10 Producers Accused of Making the Same Beat Over and Over Again

Here's a list of producers whose signature sounds may not be as original as you think.

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Complex Original

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Being a successful producer in hip-hop is a double-edged sword. Rarely does a beatmaker become a bankable brand name without a signature sound they can recreate for whoever's willing to pay. But once the producer’s name gets hot, and artists start lining up to get that sound for their next single, listeners recognize the common traits between different beats, and get wise to the “formula.”

In a genre built on loops and breaks, there’s nothing wrong with a little repetition, but returning to certain sounds over and over can make their appeal fade. Here are 10 hip-hop producers frequently accused of making the same beat over and over again, and why those claims may (or may not) be justified.

Swizz Beatz

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Beat blueprint: Three note synth riffs and Dr. Rhythm drums

Signature beat: DMX “Ruff Ryders Anthem” (1998)

Beat clones: Eve “Gotta Man” (1999), Noreaga “Banned From TV” (1998), Drag-On “Down Bottom” (1999), Ruff Ryders “Scenario 2000” (1999), Jay-Z “Jigga My Nigga” (1999)

When a teenaged Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean started placing hard but simplistic beats on multi-platinum Ruff Ryder releases in the late ‘90s, it was all too easy to dismiss the young nephew of label founders Dee and Waah Dean as a beneficiary of nepotism. But 15 years later, Swizz is the most successful survivor of the Ruff Ryders era, and it’s not just because he married up. He kept making club beats you can dumb out to, but he changed the formula every few years to keep the sound fresh, whether it was the simple addition of synth horns or, for a while, sampling Jay-Z lines for hooks.

DJ Premier

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Beat blueprint: Boom bap drums, scratched vocal samples, dramatic string loops

Signature beat: Nas “Nas Is Like” (1999)

Beat clones: Mos Def “Mathematics” (1999), Jay-Z “So Ghetto” (2000), Royce Da 5'9” “Hip Hop” (2003)

Throughout Gang Starr’s early run, DJ Premier invented and refined what is still, for many fans, the platonic ideal of a hip-hop beat. But by the late ‘90s, Premo’s command of that sound, and his status as the only producer still selling those kinds of beats to superstars in the jiggy era, made him begin to seem a little staid. Since then, he’s stayed in his comfort zone, and his ability to stitch several lines from different songs into one coherent hook has come to be expected. 

The Heatmakerz

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Beat blueprint: Pitched up vocal samples, regal horn loops, splashy drums

Signature beat: The Diplomats “Dipset Anthem” (2003)

Beat clones: Diplomats “My Love” (2003), Juelz Santana “Oh Yes!” (2005), Cam'ron “Purple Haze” (2004)

When Cam’ron joined Roc-A-Fella Records for a brief but successful run on the label, in-house producers Just Blaze and Kanye West gave him the label’s signature sound of sped up soul samples. But as Cam’ron started to focus on his Diplomats crew and break away from Roc-A-Fella, it was another production team, The Heatmakerz, that began to give Dipset its own distinct spin on the sound. But while Yeezy and Just outgrew the soul beat formula and became more versatile, The Heatmakerz kept hammering at the helium vocal loops and squealing brass.

Eminem

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Beat blueprint: Moody keyboards and rigid 8th note drums

Signature beat: Eminem “Lose Yourself” (2003)

Beat clones: Eminem “The Way I Am” (2000), Jay-Z “Moment of Clarity” (2003), Nas “The Cross” (2002)

With his inventive flows and rapidfire delivery, Eminem established himself early on as a rapper who knew a thing or two about rhythm. But when he began to play a bigger and bigger role in the production of his blockbuster albums, first co-producing with Jeff Bass and then making tracks on his own, it became clear that Em was far more of a minimalist as a beatmaker than as an MC. All that empty space in his slow, spare beats left the perfect amount of room for Marshall Mathers to rap his ass off. 

Lil Jon

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Beat blueprint: 808 kicks and claps, gang chants, shrill synths and whistles

Signature beat: YoungBloodz “Damn!” (2003)

Beat clones: Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz “Get Low” (2002), Bravehearts f/ Nas & Lil Jon “Quick To Back Down” (2003), Usher “Yeah!” (2004)

Lil Jon kicked around Atlanta for years, rocking crowds as a DJ and curating the So So Def Bass All-Stars compilations, before he became the screaming, pimp cup-brandishing mainstream face of crunk music. With crisp, hard-hitting beats, Lil Jon permanently made the 808 handclap the default snare drum of Southern rap music, while the rowdy shouts of the producer and his crew the Eastside Boyz created an air of chaos around his steady 16th note hi-hats.

