Spotify's Top 50 Rap Beats List Is Rough

hey hi and hello everyone Anthony fantano here internet's busiest music nerd I hope you're doing well and it's time for a video an overview of a list a top 50 list uh the worst music streaming platform of all time known as Spotify has decided to in celebration of hip-hop's 50th Anniversary come out with a list of the 50 greatest hip-hop beats of all time from what I understand is is placed in like order from you know 50 being I suppose the lowest on the Chain number one being the highest the best which honestly pretty tall order especially for a genre as deep and as diverse sonically as hip-hop is yeah I have some qualms with this list I've gone over it already so no surprises for me here at least but I thought I would talk about this assembly of songs with you guys okay here we are the start of the top 50. let's begin at number 50 we have Chief Keef Lil Reese I don't like a young chop on the beat there and I actually think this is not a bad pick for such a list this is one of the most hard and femic and exhilarating trap beats of all time you're gonna expect trap and modern drill music to be represented on such a list in some way as far as that Vibe and that flavor goes yeah maybe it's a little obvious and mainstream but it's not a bad choice so I kind of vibe with that pick but then immediately at 49 we have Three Six Mafia with Ryden Spinners which as a beat is okay why you would automatically gravitate to something not from the group's early era which arguably is way more influential on like a lot of modern trap stuff especially underground stuff today I don't know but if you were going to pull something from this era why not stay flight like in infinitely better instrumental than Ryden Spinners we have paid in full Eric B and rock him I mean not a bad bass line and you know a drum loop on this one borrowed that beat Straight From the Soul Searchers there it's a good assembly I mean Classic record 93 till Infinity though I am a little more excited about as far as a pick I think it's a little low on a list such as this but it is one of the most Blissful beautiful and gorgeous Jazz rap beats of all time the horns the way they're laced into the instrumental on this one just Serene instantly recognizable instrumental love that it is here again just wish that it was higher Goody Mob Cell Therapy again don't mind a Goodie Mob placement in the midst of this list but I don't even think that's the best instrumental off of soul food I mean fighting for example I think has a lot more going on that's that's interesting shody Lowe's they know I don't know I've always gravitated more toward the rapping and the refrains on that track not as much the instrumental the pumping horn lines on the track are good but as as far as tracks with big horn sections go is this one of the best instrumentals of all time the 50 best I don't think so Kendrick Lamar Mad City which in my opinion is actually the best beat off of good kid Mad City especially with that amazing beat switch in the second half it's just incredible production on this cut all around however I will say and kind of spoil this list a little bit and put out there that this is the only Kendrick beat on the entire list like nothing off of tpap are you kidding me sonically and instrumentally that is one of the most significant hip-hop records of the past 20 goddamn years future March Madness while I'm not surprised to see future here he's obviously a little higher on the list with mask off and I think that that's actually a good placement that is a good uh very quality very catchy modern bit of production March Madness to my ears is just a generic synthy trap beat that has no personality to it like God damn are so many Classics and so many amazing cuts that I think should have been on this list and yet this is here true as I'm bad about it is a pretty Lo-Fi run-of-the-mill G Funk instrumental in my opinion I think there are way better examples of G-funk instrumentation and production uh throughout the 80s and 90s this is not necessarily at the top of uh the list for me black Rob's woe I think is a legit placement because the Melodies on that track are fantastic instantaneously recognizable but Electric Relaxation uh there are so many Low End Theory beats that are way better Rough Riders Anthem amazing beat makes total sense though I think that there could have been a little bit more Swizz on this list generally BMF from Rick Ross is an amazing beat as well actually I actually love the instrumental off of that record I think it's one of the best instrumentals he's ever been on top of Mass Appeal children's story and Ambitions all great picks though I think that they could have been placed higher honestly especially Ambitions because that synth line is one of the most recognizable synth lions in all of hip-hop production Dreams and Nightmares I mean if it's gonna make it onto this list I think it should have been a lot lower there are some beats much lower on this list that uh are way better and way more interesting than the a very epic Grand instrumentation laced into the trap beat on Dreams and Nightmares run in The Far Side the guitar line on that track is amazing and it's a great beat all around and why state of mind not enough Primo on this list obviously could have been maybe one or two more tracks though generally this is not a bad pick could have been higher as well because there is no freaking way the beat on this is worse than Camp Lowe's Luchini trillville some cut again another kind of very dirty south type of song whose refrains and verses I'm more into than the beat itself honestly I feel like as far as production goes this should have been a lot lower or just not on the list at all especially when you consider all the stuff that is not in this 50. the horns on Dipset Anthem easily make it one of the best beats of the 2000s love that it's here it could have even been maybe a smidge higher Flavor in Your