Producers will always be the unsung heroes of hip-hop. They help to push the evolution of the sounds we hear in the genre each year, and are just as important to the culture as the rappers themselves.
This is what makes the death of Atlanta-based producer D. Hill so gut-wrenching.
On Thursday (Oct. 14), Mojo Krazy, a producer famed for his work with Young Nudy, was the first to announce that D. Hill had passed away.
D. Hill’s most notable contributions to rap have been producing tracks for Drake and Future such as their 2020 smash hit “Life Is Good,” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as “Desires” from Drake’s 2020 project Dark Lane Demo Tapes.
He also landed three production credits on Future and Lil Uzi Vert‘s 2020 collaborative album Pluto x Baby Pluto, for the songs “Over Your Head,” “I Don’t Wanna Break Up,” and “Sleeping on the Floor.”
It’s easy to see that 2020 was a breakout year for D. Hill, and certainly gratifying for him considering he used to sleep on friends’ couches before his rise to prominence, he told Complex in a 2020 interview.
In the same interview, he spoke on his life’s purpose and his love for making music.
“Making music, it’s what I’m put on Earth to do and inspire others. To the day I die, that’s my purpose. That’s what fulfills me and makes me happy. I’m really not myself when I’m not making music. And I’m resilient. I don’t like giving up. I love taking chances. I get a thrill off of riding with my tank on E, because there’s the thrill of me knowing I am going to make it to the gas station in time or not. I’m just a real weird guy. A lot of people don’t understand me, but I like to make beats and that’s just it.”
As of now, the cause of D. Hill’s death is unknown, but it is truly a sad day in hip-hop when we lose anybody that contributed so much to the landscape of the genre. 22-year-old R&B singer Emani’s passing is als still unknown, but was confirmed by producer J. Maine.
Rest In Paradise, D. Hill and Emani.
