Twenty years ago, people listened to a song because of the artist; the emcee. There wasn't a stress on who was in front of the soundboard because all eyes were on the person(s) in the booth.

Today, producers are as big as artists, probably even bigger. Some say that this takes away from the poetic element of hiphop and furthers the genre into a state of mainstream 'pop.'

To name a few producers:

KanYe West, Dr. Dre, Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz, Play N Skills, Skillz, Missy Elliot Timbaland, Jermaine Dupri, David Banner, Lil John & the Eastside Boyz, Jazzy Pha, The Heatmakerz, Mannie Fresh, Baby, 9th Wonder, DJ Danger Mouse, DJ Muggs, The Alchemist, Needlez, RZA, DJ Premier, Mixmaster Mike, DJ Z-Trip, The Neptunes, Madlib, Ant, DJ Quik, Eminem, Scott [BITER] Storch, Wyclef Jean, 88 Keyz, Alicia Keys, etc

How do you think this redirected attention is helping/hurting hiphop?

Discuss.

I don’t necessarily think that it’s a bad thing or that it hurts Hip Hop. The only thing that hurts hip hop is the artist who makes the lyrics, whether they are representing or misrepresenting hip hop does not depend on the beat. In my opinion I think its always good when the composer/producer gets the recognition that he/she deserves. On the other hand, sometimes you can almost immediately tell who produced the song by the instruments and pattern of the beat in the song.

Yeah, Brandon I deleted that deliberate double post. If other people cant do it then neither can you, but of course you already know that ;)

I think that what the emcee says is far more important than fancy beats or a renowned producer. Sadly, though, today's mainstream emcees have nothing worthwhile to say, therefore, there's nothing worthwhile to listen to unless you've got a nice beat to dance to.

Honestly, I would rather have a great emcee that writes great lyrics than having Scott Storch create (or "bite", according to Brandon) beats for some 16 year-old boy who can't even articulate his lyrics properly and sounds like an emo kid trying to break into R&B.

But if an artist wants to produce their own album, that's great. That just shows that they're willing to be independent most of the time, and that they're going the extra mile for something that they really love.

i been saying this forever - producers deserve most of the credit for hit songs we hear. a rap artist is a image, and every successful emcee has their gimmick. 50 cent has been shot nine times. Snoop Dogg speaks in a way different than most. Nelly wears a bandaid and sings. Kanye West dresses like a golfer and wears louis vuitton. Eminem does stupid shit like "Just Lose It". Basically, it's the producer + image that sells the record. I wonder how much Scott Storch gets paid for every beat, does he get paid depending on the success of the beat (commision), or does he get paid up front?