2017: The Year The Producers Took Over

Swedish duo BC Unidos

Probably the most obvious, but easily the most prolific. Kanye began his career in the early 2000s as a master of the MPC; producing for Roc-A-Fella artists like Freeway and Beanie Sigel, as well as being credited for revitalizing Jay Z’s career with his contributions to The Blueprint. However, Kanye started his journey to becoming a household name with his debut album The College Dropout. This found West not only showcasing his solid rap skills, but his unique brand of soul-sampling production. As of today, Kanye West is considered one of the most polarising artists of the 21st century, and has released eight critically acclaimed albums which range all the way from the grandeur of classical music, to the grimey minimalism of industrial.

Over the last 5 years Australian producer Flume has positioned himself as a tastemaker in the sound of EDM and beyond. Crashing into the mainstream in 2012 with collaborations like “Drop The Game”, Flume brought his own unique, wonky sound of synth-based EDM to the charts. Flash forward to 2017, he has two number one albums in Australia, two platinum singles, five Aria Awards, and one Grammy. Accolades aside, Flume’s synth-heavy, arena-ready production provided a much needed shift in the over-saturated dubstep scene that was prominent in 2012, and paved the way for producers like Baauer, RL Grime and more to bring their off-kilter ideas to contemporary audiences.

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo played a quintessential part in hip-hop throughout the 90s and 2000s as the The Neptunes. Their electronic, bass-heavy sounds provided the perfect alternative to the grimey boom-bap sounds of 90s hip-hop, and saw artists like Jay-Z, Clipse, Mase and more flock to it. However in 2001, The Neptunes teamed up with rapper Chad Haley to form a group called N.E.R.D, and released their album In Search Of… N.E.R.D was The Neptunes’ device to explore deeper elements of funk, rock, and electro, as well as a chance for Pharrell Williams to showcase his vocal abilities to their full extent. As of 2017, N.E.R.D have released five studio albums, Pharrell Williams has released two, and The Neptunes have continued to lay down their formula for various hits.

Over his 15 years in music, Diplo has become a jack of many trades and a master of many sounds. Rising to fame in the early 2000s, most notably for producing M.I.A’s smash hit “Paper Planes” Diplo’s sound sourced inspiration from hip-hop and trip-hop, before moving into reggae-inspired territories as a part of the group Major Lazer and EDM as a part of Jack-U. By continuing to produce hit after hit, Diplo became recognized as one of contemporary music’s most noteworthy tastemakers, while also starting his own label Mad Decent, which brought acts like DJ Snake and Riff Raff to the mainstream. As Diplo continues to produce hits on his lonesome, and for acts such as Beyonce, he continues to reinforce his place as one of EDM’s biggest superstars, and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

SOPHIE’s style has been described as ‘hyper-kinetic pop’, fusing the sounds of industrial, hip-hop, trap, and electronic music. Since 2011, SOPHIE has used her off-kilter production style to curate songs for Madonna, Charli XCX, Vince Staples, and more. However in 2017 she took her obscure sound to the forefront providing both production, and vocals on her single “It’s Okay To Cry”. This represented her first time appearing in one of her videos, and her rawest, most emotional track yet. Since then, she’s released another gigantic single in the form of “Ponyboy”, and plans to release her new album Whole New World in 2018. SOPHIE’s eclectic approach to music over the last five years has not only resulted in a swift ascension to popstar status, but also solidified her as a cult hero.

For the last five years, Metro Boomin has been positioning himself at the top of hip-hop without spitting a single bar. Working with superstars like Young Thug, Future, Drake, Kanye West, and more, Metro Boomin has played a vital part in the rapid change of hip-hop, with his unique brand of eerie trap beats. His infamous beat tag ‘if Young Metro don’t trust you I’mma shoot you’ has become a staple intro for modern day bangers, and has lead him on multiple worldwide tours, five top 20 singles in 2017 alone, and acclaim as one of the most talented and notable producers in hip-hop today.