Producers are an integral part of music creation, but so few of these sonic gurus get the recognition they deserve. HEAT RISING looks at the best beats by an up-and-coming producer, and talks about where they’re from (ROOTS), what they’ve done (RESUME), and why they’re an exciting presence in music today (REASONS TO WATCH).

ROOTS: In the final semester of a Commercial Music degree at Tennessee State, 22-year-old KeY Wane had a problem that most of his peers could only dream of. Big Sean’s management team wanted to fly him out to Los Angeles for three days to put the finishing touches on Hall Of Fame, Big Sean’s sophomore album. KeY Wane ultimately had to decline because he’d already missed too many classes that semester, but he wasn’t worried about disappointing Big Sean. Wane had been working with him since he was nineteen, and signing a publishing deal with him in April of last year pretty much confirmed that there would be plenty of opportunities to collaborate with Big Sean and the network of hip-hop royalty he has access to.

Like Big Sean, Dwane Marshall Weir II was born and raised on the Westside of Detroit, Michigan. Growing up immersed in the gospel music community connected to his childhood church, Dwane got serious about taking piano lessons at the age of twelve. Ever since, Dwane “KeY Wane” Marshall Weir II has made his piano-playing ability the trademark of his sound. Dwane and Sean first met when Dwane was in middle school at the age of thirteen, and even though it would be six more years before Sean would grace a track produced by Dwane, the connection was made. After years of playing prospective beats for Sean, KeY Wane finally got the nod on “4 My People,” a track featured on the XXL Freshmen Class of 2010 mixtape. KeY Wane found himself on the ground level of Big Sean’s Finally Famous crew.

RESUME: After the XXL Freshmen tape dropped, KeY Wane contributed three beats to the third installment of Big Sean’s Finally Famous mixtape series, then worked on the intro for Sean’s official debut. This level of exposure allowed Wane to place a beat on Tyga’s Careless World (“Potty Mouth“), and soon thereafter, Meek Mill’s Dreamchasers 2 mixtape. The Philly rapper’s “Amen” became one of last summer’s stand-out hits, thanks to a guest feature from Drake, and a bouncy piano-centric beat with KeY Wane replaying a riff from the Doobie Brothers’ “Minute By Minute.” With this beat, KeY Wane landed on a signature sound that sets him apart from a sea of young, skilled producers with access to FL Studio; he’s able to hop on the eighty-eights and inject some sample-free soul into a beat on demand. “Amen” saw an eventual formal release on Meek Mill’s Dreams & Nightmares, and ultimately peaked at #5 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Do you think having a top 10 hit gives you an automatic A+ in your Commercial Music class?

Wane also has a few key co-productions under his belt, including Young Jeezy’s “Knob Broke” (co-produced with Jahlil Beats) and “Guap,” the lead-off single from Big Sean’s Hall Of Fame (co-produced with Young Chop). To sample the best of KeY Wane’s production discography, along with a few exclusives (including his first solo-effort “Have Some Fun”), check out his debut mixtape So Many Keys.

REASONS TO WATCH: After producing three tracks for Big Sean’s Detroit mixtape last fall, it’s safe to assume that KeY Wane went straight to work on more tracks for Hall OF Fame. With “Amen” and a degree from TSU under his belt, 2013 looks to be a promising year for KeY Wane and his piano chops.