Top 25: Bink

Young Guru was a guest on the Juan Epstein podcast last month and as he was going through the history of the Dynasty and Blueprint and how Kanye West and Just Blaze got their starts, Cipha Sounds asked why Bink is never brought up in that discussion. Guru admitted that he should be part of that discussion and then danced around why that isn't the case. There were a couple theories. Bink chose not to sign to the same management that grabbed up Kanye and Just right after The Blueprint. Based on twitter scuffles from a few years back, Bink and Just had some issues. Regardless, Bink wasn't on any Jay-Z album after The Blueprint and as a result his career went in an entirely different direction.

Today Bink showed up on Juan Epstein. It unfortunately is a pretty short interview but he addresses this issue directly. According to him, he didn't get anymore placements after 2001 because he didn't sign with the same management team. But he says he didn't sign because he felt like he and Just Blaze had too similar a sound, and that is where his real problem lies. He feels that the Just Blaze sound is really just the Bink sound, specifically that you don't get "U Don't Know" without "1-900-Hustler." And if the narrative tells that Rocafella's sound was architected by Kanye and Just only, you can see why he would be bitter. I actually don't agree that they're that similar. On the surface, sure. But I think Just's stuff is generally much more grandiose and their drum patterns are distinct. And it's probably not fair for him to assume that Just ripped him off specifically, although Kanye's stuff sounded nothing like Bink's. It's also very possible that this is only his side of the story, and he was not offered any work because how difficult he was being, both with Just and otherwise.

His sound throughout his career has been pretty consistent. He leans towards the uptempo, organs and horn stab "1-900-Hustler" type beats, but there's ones that he's done that are smoother than any Just or Kanye soul beat. His drums are definitely his signature. He has maybe the most crisp drums by any rap producer ever.

He is an essential part of Rocafella's history based on his contributions to the Dynasty and Blueprint alone. His songs on The Blueprint might be the best on the album. He deserves his props as a producer generally but also, especially given the above story, for his longevity.  He started with Teddy Riley in the 90s, worked with The Lost Boyz, was signed to Stevie J and later partnered on production with Missy Elliott all before the Rocafella stuff happened. The placements after that are with pretty random major label mid-level artists until about 2010 when he finds his way into both Kanye West and Dr. Dre's camps. I'd like to hear him with so many artists today – imagine Vince Stapes over a Bink beat – because the music is still top notch. Here are Bink's 25 best beats.

Listen on Spotify.

Bink Top 25:

1. Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek & Freeway - 1-900-Hustler
2. Jay-Z - All I Need^
3. Jay-Z - The Ruler's Back^
4. Jay-Z - Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)^
5. Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek & Amil - You, Me, Him And Her
6. Freeway - When They Remember
7. Pusha T - I Am Forgiven^
8. Kanye West - Devil In A New Dress (feat. Rick Ross)
9. Rick Ross - We Shinin'
10. GZA - Animal Planet
11. Young Gunz - Future Of The Roc
12. Method Man & Redman - Four Minutes To Lock Down (feat. Raekwon & Ghostface Killah)
13. Amerie - Paint Me Over^
14. Beanie Sigel - Raw & Uncut (feat. Jay-Z)
15. Tamia - Can't Go For That
16. Blackstreet - Don't Leave Me
17. P. Diddy & The Bad Boy Family - The Last Song
18. Freeway - Victim of the Ghetto
19. Currensy - What It Look Like (feat. Wale)
20. John Legend – Who Do We Think We Are (feat. Rick Ross)
21. Cassidy - Damn I Miss The Game
22. Memphis Bleek - The One (feat. Rihanna)
23. Skillz - (for Real) He Don't Own Me
24. Mr. Cheeks - I Apologize
25. Dr. Dre - It's All On Me (feat. Justus & BJ The Chicago Kid)^

