with freestyles over this beat that after it first dropped many of us needed a few years' break before we could listen to it again.

Producer: Timbaland
Album: Miss E ...So Addictive
Label: The Goldmind & Elektra Records

With 2001's "Get Ur Freak On", Missy Elliott and Timbaland looked past hip-hop, shooting instead for straight up bhangra music.

Timbaland underscores Missy's lyrical flights of fancy with Indian melodies played on actual Indian instruments and polyrhythmic hand percussion played on tablas, "talking drums" whose pitch can be adjusted on the fly. It was an international smash and one of Missy's biggest solo successes to date. —Craig Jenkins

Producer: Timbaland
Album: Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam

Always one to expand his musical palate, Timbaland blessed Hov, Bun B, and Pimp C with the "Big Pimpin'" beat during his bhangra phase. The rolling percussion and layered melodies made for the ideal Yacht Rap excursion, and one of Timbaland's best beats set off rap's fascination with Indian music.

Producer: Arthur Baker
Album: Planet Rock: The Album
Label: Tommy Boy/Warner Bros.

Afrika Bambaataa, who died in April 2026, obviously leaves behind a very troubling, dark history. But there are few songs as important to the growth of the genre as "Planet Rock," which still sounds like the future, with its pulsating, sci-fi synths and its mix of spareness and density. But the song's biggest legacy: it kicks off hip-hop's love affair with the Roland 808, which producer Arthur Baker used to build the beat.

Producer: A-Plus
Album: 93 'til Infinity
Label: Jive, BMG

When Del Tha Funkee Homosapien first entered the rap game as a member of Da Lench Mob, rapping over Brides of Funkadelic samples, few would have predicted that he would go on to spearhead a new musical movement in the Oakland hip-hop scene.

His Hieroglyphics crew introduced the kind of complex lyrical techniques and deep-crate beats that were previously the specialty of the East Coast, and "93 'Til Infinity" became the theme song of the new movement. One of the first notable examples of significantly speeding up a sample to rhyme over, the track was punctuated with neck-snapping drums and an echoing horn hits.

The resulting track is so full of youthful energy and optimism that it's become almost mandatory for any "lyrical" rapper to take a stab at their own version, including J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., and Freddie Gibbs.

Producer: RZA
Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Label: Loud, RCA, BMG

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is not only a landmark rap album (one that popularized everything from mafioso themes to sipping Cristal, influencing everyone from Mobb Deep to Biggie to Jay-Z) but also one of the first albums whose production was described as “cinematic.”

Some of that had to do with all the samples of kung-fu film dialog, but still—RZA’s soundscapes were incredibile. And “Ice Cream” was no exception. It's a beat that sounds like a hot sunny day in Shaolin where all the kids want to do is chase the ice cream truck while the adults chase tail.

It’s hard to talk about Wu-Tang without discussing their astonishing creative and commercial run from 1992 to 1997 spearheaded by The Abbot’s lo-fi production, but let’s put that aside for a second. Just consider this: According to Method Man, “Ice Cream” and GZA’s “Shadowboxin’” were crafted in the same week. Which essentially means RZA was piecing together Cuban Linx and Liquid Swords—two classics that both featured incredibly distinct production—at the same damn time.

Many rap producers tend to get into that zone where all their beats start to sound the same because they’re all made from the same few elements. Certainly producers like Swizz Beatz and Lex Luger have been accused of this. Although it could be argued that finding your soundkit is the hip-hop producer’s equivalent to any artist finding their voice, you do run the risk of becoming as repetitive as the loops themselves until you reach the point of diminishing returns. But that certainly wasn’t a problem for RZA, who was firing on all cylinders in the mid-'90s.

Producer: The Neptunes
Album: N.O.R.E.
Label: Tommy Boy

The first time we heard this beat, it was truly one of those “What the fuck is that?” moments in hip-hop. The combination of the song’s jagged synth notes, Kelis’ eerie background vocals, and Nore incessantly shouting, “What? What? What? What? What? What?” had a hypnotic, disorienting effect that made us forgive Nore’s nonsensical rhymes and left us wanting more. Plus the record was a result of Pharrell cooking up a beat specifically for Nore, not just selling a beat that had been shopped around.

Although the song is one of Nore’s biggest hits (he later score an even bigger hit by hooking up Chad and Pharrell again on “Nothin”) it’s actually more significant for The Neptunes since it was their breakout song. “Superthug” made them in-demand producers which led them to work with the likes of Jay-Z, Mystikal, and countless others.

Producer: Dennis Bell and Ollie Cotton, Doug E. Fresh, Teddy Riley
Album: Oh, My God!
Label: Reality, Fantasy

Who's the A side of "The Show"? Is it Ricky D—aka Slick Rick—whose breakout verse showcased his storytelling prowess and playful charisma? Or is it Doug E. Fresh, whose beatboxing turned vocal percussion into one of the defining rap singles before hip-hop's golden era? The placement on this list means we think it's Doug E.

