Top 10 Kanye West Freelance Productions

To narrow things down into a top ten with Kanye‘s production was very difficult. I had to take various things into account. Impact, delivery , execution, creativity, flow, sound, blends, choruses, skips, timing, etc. Man, the list goes on. A lot of you guys are producers so you understand where I am coming from on this.

I went in with an objective eye, and certainly left beats off that were personal favourites and tried to appease the mob with this final list. I tried to vary it as much as possible and try to keep it as fresh as possible too.

Any compliants? Leave a comment and I may or may not respond. All in all, enjoy it for what it is. Granted, I think that I’m right all the time and many of you will want to switch in one, move one up, etc. Make your top ten list if you want and I’ll critique the hell out of it.

*Note: All of these productions are by Kanye West not pertaining to his own solo work*

*Another Note: All choices are based strictly on production, not lyricism*

*Another Note: All choices are strictly Hip Hop*

10. T.I. – “Doin’ My Job”
From the album Trap Muzik (2003)

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Why it’s Dope: This beat exemplifies why Kanye is ‘Kanye West.’ This joint is a prime example of what Kanye does so well. Speeding up the sample and adding all the fine touches out and around it. The song is so energized and it develops this romantic feel that throws it back to the Bloodstones sample effortlessly.

9. The Game – “Wouldn’t Get Far”
From the album Doctor’s Advocate (2006)

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Why it’s Dope: Say what you will about the content of the song, fact is, it is one of the most fun and addictive beats of the last few years. The “Long Red” sample has been used by Kanye quite a few times, but he uses it very creatively here to carry the beat along with the Creative Source vocals. His timing is immaculate all over the track and the chorus is very well done. His streak with The Game continues and while “Dreams” and “Angel” didn’t make the list, they certainly were considered. It’s evidently a good beat if Kanye wanted it for himself, would’ve been interesting to hear Common over it.

8. Mobb Deep – “Throw Your Hands (In the Air)”
From the album Amerikaz Nightmare (2004)

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Why it’s Dope: Another frequently used sample by Kanye provides the title for the drastically overlooked and underappreciated track by the once kings of the underground. The beat evokes plenty of emotion and while the title evokes a happy-go-lucky party anthem, it is in fact a very mellow, dark, and slightly haunting beat. The instrumentation placement along with the familiar drum pattern is perfect. The subtle addition of the strings throughout the track gives it a pretty important jump and uplift too.

7. Jay-Z – “This Can’t Be Life (feat Scarface and Beanie Sigel)”
From the album The Dynasty: Roc-La-Familia (2000)

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Why it’s Dope: I’m sure we’ve all heard the story Kanye tells us on “Last Call.” This song was a pretty important one for his career and pretty much made him a household name with the ROC Fam. As he says in “Last Call”: “I was listening to the Dre “Chronic 2001″ at that time and I just picked the drums off Xxplosive and put it in with the sped up [Harold Melvin] sample. Now that’s kind of my whole style.” Of course, this begun the saga of the soulful Kanye that we all know now. More than its importance is the sound and damn, it is such a jam packed beat. The “Xxplosive” drums were necessary and brought a ton of boom bap to a real soulful joint. The sample timing was perfect and from what he sampled, it was pretty impressive. Along with “The Truth” by Beanie Sigel, Kanye was well on his way to throwing up that Dynasty sign.

6. Jay-Z – “Lucifer”
From the album The Black Album (2003)

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Why it’s Dope: It’s the one beat Kanye wishes he kept for himself. I don’t blame him, what a heater. So much bounce, so much flavour, and so much soul. Everything about this instrumental is perfect and the chorus adds plenty to the credibility of Kanye’s production. A quick 2-3 second sector of the “I Chase the Devil” sample leads the charge as the title of the song is very clear through the 3 minutes and 12 seconds of “Lucifer.”

5. Ludacris – “Stand Up”
From the album Chicken N Beer (2003)

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Why it’s Dope: What should’ve (and could’ve, pending where you live) been one of the biggest club bangers in recent memory proves to be a great beat on or off the dance floor. The video was great, but it still couldn’t take away from the elements being displayed on the beats. The drums along with the strings and the subtle vocal inputs throughout the track make it a banger by any means. The skips and pauses are also timed perfectly to emphasize Luda’s rhymes and adlibs. Great joint.

4. Scarface – “Guess Who’s Back (feat Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel)”
From the album The Fix (2002)

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Why it’s Dope: The foursome worked so well the first time around; why not get at it again. This time, with more attention, more hype and more experience, Kanye unleashes a timeless beat with genius sampling and all the small, subtle sounds that encompass the producer job description. Once again, using the “Xxplosive” drums to accompany the “Sunrise” sample, Kanye compiles a beautiful piece with plenty of rises, levels and climaxes. It is one of his most complete pieces done to date and should remain in his top 10 for a very long time.

