It's rare to see producers become as visible as the rappers they make beats for, but in recent years some have been able to brand themselves to the point of being stars in their own right. Metro Boomin is the perfect example; with the advent of producer tags for mostly southern beatmakers, guys like Metro, Zaytoven and Mike WiLL Made-It don't leave any room for guesswork—their signatures are unavoidable at the start of nearly every song they create.

That's helped bring awareness to the fact that producers work just as hard, if not harder, than the rappers whose hits they help make. That should seem obvious, but being "behind the boards" means being behind the faces of the songs too, even if some producers are helping rappers with their hooks as well.

This year, XXL takes a look at some of the best producers of the year, people who toiled behind the scenes to make the beats your favorite rappers spit over. They aren't all as self-branded as the guys mentioned above—though some, like June Onna Beat, DJ Fresh and Wheezy also use their own subtle signatures—but they all have emerged as being instrumental to the success of the songs they made. Here 30 of the Best Hip-Hop Producers of 2016.