Producer: Swizz Beatz
Album: It's Dark and Hell Is Hot
Label: Ruff Ryders, Def Jam

DMX and the Ruff Ryders crew brought some much needed aggression back to major label New York rap with records like this. Drums, bass, and sitar keys are all that were required for Dark Man X to flex his patented take-no-shorts style and propel this Tunnel banger on to sell 5 million copies. Funny part was, according to Swizz, X was hesitant to get on the track.

Seen as a reaction to the over-produced Bad Boy sound that was dominating the charts at the time, Swizz Beatz's deceptively basic tracks were just what rowdy club types were looking for, providing the soundtrack to numerous brawls and people getting randomly smacked down with bar stools.

Producer: J.B. Weaver, Jr.
Album: Schoolly D
Label: Schoolly D

"P.S.K." was pure, unadulterated B-Boy music that spoke to an aspect of Philly street life never before addressed on wax. The everlasting bass drum and relentless hi-hats make for the kind of loud, aggressive beats that your mom and your girlfriend will hate. This is music built for your headphones AND your car—a true timeless classic. Biggie loved it so much he reused the beat—and basically covered the whole song, changing only a few letters—on a Life After Death interlude.

Producer: Nashiem Myrick, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Poke
Album: N/A
Label: Bad Boy

If "Juicy" is the dream, then "Who Shot Ya?" is the nightmare. Sounding completely unlike anything else from New York at the time, the "Who Shot Ya?" beat is sparse and understated, conjuring images of backroom dice games and hushed orders to underlings. While the foundation of the track is basically keys and drums, it's the layered chants, ad-libs, and crooning that create the atmosphere of conspiracy that made this one of Biggie's finest moments.

Producer: A Tribe Called Quest
Album: The Low End Theory
Label: Jive

The Low End Theory set a new standard for hip-hop production, with both versions of "Scenario" being certified dope. The album version was driven by the crashing drums from Hendrix's "Little Miss Lover," while the legendary remix rode off of Kool & The Gang's "Soul Vibration" (first used by Marley Marl on LL Cool J's "Cheesy Rat Blues"). It's a close call deciding between this and "The Symphony" for Best Posse Cut of All Time, but there's no denying that this was the song that made the world realize that Busta Rhymes had out-gown his Leaders of The New School cohorts.

The remix notably gave us the only official appearance of Kid Hood, who was murdered only days after recording his show-stopping verse. Both versions of "Scenario" stand tall as classics in their own right, offering two slices of energetic, uptempo Native Tongue music.

Producer: Dr. Dre
Album: Deep Cover
Label: Epic

"Deep Cover" is noteworthy for a couple of reasons: It was the world's first exposure to Snoop Doggy Dogg, and it was Dr. Dre's first post-N.W.A. output, offering a preview of the new sound he would unveil on The Chronic. Dre's winning formula, consisting of loud drums (courtesy of the classic Sly and The Family Stone "Sing A Sample Song" break), a sinister synth melody that made you feel like you were walking down a dark alleyway, and a creeping bassline marked the next evolution of the musical foundation he established with N.W.A. Once The Chronic and Doggystyle dropped, that sonic trifecta would become synonymous with West Coast rap.

Producer: Hit-Boy, Tay Keith, OZ, CuBeatz, Rogét Chahayed, MD Beatz & MIKE DEAN
Album: Astroworld
Label: Cactus Jack, Grand Hustle, Epic

“SICKO MODE” plays out like a series of micro climaxes, with an introduction that phases into a second and third act that are as chaotic as they are tidy. It all begins with Drake cruising a skittering organ line that could soundtrack a dystopian western.

It could have been the sound of the entire adventure, but it ends up being both a strategic diversion and a launchpad. From there, the beat morphs into a collision of distorted 808s and apocalyptic synths, with Travis bouncing across the snares and hi-hats like a bumpy ride through the galaxy for a rambunctious journey to Astroworld. And then it’s off to the trap.

Unfolding over the last and most engrossing part of the track, the Tay Keith-produced section is stylish, sinister, and powerful. The bells sound like they were drenched in codeine. The 808s could evoke the blunt-force theater of ancient gladiators. Combined with Drake’s infectious cadences and some back-and-forth interplay with La Flame, it’s a series of climactic explosions before the big bang. —Peter A. Berry

Producer: Black Sheep
Album: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Label: Mercury, Polygram

The original album version of "The Choice Is Yours" was a good song, but the "Revisited" single mix added a whole new level of energy, both in terms of the beat and Dres's impassioned vocal performance.

