12 Self-Produced Hip Hop Albums to Hear

MCs and producers are traditionally two different people, but occasionally the hip hop world is blessed with an artist that can play both roles. Dr. Dre once claimed to be a "a producer who can rap and control the maestro," and when he said it, there weren't a whole bunch of dudes who were capable of doing it. Since then, artists like MF DOOM, Kanye West, and J. Cole have made some serious beats, and then blessed them with their own flow.

We think that the self-produced album exhibits an elite level of artistry, and we wanted to highlight that today with a list of twelve albums that were constructed both lyrically and musically by (mostly) the same person. You'll find a few other names on some of these albums' credits, but for the most part, one person took care of the whole shebang. 

Dr. Dre - The Chronic

Andre Young was the first producer to really find massive success as an MC as well. Although he notoriously doesn't write his own rhymes, his flow has never been challenged. When his deep voice vibrates over the G-funk classics composed on The Chronic, it's no wonder why Dr. Dre is one of the great hip hop artists of all time. Not only has he put on a number of MCs, but he opened the gate for producers to rap as well as control the maestro.

RZA - As Bobby Digital

Around the same time Dre was breaking ground on the west coast, RZA was doing the same in the slums of Shaolin (okay, it was really NYC). The leader of the Wu-Tang Clan took some time to put out the follow-up to the relatively ignored Ooh I Love You Rakeem, but when he dropped the self-produced fire of his alter-ego Bobby Digital, it matched up with the classic run of releases the Wu had from '93-'98. 

RZA said of his alter-ego, "Bobby Digital is just me feeling my nuts. RZA is my heart," which helps to explain the album's ratchet subject matter. The 21-track LP was produced entirely by RZA with the exception of two tracks, which are credited to Inspectah Deck and King Tech.  

J Dilla's jazzy style has landed him a legacy as a producer's producer. When he was a member of Slum Village, he produced the groups seminole release Fantastic, Vol. 2. The album was a precursor to the neo-soul boom, and still stands as a classic to hip hop heads and modern jazz enthusiasts alike. 

In addition to Dilla's production, the album's features are top-notch. Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, D'Angelo, Kurupt, and Pete Rock form a roster of dream collaborations alongside T3, Baatin, and the man J Dilla.

MF DOOM - Operation: Doomsday

Few rappers are nice like DOOM, and there aren't any that have the captivating anonymity of the metal-masked villain. DOOM has tons of side projects, but a great starting point is Operation: Doomsday, an album that was produced entirely by Metal Fingers (DOOM's producer moniker) aside from just one track. His style is completely his own both on the mic and the MPC: his rhymes are witty, his flow is lazy, and his music is jazzy. DOOM is definitely one of the nicest producer/MC combos out there.

After the tragic day of 9/11, The Beastie Boys must have felt a weight on their shoulders. As some of NYC's most prominent artists, the trio got together to create To The 5 Boroughs, which more or less acts as "An Open Letter to NYC."

While the album covers' twin towers and the NYC-based subject matter might have caught the most attention, the underrated factor of this album is the self-production. Produced entirely by The Beastie Boys, the record's dense production played a valuable role and acted as the precursor to their 2007 instrumental record The Mix-Up. 

Andre 3000 [Outkast] - The Love Below

Of course The Love Below was released alongside Speakerboxxx as an Outkast album, but let's be real: the two albums also stand very much on their own two feet. Produced entirely by Three Stacks aside from the hit single "Roses," the album is a testament to Andre's artistry and versatility. There's the jazz freak-out of "My Favorite Things," the early alt-R&B classic "Prototype," and top-notch avant-rap in the form of "Spread." Big Boi kept it real with his half of the double disc, but Andre really stepped outside the (speaker) box for his.

Kanye West - Late Registration

Kanye West is the most acclaimed self-producer out there, and it's for good reason. Not only has he produced the overwhelming majority of his five studio albums, but he's made some absolute classics with little help from anyone else. Any of his first four albums could have easily made this list, but we've gone with Late Registration. Kanye's sophomore studio album was everything but a slump. Twenty-one songs long and not a dull moment, this LP saw Kanye collaborate with everyone from Adam Levine to The Game, and he churned out timeless cuts like "Drive Slow," "Touch The Sky," and "Gold Digger" in the process. Some say it's been Yeezy season ever since... 

Q-Tip - The Renaissance

As if Q-Tip didn't prove himself enough with A Tribe Called Quest, he put out a masterpiece with 2008's The Renaissance. He brought what he learned alongside the Soulquarian collective to the table on this LP, and it's truly a masterful work. Tip called on D'Angelo, Norah Jones, and Raphael Saadiq for features on this jazz-influenced effort, and Robert Glasper, J Dilla, and Mark Ronson also helped write and produce a few of the tracks. Despite getting a little help from his friends, The Renaissance plays as a self-made effort from one of hip hop's dopest renaissance men.

Big K.R.I.T. - K.R.I.T. Wuz Here

Big K.R.I.T.'s sixth mixtape did wonders to get the southern MC/producer to the point he's at today. Featuring a number of upcoming MCs at the time - namely Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa, and Smoke DZA - Krizzle established himself as a wrecking force in the stoner rap circuit both on the mic and on the beats. Tracks like "Country Shit," "Glass House," "No Wheaties," and "Moon & Stars" still stand as K.R.I.T. classics, and the Mississippi-bred artist continues to release self-produced work all the time. He just dropped It's Better This Way and has another album coming right up. Check out this mixtape if you want to see how one of the modern day's best double threats got his start on the road to success.

J. Cole - Cole World: The Sideline Story

The other major player in the modern-day conversation of producer/MC combos would have to be J. Cole. Having produced the majority of his music, J. Cole came up in the late 00's with a solid string of mixtapes before getting signed to Jay Z's Roc Nation. Cole World: The Sideline Story is his debut studio album, and features mostly self-produced tracks with the exception of tracks by No I.D., L&X Music and a couple others. The album came out to pretty good reviews, and since then has picked up steam and been regarded as one of the great LPs of its era.

Tyler The Creator - Goblin

Tyler's style is hard to pinpoint. At first, it was spastic and angry, and now it's bouncy and encouraging. At any rate, the producer/MC has climbed to the top of the rap world by using his own lane, and that deserves the utmost respect. Goblin, his debut LP, was produced entirely by Tyler except for "Transylvania," which was done by Left Brain. The radical LP helped to launch the careers of the entirety of Odd Future, as well as starting some big-time trends in the rap world.

Black Milk - No Poison No Paradise

Black Milk's fifth studio album channeled the influence of fellow Detroit native J Dilla in a way that hasn't happened in some time. Truly a work of unadulterated hip hop, No Poison No Paradise showcases the double threat that is Black Milk. He's nice on the beats, and maybe even nicer on the mic, causing NPNP to garner great reviews and bump through the speakers of sound-systems from the west coast to the east.