The truth is that Cat and I love music polyamorously. There are many producers that I wish would live with me in a compound where we can have endless amounts of jam sessions.

I remember my first time hearing Missy Elliott and Timbaland’s production on the Supa Dupa Fly album. I was at my cousin’s house who lived in the Central District; she used to play all the latest cool shit. This album hit me very hard in particular, and I had no idea why back then. I would play it over and over from start to finish. I had to buy it three times because I kept getting my CD case jacked at school. Now when I listen to it, I can pick apart all the nuances that I fell in love with. Like how heavy the snare hits, the syncopated snaps, how they sample their voices, the brash horns, the extremely wet bass, and the featured artists. The triad that I had with Missy and Timb’s music was magical.

Those are my old flames, along with Q-Tip, J Dilla, 9th Wonder (who plays the Crocodile with my little sister JusMoni on Feb. 6), DJ Premier, Madlib, and MF DOOM. We have a long-lasting relationship. Their music has shaped the way that I receive sounds. Their beats are poetic and colorful and unique. They all take a sample and sip it, dip it, and then flip it. They make it so that I want to research and find the original sound clip; and then I often find I prefer their sampled and looped versions to the original.

Currently my obsessions are very West Coast-based, starting right here in Washington state. A producer by the name of Khris P, from my home city of Tacoma, has captured my heart. I wigged out when I first heard the beat for the song “Gertrude,” which was featured on his band ILLFIGHTYOU’s self-titled EP. It sounded like my childhood days spent wandering around Hilltop when I was supposed to be at vacation Bible school. It sounded like real gangsterism, reminiscent of Death Row Records. His use of snare and kick is very hop and bap, which forces the head nod (the head nod is necessary, especially for the folks who can’t get jiggy).

Another West Coast beatmaker I’ve fallen for goes by the name of MNDSGN (pronounced “mind design”) and is based in Los Angeles. He’s got a futuristic, nostalgic approach. By taking the best parts of music from the past and incorporating it with new vibe-wave sounds, he creates a very fresh style. He’s especially good with the keys, and composes in a jazzy way. I watched him in a Boiler Room session, and he just looked like one of those producers comfortable jamming out for hours and hours. I’m also from that tribe. I’ve Tweeted my admiration at him a couple of times, but I’m trying not to be thirsty. I should also tread lightly because I hear that he is good friends with one of my other producer crushes, Iman Omari.

Omari’s music is sex. By that I don’t mean the actual act, but the feelings and the process of it. The rollercoaster of rhythms and the waviness of his synth sounds emulate harmonious copulation. I love his use of layering, like pillows piled softly over each other, and his use of air. I’ve never felt this way about anyone’s production. He’s definitely carving a pathway for music that is typically labeled and pigeonholed. I can’t call his music R&B or hip-hop or soul, though it obviously is sourced from those elements. I’m OK with simply listening to and feeling it rather than calling it something.

I got a chance to meet Iman at the Soul of Brooklyn Festival last summer, where I also met my current female producer crush Paris [Strother], from the trio King. Paris is from Minneapolis, a place that I feel infuses something into its water because it breeds some of the best musicians on the planet. Cat and I binged on the Minneapolis sound when we were in the process of making our first album, and Paris carries on this great legacy and adds her own sway.

Her live setup reminds me of watching clips of Herbie Hancock in the ’80s. She is completely surrounded by synthesizers and keyboards, the same way the character Uhura looked at the control board on Star Trek. She takes me to other planets with her chord progressions and floaty space bass. They have a song called “In the Meantime” that has this powerful build-up moment that feels like actual fireworks exploding. This is something similar to a first kiss, so Paris’ beats and I have a true love affair. I live for romance, and I’m so thankful that music like this exists to enhance those moments. music@seattleweekly.com