^Not on Spotify

Previous Top 25 Lists:
Cool & Dre
Hi-Tek

Top 25: Hi-Tek

There are soul beats, generally attributed to Just Blaze, Kanye West and the like in which songs from the 70s are chopped, looped and at times sped up, and then there are beats that touch your soul. That trigger a frequency in your brain and the rest of your body to feel a sensation so pure you wonder why anyone would spend the rest of his life listening to anything different. For most of my formative years, Hi-Tek helped me experience the latter feeling. Tek was a magician with a drum machine, melding vocal samples, bass lines and drums in a way that few in rap had done before. And while a Just Blaze or a Bink could make something hard and turn around and make something smooth, few producers could generate a beat with a palpable sense of melancholy like Hi-Tek. Take Snoop Dogg's "I Believe In You." It's a sad beat, but it's a happy beat. You have the hi-hat and rimshot combo for most of the drum loop paired with a guitar part that implies sorrow or mourning, but then those shakers and that oh-so-beautiful clap come in at the third bar to make everything feel better again.

Not a lot of producers experienced celebratory underground status and major commercial success like Hi-Tek. He grew up in Cincinnati — and you can probably make a Midwest Dilla connection in terms of the soul stuff but they do have pretty established differences* — but he's mostly known for his work with Rawkus Records in New York. He produced five songs on Mos Def and Talib Kweli's Blackstar album and he has assorted credits throughout the Soundbombing series, but he's easily most famous for his and Kweli's Reflection Eternal album (the first one, anyway) and its lead single "The Blast."

*If anything, you can probably make the Pete Rock comparison but they all obviously come from the same lineage.

In 2002, he received a call from Dr. Dre asking permission to use the beat for what would become "Hollywood" for Truth Hurts' debut. That sparked his relationship with Aftermath where he would contribute to albums by 50 Cent, G-Unit, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, The Game (twice), Snoop Dogg (twice) and D12, albums that would go on to sell 11 million, 5.5 million, 4 million, 5 hundred thousand, 5 million, 2.3 million, 1 million, 1 million and 2 million copies, respectively, though none of his songs were ever singles. In 2009 when three or four T.I. references for what was then Detox leaked, one of them, "Coming Back", was done by Hi-Tek and I stand by the fact that that song and the rest of that batch were better than anything on Compton.

He also released three solo albums that featured him rapping* even though he was never really known for that and a bunch of his friends that were much more famous than him. They were kind of like DJ Khaled albums but not as good and he actually contributed something to them. Hi-Teknology 2 is one of those middle of the road albums that doesn't really exist anymore but for nostalgic reasons means a lot to a certain type of person on the Internet. I'm one of those people, but to be fair 2006 was a hell of a year for that kind of fan. While I still wait for that unreleased Dion album, here are Hi-Tek's 25 best beats.

*Apparently all written by Smoke DZA.

Listen on Spotify.

Hi-Tek Top 25:

1. Reflection Eternal - The Blast
2. Bishop Lamont - Friends*^
3. Snoop Dogg – I Believe In You (feat. Latoiya Williams)
4. The Game – Runnin' (feat. Tony Yayo)
5. Dr. Dre – Coming Back (feat. T.I.) [T.I. reference]*^
6. 50 Cent – Ryder Music
7. Hi-Tek - Come Get It (Tekstrumentals)
8. The Game - Ol' English (feat. Dion)
9. Hi-Tek - Music for Life (feat. J. Dilla, Nas, Common, Busta Rhymes & Marsha Ambrosius)
10. Reflection Eternal – Love Language
11. Reflection Eternal – Good Mourning
12. Styles P – Testify (feat. Talib Kweli)^
13. Hi-Tek – Step Ya Game Up (Remix) [feat. Little Brother & Dion]
14. Cormega – Take These Jewels
15. Hi-Tek – The Sun God (feat. Common & Vinia Mojica)
16. Styles P – Let's Go (feat. Ray J)
17. The Game - Letter To The King (feat. Nas)
18. Reflection Eternal – Back Again (feat. RES)
19. Hi-Tek – Josephine (feat. Ghostface Killah, The Willie Cottrell Band & Pretty Ugly)
20. Hi-Tek – Know Me (feat. Jonell)
21. Hi-Tek – Baby We Can Do It (feat. Czar-Nok)
22. Black Star – Respiration
23. Common – 1-9-9-9 (feat. Sadat X & Talib Kweli)
24. G-Unit – G-Unit
25. Tha Eastsidaz – Eastside Ridaz (feat. Snoop Dogg, LaToiya Williams, Nate Dogg & Soopafly)

