It's probably fair to state that hip-hop has been probably the most globally influential style of music since some young wag stepped on Elvis's blue suede shoes. Getting started as a voice for African-American and Latin communities in the us, hip-hop soon spread and became the soundtrack to the 80's, 90's and the brand new millennium. free hip hop instrumentals and penetration increase, from commercials to films, and from charts to bars. In this section I'll explain the basics of hip-hop production and 20 must know ideas to make the very best hip-hop tracks possible.

BEATS AND LOOPS

With hip-hop its all about the beats - so get inspired!

Beats are the backbone of most hip-hop. Whether you're in to the cheeky one-two of Dre's Eminem productions or the juddering steps of Dj Premier, you should make certain that if nothing else is playing, your beat still stacks up to scrutiny. As US comic Chris Rock put it: "If the beat's alright, they'll dance forever."

As we've already seen, hip-hop beats started out as breaks from records, beatboxes and sampling drum machines, so its very easy for hip-hop produced on a computer to sound a little lifeless. Live playing and clever quantisation can fix this, though. The primary trick is to keep it sparse and once you've got a basic groove going, try taking right out different percussive hits before adding more.
Also, its vital that you keep it simple. If you pay attention to professional hip-hop productions, you'll observe that its rare for just two different percussive elements to play at the same time - unless its a layered clap and snare, and also then they'll alternate over a bar or two between both playing and only one or the other. You'll also hear many parts were a musical instrument such as a shaker only plays for a little and specific section of a looped bar, almost as if the various percussive elements are taking turns. This is no coincidence, as hip-hop culture is all about this sort of connection. Wether its DJs, MCs or breakdancers, hip-hop is, at its core, concerning this type of backwards and forwards interaction, and this transfers to each and every production element including beats.

STEP BY STEP the drums

1-The first thing I do when focusing on beats is lay down a hi-hat pattern. Usually , I do an eighth-note pattern and go back and change it if necessary after I've laid down another parts.

2-Next up is the kick and snare . I keep them simple at first because I know that I'm going to be utilizing a drum loop underneath. I start with a drum loop and add extra kicks and snares to reinforce it. The kick and snare are both sounds that I re-use on many tracks.

3-Next I'll add a sampled kick and snare to reinforce the stock kick and snare sounds. This makes the beat sound a little thicker and grimier. I also leave a bit of 'air' on the tail end - this acts like 'sonic glue', giving the beat a more sampled feel.

4-The basic beat is currently complete and prepared to send in to the arrange screen, later on I'll use this pattern as a template for other sections of the song, were I'll add snare fills and rolls.

STEP BY STEP The loop

1-When using sampled breaks, I usually make sure they're either royalty-free, original roughly obscure they wont be recognized. This way I dont have to be worried about sample clearance. I'm a fan of busy drums so I'll usually choose an action packed two-bar drum break.

2-Now you must match the tempo of the drum break to the tempo of your song. You can certainly do this with any beat-slicing program.

3-Later on, after you have added vocals and such you should use this drum break, were its needed during your song.

MELODIES, STABS, SAMPLES AND SYNTHS
Just like every other style of music, hip-hop's gotta have hooks

Melody or bass: it's hard to state which one you need to start focus on first, because hip-hop reaches its best when its simple - great tracks frequently have a bassline but no melody or vice versa. And sometimes the bassline may be the melody.