Ovrkast Breaks Down 12 Perfectly Produced Rap Beats

The Producers is an interview series where our favorite producers discuss their favorite music production.

If you took every Ovrkast song and stacked their waveforms next to each other, they would create a schematic for personal progress. Each project the Bay Area-raised rapper-producer has dropped since 2020’s Try Again teems with the energy and self-awareness to make it to the next level of life—it’s all right there in the title of his debut. Much of his early work crawls with the anxiety and second-guesses natural in your late teens and early 20s, the kind stared down and overcome in coming-of-age movies from Juice to Superbad. As a producer, he’s always shown supreme skill for placing the right hard-hitting drums over the right melancholy sample loops, and his horizons have expanded in ever-wilder directions in the last few years. You’d never guess the guy behind songs like “2 Minute Bars” and “Church” would rap over anything as raucous as what he and Cardo Got Wings cooked up on 2024’s Kast Got Wings, but he’s one of several young spitters who’ve proven that being scrappy and malleable is the way for indie rap to evolve.

While the Iron Is Hot, his first full-length album in five years after a handful of EPs, is his strongest and most varied project yet. Kast isn’t the lil bro hoping it all shakes out anymore; he’s a clear-eyed double threat on the mic and the boards. He makes samples and instruments float around the room on “Truth?” and “New Era,” and floors it for the frenetic drum break and horns of lead single “Small Talk.” On “Mavkast” and “Strange Ways,” he goes toe-to-toe with Mavi and Vince Staples, two of the best rappers alive, and leaves not only unscathed, but with a few good licks of his own. The energy he’s putting out is enough to power the Oakland block he was raised on, and it’s all come from trusting himself through it all.

“I learned how to be resourceful and play on recurring themes and audio motifs,” he says, confirming that many of Iron’s beats were made with the same palette of sounds, recycled and reinterpreted several times over. “And I learned how to be in my typical Ovrkast world, but also draw from different places, and how to make that meld the right way.” 

Below, Ovrkast discusses a dozen rap beats that have inspired him as a producer, from genre mainstays like J Dilla, Madlib, and Alchemist, to undervalued stalwarts like Phoelix and Denmark Vessey.

MF Doom: “Gazzillion Ear”

Producer: J. Dilla

Ovrkast: The drums got me. They were sitting in a pocket that’s weird. You can feel them more than you can hear them. They sound so crispy, but they’re so subtle. Also that sample’s crazy. And then, of course, Doom came straight out the gate rhyming. He was trippin’. It’s the epitome of shit I like: weird pocket, crispy drums, good sample, and crazy rapping. And then the second half of that bitch, when you hear the “Dilla” ad libs and the beat just switches? It’s one of those things where it’s like, “Damn, niggas is not playin’.” I can just cut that beat on whenever and get in my mode. 

I wish Doom and Dilla got to work together more. They really only got a handful in, and this is definitely one of the best ones.

Sometimes, I feel like that’s the best option, though. You just need a few—you don’t need four albums worth. That’s how shit gets lost. But when you got a cool, like, six songs? That’s tight.

J Dilla: “651”

Producer: J. Dilla

The drums sound like they’re coming from the other room—just a really nutty drum loop. Dilla always chops samples in this way where you can’t tell it was chopped—the way he chops it, you would think that’s the sample. Then when you hear it, it’s like, “Nigga, you took this sound and put it over here and this one over there?” I got so inspired by that beat, I sampled the same thing on “Interlude,” from Try Again. If you wanna freestyle, just cut “651” on, bro. 

Did Dilla directly inspire anything you made on While the Iron Is Hot?

I spammed the shit out [Dilla’s] air horn on there. Once I figured out how to use it, I was like, “Oh shit!” It’s really a tool. Niggas would throw it in on some yeah, this shit gon’ be hard!, but nah, it actually has to be hard. It don’t make the beat hard, the beat gotta be crazy and then the horn makes it even more crazy. “Truth?,” for sure. I was just tryna impress myself, bro. Dilla’s ear for picking sounds, his unpredictability, his mixes? All that shit was super inspiring.  

9th Wonder: “Charlysoul!!!!”

