A year ago when Nas said, “I’m with the smoke” producers and beatmakers alike rejoiced over a battle between the mega-producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland.
But wait there’s more! Could there an album battle in the works?
For any person who creates music, certain producers have a signature style. Swizz Beatz’s high energy, amazing sample chops, and melody driven hit sound was essential to the magic that was Ruff Ryders, Jay-Z, and even Cassidy. Timbaland’s classic bop, hectic syncopation, and track building have built and cemented the careers of Missy Elliot, Ginuwine, and the princess of R&B, Aaliyah. So seeing these giants take their epic battle from an upward swipe of Instagram to the gritty stage of Summer Jam owned the annual Hot 97 concert event.
Now Swizz want’s to evolve their battle beyond touring across the country.
So when Timbaland posted this candid from the studio, you had to know Swizz would try to raise the bar. He issued a challenge that took us back to the glory days of 106 & Park. Back when Yeezy and 50 Cent went it at it to see who would have the best selling album. Grammy.com documented the time when Ye and 50 were dropping their all-important third albums and the fans were so with it. So will the masters of the drum pad, the heralds of syncopation, the enoys of “The Smoke” take their friendly battle to the digital streaming realm?
If the “Money in Bank” producer gets his way, we could see a dual album release. Dropping his white glove challenge under the above picture, Swizz Beatz said, “We should drop on the same day ?.”
This could be great for Hip-Hop. There are various articles on TheSource.com of producers calling out Billboard chart-toppers for not paying for beats, acknowledging their work, or dropping shade diminishing the creative accomplishments for the producers that got them on.
- Hudson Mohawke called out Drake and Kanye West for not paying for beats.
- In the same article, DJ Mustard called out YG in a short social media feud about Def Jam not cutting that check.
- DJ Burn got left in the cold even though he crafted the sound that got ASAP Rocky on.
- Even megastar songwriters like The Dream and Ne-Yo had to remind the world it was their pen who gave a certain queen her hits.
Pushing the Producer to the headlines is just good for the culture. Swizz and Timbo are at the Hip-Hop elite, sharing the top of the mountain with producers like DJ Premier, Eric B, Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, No I.D., Yeezy, Just Blaze, Havoc, and more. Bringing not just beatmakers, but forces of nature like music mainstays to the forefront will shine a very important light on the unsung heroes of the studio and the charts alike.
Even Wale posted to his Twitter shouting out the hard work of Producers & Engineers, saying they deserve a day to be recognized:
We need a national engineer/producer day https://t.co/lqjd6Ykqmw
— Wale (@Wale) July 3, 2018
Cant stress enough, how engineers/producers are the unsung heroes of every classic.. niggas be in the stu listening to ONE snare for hours
— Wale (@Wale) July 3, 2018
Everyone knows the hit record, but like Wale said, it could take forever just to get one part of the song right. That one part that just works, but everyone overlooks. All just to get the perfect song. The snare isn’t important until you hear a song with a bad one and it instantly becomes trash.
Hopefully, Timbo will answer the call and give us one awesome music filled summer.
