Missye Elliot
Missy Elliot will continue to reign as the leading female producer. However, competition will arise and a new leader shall emerge. She won’t take over. I don’t think it will be Alicia Keys as many suspect. In fact until I can see evidence that Alicia Keys knows how to operate a control surface or MIDI interface, I’m still not giving her the status of ‘produer’ just yet. I’ll give her ‘great songwriter’ and ‘decent vocalist’.
Jamille Luney
Jamille Luney is the name for 2008. She’s all over the place. She recently did a remix with Nas and Alicia Keys. Track was banannas! She had some crazy Timbaland like stab sounds (the kind in Justin Timbalake’s ‘My Love’) mixed in with strings and other mysterious sounds I could not identify. Jamille’s track featuring Nas and Alicia Keys can be found on her MySpace page htt://myspace.com/jamilleluney . Also, the fact that she is extremely attractive will not hurt her career in this male dominated industry. Yes, it has nothing to do with her production skills, which are superb, but all I’m saying is it won’t hurt.
Lauryn Hill aka L-Boogie
Other names to consider include Lauryn Hill. You may argue wouldn’t Lauryn step up to the plate for Jamille? She’s got more experience and she’s a vet in the industry. True, but rumor has it Lauryn is difficult to work with, hence, her little melt down and disappearance from the industry. In fairness to Ms. Hill, having your man cheat on you, raising two kids on your own, and beef with former group members is a big stress factor. Jamille has the upper hand in that she does not have all this baggage and she has no children. However, Lauryn has the voice and the fan base so anything is possible. This article may fire her up so Jamille be on your P’s and Q’s.
Beyonce appears to be producing as well, or at least that is what the credits on the back of the Bday album say. She and her father, Matthew Knowles, are credited as being the executive prodcucers of her current album. Again, if she can tell me where the MIDI hookups are and how to load the drivers, I’ll give her the title as ‘producer’. For now, I still refer to Beyonce as the ’supreme vocalist’ (no put intended to Diana Ross and the Dream Girls persona) and ’supreme female entertainer’.
2008 will be an interesting year for Female Prodcuers but my prediction is look for Jamille Luney to break in, Missy to continue to reign, Alicia Keys and Beyonce to produce more of their own albums, and Lauryn Hill to pump out a few hits.