* Not released officially
^ Not on Spotify


Previous Top 25 Lists:
Cool & Dre

Top 25: Cool & Dre

Cool & Dre are an interesting case study. The duo were never superstar producers. They had two major hits in 2004 and 2005 with "New York" and "Hate It or Love It" and a small handful of top 40 hits after that with Juvenile, Christina Milian and The Game and Lil Wayne. But they've managed to not only stay working but to do so in a way that still actually matters. They never ended up doing beats for random dudes on Koch.

Way more often than not, the music – or at the very least, their contribution – is so great. I can count on one hand songs they did that I'm not necessarily celebrating ("Lights Get Low", anything that has involved Nas...). They use samples freely. They do entirely original music. Rap. R&B. They can write hooks. Dre can sing hooks. They've done soul beats. They even had their 80s glam rock period with synths and brite pianos ("100 Million", "The Crack House", "Make The World Go Round", "World Tour"). There is a richness and texture to their music, a completeness that never feels like too much. It can be radio ready but remains true to an aesthetic.

I'd say that the only left for them to accomplish would be to bring in a new artist or produce an entire album, but they've tried to do both of those things. They produced that entire Christina Milian album when she was dating Dre, and you can totally forget about that one. The first single was a fake "Hate It or Love It" and the second single was a fake "Stay Fly." And randomly enough, they produced the entire Queen Latifah comeback album in 2009 and I don't know what the fuck that one was. It would have been cool if things worked out with Don Trip, but let's blame that one on Interscope.

In 2015, no artist is coming to them for a single, but it's amazing the relationships they've maintained over the years. They've worked steadily with Rick Ross, Lil Wayne,  The Game, DJ Khaled and Fat Joe. The Runners, Danja, shit even J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League aren't doing anything like that. The amazing thing about this list and their discography in general is how much those five artists overlap among it. It was really a great time to record in Miami from 2005 to 2009. I'd love to see Young Thug or Vince Staples over a Cool & Dre beat. Meek, Kendrick, Drake, maybe even Jay-Z. For now, let's celebrate their legacy as it stands. This is, this is, this is...

Listen on Spotify (except "Holla At Me" because Koch is garbage and the Jay Rock song which for whatever reason is no longer streamable)

Cool & Dre Top 25:

1. Brown Paper Bag (DJ Khaled)
2. Hate It Or Love It (The Game)
3. New York (Ja Rule)
4. Rodeo (Juvenile)
5. 100 Million (Birdman)
6. Holla At Me (DJ Khaled)
7. Take Me Home (Terror Squad)
8. Let's Just Do It (Joe)
9. All My Life (Jay Rock)
10. Blow (Rick Ross)
11. Prove Something (Fat Joe)
12. Da Da Da (Lil Wayne)
13. Confessions (8Ball & MJG)
14. Loyalty (Fat Joe)
15. Forgot About Me (Scarface)
16. Valley of Death (Fat Joe)
17. On Fire (Lil Wayne)
18. Born In The Ghetto (Fat Joe)
19. Big Dreams (The Game)
20. Ashamed (Rick Ross)
21. The Crack House (Fat Joe)
22. Good Girls Go Bad (The Game)
23. So Special (Lil Wayne)
24. Let It Show (Tyga)
25. All That (The Game)