10. Mac Miller – Loitering (I.D. Labs)
This is a track that hasn’t got a lot of buzz, but this is the track on Blue Slide Park that has stuck with me the most, and I think it has to do with the fresh groove of this beat. The budweiser frogs/chilldub bass loop sets a solid base for Mac’s chilled out defiance. The old school percussion and the flanged guitar add just the right touches to round out the beat.
9. CyHi Da Prynce – Bulletproof (J.Rob/Chrispy)
The most subwoofer destroying beat of the year. J.Rob takes Chrispy’s devestating remix of LaRoux’s bulletproof, chops and cuts it and it ends up being the aggressive backdrop for CyHi and Yelawolf to go to work on. Who would’ve ever guessed those cutesy French singers would provide such a hardass track?
8.The Dean’s List – Dear Professor (Alex Mendoza)
Mendoza starts off with a sped up The Band Perry sample and drops airy synths and percussion that alternatively grooves and pulses. The sample on the hook provides the perfect emotive melody to reflect Sonny’s bittersweet lyrics about capturing the moment. This beat feels uptempo and peppy the first time, but has tinges of sadness to it that make it complex and repeatedly listenable.
7. Wiz Khalifa – Phone Numbers (Drumma Boy)
I must have listened to this song a 100 times this year snowboarding and getting ready to go out, and never heard the clever Queen sample that the beat is built on.That is the mark of great sampling. Drumma Boy takes the great Queen piano chord and composes a hazy, bass-heavy tripper that feels threatening and relaxed at the same time. Love the double 808 kicks. If Black and Yellow hadn’t already been done, I would say this is the quintessential Wiz beat.
6. Lil Wayne – 6’7′ (Bangladesh)
No way I thought Bangladesh could strike lightning twice after the A Millie beat, but here he is chopping a relaxed Banana Boat song(listen to 0.57) and adding melodic bass hits and frenetic snare hits to lay the background for Weezy’s commercial return. Love this beat because it brought out vintage frantic genius Wayne. Too bad no other beat could do so on his disappointing Carter IV.
5. A$AP Rocky – Demons (Clams Casino)
Everyone is jumping on Clams/A$AP’s “Peso”, but I think this beat is much more emotional and memorable. Clams Casino is on a meteoric rise, and I can’t wait to hear more of his signature lo-fi samples and wall of sound production. The chopped and screwed vocals layer on the beat for a virtual drank and smoke for the listener. This beat makes me feel for A$AP Rocky even without listening to his lyrics.
4. XV – U.F.C. (Seven)
“Aight XV, I’m gonna do a beat with barbershop quarter vocals, fuzz guitar, and Slipknot-esque garbage can percussion”. However Seven presented this beat to XV, he must have sold him on an absolutely insane idea by executing flawlessly. I’ve listened to XV’s mixtape over and over, and this is the song that more and more feels like the one I’ll still listen to three years from now, and I think that’s owed to the absolutely original beat. The variance from the cheerful hook to the aggressive verses is jarring yet makes sense.
3. Chris Brown – Look At Me Now (Diplo)
Whenever Diplo wasn’t making Blackberry ads, he was upping his game as the premier stripped down producer. This beat may be his most commercially successful, and shows what happens when the top-40 crowd is exposed to a fresh sound. The disorienting yet friendly dripping synths prove that one sonic idea is sometimes all you need to make a classic beat. Any other producer would be tempted to add other synth voices or samples, but Diplo stopped with the initial sound, only adding some slow drums to balance Busta Rhymes return from the grave and middle eastern woodwinds to add some mystique to the hook.
2. Big Sean – Marvin and Chardonnay (Pop Wansel)
If Diplo is the king of minimalism, up and coming producer Pop Wansel was all about complexity on Marvin and Chardonnay. I remember hearing this song the first time, and there being 5 or 6 times where I was completely thrown off by where the beat went. Swelling Strings! Anthemic Chorus! Chopped and Screwed Vocals! Sound Effect Loop! Slowed Down Groove! Repeat! The stop start lurch of the verses perfectly complement Big Sean and Kanye’s extremely dynamic flows, and the huge sound on the hook is the perfect backdrop for Roscoe Dash’s bid to be taken seriously as a vocalist. 100 listens later, and I still find this beat interesting and exciting. Perfect match of artist and beat.
1. Jay Z and Kanye West – H.A.M. (Lex Luger)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtoHI0JEfDg (live version)
I know I know I know…this song was critically panned and there are admittedly better songs on Watch The Throne. However, this beat trounces the eerily Young Money sounding “N****s in Paris” or the sample driven “Otis” or any of the other admittedly great beats on the album. Lex Luger introduces a frantic electric sample that feels like it was lifted off a high school science video about mytosis and then adds nasty bass drops and double time hats for the verses. Then, on the hook, after leading up with an interesting harmony, he adds haunting vocal samples and string samples, adding to the grandiose nature of the unveiling of Jay-Z’s and Kanye’s bffdom. However, what really makes this beat number one is the absolutely stunning Operatic break at 2:58 followed by a pianissimo reflection with soaring female vocals, only to come crashing back with the overwhelmingly aggressive beat. I can’t describe how many times I’ve lost myself in the final 2 minutes of this song. It’s the perfect grandeur for the introduction of one of the most grand rap collabs of all time.
Bars & Pickups 