Hip-hop production has its own values, techniques and history, and you cannot make convincing hip-hop without knowing where the sound came from. This module is about sampling, loops, drums, bass and the flow of hip-hop - and it starts with how the music was invented.
The break
Hip-hop began at block parties in the Bronx in the early 1970s. DJ Kool Herc noticed that dancers went wildest during the break - the short section of a funk or soul record where the band dropped out and the drums played alone. Using two copies of the same record on two turntables, he extended the break by switching between them, looping a few seconds of drums into minutes.
That idea - taking a piece of an existing recording and repeating it to make something new - is the foundation of hip-hop production. Everything else grew from it.
Grandmaster Flash refined the technique with precise cueing and mixing; Afrika Bambaataa brought in electronic music and built a movement around the culture. Hip-hop has traditionally been described through four elements: DJing, MCing, breaking (breakdancing) and graffiti.
The documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution is an excellent introduction to this history, told by the people who made it.
The machines
Hip-hop's sound has always been shaped by its tools.
- Turntables and mixers - the first instrument of hip-hop.
- Drum machines - the Roland TR-808, released in 1980, became the defining sound of electro and later trap, with its booming kick and snappy snare.
- Samplers - the E-mu SP-1200 and Akai's MPC series, from the late 1980s, let producers sample breaks and sounds, chop them, and sequence them on pads. Their limitations - short sample times, low bit depths, gritty converters - became part of the sound. J Dilla's work on the MPC3000 shows how a sampler can become an extension of the musician.
- DAWs - now the centre of most hip-hop production, often alongside MPCs and other hardware.
Regional sounds
Hip-hop is not one sound. It developed differently in different places:
- East Coast boom bap - hard, sample-based drums, dusty loops, a focus on lyricism. New York in the late 80s and 90s.
- West Coast G-funk - smooth, synth-led and funk-inspired, built on high, whining lead synths and deep bass, popularised by Dr. Dre's The Chronic in 1992.
- Southern hip-hop - from Miami bass to Houston's chopped and screwed sound (DJ Screw), Memphis (Three 6 Mafia), and Atlanta, where trap took shape: rolling hi-hats, booming 808s and dark melodies.
- UK and international scenes - grime, UK drill and countless local styles have built their own variations on hip-hop's foundations.
The aesthetic
A few values run through hip-hop production across its eras:
- The groove comes first. The beat must make heads nod.
- Recontextualisation. Taking a sound from one place and making it mean something new.
- Character over polish. Grit, swing and imperfection are often features, not faults.
- Space for the MC. The beat serves the vocal. Many great beats are simple precisely so the rapper can shine.
- Originality within tradition. Hip-hop constantly references its own history, while rewarding producers who find a new sound.
How this module works
The module follows the shape of a hip-hop project: beats and drums, sampling, synthesis and melody, bass, vocals, and finally arranging and finishing a mixtape.
Do this now
- Watch the first episode of Hip-Hop Evolution.
- Listen to one classic track from each regional sound above and note one production feature that defines it.
- Write down three hip-hop records you love, and look up what samples or machines they were made with.