Pi’erre Bourne’s 10 Best Beats

You can’t have a conversation about the best rap producers of the last few years without mentioning Pi’erre Bourne. Following in the footsteps of hitmakers like Lex Luger, Mike WiLL Made-It, and Metro Boomin, Bourne has made his name cranking out beats that pair airy video-game melodies with classic trap drums. The 26-year-old rose fast, leveraging his job as an engineer at Epic Records’ Atlanta studio into his own rap career: His breakthrough 2016 mixtape series, The Life of Pi’erre, was recorded during his downtime at work, and he’s since established artistically and commercially fruitful relationships with young vanguards like Young Nudy, Playboi Carti, and Lil Uzi Vert. His work has also helped superstars including Kanye West and Nicki Minaj maintain a semblance of relevance amid a genre that’s always reinventing itself.

At this point, more beatmakers are emerging in his mold; fellow South Carolina producers like Jetsonmade and Neeko Baby have an airy sound that can be directly traced to him. A search for “Pi’erre type beat” on YouTube will introduce you to a thriving community built on imitating his sound, but no one tops the original. This is why we’ve decided to look back at his 10 best beats.

Pi’erre Bourne: “Safe” (2016)

Bourne’s The Life of Pi’erre trilogy was the foundation for his future sound, full of dreamy production and his own lighthearted, lovestruck singing. The Life of Pi’erre 2 is the best of the three because it includes “Safe,” a song that he could still drop to much fanfare today. It’s the prototypical Pi’erre formula, with trap 808s ready to explode and an overpowering melody that feels like an eternal summer.

Trippie Redd: “1400 Gang/Qs and Ps” (2016)

It’s hard to believe that there was a time when Trippie Redd was Bourne’s best collaborator. Together they released an EP called Beast Mode + + + +, though today their relationship is infamous for the creation of Tekashi 6ix9ine: Redd gave Tekashi a Pi’erre beat without the producer’s permission, resulting in the rainbow-haired rap villain’s breakout track, “GUMMO.” (“I never wanted to have anything to do with that song,” Bourne later said.) But before the drama, Pi’erre and Redd made “1400 Gang/Qs and Ps,” their best track together. Bourne’s production is rich with sounds that clash without detracting from each other, like gears grinding. It’s so bright that it’s eerie, like going on a slow ride through “It’s a Small World” at Disneyland.

Young Nudy: “EA” (2017)

On “EA,” Bourne’s production sounds like a nightmare. The keys are ominous enough for the climax of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and the underlying melody builds tension like something unknown yet unavoidable is about to happen. It’s like a slasher movie where the slasher wins in a landslide, which is perfect for Young Nudy and 21 Savage to deliver nearly four minutes of cold-hearted threats.

Pi’erre Bourne: “Marie Curie” (2018)

Pi’erre produces love songs that have happy endings. On “Marie Curie,” he uses handclaps, a sweeping melody, and his go-to heart-pounding drums to create a euphoric instrumental. Paired with his romantic vocals, it sounds like a modern fairytale.

Playboi Carti: “Magnolia” (2017)

Playboi Carti’s self-titled debut was destined to be added to the list of projects we would never hear, like Dr. Dre’s Detox, the André 3000 solo record, and the Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana collab album. Then, one day, a snippet surfaced online, opening with a tag new to many: “Yo Pi’erre, you wanna come out here?” There was a rush to find out everything about the generally unknown producer; by the time that song, “Magnolia,” was officially released, Pi’erre was known throughout the hip-hop world. To this day, “Magnolia” may be Bourne’s definitive beat, with a melody that sounds like it belongs in Super Mario and a bounce that has traces of everywhere he has called home: New York, Atlanta, and South Carolina.

Chavo: “Had a Feeling” (2019)

Pi’erre beats aren’t for everybody. They require a certain sublimation of ego—you have to come to terms with the fact the spotlight will be shared with his imaginative instrumentals. So Bourne went out and assembled his SossHouse crew, featuring rising rappers whom he blesses with production on a consistent basis. Atlanta’s Chavo is one of the crew’s standouts, and on “Had a Feeling”—over production that sounds made to soundtrack a car chase—he proves that the way to rap over Pi’erre is to follow his lead.

Pi’erre Bourne: “Try Again” (2019)

The Life of Pi’erre 4 is a flex. It’s a project filled with beats many rappers would kill for, but Bourne kept them for himself. “Try Again” is addictive, with a light and feathery instrumental that could make even the worst day sparkle. It all suits the producer’s own despondent crooning about his loneliness: “It’s just me and I’m alone again/Spendin’ all my money on my own again.”

Jelly: “Spot” (2020)

For a while throughout the 2010s, the Trapaholics mixtape tag was inescapable: Once that tag dropped, you knew you were in for hardened street rap. Bourne has put his own spin on it, using it on beats that sound like a fantastical drift through Zelda. On “Spot,” a song from SossHouse member Jelly, the instrumental begins and ends with Bourne’s satirical spin on the tags: “Ahh shit, damn Pi’erre, where’d you find this?” asks the cryptic Trapaholics voice. It’s purposely overdone and ridiculous, but that’s part of what makes Pi’erre beats special.

Young Nudy: “Long Ride” (2019)

This is how Young Nudy has described his production preferences: “I be liking shit with different weird noises, because I know how to bring me out to those sounds.” It has made Pi’erre and Nudy the perfect pairing, because nobody can pull unexpected sounds together like Bourne. Their collaborative album, Sli’merre, has plenty to choose from, like the fiery “Hot Wings” and the grimy “Black Hippie, White Hipster.” Then there’s“Long Ride,” which is the type of chaotic and menacing backdrop that has made Nudy sound like the ATL supervillain he is. Pi’erre’s beat is the most captivating element, with a melody that sounds like a machine malfunctioning; it wouldn’t be out of place in a sci-fi movie.

Young Nudy: “Pissy Pamper” [ft. Playboi Carti] (unreleased)

Originally intended for Sli’merre, “Pissy Pamper” has never been officially released because of a clearance hold-up around its sample of 1980s Japanese singer Mai Yamane’s “Tasogare.” Its beat was a new approach for Bourne, who flips the jazzy pop song into a smooth anthem for Young Nudy and Carti to trade stoned thoughts. Last year, Nudy detailed his frustrations about the song: “Sometimes you think you made the best song in the world, and someone come out the blue talking about, ‘You can’t use that sample,’” he lamented. “You just gotta move on.” But to this day, the song is reuploaded to YouTube daily before it quickly gets pulled down. The leak has taken on a life of its own, and it has become one of Pi’erre’s signature beats—no easy feat.

Originally Appeared on Pitchfork