Hip Hop and Rap Beats

Posts in category Beats

Make Them Move with a Pop Music Beat

Nov18
2010 Written by admin

Yes, I suggested it. Make the audience move by rapping over a pop music beat. So what if you don’t listen to pop music on the regular. It doesn’t matter. And so what if you don’t think that your audience isn’t a pop music audience. Just remember, you don’t have any audience yet. And the name of the game is to get as many people listening to you as you can. Don’t hold onto any false notions of this and think that whichever fan base your after is some hallowed demographic that somehow has higher credibility than other audiences. The truth is that an audience is an audience is an audience and pop music beats bring in an audience.

How do I know that pop music beats bring in an audience, you studiously ask the professor? I know because of the number of records that pop music artists pump out the door and/or actually over itunes. I know because even the rappers you don’t think of as rapping to pop music beats really are. What do you think Dre puts out of his labs, do you think there is some other genre to call what he does? Now you may argue that his beats are not pop music beats, but just think of the lists of rappers and pop stars who have put out songs to Dre beats. There is a difference with Dre because of where he started off and how he made beats for Snoop and Pac but it little matters. The truth is that Dre is big because he makes beats that make people move. He makes beats that people like to listen to. In essence, Dre makes pop music beats.

This is not to knock him. I love his beats. But don’t be fooled, people use Dre beats because they think they will help them sell music. For the most part this assumption is true. Some of the sales may be due to the recognition of having worked with Dre. This can’t be denied. Yet part of the prestige of working over a Dre beat is that he is really that good, but what he is good at is making pop music beats.

What marks a pop music beat most of all is that it has a sound that makes you bob your head, or if you’re in a club it makes you go out on the dance floor. In other words, pop music beats are simply both easy and fun to listen to. And I can hear you now saying that you don’t want to be easy and fun, and that’s well and good, but no matter what you want to be, music audiences want to hear songs that are easy and fun. What really matters for you are that your lyrics are tight, if not then you’ll seem unworthy of people’s attention, which is the last thing you want to be. Spend the time to put down some sick rhymes to a pop music beat and you will automatically have a sick song that is both radio and itunes friendly.

It’s a Club Beat

Nov02
2010 Written by admin

Everyone likes to dis club beats, and yet behind the scenes a lot of people love club beats. This is not a knock, I love club beats and I’m not afraid to say it, at least usually. Anyway the point is that a larger section of the audience likes club beats and likes club music then you might otherwise think. Not only do you have to impress listeners with your skills with your bread and butter set of raps and stock beats and styles, but you’re also going to have throw some curve balls to the audience. People get used to you rapping only one way with one sound and they will tend to pigeon hole you, and you don’t want to be pigeonholed. Not to mention that if you rap to a club beat your song will make them dance.

Got out on a limb and rap to a club beat because it’s a way to get your music the exposure it deserves. Got out and take some time to put a few tight flows over some club music so that you can polish up and put together a sound that is sick. After that you might even be able to slip your song in with a DJ somewhere. Club DJs love to play new music. Club DJs love to be the ones to expose new artists to an audience and visa versa. And you can capitalize on this truth. DJs don’t want to play any old music, they have to play music that’s going to make people get up and move. Rap to a song that has rhythm and a familiar sound for a club DJ and you radically increase your chances of getting your song some airplay at a night club.

If you’re afraid for people to hear you flow, then that’s one thing. But if you want some exposure for your music and are having some trouble getting any then flow over the sickest dance beat you can find. My girl will swear to God that Billy Jean by Michael Jackson is the greatest dance song every created and that will ever be created. Whether or not that’s true, what is true is that if you put that song on or another song on like it in the club people are going to dance. And if you flow to a club beat like that, and put down a nice flow, and the DJ says your name, then people are going to remember who and what you are.

It may not be your style to rap to club beats, but who cares. It’s not selling out if you retain your own lyrical style. What is selling out is to turn away from club beats in general because you have a stigma against them when they could be you best way into the minds of other people. DJs will play your song if it’s something their people can dance to. If you take the chance on rapping to a club beat and you get airplay from a club DJ then you have only gained, there is not risk for loss.

Beats Drive The Music

Sep17
2010 Written by admin

Just turn on the radio and chances are you’ll hear hip hop beats through your speakers. Hip hop is one of the hottest music genres out right now, but without a hot beat even the sickest rhyme will never make the radio. Beats drive the music. And whether it’s an instrumental hip hop beat, or a dirty south beat, the right beat will make or break a song. The chances that a nice flow over a bad beat will make the radio or even become popular are slim. But that’s not true the other way around. Think of how many songs you’ve heard where the lyrics are at a preschool level but because they rhymed over the right hip hop beat, over a unique rap beat that made people look up when they heard it, then the song went platinum.

Beats are essential, and the right hip hop beat can literally make you, but how do you choose the right hip hop beat. ClickBeats.com is designed to give easy access to a diverse selection of rap and hip hop beats. We offer R&B beats, and dirty south beats, instrumental beats, even old school beats.

In order to choose the perfect beat for your flow, you have to spend time sampling free download beats. This way ensures that you know which beat meshes best with your particular style. Experiment with different beats until you learn what styles compliment you best. But it’s not about finding the beat that you’re most comfortable with. When sampling hip hop beats, you have to get out of your comfort zone and decide which hip hop beats sound best for you to rap to. Maybe you like R&B beats best and are most comfortable with this style beat, but if you take the time to sample free beats then you might discover that an old school beat works best with your particular flow.

Every song is different, and even though nine times out of ten you might sound best rhyming over instrumental beats, there’s always a chance that when you experiment with different beats you’ll find out that with one of your flows you sound best rapping over a club beat. It’s the distinction that makes the difference when it comes to rap beats. People get used to hearing you sound one way, and by just switching the beat up you can change their whole perception of your style especially if can do it right. Producers do this all the time with their hip hop beats.

It’s always the best producers who switch up their beats. They never keep the same style beats, and on one song they go with a dirty south beat and on the next they have an old school beat. Variation is so important when choosing beats, and the only way to learn how to select what’s right for you is to sample beats. Practice over different beats to not only develop your own style but also to know which beats you work beast with. You can even cross-train with beats. What this means is that you can work with a style, say rap instrumentals, that you are uncomfortable with. But when you practice with beats you are uncomfortable with what you are doing is expanding your reach. Then you are able use the beats you are comfortable with most of the time, and then switch it up and show your versatility with a totally different style of beat. Even using a pop music beat can make people listen especially if it catches their ear.

Beats are so important to hip hop. Just a nice flow alone can only go so far. Most of the time, the beat is the first thing you hear from a hip hop song. In the first few seconds you decide whether you like it or not. It often doesn’t even matter what your lyrics are, if the beats are wrong, then the song is wrong. That’s why it’s so important to know how to choose the right beat, but only practice will teach you how to work with any beat.