16-year-old newcomer Wondagurl landed a beat on Jay Z's Magna Carta.Holy Grail after a series of email exchanges with Canadian beatsmith Boi-1da and Kanye West protégé Travi$ Scott. Chief Keef selected a beat for his major label debut after searching the name of the then-unreleased Finally Rich on Soundcloud. Where back in the day getting a beat to a rapper was a matter of luck and good connections, in the 2010s, it can be as easy as shooting a message out on social media or getting a hit on Bandcamp.
Hip-hop production has exploded into a million different directions in the last five years due to the ever percolating influence of Atlanta's trap music cottage industry, the birth of Chicago drill, the resurrection of the West Coast as a commercial superpower, new New York's growing fixation on Texas trill, the OVOXO squad's coronation in Toronto, and the valiant efforts of thousands of lesser known producers making beats in bedrooms and basements all over the world.
