
Hip-Hop dominated Billboard magazine’s recently announced top 10 producers of the decade list, with The Neptunes taking the top spot.
The Virginia duo, which consists of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, have worked with a slew of the decade’s biggest stars including everyone from rap’s elite like Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West to pop royalty like Madonna, Gwen Stefani and Britney Spears.
Fellow Virginia native Timbaland took the second seat on Billboard’s list followed by Kanye, Scott Storch, will.i.am, Lil Jon, Stargate (Beyonce, Ne-Yo), Bryan-Michael Cox (Mariah Carey, Usher, Mary J. Blige), Jermaine Dupri and Dr. Luke (Flo Rida, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne).
In related news longtime Neptunes associates the Clipse recently spoke to XXLMag,com about the “tug-of-war” process of working with the production team in the studio.
“[Pharrell will] love something and I’ll be like, ‘Yo, who is that moving,’ and it’ll be good, but…like, ‘That ain’t disrupting radio,’” Pusha Texplained. “And then we’ll get into, ‘Yo, it ain’t this record’ or ‘It ain’t that record.’ Then an argument ensues and he’ll tell everybody to get out the studio…and he’ll come back 40 minutes later with something, like ‘If you don’t take this I’m calling Hov, right now, I’ma call him. And he gonna take this, it’s gonna be the biggest record ever… I’m calling Puff.’ He’ll name any name that he just knows will get under my skin when I hear that they got something good that we should have.” [Watch below]
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December 18th, 2009
at 1:51 pm
j says:
Oh so the guy who sold THE MOST records of the decade - Eminem - and was produced by WHO??? I hate people.
Reply
December 19th, 2009
at 6:48 am
screezy says:
one dude who did numbers produced by dre aint gon cut it.. he produced A LOT of good shit but they wasn’t like monumental shit besides in da club.. this is billboard we talkin about and everybody else on that list was doin britney spears and justin timberlake type #1 singles.. funniest part about it is that scott storch made the list and we all know he made most of that crack u think dre did anyways
Reply
January 12th, 2010
at 10:57 pm
BlackWallin says:
fuck u screezy its like j said dre day he produced like everything on the documentary that sold what 5 million records eve, alot of fiftys first shit, eminem, busta when he was at aftermath raekwons new shit snoop listen to beats dipshit and u can tell he produced it scott storchs beat are club shit and they suck ill take u to the candy shop the beat sucked dres beats are the best and they always have been man mother fuckers dont know shit but anyways fuck scott storch u ass fuck scott storch’s beats dont come anywere near dre beats man look at all the mother fuckers who made it big cause dre was making the beats
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December 18th, 2009
at 1:52 pm
j says:
It’s Dre Day All Day
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 1:58 pm
eddie money says:
thats some bullshit Dr. Dre wasnt number 1, let alone not on the list at all. shit is rigged, real talk
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 1:59 pm
Neptunes Named Producers Of The Decade | NODFACTOR.COM says:
[...] From XXLmag.com [...]
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December 18th, 2009
at 2:03 pm
hiro says:
what the fuck is this shit????????? where Dr Dre this is bullshit the best producer ever is not mentioned fuck this westside
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 2:06 pm
hiphopzilla says:
It is blasphemous that they left out Dr. Dre when he has produced some of the most critcally acclaimed and commercially successfull albums and singles this decade. Furthermore what the FUCK!!! is that fag Dr. Luke doing on this list when he done one of the most annoying songs ever in Flo-Rida’s “Right Round”. Also if Dre is not on the list then why is JD (don’t get me wrong I like JD) doing on there what good has he done recently. Dre’s resume this decade alone includes: Eminem, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, The Game, Eve, Ice Cube, Mary J. Blige, Xzibit, Busta Rhymes, D-12, Jay-Z, Nas, Devin The Dude, Gwen Stefani, Raekwon, Rakim, G-Unit and more. DRE SHOULD BE NUMBER ONE FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!!
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December 18th, 2009
at 2:15 pm
MTL says:
The good Doctor got snubbed? SHEEEEIT!
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 2:21 pm
D Loc says:
Are you serious. They left out the good DR. Fuck the neptunes kanye timbo and the rest that made the list. In da club is probably the hottest record of the decade. Get the fuck outta here wit that bull shit cuzzo.
P.S. I didnt see Rza or Primo on that “list”
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 4:11 pm
zayzkidd says:
Rza and Primo? Are you serious? Don’t get me wrong, I like them as producers but they are talking about producers with commercial success. Of course Dre has been the best producer since the late 80s but this is not about complete albums, this is about commercial success. So, take this list with nothing more than a grain of salt.
