Thats right, let the pros teach you! All you have to do is know what to listen for and listen!
To make better rap beats, there are two things to look for when studying another successful beat maker:
1) How does the beat maker put together sounds?
It's not uncommon for one beat maker to copy something from another beat maker.
It's a natural progression of the culture. Think of all the auto-tune T-Pain like songs you hear on the radio. Did all these beat makers just get turned on to it all at once? NO. Beat makers saw that rap beats made by T-Pain (and others) were selling like mad. If you want a peice of that pie, then you need to make beats that sound like that.
Knowing how to incorporate popular elements from today's hottest beat makers is important but never lose your identity as a rap beat maker. You need to be able to hear your own beats and be inspired to keep making beats. If you lose that love of beat making your creativity will fall and you'll get writers block all the time.
2) How does the beat maker market him/herself?
Again, learn to study thos above you. Notice how beat maker X always names his beat something like "My Dope Beat (FREE DOWNLOAD)"? Well maybe that should tell you that adding (FREE DOWNLOAD) to your beat name might help it get noticed online.
Studying another beat maker is a good thing when you are humble enough to see your own failings in comparison. Making rap beats is not one dimensional. Improve your game from all angles and your rap beat making will progress faster than ever.
