The increasing popularity in hip hop producers is coming to a fever pitch, with many believing at this point that producers mean more than artists now-in-days. It is no secret that a good producer is the key to making an amazing album. Here are The Source’s Top 5 Producers of 2022.
1. Hit Boy
At the rate Hit Boy is going right now, he might just run the entire 2020’s. Despite having been in the game for a number of years and producing hit after hit for Kanye, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Drake, Travis Scott, etc, his work with Nas has proven to be some of his best and most groundbreaking. Since their initial album King’s Disease which released in 2020, the duo have put out two more albums in the series, along with a surprise album Magic which dropped at the end of 2021. The consistency, quality, and ability to get better with every album is why Hit Boy is on the top of this list.
2. ATL Jacob
ATL Jacob is the newest face on this list, and has every right to be. Despite having worked with Young Thug on 2019’s So Much Fun, Roddy Ricch, and Future on HIS 2019 The WZRD and 2020’s High Off Life, it was his production on Future’s latest album I Never Liked You which has shot him into the stratosphere. Having produced five tracks off the album including the hit single “Wait For U” featuring Drake and Tems, Kodak Black’s chart topping “Super Gremlin,” and even a few tracks on Kanye’s semi unreleased Donda 2 album, if it weren’t for Hit Boy, ATL Jacob would be number one on this list.
3. Metro Boomin
What can we say about Metro Boomin that hasn’t been said already. The St. Louis native never fails to deliver when it comes to creating a dark and gloomy atmosphere and telling stories with just his beats. His second album Heroe’s & Villains does just that and then some, with Metro even pushing himself and his sound, taking elements from 90’s and early 2000’s Memphis rap and fusing them with his spacy and dark sound. At one point in the album he even successfully pulls off a sample of Peabo Bryson’s “Feel The Fire.” A video would later show that he even opted to use a MPC 2000xl to make the beat instead of FL Studio, just going to show the range he possesses in his beat making abilities.
4. WeezyOuttaHere
WeezyOuttaHere has been a staple producer in the Atlanta rap scene for a while now, closely aligning himself with Young Thug and Gunna, having produced multiple hit tracks off of Thug’s 2019 project So Much Fun, and Gunna’s Drip Or Drown 2 which also came out that same year. Weezy proved himself to be the hitmaker he is once again by producing five track’s off of Gunna’s 2022 project DS4Ever, including the hit single “Pushin’ P” featuring Future and Young Thug, and “Too Easy” featuring Future, and Roddy Ricch on the remix. He went on to continue his run this year by producing three tracks on Future’s I Never Liked You, and two tracks on Lil Durk’s 7220 album.
5. Sounwave
Sounwave, like other producers on this list, might have only produced one album this year, but the album was so good they had to be featured on this list. The TDE go-to producer was extensively featured throughout Kendrick Lamar’s latest album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Despite the album’s production taking a step back when compared to other Kendrick albums, the point of the album was to sound more like a stage play and more cinematic, despite tracks like “Rich Spirit,” “N95,” “Die Hard,” and “We Cry Together.” The quality of the music, its concept, direction, and departure from the contemporary rap sound is why Sounwave is on this list.
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