Ear total classic though there are a few other tracks from this era that I think could have landed on this thing and yet did not make it um Let Me Clear My Throat for example I mean come on put your hands where my eyes could see is a really unique beat I'm actually glad it made it into this list and it made it this high this actually might be one of my favorite placements on this entire list the choice is yours Black Sheep one of the most iconic upright bass lines laced into any hip-hop beat that makes sense Big Pimpin uh fantastic you know little foreign read Melodies throughout that beat it's one of my favorite hip-hop beats of The Bling era Throw Some D's I think has been placed a little too high though it is a good beat uh same thing with we gonna make it I don't think it's as amazing or as iconic as some of the ones that came before it for sure as much as I do love Jadakiss we have the boys in Perry Jay-Z and Kanye West I think that makes sense it's a banger I mean if you're gonna have some Modern stuff and especially some Kanye stuff and there's not really enough Kanye on this list as well I'll be frank about that too okay we're getting higher the stakes are being raised we have Grand Master Flash and the furious five the message thank God this is on the list I mean there's actually a lot of iconic Beats from this era of rap especially disco infused ones that did not make the list at all which is a kind of unfortunate but I'm glad at least this one was on here a cream we knew cream was going to be here actually should have been in the top ten get your freak on as a top 10 pick totally and utterly valid one of the best Timberland beats of all time such an odd Groove and again it was at a point where he was like you know really lacing in those amazing uh foreign bits of instrumentation and Melody in such a creative way sicko mode I legit believe is a top 10 hip-hop beat of all time it's an amazing freaking beat I love Still Tippin Mike Jones but um number eight it's it's not a little overrated here I mean this beat is better than cream I don't think so then we have It's All About the Benjamins I mean it's it's it's not a bad beat but like top 50 of of all time again especially when you consider what is not on here and we'll get into that and second then you have power which I think is one of the best Kanye beats of the 2010s that makes sense I'm kind of surprised they didn't put runaway on here A Milli incredible beat who shot you incredible beat as well uh and grinding they're better instrumentals on Hell hath no fury I mean it's a classic track but like Pharrell really upped his game on Hell hath no fury you gotta give it to him Shook Ones Part Two from Mob deep actually and incredible instrumental a totally fair that it's on here and still Dre number one pick I think it's kind of valid to kick things off in a somewhat nerdy way there's no Dilla and no Mad Lib on here are you joking but to get more classic into the root of things uh no bomb squad Public Enemy No boogie down Productions no DJ Shadow like the most significant instrumental hip-hop artist of all time introducing no and maybe going a little more mainstream uh 50 Cent in the club that is an amazing beat the beat literally carries that song you could strip his vocals out of the song and people would still go crazy to that beat that's how good of a beat it is Eminem my name is I mean sure maybe we're talking about a bit too much like you know Dre presence in the list at that point but it's still an incredible instrumental and way better than a lot of the placements on this thing there wasn't really much attention paid to you know kind of the early Electro era of hip-hop you know we didn't get uh the bubble bunch in here also Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique as far as sample based music goes that record just broke so much ground Chuck D is even on record being jealous of how good and well produced that record is I mean to have nothing from that album on this list is a disgusting and gigantic blind spot and while there was some organized noise representation with the Goody Mob placement we went this entire list without a single freaking Outcast song There's also no Clams Casino on here no representation of any of the cloud rap stuff that was so important and significant made the cultural Splash that it did in the 2010s no LP no day lost soul no Shabazz palaces no clipping no great picks from the Danny Brown catalog of course I mean some of these artists I expected not to be on the list but I'm just kind of giving you guys a picture and an idea of just how much is not being acknowledged and covered in this 50 even in terms of mainstream stuff so I don't know guys I think for the most part this list is a damn mess there are so many incred incredible beats that are not included in this thing at all so many incredible producers that are not included in this thing at all and on top of it of the picks that are here if we are to take this as like you know a top 50 which I presume on some level it is I don't think you would just put Still Dre at the top of the list here if you weren't trying to imply it's greatness and its significance and the overall Canon here of hip-hop beats yeah if we take this as a top 50 there's some wonky Arrangements here in terms of production that I just cannot really get down with at all and I think I'm gonna leave it there let me know what you guys thought of uh this uh semi-cringe Fest down in the comments love you you're the best mwah over here next to my head is another video that you can check out hit that up or the link to subscribe to the channel Anthony fantano Spotify list forever

Channel: fantano

Views: 361,946

Keywords: music, anthony fantano, needle drop, spotify, streaming, rap caviar, playlist, greatest, best, influential, classic, songs, instrumental, rap, hip hop, production, reaction, review

Id: bn0PysYT7BM

Length: 11min 49sec (709 seconds)

Published: Wed May 24 2023