BPM
All of our rap beats have
detailed BPM info next to them, because different styles
are better suited to different tempos.
Depending on your personal musical tastes, faster or
slower beats may often have an indirect influence on how
much you like the sound of an instrumental. When
rapping, we often went for faster beats, there was just
something about tracks at 100 BPM that sounded better to
us compared to say 90 BPM.
However, faster beats require tighter vocal diction
skills: you have to be able to clearly pronounce words
without getting them blurred or twisted; this sounds
easier than it actually is. Most rappers can rhyme up to
98 BPM, but go faster than that and you will realise
that it has an impact on your flow.
Our advice:
If you really like a beat with a BPM of 100+, write your
lyrics over the beat directly. This will ensure that the
words you chose will blend nicely with the instrumental
and not sound like you’re struggling to keep up.
If your lyrics tend to be more complex
and feature intricate word play, we would recommend
going for slower BPMs, as this will allow you to chose a
broader variety of words to express your creativity.
Be honest with yourself, is your rhyming and diction
good enough to work well over a fast beat? There is
nothing wrong with having a preference for slower
instrumentals and a generally more laid back style.
Musical
Complexity
This aspect refers to the instrumental density and
general complexity of a beat. In other words, is it just
drums and bass or is it an epic work featuring a broad
variety of sounds and instruments? Is it a complex lead
line that runs for two bars non stop, or is it just a
chopped up sample triggered a few times across a single
bar? To understand what this means, think of how
different a Premo beat sounds to what The Roots or Lupe
Fiasco have recently rhymed over.
This isn’t about one style sounding better than the
other (both are equally dope) but about you as an emcee
choosing the best style suited to you. Top emcees (Nas,
Jay-Z, Eminem) can easily manage both styles, but can
you? Again, this is about being honest with yourself,
asking others to give you honest feedback and making the
right decision.
Our advice:
If you have an energetic, strong and charismatic
flow, a simpler beat will work for you. The simplicity
of the beat will give your lyrics more space to
“breathe” within the sonic spectrum of the track.
If you have a more laid back, slow flow, in other words
your style is closer to spoken word than rapping,
complex beats will work best. The music will fill the
gaps in your flow to create a more powerful track.
The above are extremes, most emcees are somewhere in the
middle, the only advice in this case is therefore to
listen back closely to anything you record and ask
yourself: does the track sound too full? Is there too
much going on here? Or does it sound too weak and
lifeless, do I need the beat to help carry me?
The key is to be artistically mature,
being aware of and accepting your style and choosing
what works best with it. For example having a slower
spoken word style isn’t in any way a bad thing, it can
lead to some beautiful lyrics, therefore just go with it
and make the most of it!
Mood
This may seem like an obvious one, but flipping the
convention around here can lead to original and
interesting tracks.
It is often the case that a sad/emotional lyric will
demand a similar beat, while a happy/party track will
work best with a fast and bouncy instrumental. But there
is no written rule about this, so why not do things the
other way around? An upbeat instrumental can add an
entire new dimension of hope and optimism to a more
emotional lyric, while a slow and dark beat can add an
interesting angle to a party track…
Our advice:
Try different beats for your rhymes, no matter what the
theme of your lyrics is, don’t automatically go for the
obvious choice. You may be pleasantly surprised and end
up creating a fantastically original track.
Originality
This is where you need to make a difficult artistic
decision: do you want to ride the wave of what is
fashionable at the moment in the hope of getting easily
noticed, or do you want to go for something new and
unheard to stand out?
There is no right or wrong answer, it depends on your
artistic objectives. Our personal view and beatmaking
philosophy rotates around originality, or at least a
different take on what is fashionable, but there is
nothing wrong in disagreeing with this, it really is up
to you.
However again, be aware of your style. A hugely
innovative and alternative beat may require a certain
lyrical skill, can you really handle it?
Our advice:
Don’t automatically go for “crunk, down south, west
coast, timbaland, neptunes, dr dre” beats, try
everything. While rhyming over a fashionable style of
beat may help you get noticed, it is no way a guarantee;
it may in some cases even work against you as you could
be dismissed as yet another clone.
Listen to as many beats as possible (20+) before making
a decision, try rhyming over all of them and see what
works, what feels right. Try and ignore fashion and
focus on the sounds and the feel of the beat.
If you like a very unconventional and alternative
instrumental, get feedback and make sure that your style
works well with it. While going for the tried and tested
may be seen as “boring”, going too extreme may give out
the impression that you’re trying too hard to stand out
at the expense of quality.
Ignore all of the above!
Yes, ignore everything we’ve said. Rules can’t be
applied to art, what you feel inside is what should
guide your choices. Also, this article is just a view on
things, there are exceptions to all of the points we
have made.
What we have tried to do is give you some thought
starters, ideas to consider, for when you choose beats.
But in the end, what really matters is your instinct…go
with it and put together some great hip hop music!
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