Men lie, women lie, numbers… well, you get it! The verdict is out and you voted Dr. Dre the winner of VIBE’s Greatest Producer of All Time contest. The former NWA producer/rapper went up against DJ Premier in the final round, garnering 62% of votes to take the title.
Overall, there were 189,425 total votes in six rounds of voting among four categories: Homegrown Sound, Soul Sample, Mass Appeal and Boom Bap.
The No. 1 seed in the Homegrown division, Dre had an easy trek to the finals, trumping Atlanta producer DJ Toomp in the first round, fellow West Coaster DJ Quik in the second and De La Soul’s Prince Paul in the third. The veteran also edged out Bomb Squad in the Elite 8 round to go up against Kanye West in the final four, where a 68% advantage earned him a spot in the finals.
Meanwhile in the Boom Bap category, No. 1 seed Premier beat out newcomer Bangladesh in Round 1, followed by Mobb Deep’s Havoc and Def Jam pioneer Rick Rubin. With 60.3% of votes, Premier prevailed over RZA to advance to the finals.
But as some of the Internet’s top hip-hop authorities predicted, Dre is the victor. Perhaps no one is more surprised about the win than Dre himself.
“I just found out that I got voted VIBE’s best producer of all time. That shit is incredible,” Dre told VIBE. “I’m a humble person and I would’ve never expected that, seriously. I just go in the studio. I try to do my thing to the best of my ability.”
Disagree with the results? Too bad. Disputes aside, it was an interesting race with a few tough match-ups (The Final Four: Dr. Dre Vs. Kanye West, DJ Premier Vs. The Neptunes) and some close calls, including Rick Rock besting Juicy J in the first round and Cash Money hitmaker Mannie Fresh ousting Wyclef in the second. With 58.2% of votes in the Elite 8, Kanye also beat out Detroit cult legend J. Dilla in a close battle.
So you can sulk about how Dre doesn’t deserve to win. Or throw on your Beats by Dre headphones and watch his acceptance speech here.