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December 18th, 2009
at 2:25 pm
Streets Is Watchin says:
0_o …..hmmmmm jury out on this one……
Umbrellas Up Bitches
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 2:25 pm
D Loc says:
My bad, I like Storch 2. He’s a monster when working wit Dre.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 2:26 pm
guttaman says:
maybe DRE should have been on the list but honestly the Neptunes deserve the props they get.
they changed the whole look, sound and attitude of the music game.
they expanded hip hop’s sound.
they werent the first to not sample but they basically made every producer step theyre “no sample beat” skills up.
http://www.CandidBACKshots.com
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 2:27 pm
Tom says:
You just can’t disagree on this win.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 2:42 pm
Ryde Or Die says:
Agreed, Dre most def is no.1…what about Just Blaze???? Or even Swizz (Dnt hate)
They missed too many.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 4:16 pm
zayzkidd says:
OK, since yall niggaz reppin New York, I’m gon rep New Orleans. What about Mannie Fresh? Because Swizz and Just Blaze aint got no place on this list or Rza and Primo.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 3:03 pm
norcal says:
wheres DROOPY he should of been on list no DR DRE that list is 4 radio produce songs
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 4:21 pm
zayzkidd says:
Who? You sound like a ret@rd.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 4:22 pm
zayzkidd says:
Who? You sound crazy.
Reply
December 22nd, 2009
at 2:48 pm
DV8 says:
Droop-E (E-40’s son)
Droop got slaps but hes not known outside of The Bay Area. Same thing for Traxamillion
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 3:08 pm
William says:
Fuck this shit dude
DR. DRE SHOULD OF BEEN #1
2000 EMINEM MARSHALL MATHERS LP 25,000,000 RECORDS SOLD
2001 XZIBIT RESTLESS CLASSIC
2002 EMINEM SHOW- MAN VS. MACHINE
2003 50 CENT GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN
2004 EMINEM ENCORE
2005 THE GAME THE DOCUMENTARY 50 CENT THE MASSACRE
2006 BUSTA RHYMES THR BIG BANG
2007 CURTIS
2008 JAY Z KINGDOM COME - SNOOP DOGG BLUE CARPET TREATMENT
2009 EMINEM RELAPSE - 50 CENT BEFORE I SELF DESTRUCT
WTF AND HIS NOT EVEN ON THE LIST ARE U FUCKEN KIDDING ME
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 4:24 pm
zayzkidd says:
Damn, that Marshall Mathers EP sold 25,000,000? Shiit, I should start producing and find me a white rapper. Talk about a get rich quick scheme.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 3:29 pm
capcobra says:
dr dre ain’t making no beats..y’all know that..stop bugging out..snoop still hot cause of neptunes not dre…has dre even given snoop a solo hit record this millenium?
Reply
December 19th, 2009
at 1:44 am
jb says:
Dats real talk. People are so much on Dre dick that he could fart over sum drums and people would think the shit is hot. The Tunes definitely deserved the award. And Dre doesnt even do most of his beats anymore whether people wanna believe it or not.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 3:44 pm
$ykotic/Don McCaine says:
Another list huh?
F*** these “let’s make a list”, no blog writing, smedium pant, quiche eating mufukkas AND their lists.
Go report a rapper giving some toys to the kids who are broke as hell.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 3:50 pm
all-dre says:
Bitch Please, Dre’s the hottest producer period! No disrespect to the other producers mentioned, but everyone wants to be like Dre, how many you know can make hit after hit, album after album. The sales speak for themselves!
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 3:52 pm
Shawty J says:
Best producers of the decade? The Neptunes fell off in the middle of the decade and only started making a comeback recently.
This is why I don’t trust non-hip-hop magazines with hip-hop related articles.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 3:57 pm
gaddic says:
Dr. Dre
80+ million records- Eminem
35+ Million records-50 Cent
6+ Million records-The Game
10+ Million-Dre Dre 2001
how many producers have sold over 130 million records in the span of 10-11 years WHEN BOOTLEGGING IS AT’S HIGHEST!!!
and no only is it quantity it’s also f*cking quality!!!
The only classic neptunes have produced is Hell hath no fury
DRE CLASSSICS- SSlp, MMlp, Get Rich , 2001
DRE Incredible albums- the Documentary, Relapse
Neptunes -Hell hath no fury
Neptunes incredible albums- Til the casket drops lord willin
2010-2020
DRe Bishop Lamont and Eminem gon’ murder the rap game bitches
This list is arrant excretion
FUCK THIS!!!!
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 4:19 pm
zayzkidd says:
Hey gaddic. Sorry, but Relapse was WACK!!!
