Artist	Song
Lil Wayne & Static Major	Lollipop
from Tha Carter III (2008)
John Legend & André 3000	Green Light
from Evolver (2008)
Common	So Far to Go (feat. D'Angelo)
from Finding Forever (2007)
Lupe Fiasco	Kick, Push
from Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (Deluxe Version) (2006)
Q-Tip	Gettin' Up
from The Renaissance (2008)
Mos Def	Life Is Real
from The New Danger (2004)
Talib Kweli	Soon the New Day (feat. Norah Jones)
from Eardrum (2007)
The Roots	Don't Feel Right
from Game Theory (2006)
Game	Doctor's Advocate
from Doctor's Advocate (2006)
Nas	Can't Forget About You
from Hip Hop Is Dead (2006)
Jadakiss	Things I've Been Through
from The Last Kiss (Bonus Track Version) (2009)

Comment:

While it's sometimes hard to see past Kanye West's trend-setting singles, he's not the only key member of hip-hop's new school. That class also includes A-list artists like Jay-Z, the Roc-A-Fella kingpin who absolutely killed such early Kanye productions as "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" and "Takeover." Kanye didn't hammer out the hooks for "Empire State of Mind," but its neon-lit piano lines and orchestra-pit overtones would've fit right in on his own Late Registration album, a larger-than-life coproduction with composer Jon Brion. Speaking of cinematic hip-hop cuts, Rhymefest—who cowrote Kanye's chilling redemption song "Jesus Walks"—paid tribute to the pair's hometown with the spare, rain-slicked melodies of "Chicago." Common's also from the Windy City, and while he didn't start working with Kanye until his comeback album, Be, the primary producer of his first three albums, No I.D., was Kanye's mentor back when he was learning how to chop drums like J Dilla. A true underground icon, Dilla built the cruise-control beat of "So Far to Go," a fan favorite that set the tone for the rest of Common's seventh platter, which Kanye executive produced. And if that doesn't connect enough dots right back to the Louis Vuitton don, you can always cue up the instant classics of his closest contemporaries, from John Legend to Lil Wayne, from Twista to Talib Kweli.

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