Producer: 9th Wonder

9th is one of them guys who, when he makes beats, he just blacks out. I remember when this beat first dropped and niggas was tryna recreate it on YouTube and shit. There’s something that sticks with me when it’s musical shit; when it sounds like it’s a nigga in front of you playing the drums. It sounds like a band is playing it. That’s my favorite shit: When it sounds like a band could be playing this music, but it’s a beat. That shit fucked my head up.

I remember the first time I saw the episode of Rhythm Roulette where 9th originally made that beat. He makes it look so easy. 

Right? The bass and the drums? I think to myself, Do people not understand how hard what he’s doing is? Can’t even find them kind of sounds, bro. Finding sounds is the hardest part of making beats.

Kendrick Lamar: “Duckworth.”

Producer: 9th Wonder

Masterclass, bro. Absolute masterclass. On my next album, I’ma do one of these events where I rap my ass off over three different beats in one song. 9th is spanking on here, like, slow down, bro. I love that kinda bully energy, where it’s like, “Nigga, here go one more. Don’t fuck with me. I’m too nice.” That whole song is crazy. Kendrick lost his mind on that shit, too. That nigga’s doing verbal back flips. He’s telling a story, number one, and then he’s saying it in these crazy ways. You know how a nigga could be juggling a knife and then juggle a flamethrower? 

And then a chainsaw! 

Exactly, yeah! He’s juggling all these big-ass things, and then 9th is behind him switching up the beat, throwing new shit at him. It’s just a masterclass of hip-hop. 

As much as I love the first and third beats, my favorite is the shortest, the second one that flips Hiatus Kaiyote. I wish that one was longer. 

That one actually changed how I make beats. This was 2019. I went back to the song and recognized how crazy it was. I come from the school of Knxwledge and Dilla and Madlib, so I’ve always been accustomed to off-kilter drums. I don’t think there’s any producer who’s stamped that, it’s just a thing people do. There’s something to the drums on the second beat being so throwed—it’s like he threw those drums at the wall and they bounced back in that pattern. It’s so messy, but the way he chopped that shit is crazy. I play it back and think to myself, How did he make those drums bounce this way? And I studied that hard. That’s how I came up with “Two Minute Bars” and “Church,” that really raunchy ass, hard-hitting shit.

Madlib: “More Rice”

Producer: Madlib

“More Rice” is just so fuck you. The laugh in this song? I sampled that laugh a few times on While the Iron’s Hot—it’s definitely on “truth?,” it’s tucked. The laugh and the sinisterness of the beat, it just deserves a crazy MC. I wanna hear somebody like Big L or Elzhi or Kendrick or Kenny Mason or Marco Plus get on this and just black the fuck out. Also the drums are reversed? It sounds like some experimental shit. The sample loops forever, but the melody just goes on and on. It’s just a perfect beat, bro. 

All those Beat Konducta albums are amazing. Madlib’s like Dilla in the sense that he’ll chop shit up to the point where you don’t realize it’s samples being played. But a lotta times, he just picks loops. They call him the Loop Digga for a reason. He’s so good at picking that eight seconds that stick with you. 

He takes his time, bro. It’s like a slot machine: You diggin’ and diggin’ and diggin’, and then you find that one. That one is so rewarding, bro.

Jay-Z: “Marcy Me”

Producer: No I.D.

This is another one that changed how I make beats. It was the chops and the simpleness of the drums. They pitter-patter—you want more from them but you know you can’t get it. And it’s one of those ones where Jay blacked out. The sample’s crazy, and the end when the-Dream comes in, it’s like… this is hip-hop, nigga! [laughs] 

It’s doing the most with the least.

The beat sounds like it’s alive and breathing. The drums and sample are kinda rickety. It sounds like a baby deer figuring out its legs. It’s so crazy. That beat inspired “Love Somebody” and “Face” from Try Again. You can kinda hear it on “Face,” just the way the chop is and how the drums fall. Just keeping it kinda raw and amateur.    

