After writing about Jim Jonsin, I decided to think about hip hop and R&B producers. One of my favorites is Terius Nash, aka The-Dream. You may know him from "Umbrella" by Rihanna, "Single Ladies" by Beyonce "Bed" by J.Holiday and his three solo R&B albums.
He's from Atlanta, and I personally think ATL is the rap mecca (I'm sure I'll write about it soon). He has this incredibly unique style of fast paced drum beats, trumpet/brass sounding synths and just the right amount of Auto-Tune.
He recently put out 1977 under his real name, Terius Nash and it's fucking sick. I love the main single, "Ghetto" featuring Big Sean. ATL rap is typically slowed way down, but more synthed up than Houston rap. It's not really chopped and screwed, but it's slow. That's what Ghetto is, slow as hell. But in a really good way. I'm also slowly warming up to Big Sean as a rapper, I like his verse in this song. He's so dirty and real. BUT I will say, I hate that he says "B-I-G", I think it's a little disrespectful to Biggie, but whatever. Dream's heartfelt "1977" and "Wish You Were Mine"songs are probably about his ex-wife, Grammy award winning singer/songwriter, Christina Millian. (Side note- what an R&B power couple, RIP to their relationship). They mesmerize the listener with the deep and heavy bass coupled with high synths. His voice is so high and beautiful that it matches perfectly with his also perfect production style. I couldn't say enough nice things about The-Dream. I'm just a huge fan and 1977 is one of my favorite albums of the year. "Rolex Music" introduces a new singer named Casha and is a great song that I think would be a perfect radio hit. "This Shit Real N*gga"featuring Pharrell is a great matchup of two genius producers. Wow, what a great duo. I always love when Pharrell raps. "Used To Be" is an emotional and angry tribute to an ex that makes reference to "Run the World" by Beyonce that Dream produced. He likes to shout out his songs (He wrote "Baby" by Justin Bieber and sings the chorus in "Florida University" from his last solo album).
Download this album, it's free. It's so good.
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