Taking two carefully selected grunts from "Sweet Linda Divine," drums from The New Birth and a brilliant stand-up bass loop courtesy of McCoy Tyner's "Impressions," the new additions to the Native Tongues crew knocked this one outta the park. One of the most enduring records in rap history, it left such an impression upon the mind of future ad executives that it was appropriated by Kia to hawk cars in 2010.

Producer: Kanye West, DJ Toomp
Album: Graduation
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam

This was Kanye's first foray into "throw your lighters and cell phones up" Stadium Rap, and it stands as a damn fine example of the style. This is largely owed to the clever use of vocals from Australian group Sneaky Sound System's Connie Mitchell, peppered with sparse Young Jeezy ad-libs that support the shimmering synth track and its plodding percussion.

Producer: Dr. Dre
Album: Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Label: Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope, Shady

Deceptively simple but unforgettable, this is a text-book example of the Dr. Dre hit-making formula—a head-nodding, minimalist beat peppered with flourishes of live guitar, keys, and bass (special mention to the mighty DJ Quik on percussion).

In the Vitamin Water commercial 50 conducts a symphony orchestra as they play the beat—and it doesn't sound bad—but this one's more classic than classical. Dre's track was the soundtrack for 50's introduction to the mainstream. But more than his laid-back drawl, party chants, statements of intent to take over the rap game, and obligatory references to getting shot, it was the beat that made this a song even Oprah Winfrey could love.

Producer: The Bomb Squad
Album: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Label: Def Jam, Columbia

This landmark moment in hip-hop production was largely inspired by Eric B. and Rakim. After hearing the cutting-edge new sound of their competition, Chuck D and the Bomb Squad literally went back to the lab to create a song that would blow everyone else out of the water. Looping the abrasive noise from The JB's "The Grunt," they then instructed Flavor Flav to manually trigger the "Funky Drummer" loop for a full five minutes.

Once Chuck laid down his incendiary verses and Terminator X added his own take on the "Transformer" scratch (which had originated from the Philly DJ scene), Public Enemy unleashed the first example of a revolutionary sound that lay ahead on It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and took their rightful spot at the top of the hip-hop food chain.

Producer: D-Dot
Album: No Way Out
Label: Bad Boy

Biz Markie was once asked which song he would play someone who had never heard hip-hop before, a song that could sum up the music and the culture. His reply? "All About The Benjamins."

Hip-hop started out as party music and this track captures the essence of a party to a T. D-Dot slowed down the start of Love Unlimited Orchestra's "I Did It For Love" and laced it with shuffling drums and backspins to create the catchiest head-nodder of the Bad Boy era.

When the beat changes to the iconic Jackson 5 break for Biggie's verse, it marks a sign of respect to the park jam era—a nod that was clearly appreciated by original party rockers like the Biz. Even Big Pun had to give it up: on "The Dream Shatterer" when he told rival MCs, "I'll even let you rhyme to the 'Benjamin' beat/But it won't matter, your dreams still gone shatter."

Producer: Dr. Dre
Album: The Chronic
Label: Death Row

Listening back to the Leon Haywood original, "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" reveals that Dre pillaged every inch for his version, ruthlessly snatching the main loop, key changes, and chorus (which he then replayed) —a testament to the strength of the Haywood's original composition.

Snoop Dogg makes himself right at home immediately, effortlessly riding the track into submission with his laid-back delivery to claim it as his own, while the good Doctor proudly unleashes the super-slick sound nand mandatory "Funky Worm" synth that would change the sound of West Coast rap forever.

Producer: The Neptunes
Album: Lord Willin'
Label: Star Trak Entertainment, Arista

"Grindin'"—not any of their catalog of No. 1 hits—is the Neptunes' signature speaker-smasher, perfect not only for blasting out of your car at ear-splitting volumes but also incredibly easy to imitate on any high school locker. Minimalist yet futuristic, the song captured the hard-hitting sound of a mid-’80s rap record but loaded it with modern d-boy lyrics. "Grindin'" proved once again that it's all about the drums—and woodblocks.

Pharrell reportedly called Pusha T with the following challenge, "I’ve got this record and if you’re not up here in 15 minutes I’m just giving it to Jay-Z." Push made it to the studio with two minutes to spare, and one the hardest records of the aughts was born.

Producer: Daddy-O, Audio Two
Album: What More Can I Say?
Label: First Priority

As is quite often the case, the unmistakable stuttering drum pattern that drives Milk D and his brother Gizmo's break-out hit was a studio accident, as Daddy-O from Stetsasonic tapped the wrong pad as he was programming the beat from The Honeydrippers' "Impeach The President" into his SP-12. Milk D spent the rest of his career riding off the success of this song, while it provided the beat for Mary J Blige's classic "Real Love" and 50 Cent's "I Get Money" among its many reincarnations.

