Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 5, 2003)

Welcome to our final look at Kanye West's production output from 2003 (and man, was the dude busy - for 2003 alone, there are previous posts here and here).

A relatively unknown production credit from Kanye is 'Dogs Out' from DMX's widely forgotten 2003 album 'Grand Champ'. I'm not so sure about X's delivery, but the beat is among Kanye's best from the period - it samples the Phil Spector produced 1958 hit 'Dedicated to the One I Love' by the Shirelles. Another West produced non-single from 2003 is Fabolous' 'My Life' from 'Street Dreams', which samples 'Pride and Vanity' from the early Ohio Players album 'Pleasure'. Lil Kim's 'La Bella Mafia' album cut 'Came Back for You' produced by West samples Irene Reid's 'Didn't We' from her 1971 album 'The World Needs What I Need'.

Finally, Royce Da 5'9"'s 'Heartbeat' has caused a lot of controversy from both the Royce camp and the Kanye camp. West contends that Royce never paid for his beat to 'Heartbeat' (which samples Junior Walker's 'Darling Come Back Home' from 1978), but recorded on it and released it in 2003 on his mixtape 'Build and Destroy: The Lost Sessions Part 1'.

Check back for our look at Kanye West's production credits from 2004 as well as a look at his album 'The College Dropout' coming soon.

The Lowdown:
DMX 'Dogs Out'
from 'Grand Champ' (2003) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Dogs Out'
The Shirelles 'Dedicated to the One I Love'
from 'Dedicated to the One I Love' 7" (1958) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Fabolous 'My Life'
from 'Street Dreams' (2003) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'My Life'
The Ohio Players 'Pride and Vanity'
from 'Pleasure' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD)
Lil Kim 'Came Back for You'
from 'La Bella Mafia' (2003) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Came Back for You'
Irene Reid 'Didn't We'
from 'The World Needs What I Need' (1971) (MP3 Not Available/CD Not Available)
Royce Da 5'9" 'Heartbeat'
from 'Build and Destroy: The Lost Sessions Part 1' (2003) (MP3 not available/CD)
Jr. Walker 'Darling Come Back Home'
from '...Smooth' (1978) (MP3 Not Available/CD Not Available)