Decap is the man behind the drums behind your favorite song

I don’t think I’m going to hurt anyone’s feelings by pointing out that Decap doesn’t have the name recognition of Kendrick Lamar, Olivia Rodrigo, or Charli XCX. But his fingerprints are all over tracks from them, as well as many other artists, including Freddie Gibbs, Bad Bunny, Mac Miller, BTS, and even Ludwig Göransson’s score for Oppenheimer.

Nicholas Piantedosi, better known as Decap, is a record producer, but perhaps more importantly, he’s the man behind Drums That Knock, a series of sample packs that have found their way onto countless records across genres. The line is so successful that, after debuting in 2016, it’s now on its 11th installment. Kenneth Blume, formerly known as Kenny Beats, the producer behind hits from Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, Rico Nasty, Idles, and FKA Twigs, said that Decap “changed a million lives with a single snare.”