Back with our annual Dean's List awards, 2014 had many many promising producers that impressed us and it seemed impossible to narrow down our top 15. But we did and now we present the OK-Tho award winning producers that look to have a promising future and much more.
Phoniks: Coming straight out of Portland, Maine, you'd think this dope producer was from New York. With a signature style reminiscent to DJ Premier and Pete Rock, Phoniks beats bare that old soul and jazz infused sound. Back in 2011 is when he first debuted his solo projects of remixes and instrumentals, but it wasn't til 2013's "
Return to the Golden Era" with emcee Awon that really got him noticed. Since then he has dropped numerous classic projects with Awon, Dephlow, Anti-Lilly, Peebs The Prophet and more. 2014 saw over 5 projects from him and now with his own label Don't Sleep Records, I'm sure they will keep coming.
Amerigo Gazeway: With the breakthrough release of 2011’s "
Fela Soul" (Fela Kuti + De La Soul), Nashville DJ/Producer Amerigo Gazaway’s sophomore effort was declared a virtual web hit seemingly overnight. But it got bigger from there. After 2012's "
Bizarre Tribe: Quest To The Pharcyde" (ATCQ + The Pharcyde), 2014 saw Amerigo unleash his most successful releases to date: the pairing of Yasiin Bey and Marvin Gaye aptly titled “
Yasiin Gaye” (side one and two.) Now nationally known for his mash up's, there is only wondering what artists Amerigo will be working with in 2015 and years to come.
DJ Brans: French producers have really been standing out in the past years and DJ Brans reigns atop a lot of them. Along with his Effiscienz record label, Brans broke out to the US working with artists like Wyld Bunch and the Dirt Platoon crew, using his vintage boom bap style of producing. 2014 tho has become his most successful year with the releases of "
BRANCIANO", "
G.T.F.O.M.Y." with Platoon member Raf Almighty, and "
The Invisible Garden" with Fel Sweetenberg which also was picked for our Top Album's of 2014. It's clear to see he will be around for a while and I'm anxious for his future releases.
Vanderslice: Having been around since the early 2000's, Pennsylvanian producer Vanderslice is not a new face to the Hip Hop scene. Most notable for his work with fellow producer Stu Bangas with 2012's "
Diggaz With Attitude", Slice has been that dude hiding that you'd have to notice like Waldo. If your a true underground head, you'd know of his work with Access Immortal, Apathy, AWAR, Jedi Minds AOTP, Pumpkin Head and much more. His ability to make those hard, grimy, gutter and brutal head nodding beats is what puts him in a league with very few other producers. 2014 I would say is his best year seeing as that he dropped two albums in which he was the main and only producer. One solo "
Everything's Awesome", and one with AWAR "
The Winning Team". Slice looks to hopefully make a project with Freddie Gibbs which would only make his buzz bigger.
Ray West: Based in the Bronx, Ray West's music represents an era that will never die nor loose it's touch. He is not that type of producer that will work with just anybody. It seems he gets his pick of the litter, and why not, mostly everything he does gets released on his Red Apples 45 label. Working on projects with Diggin In The Crates members AG (
LUV NY) and O.C. (
Rays Cafe) as well as joints with Roc Marciano, Blu, Kool Keith and more, Ray seems to have solidified himself with the other veterans like Diamond D, Lord Finesse and them. 2014 he dropped "
Rays Cafe" as well as "
Sample x Percussion" with John Robinson. I love his vintage sound and style, especially the releases of cassettes. I can't wait to see what he brings in 2015.
L'Orange: Dedicated to originality, L’Orange imbues his smoky, soul-soaked tracks with lush texture through inventive mixing and psychedelic cuts from classic radio recordings. First dropping instrumental singles and projects, L then started to work with underground heavy weight names like Blu, yU and Has-Lo which eventually got him signed to Mello Music Group. From there he released 2013's "
The City Under The City" with Stik Figa and last years "
The Orchid Days". Every L’Orange production is a unique, organic and undeniably original work of art, giving the listener a glimpse of the artist himself, even if obscured slightly by shadow. And while signed with MMG, I'm sure he'll be working closely with their growing lineup.
Knxwledge: Just 24 years old, this dope producer's range has no limits. With over 50 projects released of remixes and instrumentals, it's no wonder Stones Throw picked up the young one for their roster. His Soundcloud page has garnered over 69 thousand followers. And with dope instrumentals dropping every week or so as well as having worked with acts such as Joey Bada$$, Jeremiah Jae and more, it's no question that we will see this beatsmith making an even bigger name in the future.