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 5:45 pm
Hanch says:
Hey zazykidd, Mannie Fresh is Wack! What the hell has Mannie Fresh Done in the Last half of this decade hmmm thats right Nothing! Sad thing is I like Mannie Fresh back when he was part of the Bigtymers and the Old Cash Money Stuff but here recently he hasnt done anything an his shit sounds horrible!!
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December 18th, 2009
at 5:11 pm
patkilpat says:
Dre did get snubbed but compared to who he was up against he was taking a nap this decade. The others just produced far more tracks for people. Look up Dre’s production credits from 00′-10′ then do The Neptunes.
“Clap for ‘em”- Jay Z
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 5:13 pm
Abdul Sosa says:
yo
at the end of the day
you realize dont sweat it, its just their opinion, like fuck you know i think neptunes did fuckin’ did slave 4 u and hot in herre which were #1 in many countries, but then again you gotta consider dre, fuckin’ in da club is enough to wrap up anything neptunes did in 1 song.
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 6:22 pm
BIGNAT says:
i agree with that the neptunes always come with good music even if it’s a hit or not. as i look at the comments all you guys talking about is numbers. i like bilal as a soul singer i am sure his first album didn’t even go platinum does that mean that shit is not fire. i can’t even remember the last hot dre beat i heard. some guy put game over 6 million dre only did beats for his first album.
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December 18th, 2009
at 6:51 pm
brand-new says:
@ gaddic, bishop lamont isn’t on dre’s label anymore. he’s just another of the dozen ex-aftermath artists that make you scratch your head and ask, wtf?!
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 9:15 pm
k0ldbl00d says:
I’m gonna join the argument here and say that Dre really got snubbed. I mean, don’t get me wrong — Neptunes earned their just-due.
But, Dr. Dre not even MAKING the top ten list is ridiculous. The man has produced some of the hottest tracks this decade. Maybe not as out there as some of these other producers who jump on any artist but C’MON SON!!!!!!
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 9:30 pm
William says:
THE REAL LIST
1.DR. DRE
2.TIMBALAND
3.NEPTUNES
4.JUST BLAZE
5.SCOTT STORCH
6.RZA
7.LIL JON
8.SWIZZ BEATS
9.KANYE WEST
10.WILL.I.AM
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 9:36 pm
jay says:
Dre to busy upstairs suckin dick eatin pussy(2pac voice) lol
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 10:18 pm
soy yo says:
in da club, xplosive, still dre, the watcher, the way i am, X, forget about dre…shieeeeettt…this is even worse than that hottest rapper diarrhea list mtv came up with. And this aint nothin but another dumb ass list for us to bug out about. Bullshit!!!!
Reply
December 18th, 2009
at 11:53 pm
beaver says:
shitty list once againn..
fuckk these list..nowadays..
dre should have got dis easy..
rza an premo dope..but not lik da doc..
y no critics have any love 4 em an doc..??
they fucked em on da top 10 hiphop artists..
now fucked doc on dis list..
Reply
December 19th, 2009
at 12:10 am
Posterboy15 says:
Neptunes u get a whole music concept, they pennin the hooks n shit..which makes it easier and more fluent for the artist and the reason why they have worked with different genre of artists and just simply more artists period in a lesser time span than Dre who has been around about 20 to 30 yrs..Dre is a product of great artist around him his whole career, plus he got the whole industry ghostwritin for him, so how musically inclined is he outside of makin just simply beats(I mean even Timbaland has more range than him musically)…With dat said tho Dr Dre is still Dat Nigga….But The Neptunes Is Dat Shit….
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December 19th, 2009
at 11:27 am
PHARO says:
YOU IDIOTS KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MUSIC.
.
.
.
DR DRE IS A PRODUCER BUT HE IS NOT A MUSICIAN LIKE PHARRELL & CHAD HUGO.
.
.
DR DRE DOESN’T KNOW A GOOD VARIETY OF CHORDS AND SO ON. HE DOESN’T SOLO PRODUCE ALOT….SAME LIKE TIMBALAND.
.
.
PHARRELL & CHAD ARE HARD CORE PRODUCERS, THEY BOTH PLAY PIANO, THEY PLAY GUITARS BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THEY USE THE CRAZIEST MACHINES FOR MAKING SOUNDS, DUDES SPEND LIKE THOUSANDS ON OLD MACHINES TO GET THOSE OLD RAW SYNTHS SOMETIMES….
.
.
MY TOP 3 ARE TEDDY RILEY, NEPTUNES & TIMBALAND …….I BELIEVE TIMBALAND IS A BIGGER MAINSTREAM PRODUCER IN 2009 BUT THROUGHOUT THE DECADE NEPTUNES WINS.
.
.
.