After his iron grip on Atlanta rap slipped, Lil Jon diversified with forays into hyphy and EDM that showed he was capable of other sounds, but there remains no question of what a Lil Jon beat sounds like.

Scott Storch

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Beat blueprint: Brooding piano chords, Middle Eastern string figures, snap drums

Signature beat: Terror Squad “Lean Back” (2004)

Beat clones: 50 Cent “Candy Shop” (2005), Remy Ma “Conceited” (2006), R. Kelly “Playas Only” (2005)

After breaking into the game playing keyboards for The Roots, Scott Storch ascended into the top ranks of hip-hop production by helping Dr. Dre craft a revitalized new sound in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. And when Storch struck out on his own, it became clear how much his piano work and dramatic string loops contributed to the billion-dollar Aftermath sound. And while he managed an impressive run of chart-topping singles before he crashed into bankruptcy and a beef with Timbaland, it quickly became clear that he was all too happy to recycle the “Lean Back” strings instead of coming up with new ideas.

The Runners

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Beat blueprint: Screwed vocal loops, ominous organ riffs, and “ahhh” exhale sound effects

Signature beat: Rick Ross “Hustlin’” (2006)

Beat clones: DJ Khaled “Born-N-Raised” (2006), Beanie Sigel “All The Above” (2007), Curren$y “Where Da Cash At” (2008)

With songs like Lil Wayne’s “Money On My Mind” and Rick Ross’s “Hustlin’” running 2005 and 2006, the Miami production team The Runners proved that slowed down vocal samples didn’t belong solely to Houston, putting their own bombastic twist on the increasingly popular sound. But even as the duo became DJ Khaled’s go-to beatmakers and scored more hits, with and without screwed hooks, all their tire-screeching bangers started to sound the same, until finally their clients moved onto something new.

Lex Luger

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Beat blueprint: Hammering synth horns, hyperactive hi-hats

Signature beat: Rick Ross featuring Styles P “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)” (2010)

Beat clones: Waka Flocka Flame “Hard In Da Paint” (2010), Ace Hood “Hustle Hard” (2011), Kanye West and Jay-Z “H.A.M.” (2011)

With a wrestler’s name and an appropriately aggressive sound, Virginia teenager Lexus Arnel Lewis stormed southern hip-hop in 2010 with a loud, busy variation on Atlanta trap music that spawned countless imitators. Lex Luger quickly tried to fight his way out of being stereotyped for the sound of his breakthrough hits with Waka Flocka Flame by making mellower, subtler hits like Wale’s “That Way.” And while he hasn’t remained a consistent hitmaker since then, the splatter of horns and hi-hats that he introduced to the game are still ubiquitous.

Mike WiLL Made It

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Beat blueprint: Low pass filters, loud/soft dynamics, and eerie synth whistles

Signature beat: Juicy J “Bandz A Make Her Dance” (2013)

Beat clones: 2 Chainz “No Lie” (2012), Rihanna “Pour It Up” (2012), Future “Neva End” (2012)

Mike WiLL Made It graduated from Gucci Mane mixtapes to rap radio dominance, and then to pop crossover with Miley Cyrus, by perfecting a distinctive sound. Applying filters and beat drops normally associated with dance music to slow, cruising Southern rap beats, Mike WiLL made molasses-slow trap music sound more euphoric and accessible than it ever had before. But songs like “No Lie” by 2 Chainz and “Pour It Up” by Rihanna all followed a soft/loud formula so reliably that some tracks began to blend together.

DJ Mustard

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Beat blueprint: Post-hyphy drums, tinkling pianos, barking vocal loops

Signature beat: Tyga “Rack City” (2012)

Beat clones: Jeremih “Don't Tell 'Em” (2014), TeeFlii “24 Hours” (2014), 2 Chainz, “I'm Different” (2012)

You don’t need to hear the famous “Mustard on the beat, ho” drop to identify a track as belonging to the most ubiquitous producer of 2014. With a clear debt to both Bay area hyphy innovators and Lil Jon’s bulletproof club rap formula, Mustard has found a way to spin minor variations on one uptempo style into dozens of hits.

But being instantly recognizable does not make all of his work interchangeable. His snap-driven breakthrough track, Tyga’s “Rack City,” has proven to be something of an outlier, and co-productions like Tinashe’s “2 On” have shown how lush Mustard’s tracks can sound with some outside input.

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