Soul Claps And Rhymes

This picture is worth a thousand words and in some instances, a Hip-Hop head's tipping point. For over 10 years, the legendary Dr. Dre has promised the Hip-Hop world his last album "The Detox". Over the years, anticipation has grew out of control because it's been so secretive of how the album is coming and who's featured on it. From time to time, reporters would ask people from his camp, how's the album coming along, and their response is: "The album is incredible! It's going to change the face of music!" Saying that leaves the fans anticipating even more and nothing never comes . It's like a old wrestling storyline that involved Sting and the Black Scorpion and it just dragged out and nothing good came about it. (For my old school wrestling fans.)

With the frustration growing rapidally from fans about the album not coming, to make things worst, you have in this picture, Dr. Dre promoting his three hundred dollar headphones which are selling quite well. The bad thing about this is the fact that Dr. Dre is the face of West Coast Hip-Hop, and the scene out there is stagnant until he releases a album. This is horrible because it's a large amount of talent out west. With this post I'm going to give my five producers that could bring the west back to life without taking the Doctor away from his busy schedule of selling headphones, and having batting practice with the Boston Red Sox.

D.J. Battlecat

My first pick is one of my personal favorites and that's D.J. Battlecat. Battlecat comes from the School of Dre where he learned a thing or two from Dre and just put his own spin on it. From working with the likes of Snoop Doog to E-40, he's been able to keep that low-riding, Roger Troutman heavily influence sound for every fan that appreciates West Coast Hip-Hop. Here's some of Battlecat's classics, Kurupt "We Can Freak It." and E-40 "Nah Nah Nah"

D.J. Quik

The name by itself says enough. This Compton, California MC/Producer has put a stamp on the west coast sound. With Quik's smooth melodic sound, he's made classics like "Born and Raised In Compton", "Safe and Sound", and "Trouble. D.J. Quik has been fortunate enough to be able to hang around let's his sound grow. From when he was introduce in the 80's using samples, to now having live instrumentation, and letting his sound come alive with his colorful imagination, and steadily pushing the envelope.

Focus

The name says a whole lot, and he backs it up with hard sneers, heavy keys that puts a signature on his sound. Focus was another one that came up under Dr. Dre and also was apart of the production team at one time to put together "The Detox". After years of working on the album and not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel, he decided to leave and show Dre what he has learned from him. Focus sound is somewhat inspired by Dr. Dre. With his big heavy sound, and the sneers kicking so hard, it feels like you have a pre-schooler stomping on your chest, he almost gives you that Dre feel people have been asking for sometime. He's work with artist like west coast MC Bishop Lamont, Stat Quo, and Busta Rhymes, he's been able to keep take the west coast sound relevant, and taking it to the next level.

D.J. Khalil

One of the Dr. Dre's go to guys has really made a mark on the west coast and overall just Hip-Hop. This L.A. producer has other producers putting their drum machines away and learning how to read music. Khalil sound has a hard punching sound while at the same time it has a original sound as if he's sampled a song but it's totally the opposite. Khalil is also working on "The Detox" with Dre and on the side making music with the likes of The Clipse, The Game, and Eminem. The west is in good hands with Khalil because of his distinctive sound and his creativeness, the west can go real far with this man behind the boards.

Lee Bannon

This up and coming Sacramento producer has a made a name for himself in short time. Since his arrival in 2009, with his debut album "Me and Marvin" where he took Marvin Gaye samples and made beats out of them, he really gave the west a different look. Besides the other producers I've listed above, Bannon has a strong Hip-Hop presence in his production. With the heavy sampling with rare records and working with the likes of U-N-I, Curren$y, and Talib Kweli, he's gave listeners a different sound while everyone else sticks to their laid back, heavy sneer kicking sounds that the west loves. Lee Bannon will be around for awhile especially since he's expanding himself with his production and also working with different artist as well.

While you wait on the good DOC to come out the operating room with a masterpiece, be sure to check out these producers and what they have to offer to ears for your enjoyment.