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Producer Series: Kay Gee

Thirty-two tracks from the Naughty By Nature guitarist who became one of the most successful producers in R&B. Kay Gee had two careers and did well at both.

From East Orange to the top of the R&B chart

Keir Gist — Kay Gee — was the DJ and producer of Naughty By Nature, the East Orange, New Jersey trio whose "O.P.P." and "Hip Hop Hooray" are two of the most recognisable rap records ever made. He handled the beats while Treach handled the rapping, and their sound — sample-driven, chant-heavy, built for enormous crowds — defined a certain kind of early-1990s crossover hip-hop.

His second career was arguably more interesting. Through his Divine Mill label he produced and developed R&B acts, most notably Zhané, Next and Jaheim, and became one of the defining producers of the smooth, hip-hop-inflected R&B of the late 1990s and 2000s.

What to listen for

"O.P.P." is built on the Jackson 5's "ABC" and remains one of the most efficient party records in existence. "Hip Hop Hooray" is the other — that hand-wave is still a reflex for a whole generation.

"Uptown Anthem" and "Feel Me Flow" are the deeper Naughty cuts, the latter built on a Grover Washington sample and one of their best.

Zhané's "Hey Mr. D.J." and "Sending My Love" are the crown jewels of his R&B work. Zhané — Renee Neufville and Jean Norris — were a genuinely sophisticated duo, jazz-schooled and underrated, and these records are beautifully made.

Next's "Too Close" was a number one and one of the cheekiest hits in R&B history; "Wifey" is the follow-up.

The Jaheim tracks — "Just in Case" and "Fabulous" — represent his most successful development project. Jaheim's blend of Teddy Pendergrass-style singing with a street lyrical sensibility was a Kay Gee construction.

Queen Latifah's "U.N.I.T.Y." is the most important record on this list — a Grammy winner and one of the sharpest pieces of writing about street harassment and domestic violence in the genre's history.

Noel Gourdin's "The River" is the late one and a lovely Southern soul record.

Go deeper

Naughty By Nature's 19 Naughty III (1993) is the album, and Zhané's Pronounced Jah-Nay is the underrated R&B classic.

Jaheim's Ghetto Love and Still Ghetto are worth revisiting — he was one of the last male singers to have a genuine run in that lane.

And for New Jersey hip-hop generally: Redman, Queen Latifah, The Fugees and Lauryn Hill all came out of the same small state within a few years of each other.

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