+1: Boi-1da (Jamaica)
One thing you can say about hip-hop is that it always continues to evolve. One producer who’s been pushing things in a forward direction for the last five-plus years has been Kingston-born, Toronto-raised Matthew Samuels, better known as Boi-1da. An associate of Drake’s since day one, he helped put the king of emo rap on the map starting with “Best I Ever Had” and Thank Me Later. He’s continued to work on each of Drake’s ensuing projects, and recently laid down the oft-freestyled-upon, Sprite-commercial-soundtracking beat for “0 to 100.” Boi-1da’s work on Kendrick Lamar’s “The Blacker The Berry,” which featured Jamaican dancehall star Assassin, saw him connect with his Jamaican roots, meanwhile. And it won’t be his last foray into Caribbean music: After attending Trinidad Carnival last year, he hit the studio to work on upcoming tracks from Trini soca queen Fay-Ann Lyons.