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: 23-year-old Detroit producer Skylar Tait, a.k.a. Skywlkr, earned a reputation for his gutsy, blissed-out electro beats producing the bulk of Danny Brown’s acclaimed sophomore album XXX, and as the go-to producer for the Brown-fronted Bruiser Brigade crew, his beats are finding a wider audience as the Detroit crew’s profile continues to rise with every release. But first, we need to get one thing straight: he’s never seen Star Wars.

Skylar Tait wasn’t always interested in making hip-hop instrumentals. At fourteen, he started playing guitar in a metal band, and at eighteen he switched to drums, relocating to New York from his native Detroit to play bass in a metal band called Museums. Tait eventually left the band and moved back to Detroit, and started making music independently. He transitioned from making metal songs to hip-hop “mostly out of boredom,” and starting crafting hip-hop instrumentals in the vein of Dipset, and especially Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind’s production work for Jedi Mind Tricks. Fusing menacing melodies with aggressive drum production, the producer known as Skywlkr admits that his background in “metal has definitely influenced [his] beats.”

Once Skywlkr compiled enough instrumentals, he started attending beat battles locally, which introduced the Detroit hip-hop scene to his sound. At his first beat battle, Skywlkr’s beats earned him second place, ingratiating him to a bevy of local rappers who were always hungry for beats. Skywlkr met Bruiser Brigade rapper Chip$ through a mutual friend. He produced the track “Ponzi Scheme” for Chip$, and after hearing it, Chip$’ former collaborator Danny Brown tapped Skywlkr to produce some tracks for XXX. Then and there, the newly formed Bruiser Brigade had their in-house producer.

RESUME: Aside from lacing Bruiser Brigade rappers Danny Brown, Chip$, DopeHead,Triple Black, Zelooperz, and Chavis Chandler with his brand of soulful electro heat, Skywlkr has also worked with a handful of artists outside of the Bruiser family, including Childish Gambino, Main Attrakionz, Esham, and UK horrorcore rapper CAS. Skywlkr also has a pair of very worthwhile instrumental tapes to his name, 2010’s Strawberry Cough, and 2012’s Impressions.

REASONS TO WATCH: Skywlkr is currently on the shockingly debaucherous Old & Reckless tour with Danny Brown and Kitty (Pryde), and with DB’s hotly anticipated XXX follow-up Old arriving sometime in August, Skywlkr seems ready to go next level. Need proof? Check out “Kush Coma,” a Skywlkr-produced teaser for Old that certainly bodes well for this dynamic Detroit duo.