20. The Social Experiment What an amazing year for The Social Experiment. From playing an incredibly big role in the success of Chance The Rapper’s Coloring Book album, the production team made their presence felt in 2016 and set them up for pure success in 2017. Not to mention, they followed up their 2015 Surf album in an incredible way.

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19. Cardo

Cardo’s a veteran in the game, and he’s been killing it ever since the Taylor Gang days. This year though was something amazing from the heavyweight producer, who had his hands in various top projects including Travi$ Scott’s Birds, Kendrick’s untitled unmastered and D.R.A.M.’s critically acclaimed debut Big Baby D.R.A.M.. Reestablishing himself this year, Cardo gets all the praise.

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18. DJ Swish

2016 brought us a lot of amazing albums, one of which being YG’s sophomore album Still Brazy. The album included some outstanding production from multiple people, but the man responsible for the majority goes to DJ Swish. From “F*ck Donald Trump” to “Don’t Come To L.A.” and many more, Swish had a remarkable 2016.

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17. Nineteen85

Remember that rap crew OVO? Well, despite their fearless leader Drake, they’ve built quite a roster lately. One of those non-rapper members is Nineteen85, who’s putting his production capabilities to serious use. In 2015 it was “Hotline Bling” and this year, it was Drake’s first number 1 hit ever, “One Dance.” Need I say more?

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16. Sounwave

Just like OVO, TDE’s built an insane roster over the years, but not just rappers and singers. One of their go to producers, who most of us have heard of by now, is Sounwave, who played a major role in TDE’s success this year. He contributed largely to untitled unmastered, Q’s Blank Face LP and the late-year drop from Ab-Soul, DWTW. Those projects in particular are some of the best sounding bodies of work in 2016, and production wise, Sounwave’s responsible.