What Makes a Hip Hop Beat Dope?

What is it that makes a hip hop beat dope? Some say it's the tightness of the bass drum. Others say it's in the dry rat-a-tat of the snare drum. Yet others look to the artistic sonic panorama created by layering of synthesizer parts.

Hip hop beats, rap beats and dirty south beats all have one thing in common: that driving rhythm that just can't help but make you move. The important thing about hip hop and rap beats is that they be designed such that the rap artist has a space right in the middle of the mix to showcase their hip hop and rap talents. In other words, the music needs to be designed with a rap artist's role in mind, without too many wild-sounding instruments to distract from the rapper's central theme.

And overall, the rhythm has to be slammin'. Not necessarily fast, some of the best hip hop beats are slow and majestic. But the kick absolutely has to be heavily present, driving the rhythm relentlessly so the rapper can feel the balance of the beat and he doesn't have to worry about coming back on the one or whatever, the beat is just THERE. THAT is a dope hip hop beat.

Another important part of a dope hip hop beat is the breakdown. There has to be at least one, if not two or three times in the song where the beat breaks down and a lot of the instruments drop out, just to let the rapper do his or her thing in a wide musical panorama. At this point in the song, often even the kick and snare will drop out, allowing a lush string part to dominate while the hip hop artist can get very poetic in this space. Then when the kick, snare and hat come in again, it really kicks the listener in the butt. It's a matter of contrast between different sections with the same beat but different rhythmic textures.

So one has to say that there is a wide variety of taste in hip hop beats, but overall they have a few things in common that make a dope hip hop beat: a driving rhythm that moves the music, a tight mix that allows the rap artist the freedom to express him or herself without competing with other instruments, and one or more breakdowns to provide contrast within the song. Follow these guidlines, and you can't help but kick out some dope beats.

Here's place I've found you can get some really dope hip hop beats -- it's http://www.beatsfordays.com. They just keep kickin out some awesome hip hop beats, rap beats, and also pop and RnB beats as well. Check them out.

Here is also another article about dope hip hop beats.