3. Jay-Z – “Heart of the City”
From the album The Blueprint (2001)

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Why it’s Dope: Say what you want about this beat and the original Bobby Bland. Sure, they are drastically similar. It’s the biggest complaint (if you could even call it that) this track faces, but in all sincerity, plenty was done to the beat to make it pop out the way it did. It is in fact the best song with the best production on one of the most relevant albums (relevant to production) of the new millennium. Along with “Heart of the City” and “Never Change” and with help from Just Blaze, Kanye almost single-handedly revived the soul sampling era that Pete Rock and DJ Premier envisioned would hopefully still be around in the early to mid 90′s. The track is perfect as it hits the climax at the perfect time. The chorus was simply the first words of the original sample sped up and it was a beautiful choice to exemplify the emotion and reason for the beat. Funny enough, he wanted to give this to DMX, but this beat also helped jump start his success with Hova and the rest of the fam. It is certainly a fan favourite and a valid one at that.

2. Common- “Be”
From the album Be (2005)

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Why it’s Dope: When I first made my Top 5 Kanye Beats for a radio station about 3-4 years ago, this joint wasn’t here simply because the album wasn’t even out yet. Now it is. For the longest time, I thought this track was co-produced by J Dilla because of how perfect of a beat it was in terms of drum placement and soul placement. It sounded like a blend of J Dilla drums with Kanye strings. Jump to the present, Dilla’s own version leaks. Both are great, but this beat is certainly one of Kanye’s best for many reasons. As an intro, it poses a difficult task, one it exceeds beyond expectations. It flows as an intro should; lead up, followed by another lead up, followed by another lead up, then bringing to a close to anticipate the following tracks. This did the impossible and became the best track on the album, let alone the best beat. The only qualm is that it is short and made us crave more and more “Be” beats. It was perfect for its purpose and it executed masterfully. The timing of the drops and the lifts is flawless and the strings have never been more alive on a track in this modern era of hip hop. Probably, one of the best introductions to an album and a large part of it is due to the beat.

1. Talib Kweli- “Get By”
From the album Quality (2002)

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Why it’s Dope: I’m still boggled to this day how Kanye managed to get “Get By” from “Sinnerman.” I mean, some parts are obvious, but the piano loop grab drives me nuts. What an ear. What a placement. What an execution. Of course, the beat is only a small piece of the pie. What about the chorus? It is easily, the most uplifting, most inspirational, and most powerful chorus in the post 2000-era of hip hop. The chorus is also a very difficult one to work with in terms of timing and placement. The sample of “Sinnerman” also contains loads and loads and loads of possible sample material, for Kanye to somehow craft “Get By” from it is very impressive. The piano certainly takes center stage though, backed by a subtle bass and Kanye’s patented drums; the beat is a masterpiece. Well worthy of the number one spot and should hold this spot for years to come.

Honourable Mentions:

Dilated Peoples- “This Way”: The flute is hypnotizing and the chorus is very similar to that of “Get By.” Very dope track that showed Kanye’s range of artist he is able to work with.

Miri Ben-Ari featuring Pharoahe Monch “New World Symphony”: Miri’s beautiful string-skill is heavily the reason why this track is so dope, but without Kanye’s guidance it may not have been. The very alive chorus, once again, hits hard. Plenty of live instruments make Kanye a very dangerous producer at times.

Nas- “Can’t Nobody”: Sure, this is probably a mash up. Sure, it is probably unofficial. But, Kanye did produce it. The sample is beautiful and the track as a whole one great piece of work that should’ve been on an album somewhere.

DMX- “Dog’s Out”: Even though he didn’t get to give “Heart of…” to DMX, he at least got to give him this gem. The sample usage is great and Kanye gave up a Swizz Beatz-beat that Swizzy himself probably couldn’t have done better. The beat has so much jump and so much soul with the chorus being much too addictive to not include on the HM list.

Common- “The Food”: Not sure whos idea it was to keep the live version of the song on the album, but it was genius. The seemingly broken and off key piano loop fits perfectly before it speeds up for the great chorus. It’s a very dope beat that has a great concept of production at its finest.

Others: “Heartbeat” by Royce da 5’9, “Rebuilding” by Goodie Mob, “Lonely People” by Talib Kweli, “Sunshine” by Mos Def, “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” by Consequence

*Note: “Down and Out” by Kanye would’ve easily made the list, but after admitting that he did not produce the track and still got credit for it, I couldn’t morally add it.