Since Milk D's father Nat Robinson owned the label that released the song, Milk is one of the very few '80s rappers who actually cashes a check every time someone samples this classic.

Producer: Eric B. & Rakim
Album: Paid In Full
Label: 4th & B'way, Island

This "def beat" loops the "Ashley's Roachclip" break and appropriates the bassline from "Don't Look Any Further" (a 1984 R&B hit from former Temptations member Dennis Edwards). In retrospect, the album version was an unusual song for 1987 in that it opens with Eric B. name-dropping the group's various representatives, features only a single verse from Rakim, and closes with some wonderfully off-kilter scratching. Thanks to the pioneering work of UK production outfit Coldcut, we also got the "Seven Minutes of Madness" remix, which added an amazing Ofra Haza vocal sample, as well as literally dozens of samples and breaks from TV shows, movies and other songs. The final result changed the way people looked at remixes forever.

Producer: Pete Rock
Album: Mecca and the Soul Brother
Label: Elektra

Large Professor may allege that he was the one who found the Tom Scott record that anchors this anthemic ode to family and lost friends, but nobody could have flipped it more perfectly than Pete Rock in his prime.

Pete was the king of the horns in the '90s, and "T.R.O.Y." was his crowning achievement. Crisp, rolling snare hits provide added punch to the lush, melodic backdrop. Despite sounding more King Arthur than King Records, the song become hip hop's "Stairway To Heaven"-—in that it's inspired several awful cover versions yet still has the capacity to bring a tear to the eye of even the most stone-faced rap fans.

Producer: RZA
Album: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Label: Loud

This is some vintage RZA work—cold weather music that's equal parts sparse and sorrowful. Grabbing the opening bars (and a vocal section from later in the song), The Abbott makes great use of the Isaac Hayes-produced "As Long as I've Got You" by the Charmels, allowing Raekwon and Inspektah Deck to deliver so many quotables that it's hard to keep up. This is one of the rare occasions where the acronym of a song title a) fits the sonic backdrop of the track, and b) actually makes any sense whatsoever.

Producer: Dr. Dre, Mel-Man, Scott Storch
Album: 2001
Label: Aftermath, Interscope

It’s difficult to choose a single track from Dr. Dre’s 2001. How do you pick between “Xxplosive”’s unforgettable guitar lick, “The Next Episode”’s clubbing grandeur, or “Fuck You”’s tense restraint? But “Still D.R.E.” is the standout for a reason. It isn’t just because of the Jay-Z-written Dre comeback verse, Mel-Man’s co-production or the piano premiere of a young, post-Roots Scott Storch.

The song truly transcends because with a tight, minimal beat—just a few grace notes, some strings and the hardest drums in rap—Dre was able to redefine the sound of an entire city for the second time. “Still D.R.E.” is a perfect example of what Dre does well, particularly his ear for detail, like the echoing arpeggios during the chorus that grant the song its sunset mystique.

Producer: Havoc
Album: The Infamous
Label: Loud, RCA, BMG

New York hip-hop in the early '90s was a hot-bed of beat-digging culture, as DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor and the D.I.T.C. crew attempted to outdo each other by flipping increasingly rare and obscure samples as those tried-and-true James Brown loops became increasingly difficult to clear.

When Mobb Deep dropped their second album, Havoc (with some assistance from Q-Tip) established himself as an equally adept beat miner, as The Infamous established the new sound of hardcore QB rap. It wasn't until 2011 that the source of the loop was revealed to be the piano from Herbie Hancock's "Lucy," laced with a menacing bassline, distorted horns, and hard-as-nails drums to create what may be the hardest rap beat of all time.

Producer: Jiggs Chase, Ed Flethcer, Sylvia Robinson
Album: The Message
Label: Sugar Hill

Perhaps the most recognizable hip-hop record of all time, "The Message" offered a welcome change of pace from the brag rap and party chants of the era. In-house Sugarhill Records session player Duke Bootee (who later went on to produce "King Kut" and his own solo projects) had recorded an instrumental called "The Jungle," which he gave Melle Mel to rhyme over.

The resulting electro-driven, claustrophobic track served as a stark contrast to the upbeat, live band of other Sugarhill releases, providing a fitting backdrop to Melle's dead-serious subject matter. The desolate feel of the track was so far ahead of the game that the subsequent passage of time has left it virtually unschathed, as demonstarted by Ice Cube jacking the track for his "Check Yo' Self" remix, while Puffy and Ma$e grabbed it for their hit collaboration "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" or even Coi Leray using it on “Players.”

Countless production trends have come and gone since the "The Message" first hit the airwaves, yet it still stands strong as the definitive hip-hop anthem that will sound just as fresh in another 40 years.