There's a lot of shit I feel is lazy, and sometimes that's a valid critique.

I do think that people take for granted the effectiveness of simplicity in hip hop, because so much great material exists on the strength of two bar loops. I like some beats where it sounds like they're going all out,

Moreover, what may come across as lazy can be anything but.

I remember people raking Just Blaze over the coals for supposedly doing a straight loop for Song Cry. But come to find out, he used like 60 chops on that beat to get it to sound that way.

But even if what he did was take a loop and lace some drums on top, so be it, because the end result was a thing of beauty. I see a bit too much emphasis placed on how much a producer does or doesn't do sometimes.

Yeah, we can give points for all kinds of shit, deep cuts for sample sources (everyone wanted the source for Nas Is Like for fuckin ever), creative chops and whatnot, but at that proverbial end of the proverbial day... Was it dope?

And, from a producer's standpoint, I have some issues with this.

Particularly the bass, both the line and the sound of it clashes to me. The sample itself is so lush that it warrants more dynamic percussion choices, maybe a reverb-drenched clap on every 8th snare or whatever. In my mind, this is less than what it could have been, production wise- but that's not my "fan" brain talking. That's my producer brain talking.

It's nitpicking, just me daydreaming about what I would do with it, even as I'm sitting on god knows how many unfinished/unpolished beats that could be but won't until/unless I decide I'm all the way in on it.

And either way, the next person likely won't have any issue whatsoever with those elements of the beat. Clearly two of the GOATS didn't have an issue with those element, so who the fuck am I? The meat of the beat still goes for me.

But still, we all hear what we hear, in the way that we hear it. I don't necessarily begrudge someone who sees it as lazy if that's their honest take, but I don't think that take washes out.