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She's worked with just about every major producer throughout her career, and considering how just about all of them are chasing a pretty similar sound (minimalist and synth-based, preferably with 808 drums), I can't think of too many producers nowadays that are unique and popular enough to execute this task (though Polow da Don does come to mind). The ones that I can think of are mostly related to an era that I prefer:
Timbaland (1996-2001)
The Neptunes ('Justified' era)
R. Kelly (1995-1999)
Devante Swing (yep, out of retirement...1993-1995)
LaFace (up to 1999)
Jimmy Jim and Terry Lewis (the (late) 1980s)
Gamble and Huff (even their work with LaBelle recently was pretty good, in addition to their work in the 1970s)
Teddy Riley (1987 to mid-1990s)
Even then, she'd probably face scrutiny for sounding too much like *insert artist name here who had hits with named producer(s) in named era*. Her status as THE pop starlet alone puts her underneath that magnifying glass. If she goes too far into the avant-garde hipster-soul/funk sound, she'll probably draw comparisons to her sister, Janelle Monae, or Santigold. If she goes into a more stripped, live sound, she'll probably be compared to Corinne Bailey-Rae or Ledisi. If she goes too deep into whatever's hot in contemporary R&B, then she might get lost in the sea of women that are also following the sound of the moment (least likely since she has a machine behind her that most songstresses don't have); she can probably take note from Usher's promotion of his latest album and how he's performing against his competition in light of this.
Still at this point, she has very little competition and is almost, like certain companies in the past year or so, "too big to fail", so no matter what route she may take musically for her next album, she'll be likely to succeed (so check the "pop world" section off).
For the "OKP/nerds" to laud it, other than who I've listed above, maybe ?uestlove and James Poyser and those that belonged to the A Touch of Jazz production crew back in 2002 (or the people I thought she would've worked with back then). They seem skilled and versatile enough to make memorable, musical records for nearly all formats for her, all while incorporating elements of the sounds that have generated her success.
Sidenote:
I thought that she would've accomplished both with her first album. Check this October 2002 issue of Vibe: http://books.google.com/books?id=tyUEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
At the time, she already had the "pop" exposure and adopted more of a bohemian image with a desire to do more of a 1970s soul/funk album for her first solo venture. However, her first single in that vein ("Work It Out") didn't perform very well on the charts, and her look almost reverted back to her DC days by the time she appeared on Jay-Z's first single for 'BP2' not long after.
'DIL' struck me as a pretty standard effort for a female pop/R&B singer; only "Crazy In Love" somewhat seemed to capture the sound she says she aimed for in 2002.
To me, 'B'Day' was that album that managed to marry contemporary pop with a '70s soul/funk sensibility that existed in her first solo single (i.e. heavily percussive, vocally dynamic). The album was a slow starter because of her risky first two singles choices, but as soon as "Irreplaceable" hit, it gained momentum that led to a deluxe release, in addition to video production for every song on it. This album probably provides the strongest argument as the 'Blueprint' of her catalogue thus far.
"Irreplaceable" joined Usher's "Burn" and "Confessions" as records that served as templates for other artists to use for singles, but shockingly Beyonce arguably used one of her own songs as a template for a lead-in single ("Get Me Bodied" -> "Single Ladies") for her latest album as well, which is more like 'DIL' than 'B'Day' in content. (Though with her latest song with Alicia Keys, one could argue that "heavy (live?) drums mixed with light melodies" has become her trademark sound.)
If her alternation from album to album is any indication, then I think that she'll take more risks with her sound the next time around, which is almost apparent in her recent collaborations with Lady Gaga and a desire to work with Of Montreal for her next album. In addition to her status, she just may also be more successful out the gate the next time around because of the increasingly centrist nature of pop music every year.
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