Yet not coated with the talent that RZA and Premier were blessed to have.

RZA: All of Wu-Tang, which, at the time, was ripe with creativity, versatility and talent. Price Paul with the Gravediggaz is also nice to have on the resume, as well as a Biggie track.

Premier: Where do I even start with this guy. Guru alone could hold down a whole project on his own without getting boring. And then you have Nas, Jay-Z, Biggie, Jeru, KRS-One, Show and AG, and Rakim... just to top it all off.

I'm not trying to take away from both of their respective talents at the time (the fact that Group Home has a classic album should state enough for Premier's case), but as you can see, it's very easy to seemingly have a better "run" when more people are listening because of who's rapping on those tracks in the first place.

Now, RZA and Premier are both beat geniuses that deserve all the praise and laurels that they have earned, but to say that their runs were better than Pete and Dilla's isn't exactly true, if you ask me.

Pete Rock... this guy's run is just as hot, if not hotter, than both of those two. Both of the Pete and CL LPs, along with their first EP, hold up to ANY Gang Starr LP as far as production is concerned. Pete is also responsible for Biggie's staple track Juicy, as well as Tribe's We Got the Jazz. And those remixes... need I say more?

Dilla is a different kinda story. See, he didn't come from New York, which I think has more to do with this than you would think. Pete Premier and RZA all had the connections to work with the big names, while Dilla had to kinda ride on Tip's back to get a beat out there. But by the time 1998 came around, he was able to make a big enough name for himself on the underground. And as far as runs are concerned, Dilla's was nothin to fucks with from 1996-2002. His remixes stole the show on practically every occasion and his complete projects stand up there (again, production wise) with those of the previous three. Welcome 2 Detroit and Fantastic Vol 2 are beautifully crafted musical projects whose beats I would, without shame, pit against Moment of Truth's, Liquid Sword's or Main Ingredient's.

All four of those are top 5 producers, though, and at this point it's just picking a favorite that appeals mostly to your taste.