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" Music&amp;#039;s most prolific hit makers step out of the studio to demonstrate that they look as good as they sound TIMBALAND Worked with: Aaliyah, Missy Elliot, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit  Most recently: His own solo release, Indecent Proposal, in stores June 26 For the record: With hip-hop dominating the pop charts, the genre&amp;#039;s major producers, among them Tim Mosley, aka Timbaland, have emerged as kings--sometimes as big as the talent they produce. While most hip-hop and R&amp;amp;amp;B producers get things shaking with a single instantly recognizable formula, he mixes it up, making heads bob to a different combination of beats every time. What he&amp;#039;s wearing: Double-breasted leather coat ($1,000) and denim vest ($70) by Sean John. MIRWAIS Worked with: Madonna  Most recently: His first solo record, Production, which debuted earlier this spring  For the record: Mrs. Ritchie has called him the &amp;quot;future of sound,&amp;quot; and judging from the three Grammy nominations that her Mirwais-produced Music garnered this past year, it&amp;#039;s hard to argue with the prediction. This first-generation Frenchman (Afghan father, Italian mother) has produced a full-length debut that is a brash combination of pop, disco, and punk. To call it French electronica would be too rigid. Let&amp;#039;s just say that when he turns those little knobs on the soundboard, people--French and otherwise--move.  What he&amp;#039;s wearing: Two-button single-breasted wool sport coat (part of suit, $1,654), embroidered shirt ($3,044), and denim jeans ($192) by Dolce &amp;amp;amp; Gabbana; leather belt with sterling-silver buckle ($345) by Billy Martin&amp;#039;s.  Ross Robinson  Worked with: Korn, Slipknot, Deftones  Most recently:The major-label debut of At the Drive-In; Slipknot&amp;#039;s second record, due out later this year For the record: Robinson is known in the industry for his unorthodox practices in the studio. On occasion, he&amp;#039;ll whip an artist into a screaming fury or reduce a band to tears. Through his work with metal/rap hybrids like Korn and Slipknot, he&amp;#039;s helped define a new niche of rock &amp;#039;n&amp;#039; roll that relies on the uncorking of bottled aggression. And it&amp;#039;s paid off: In the last five years, he&amp;#039;s had a hand in sales of forty million records, and his own I Am Recordings label has just won widespread distribution.  What he&amp;#039;s wearing: Leather shirt ($595) by Billy Martin&amp;#039;s; cotton T-shirt ($44) by American Rag CIE. Don Was  Worked with:The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, Iggy Pop, Roy Orbison, Elton John, Lyle Lovett Most recently:The Black Crowes&amp;#039; new  Lions; Rosanne Cash&amp;#039;s latest album For the record: Was is nothing if not prolific; he&amp;#039;s produced more than eighty albums and won two of the twenty-four Grammys for which his projects have been nominated. He landed his first winner in 1989 with Bonnie Raitt&amp;#039;s Nick of Time and later went on to produce Voodoo Lounge and Bridges to Babylon for the Rolling Stones. Dylan, Jagger, Elton, and Iggy--they all rearrange their schedules to work with him.  What he&amp;#039;s wearing:  Two-button single-breasted leather blazer ($2,325) and cotton shirt ($230) by Gucci; denim jeans ($115) by Diesel.  GLEN BALLARD Worked with: Michael Jackson, Alanis Morissette, Aerosmith, Van Halen, the Dave Matthews Band, No Doubt, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, George Strait Most recently: Lisa Marie Presley&amp;#039;s debut album, to be released on his own Java Records; songwriting with Shelby Lynne for her upcoming release  For the record:  As a producer and songwriter, Ballard has won five Grammys and been behind fourteen number-one hits and 150 million records sold. Alanis Morissette&amp;#039;s thirty-million-selling debut, Jagged Little Pill, was produced and cowritten by Ballard, and he&amp;#039;s worked the same magic for rockers like Aerosmith, poppers like Michael Jackson, and crooners like George Strait. More recently, the Dave Matthews Band tapped him to produce Everyday, as did No Doubt last year for its platinum-selling Return of Saturn. What he&amp;#039;s wearing: Three-button single-breasted nylon-blend jacket (part of suit, $1,780), cotton shirt ($240), and cotton-stretch T-shirt ($198) by Prada; hat ($24) by American Rag CIE.  STEVE LILLYWHITE  Worked with: U2, the Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, the Dave Matthews Band, Travis, Phish Most recently: Rear View Mirror&amp;#039;s album for his own  Label, Gobstopper For the record: When U2 was the biggest and best band on the planet in the 1980s, it was thanks in large part to the work of Lillywhite. He produced five of its albums, the seminal Joshua Tree among them. It took more than a decade for them to team up again, this time for last year&amp;#039;s Grammy-winning All that You Can&amp;#039;t Leave Behind, but Lillywhite stayed busy, helping launch the careers of a little band headed by a guy named Dave Matthews and a school of guys who call themselves Phish.  What he&amp;#039;s wearing:  Two-button single-breasted cotton jacket ($780), cotton shirt ($130), and silk tie ($175) by Helmut Lang; denim jeans ($390) by Jil Sander; leather boots ($375) by Buffalo Chips.  For store information see page 162. for our picks of the coolest new clothes and where to buy them--plus style advice from executive editor scott omelianuk--visit esquire.com/style. grooming: david cox. assistant stylist: jennifer levine. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a1050/esq0601-june-producers/>