J Dilla

In many ways, J Dilla was the wizard behind the beat curtain of underground hip-hop and R&B in the '90s and the first half of this decade. Whether you know his name or not, it's likely you've heard — or at least heard of — the dream Madlib/Dilla pairing Jaylib (featuring both producers trading off on the mic and behind the boards), as well as such record crate standbys as the smoothed-over neo-jazz stroll of "Find a Way,'' the college campus favorite "Runnin'," and the warm-bath R&B of "Didn't Cha Know."

Before you even listen to these songs, take a look at the names involved outside of our unsung producer hero. They include such recent rap legends as Common, Pete Rock, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest. Not too shabby, especially considering the heady heft J Dilla brings to the beats: the calliope swirl of "Drop," the dust-kicking drums of "Stressed Out," and the random preset-button-pressing of "Off Ya Chest."

In a tragic but compelling turn of events, J Dilla's last collection of beat sketches, Donuts, was released on his birthday and three days before his death. Although the tracks never last longer than a punk rock song, their sparks of unfiltered creativity beg for a proper MC and full-on Dilla production. Among them are the painful, poignant soul snippet "Don't Cry," the arcade game warbling of "Lightworks," and the loop-lapping hypnosis of "Dilla Says Go."

Comparing a hip-hop producer to jazz great Charlie Parker — as the Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson did with J Dilla in 2006 — would, in most cases, be blasphemous. Let's just say there was a reason why the entire hip-hop community mourned J Dilla's death from kidney failure this past February. As respected in the rap underground he helped curate as he was with such mainstream producers as the Neptunes, Dilla was a true innovator whether he went solo or happily hid in the background among his prized sample bank of beats and breaks.