If you had to make a hip-hop album with 20 tracks...

...and you were confined to using FOUR producers ONLY (each with 5 tracks on the album), who would you choose?

This is the question that my man Dane posed to me this past weekend on our way back from NYC. At first it seemed like a no-brainer, but then I thought about all the producers I liked: DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, Swizz Beatz, Chad West, Kanye, Pharrell, Timbaland, etc. Then it became tough. But after a few minutes of thinking and discussing with Dane, I came up with the following list:

Kanye West



Every beat this dude makes is pretty much fire. Not only can he do a solid hip-hop beat, but he can even do R&B tracks (You don't know my name). He's pretty versatile and you know he's gonna give you 100% when he makes your beat. I'm thinking out of 5 tracks he'll give me at least two radio-playable joints and 3 solid cuts.

Havoc



He is in my opinion one of the most slept-on producers in the game. I was sold on his ability after "I Don't Need Your Love" on the GAME's CD. Havoc is gonna give you those street beats. What's hip-hop without those. While his songs might not get you burn on the radio, he'll have the streets feeling your music. He gives you that bop in the hood...The street ni99as are gonna bang his tracks.

Timbaland



Timbo is guaranteed to give you a beat that's just unthinkable. Something you would never imagine would be put together by a human being. Think old Aaliyah beats with babies crying in the background. Or think Bubba Sparx first joint. Or think Big Pimpin'...Or some other Jay-Z joint Timbaland produced. He's one of the best producers in the game at giving you that lead single to blast off your album. Gotta have a guy like him in your corner.

9th Wonder



9th is my up-and-coming producer off this list. Seems like the trend now is for rappers to use beats from up-and-coming producers to cut some costs on their album production. Well, 9th is a part of the group Little Brother out of North Carolina, and if you listen to either of their first two albums or their Chittlin Circuit mixtape (shot out to Dane for putting me on to that one), you'll see why he's on my list. 9th sticks to the mellow beats for the most part so he'll give you those tracks you can drop those deep and introspective rhymes to. He's got Jay-Z's endorsement so he's probably good enough to be on my CD.

My question to you...WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE if you were posed the same question???