2013 In Review: Sizing Up The Year’s Breakout Hip-Hop/R&B Producers

Christian Rich

Christian Rich is actually the production duo consisting of twin brothers Taiwo Hassan and Kehinde Hassan. Former proteges of Pharrell Williams, Christian Rich are a bit of an under-appreciated name in the production game. The Chicago natives cut their teeth working on on little heard tracks for Diddy and Lupe Fiasco before teaming up with arguably Odd Future’s most unique voice, Earl Sweatshirt, to put together a handful of tracks for his much-heralded 2013 debut album, Doris, including the tar-black, piano driven stunner “Chum.”

The guys moved on to contribute a heroin guitar laced cut for J. Cole‘s Born Sinner called “Sparks Will Fly” before linking up with Drake and Jay Z on the silky, narcotic Nothing Was The Same track “Pound Cake / Paris Motion Music 2.” Sonically, Christian Rich has a solidly cinematic flair which translates to big, widescreen washes of synths and histrionic hooks from R&B singers. Their last song of 2013, “1. crawl” from Childish Gambino‘s because the internet, is their best work to date, cranking up the high stakes drama with the kind of production that turns pop-trap thwap into something considerably more sinister, using skittering hi-hats like a frantic ticking clock, deploying all kinds of horror movie melodies and dropping in a recurring Kubrickian choir of of unnerving voices to layer on the mood. Christian Rich is poised to get their hands on a bigger project in 2014, and we’ll all be paying attention.