Rap Beats
Rap beats have been around since Hip-Hop has began, and are the backbone to the success and progression of the genre and culture. Let’s start from the roots, and briefly look at the origins of what we love.
A Brief History of Rap Music
The roots of Rap Music can go as far back as the 70’s, and was a genre developed by young Black-Americans who wanted to express themselves, and address topics such as racial discrimination, hood life, politics and corruption. The culture of Rap and Hip-Hop is built upon 4 main elements, which are dj’ing, rapping, graffiti and break dancing. The culture goes much deeper than just creating rap music, it is truly about the right to express yourself.
In the 80’s, Rap music began to build momentum as artists like Run DMC and LL Cool J become popular artists. Rap music took strong influence strong soul and funk music, and would contain drum samples from breaks that could be found in various funk styles. James Brown’s funky drummer had been many of times at this point, and is still an ironic drum break to this date (alongside with the Amen break). This was when Rap music began to spread internationally, and reached various countries worldwide who were alien to this culture.
In the 90’s, Rap music accelerated in popuarlity, as different areas began to have their influence on the sound. This era was the peak of competition between the East Coast and West Coast styles, in which both Coasts were actively trying to better the other. Notable artists such Biggie, Pac, Dr Dre,Eazy E and Snoop were iconic rappers at this time.
What Are Rap Beats?
Rap beats are compositions which are composed by beat makers for rappers to accompany alongside their vocals. Rap beats commonly consist of sampled drum breaks, and samples of musical elements from literally anywhere. Rap beats tend to have a gritty and raw feel, which can be captured in the art of sampling. However, not all rap beats are sampled. A lot of rap beat makers are very talented musicians (Scott Storch being a prime example), and many also mix both sampling with their own musicanship.
Rap beats (especially in their early days) was based upon the art of sampling, which is when a producer takes a snippet of a preexisting recording, and uses it in their own composition. In the early days, the majority of instrumentals in Rap music were created with the use of hardware samplers, the most popular choices were the MPC and the EMU SP1200. This technique is still very popular today and not only restricted to earlier rap music. Most urban styles of music owe its thanks to Rap and Hip-Hop, as this has pathed the way for the future. Trap beats can also be considered Rap beats, which you can check here.
Where To Find Rap Beats
You can find rap beats anywhere online these days, but the real challenge is to find good quality rap beats. On our website, you will find plenty of rap beats for sale which you can use in your work instantly, and you can be assured that the quality of our beats is 5*. If you want to browse through our beats, click here and you will be directed to our beat store.
Here you can read more about different types of beats and business advice