Legendary rapper and music producer, Kanye West, has been in the news lately for a lot of reasons other than music. Kanye is most known for his classic studio albums that have been released over the course of the last 15+ years. It is well known that on those albums, Kanye handles the majority of the music production.
Over the years, his production sound has become easily recognizable. Aside from producing all of his own albums, Kanye has assisted and provided production for numerous songs by other musical artists that we have all heard over and over again.
This latest esLists post examines 10 songs that you (maybe) didn’t know were produced by Kanye West. With all that being said, let’s dive into the list…
10. “Party” – Beyoncé featuring Andre 3000 / J. Cole
Year Released: 2011
Album: 4
Kanye provides vocals to the intro and outro of this song. It features Kanye’s famous 808 sound and is truly a feel good song. I really enjoyed this song upon its release in 2011. Andre 3000 is on the song’s original version and J. Cole would go on to be featured on the song’s video and official remix. It is a truly great song produced by Kanye West.
9. “Unbreakable” – Alicia Keys
Year Released: 2005
Album: Unplugged
This song was actually scrapped from Alicia Keys’ massive 2003 album, The Diary of Alicia Keys. Kanye West, with No I.D., actually built this song around a sample of “Intimate Friends’ by Eddie Kendricks from 1977. The song went to be Keys’ 1st single off of her Unplugged live album. I really can’t imagine how this song was not included on one of her full length studio albums, but that doesn’t detract from the greatness of the song. “Unbreakable” truly has that mid-2000’s classic Kanye sound.
8. “Comfortable” – Lil Wayne featuring Babyface
Year Released: 2008
Album: Tha Carter III
Lil Wayne mentions Kanye West twice within this song but I have noticed that there are still many people that didn’t know that this record was produced by Kanye. “Comfortable” is one of the lesser celebrated tracks on Tha Carter III, but it is one of my personal favorites. Wayne framed this song and its message as a complete antithesis to Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable”. The production of this song has always stood out to me. Kanye actually sampled the ending of another song that appears later on this list for “Comfortable”. It’s simple, smooth, and uplifting all at the same time. It’s truly one of my favorites on this list.
7. “Encore” – Jay-Z
Year Released: 2003
Album: The Black Album
“Encore” was released about 3 months before the release of Kanye’s debut album, The College Dropout. A truly soulful record that features vocals from John Legend, Kanye himself, and others. The song went on to gain mass commercial success when it went on in 2004 to be mixed with Linkin Park’s “Numb” track.
6. “Get By” – Talib Kweli
Year Released: 2003
Album: Quality
Recorded in 2002, Kanye was busy supplying the streets with classic records before most even knew who he was. “Get By” is of my favorite beats on this list. Once you go back and listen to this song you quickly hear how Kanye’s influence is stamped all over the track. The most prominent sample Kanye uses for this record is from “Sinnerman” by Nina Simone. This sample is heard throughout and fits perfectly with the tone of the song. “Get By” went on to become Talib Kweli’s most successful single of his career.
5. “Sky Might Fall” – Kid Cudi
Year Released: 2009
Album: Man on the Moon: The End of Day
Most know that Kanye produced “Make Her Say” which ended up on Cudi’s debut studio album. Less people know that Kanye also produced “Sky Might Fall” on this very same album. The beat sounds as if it could have fit perfectly on Kanye’s 808’s & Heartbreak album from 2008. Kid Cudi ended up being the perfect artist for this Kanye beat.
4. “03 Bonnie & Clyde” – Jay-Z featuring Beyoncé
Year Released: 2002
Album: The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse
For this song’s production, Kanye directly sampled Tupac’s 1996 song “Me and My Girlfriend”. From there, Jay-Z and Beyoncé directly interpolated Tupac’s hook from that song for their version. The way Kanye flips the sample works well. “03 Bonnie & Clyde” is a lot smoother sounding than Tupac’s version but both songs are great in their own ways.
3. “Find Your Love” – Drake
Year Released: 2010
Album: Thank Me Later
Kanye co-produced this Drake single with No I.D. and Jeff Bhasker. It is one of two songs produced by Kanye for Drake’s debut studio album (“Show Me a Good Time” is the other). “Find Your Love” received mixed feedback upon its release, but went on to be a successful single for Drake.
2. “You Don’t Know My Name” – Alicia Keys
Year Released: 2003
Album: The Diary of Alicia Keys
This is the song mentioned earlier that Kanye sampled and used for Lil Wayne’s “Comfortable” on Tha Carter III. It is my personal favorite Alicia Keys song of all time. For this song though, Kanye flipped a sample of “Let Me Prove My Love to You” performed by R&B group, The Main Ingredient. It’s a truly genius sample that worked perfectly with Alicia Keys voice. Many still don’t know that Kanye produced this gem for Keys.
Check out the sample used here:
1. “Stand Up” – Ludacris featuring Shawnna
Year Released: 2003
Album: Chicken-n-Beer
Many still don’t know that Kanye produced this standout smash single from Ludacris’ Chicken-n-Beer album. This is understandable because Kanye’s debut studio album, The College Dropout, wouldn’t come out until the following year in 2004. “Stand Up” was so successful that it went on to become Ludacris’ first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is another one of those massive songs that you (maybe) didn’t know were produced by Kanye West.
Thanks for reading!
