What is the difference between a beatmaker and a producer in rap?
A beatmaker is a musician who solely creates instrumentals often without engaging with recording artists (or rappers) in the overall creative process from start to finish.
A producer on the other hand usually has the chops while at the same having people skills to bring together professional artists of different styles and help them to have a level of synergy where the final work has a sense of cohesion, a sense of a well-thought-out masterpiece. Or rather a reasonable attempt to make a cheesy hit record.
In addition, there are also executive producers. But these types of people normally don’t know how to use a DAW to make beats or instrumentals. However, executive producers tend to ensure that an artist sticks to the theme of their extended-play or long-playing album. And also find appropriate sound engineers who can help them achieve the sound they desire, because not every mixing engineer has the same taste.
In brief, think of the executive producer as a project manager or the guiding angel, who is there to provide quality control. Whereas a beatmaker simply creates an instrumental and tries to sell it, without caring if it blends well with the rest of the material of the project.
munyaradzi mafaro
The skills required to be a beat maker
In contemporary times, the skills needed to be an effective beatmaker are the ability to use music production software, a little understanding of music theory here and there, a fair amount of basic audio engineering, and the ability to adapt to the market i.e., to make beats that are currently in vogue or trendy. This is because having a unique or jumping on a coveted sound brings in a steady flow of income or more clientele. It is pointless to make beats that are outdated. Or weird complextro stuff that doesn’t leave space for vocals and adlibs.
The skills required to be an executive music producer
An executive music producer should have an impeccable ear for great beats, hooks, and suitable guest features. Some rappers aren’t that good at picking beats yet this is vital for the final release of the rap album. There are also situations where a hip-hop group might be undecided about which sound to go for. Likewise, someone with expertise has got to chime in about the way forward.
Another thing is to make sure a recording artist isn’t rapping about any controversial subject material. Or wasting time on silly rap beef that doesn’t bring in capital gains in the long run. In summary, it’s important for every act to hoard all money they possibly can while they’re still hot.