TIRED OF YOU FUCKING RETARDS SAYING DR.DRE SHOULD WIN YOU’RE ALL LIKE FUCKING ROBOTS……EVER SINCE HE HOOKED UP WITH THE WHITE BOY HE WAS OVER EXAGGERATED.
.
.
.
I PREFER DAZ OVER DRE.
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December 21st, 2009
at 5:21 pm
nicholasdelorejo says:
Finally, somebody said it. Dre’s a good producer but he is very limited compared to the Neptunes and has been largely overrated as a producer in hip hop and in music. The neptunes can make the worst artists sound great with a hit record (eg: NORE with “Superthug”). Dre has only been successful from the artists he’s worked with. Ask your this, would Dre’s beats have been pheonominal without the artists popularity or would they have sounded like a mediocre track from a B-list producer?
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December 19th, 2009
at 3:28 pm
El Tico Loco says:
All of ya’ll missed the point this is BILLBOARD MAGAZINE not XXL’s list and Billboard is about all genre’s of music not just hip hop so with that criteria they do get producers of the decade because they were producing stuff most of us wasn’t checking for. Now hip hop overall? Dre would’ve been a big snub.
Reply
December 20th, 2009
at 9:28 am
Big Braveheart says:
Dre not on there is shocking but also Primo,
RZA, Just Blaze and Alchemist too!! What music are they listening to? Neptunes deserve credit but they ain’ the best producers of the last decade.
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December 21st, 2009
at 8:58 pm
John Cauner says:
Sounds right. I would have to agree with Billboard, The Neptunes were the best producers for this 1st decade(2000-2009) of the new millennium. They sonically changed the landscape of the rap sound.
Reply
December 21st, 2009
at 9:01 pm
John Cauner says:
Kanye West would be second, in my opinion.
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December 22nd, 2009
at 8:23 am
Susan Mueni says:
You fools, Dr. Dre is just a whack producer who samples old beats eg Roger Troutman, aint nothing hot about him. and if you honestly think he produced all the Eminem records, you’re all daft. Neptunes rule- all day, every day!
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December 22nd, 2009
at 8:28 am
Susan Mueni says:
Here’s my list though: Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis, L Roc, Neptunes, Teddy Riley, Darrkchild and Bangladsh. My top 5 whackest producers are: Dre Dre, Swizz Beats (monotony personified), Kanye (no originality whatsoever), Timbaland and Lil Jon. THIS IS THE REAL LIST, FORGET WHAT YOU HEARD.
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December 22nd, 2009
at 2:58 pm
DV8 says:
Neptunes and Kanye are at the top of my list. You stans really need to get off Dr. Dre’s dick and realize he hasnt done anything outstanding since “In The Club”
Reply
December 23rd, 2009
at 10:25 am
gaddic says:
@zayzkidd
Name one album out in 2009 comes with the complex rhyme schemes, the experimental wordplay, the multi-syllabic rhyming and internal rhymes of Relapse
Relapse only has wack content
The lyrics are the best this year
Let me guess you’re a Jay-z Stan and you know
pretty much all of his shitty verses on Bluperint 3 word for word
Relapse has the lyrics of a classic album
Just doesn’t have the concepts and substance!
By the way to the fag that said Bishop is off Aftermath
Stop following rumors and get your facts straight
Reply
May 3rd, 2010
at 2:35 am
Antony Guyton says:
I see all these names up here, and all of em are dope… but I ain’t see NO ONE mention J DILLA. From SV to Donuts he busted ALL their asses and NEVER stayed with one style for a long while. Where as The Neptunes had a REPETITIVE production system, but hey I guess there’s a difference between making music and making money.
Reply
May 12th, 2010
at 10:59 pm
Denaun says:
Yo Dilla was a cool dude, and made some dope music for sure, but on the real, he wasn’t a great HIP HOP producer. He made shit that was crazy, and sometimes too crazy for someone to rap over. He made music, not instrumentals.
And its really abstract too. Its just hard for everyone to get behind.
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May 12th, 2010
at 10:55 pm
Denaun Porter says:
Here’s why Dre is a legend:
Not only did he make NWA sound good (when we know they all sucked dick at rapping), but he made himself in his solo career sound good. He revolutionized rap with the Chronic and 2001, not to mention with NWA, and he is still making bangers. Remember Snoop Dogg’s “Imagine”? “Crack a Bottle”? Raekwon’s “Catalina”?
All some of the hottest shit, all relevant and recent. He is a monster, and he’s done enough to deserve a place on the list AT THE VERY LEAST.
And somebody said Dre doesn’t play piano? The man’s been taking piano lessons his whole career, training so he can replicate the playing of certain classical composers like Tchaikovsky. So get out of here when you don’t know what the fuck you talkin bout.
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