Freddie Joachim: Always an avid listener and collector of hip hop, jazz, and soul music, Freddie finally began djing in ’96, which slowly progressed into recording and production, and musicianship. Since then, he has continued to produce and collaborate with many artists, as well as license music with many popular brands and companies, including DC Shoes, Nike, Adidas, K-Swiss, Monster Energy, and more. Along with his instrumental series, Freddi has been on an incline of buzz worthy productions working with Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era crew as well as Aloe Blacc, Blu and more. Along with friend, Yusai, Freddie now runs the San Francisco based label, Mellow Orange, and looks to continue his onslaught of production.
Nemisis: Inspired to make music after the sudden death of his brother, 26 year old Nemisis has packed quite the resume in a short period of time. First debuting back in 2007, Nem dropped volumes of mixtapes and EP's with numerous up and coming acts. 2011 saw his first solo album "
The Undergraduate" which featured a list of newcoming artists. His turning point in his career was linking with Nino Bless and dropping some of the best cuts on his "
R.O.A.M." projects. But it wasn't until 2014's "
Paid Dues" that the beatsmith really stood out. The project was jam packed with heavy weights like Copywrite, Kid Vishis, Royce Da 5'9, Bless, Eternia, Torae and many more. It also signified his dark hard core sampled production that makes us anxious for more.
The Militia: Hailing from South Africa, The Militia already holds a high standard for himself. Baring that chopped sample production, the homie looks to continue bringing that raw rugged Boom Bap sound. He first jumped on the scene with 2011's "
That New York Sound" which had him working with Reef The Lost Cauze, Mo The General and more. He followed up with "Timeless Classic" which solidified his production with acts such as Skyzoo, Rome Clientel, Peter Gunz and even getting a cosign from Statik Selektah. 2013 may have been his year so far with 5 released projects including 3 which he dropped with rappers Curtessy (2) and Blue Legacy (1). In 2014 his grind never seemed to slow dropping an EP with Barak The Rapper and 2 instrumental projects. It can only get better from here with this guy.
Leaf Dog: UK producer Leaf Dog is probably the dopest producer you don't know about. Along with High Focus Records, Leaf has produced mass amounts of singles and projects with the likes of fellow label mates, Verb T, Fliptrix, BVA, Smellington Piff, Cracker Jon and 2Late plus more. Over here in the US he worked with legends such as DJ Premier, Inspectah Deck, G Rap, Styles P, AOTP and U-God. Next to production homie is a skilled lyricist as well. With his crew the Four Owls, 2015 looks to be a big year for the MC/producer and his production discography I;m sure is gonna vastly grow.
IAMNOBODI: Hailing from Berlin, Germany, IAMNOBODI holds a distinct sound influenced by J Dilla, Madlib and Pete Rock. His futuristic and synth style takes his music beyond Hip Hop, experimenting with soul, RnB and electronic. His numerous singles, remixes and instrumentals have gotten him noticed by record label Jakarta where he stays today. Working with BJ The Chicago Kid, Jay Prince and KR Radio as well as dropping a number of remixes has garnered hundreds of thousands of plays. With Jarkata Records on the rise and his notoriety increasing, you'll see homie working with some bigger names this year.
Analogic: Having been around since the formation of DJ K.O.'s Elementality Productions, New Jersey producer Analogic was a unknown beatsmith. He helped the label get off the ground with projects from Silent Knight, East, Madkem and K.O. himself. His multi talents from sampling to live instruments and keyboard produced beats have made him the labels go to producer which got him to produce for allstars like Skyzoo, Evidence, Alchemist, Wordsworth, Kenn Starr, Supastition and more. 2014 saw his acclaimed debut album "
The Booth Shall Set You Free" and "
Natural High" with Madkem. 2015 looks to be a promising year as he continues to perfect his craft and work with the right artists.
King I Divine: Queens producer King I Divine is a name that is first, synonymous with MPC's, secondly with sounds of head-nodding Hip Hop, samples and snares. Influenced by the greats like RZA, Premo, Dilla and Pete Rock, King perfected a sound so tight that over the years it has got him to work with artists such as Boog Brown, Artifacts, JD Era, Torae, J Live, Blu, Rasheed Hadee and his most acclaimed installment to date, ‘Divine Scienze’with emcee ScienZe. The two collaborative projects he dropped this year with ScienZe have been his best work to date and with a new year upon us I'm sure he will continue to grow as a dope producer.
DirtyDiggs: Los Angeles twosome of Noy and JR form the dope Gold Chain Music production duo DirtyDiggs. Their track record goes back to the late 2000's producing for fellow GCM mates Planet Asia, Killa Kali, Killer Ben, TriState and Turbin as well as others including Fashawn, Kweli, Camp Lo and Roc Marciano . 2013 was their breakout year dropping the EP's "
High End Clothes" with Asia and "
Poisonous Diggs" with Kali. 2014 is their best year to date tho having dropped their debut album "
Gold Digger" as well as Killa Kali's "
Kaligraphy" and producing a hit single for Rah Digga. With their upcoming "
Rodman" on the way its just a matter of time before these two reach the higher plateau.
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