The Alchemist and Budgie: “Floor Seats” (ft. Mach-Hommy)

Producer: The Alchemist

You thought hip-hop was dead, then you hear this. Really crazy, haunting but beautiful sample. I love that kinda shit where it’s scary but sounds beautiful at the same time. It’s a rapper’s playground. It’s like giving a rapper crayons and a blank piece of paper, and the paper’s nice and thick, and the colors are vibrant. Mach is like your cool uncle who raps and you never see. He’s like, “What y’all niggas doin’?” and we be playin’ PS2, and he’s like, “Y’all don’t know nothin’ ’bout this, gimmie the controller!” He hella good, then he leave.

Noname: “Casket Pretty”

Producers: Phoelix and Saba

That song’s very sad. There were two 2016s that were happening: The lit people were having a great time, and the sad people were having a terrible time. I was on the sad end, but Telefone helped me. That and Isaiah Rashad’s Sun’s Tirade were my soundtracks that year, because I was going through it. The beats on Telefone are really incredible. 2016 was also the SoundCloud era where everybody was uploading beats. It was so many different sounds being thrown at you; you had Monte Booker and all these underground heads coming out crazy. You had the God’s Connect YouTube channel. 

God’s Connect is a throwback. Shout out to them. 

God’s Connect is amazing, he really helped me out early on. I wouldn’t be the young nigga I was without him. Back then, getting a God’s Connect video was like getting a Cole Bennett video. 

Earl Sweatshirt: “December 24th”

Producer: Denmark Vessey

Denmark Vessey is nasty. You can tell this beat’s been squished through the SP, just ran through. Whatever he made it on, he smashed it. The piano’s tryna peek through the drums and the drums are like, No, shut the fuck up. That snare, I don’t even know what that snare is, it’s crazy. Earl comes in disrespectful as fuck.

“Allen with the pick ’fro!” 

It sounds like he’s in the beat with a microphone blindfolded and started rapping.

It’s so raw and so short. He gets in, says exactly what he needs to say, and then…

It cuts. Honorable mention: “Cold Summers.” I still can’t find that sample, but it sounds like you’re in the middle of a snowstorm. Even the way it starts, that song sounds like you faced a whole Backwood, knocked the fuck out, and woke up in a puddle of sweat.

Zeroh: “Bang Babies”

Producer: Zeroh

Really crazy use of that sample, because Zeroh made it sound like I’d never heard it before, and it’s just Stevie Wonder. The song sounds like a bad trip, like something’s crawling towards you during sleep paralysis. The drums are really sticky and sloppy, and the snare’s early but it does this triplet thing. And then he’s doing this deep whispery flow, but he’s saying crazy shit. Zeroh’s one of the most incredible musicians and very slept-on. He’s dangerous, don’t sleep on him.

Navy Blue: “In Good Hands” (ft. Ka)

Producer: Navy Blue

Rest in peace, Ka. A lotta Sage’s songs sound like you’re on a quest, a mission to get somewhere, and Sage is your guide. But that one really felt like they were so locked in together. Ka is so calm, but he’s saying the craziest shit. Ka said, “It’s said the common thread with our enemies/Is we was all men with no amenities/Couldn’t sit in peace, we each hit the streets for remedies.” That’s crazy, bro. That beat is so emotional and demands your attention. In 2018, 2019, and 2020, it was a lotta emotionally heavy but focused music. You could take time with your emotions and understand how you felt through the music. 

And a lotta y’all were starting to come into yourselves around that time, too. You were, Sage was, Earl was barely two years removed from shuffling the playing field with Some Rap Songs. 

I wish I could go back in time. I was very broke, but the music weighed heavier in a good way.

Westside Gunn: “Spoonz” (ft. Conway the Machine)

Producer: Conductor Williams

I was hip to Griselda’s shit, but at the time I felt like it was hit or miss. I’m an album guy, so whenever I put on a Westside Gunn album, I couldn’t get through the whole thing. But then I heard “Spoonz” and was like, “What the fuck is this?” Conductor’s beat just took me straight to Madlib and Knxwledge—the Martin sample! Then the actual beat comes in and it’s so wonky. It sounds like he sampled it from a VHS player. Then they just flow over it. I love songs where the beat come in, and rappers just go.