Electronic Music Producers That Should Be On the Next Kanye West Album

Is Kanye West working on his next album? Probably not; he's too busy being the expresso and not-really-rapping over Nine Inch Nails' "Closer." With Ye

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Is Kanye West working on his next album? Probably not; he's too busy being the expresso and not-really-rapping over Nine Inch Nails' "Closer." With Yeezus, we got to see 'Ye bring a number of electronic music producers into his work, including Hudson Mohawke, Brodinski, Daft Punk, and Arca. We don't know where his next album will be, sonically, but imagine if he was still on this electronic kick. Which producers would he bring into his cipher? Judging by what we heard on Yeezus, here are our picks.

Machinedrum

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The jungle/footwork sound is not going away anytime soon. And for all of the praise the Chicago footwork scene is getting, we wouldn't be surprised if Kanye linked up with Machinedrum, who seems to walk on a similar plane when it comes to atmosphere that Kanye does. For those somber, heartfelt soliloquies that we know 'Ye has in him, he might want to break out the Auto-Tune and croon over a movement like "Infinite Us."

James Blake

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James Blake and Kanye West have an interesting relationship, with James saying that some of the soul you feel on Overgrown ("Retrograde" in particular) was spawned from working in-studio with Kanye West. In return, 'Ye might be able to get Blake to show him how to get emotional with a small number of resources, crafting sparse tapestries with loops and found sound.

DJ Rashad

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Kanye reps Chicago, as does DJ Rashad. They're both from the school of sampling, and the way Rashad works samples is just as soulful as the illest hip-hop producers. The trap and footwork that he incorporates would fit perfectly with the futurist circles that Kanye is moving within.

Cashmere Cat

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Cashmere Cat's already made a splash with his output for Pelican Fly, but now that he's a part of the LuckyMe camp, it should only make sense that the trap/Jersey club sound that he's been cultivating would be handed from Hudson Mohawke to Kanye (or whoever discovers dope artists for Kanye). Cashmere's sound would be right at home on a Yeezus 2.

Flying Lotus

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Why has this not happened yet? They share some of the same friends (Tyler, the Creator, for example), and both dwell in an area where hip-hop and dance music seem to be intersecting. FLyLo has also spent time behind the mic, and would know how to blend those odd textures into a sound hip-hop project.

Ateph Elidja

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Kanye's already pulled the French electronic music card on Yeezus, with Daft Punk, Gesaffelstein, and Brodinski all contributing to the project. Why not get Bromance's latest import, Ateph Elidja, to bring that harsh hip-hop/techno sound to Kanye's beautiful dark twisted fantasy world.

Justice

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Just imagine how intense a Justice / Kanye West tour would be. He wants to be rock & roll? Affix yourself to the Justice train and watch the neon lights shine.

Blawan

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There's something about an artist who drops a track like "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?" that makes us think Kanye could rock with Blawan's sound. With releases on Hessle and R&S, Blawan's music might be an intriguing starting point for Kanye's next project.

Breakage

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Dubstep's not gone, and Breakage is more than dubstep, but just close your eyes and listen to Breakage's "Hard." If a pair of UK representers like Newham Generals can massacre this beat, imagine Kanye going full-Yeezus and dismantling this massively sparse riddim. Breakage is a sleeper hit for American audiences, and can also give Kanye a number of vibes.

Zomby

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We don't want to call Zomby the Kanye West of electronic music, but if you check out his Twitter, you can see that Zomby speaks with no filter, and has the music to back up his views. His latest project, With Love, could be a great blueprint for a multi-faceted Kanye West album. Our wish? That Zomby and Kanye do collaborative project.

Burial

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For many, Burial's the last great musician to emerge from the dubstep scene. We're not sure if we can hear Kanye West rapping over an album's worht of Untrue soundscapes, but we could hear some post-808s material coming over these tracks, with 'Ye channeling his inner Weeknd.

Nicolas Jaar

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Jaar and West might make a magnum opus together. It might not sound like Kanye rapping over Jaar, but we have a feeling they could shapeshift and churn out some kind of hybrid collaborative effort that would find them meeting somewhere in the middle... or just find Kanye surfing the "blue-wave."

Jamie xx

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On paper, this collaboration would get many people talking. Kanye spent time sampling Gil Scott-Heron, while Jamie xx worked with the late visionary on an intriguing hybrid project (Scott-Heron's last). If that's not an enticing connection off the bat, maybe it's the fact that Jamie's consistently moved from strength to strength that we have a feeling a marriage of their styles will be well worth it.

Kingdom

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Fade to Mind's Kingdom has been killing it in 2013. Vertical XL is a great snapshot of the kind of sound Kanye should be moving towards (assuming he's trying to keep this electronic tinge to his output), and "OG Master" has enough space for Kanye to drop some off-kilter braggadacio to.

Joker

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Out of all of these electronic producers, the idea of Kanye West spitting over some Joker production as a radio single? We'd feel like we won. Joker's "purple wow" sound has a number of hip-hop influences in it, and we think his music might be the most accessible for Kanye to just open up and rhyme to.

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