"i think we need to define exactly what boom bap is"
over the course of the last few days discussion i've discovered that what i view as boom bap and what some of you view as boom bap greatly differs so, i think we got enough people still active in this forum to come to a consensus as to what exactly entails a boom bap beat
also, in our process, as we discover what is boom bap, and what isn't, what do we call what isn't?
i'll start it off. from my perspective, all the beats on jay-z's blueprint lp, ARE NOT boom bap beats.
agree or disagree?
i'd also say the black album and american gangster ARE NOT boom bap beats either.
showbiz and ag first lp and ep are boom bap beats jazzy production, with hard swinging drum beat/chop/loop behind it the swing is essential boom bap is early to mid gangstarr, m.o.p., krs one. boom bap is essentially the mid 90's production, like from 92 to 95
a sample and drums doesn't make something automatically "boom bap"
i don't see life after death as boom bap (kick in the door, maybe, but definitely not 10 crack commandments)
boom bap is also a feel more than just a technique
let's discuss
life always offers you a 2nd chance...it's called tomorrow. use it wisely
1. "I'm kind of"twilight-zone-ish" about this, because...." In response to Reply # 0 Mon Jun-18-18 09:54 AM by c71
I always knew that there was a kind of hip-hop where the "somewhat" "tricky" drums patterns had "space" in the mix (due to minimal keys, horns, bass, etc.)...and I knew KRS had the "return of the Boom Bap" album....
but...
I never knew people thought "boom bap" was something to "specialize" in until....I started checking out The Lesson.
Personally I think:
Artifacts - return to da wrong side..
The Roots - push up ya lighter
Gang Starr - take it personal
that stands out to me as boom bap.
Again, I never really thought people specialized in this (like a "genre") until.....I got here.
Because.....
hip-hop has always had samples that have lot's of keys, strings, bass, etc.
Music made by people who had been making Boom Bap from 92 - 95, but it moved away from what you described as the characteristics of Boom Bap. The spirit was there, but the specific characteristics had changed. Life After Death, The Score, Jay-Z's post RD stuff. It eased up on the sample and drum "restrictions" of Boom Bap.
26. "you're what's wrong with this board" In response to Reply # 4
if you above it all, just stay out the post you the type of loser to go on another person's instagram page and talk some dumb shit to what they post instead of readin' it, and keepin' it movin' and keepin' your negative opinion to yourself instead, you try to derail the discussion with some unnecessary bullshit because you're not smart enough to add on in a positive light it's whatever we're havin' fun over here hate to see yall still stuck on stupid you get what you built
life always offers you a 2nd chance...it's called tomorrow. use it wisely
6. "Would you consider the beat for Success (Jay/Nas) boom bap?" In response to Reply # 0
Or the 3 Kingz beat (Ross/Jay/Dre)? How would you describe the sound/texture of those tracks?
================================================== Them That Do... out now via HiPNOTT Records. Produced by Small Pro, featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow, Muhsinah, John Robinson, Miles Bonny and more: https://hipnottrecords.bandcamp.com/album/them-that-do
7. "No you just need to know what the hell you talking about" In response to Reply # 0
Before posting stuff
__________________________________________ CHOP-THESE-BITCHES!!!! ------------------------------------ Garhart Ivanhoe Poppwell Un-OK'd moderator for The Lesson and Make The Music (yes, I do's work up in here, and in your asscrease if you run foul of this
8. "RE: and by "you" I mean YOU make no mistake n/gd/m" In response to Reply # 7
__________________________________________ CHOP-THESE-BITCHES!!!! ------------------------------------ Garhart Ivanhoe Poppwell Un-OK'd moderator for The Lesson and Make The Music (yes, I do's work up in here, and in your asscrease if you run foul of this
16. "RE: I'll see you soon dummy" In response to Reply # 11
__________________________________________ CHOP-THESE-BITCHES!!!! ------------------------------------ Garhart Ivanhoe Poppwell Un-OK'd moderator for The Lesson and Make The Music (yes, I do's work up in here, and in your asscrease if you run foul of this
36. "RE: I don't doubt either of those, especially on the stupid part" In response to Reply # 19
__________________________________________ CHOP-THESE-BITCHES!!!! ------------------------------------ Garhart Ivanhoe Poppwell Un-OK'd moderator for The Lesson and Make The Music (yes, I do's work up in here, and in your asscrease if you run foul of this
4/4 hip hop beat ranging from 85-105 bpm where the kick hits on the 1 and 3 and the snare hits on the 2 and 4 AND the overall drumkit (Kick, hat, snare, percs) are PURPOSEFULLY mixed/made to punch out above the samples and the bass.
When the beat/mix is done to make the sample and the bass punch out above the drums, then it *might* not be boom bap anymore, but it also might still be boom bap if the bass mirrors the underlying kick.
We see through all that boo boo like it's ghost shit... (c) Quelle Chris
But once he started to make his hat's do gymnastics and emphasize percs WAY MORE, he (and Missy) found something and was off the boom bappy ideals for good.
We see through all that boo boo like it's ghost shit... (c) Quelle Chris
17. "^That's basically it" In response to Reply # 10
>4/4 hip hop beat ranging from 85-105 bpm where the kick hits >on the 1 and 3 and the snare hits on the 2 and 4 AND the >overall drumkit (Kick, hat, snare, percs) are PURPOSEFULLY >mixed/made to punch out above the samples and the bass. > >When the beat/mix is done to make the sample and the bass >punch out above the drums, then it *might* not be boom bap >anymore, but it also might still be boom bap if the bass >mirrors the underlying kick.
18. "I've always felt it revolved around the sound of the drums and feel" In response to Reply # 0 Mon Jun-18-18 10:53 PM by Steve O Tron v2
that is particular to that early 90s east coast sound. Does a sample really need to be involved, or are we saying samples are a part of it simply because pretty much most hip hop from that era is heavily sample-based?
The Stereotypes produced a R&B song in 2017 called "Kingdom Come" (YouTube link: https://youtu.be/vJEAMow2A4o), and the first thing I thought of when I first heard it was that it was one of the most boom-bap-ish things I'd heard in a while, although the BPM is like 170, it's a R&B/pop song, and I don't think there is a sample involved.
I'm not sure you can strictly define what boom bap is, as it was a broad descriptor of a style/sound rather than the more technical aspects of it, and it just happens that a lot of production during that era utilized the same or similar techniques.
Your obsession w boom bap is amazing - I salute you! I too have a loving relationship w the genre... Ill tell you this, I even add subgenres to the subgenre... Just amazing!
21. "Postjack: chip hop!?" In response to Reply # 0
What exactly makes chip hop different from lo-fi, is it cause the crusher must not exeed 8-bit? Is it cause the sources are to be of synthetic origin? The lack of badly dubbed quotes? Help me define chip hop.
35. "Sorry yall, Im an ass..." In response to Reply # 31
Which is exactly where I pulled this genre from, before learning its actually a thing, cause my fellow OKPs took time out, did research and proved me wrong on all counts... #Schooled LOL
22. "RE: i think we need to define exactly what boom bap is" In response to Reply # 0
IMO
I always put it down to the muddy bassheavy early to mid 90's stuff, it was more characteristics than an actual strict sound, examples of which include stuff like
* s950 style filtered samples in the verse section * chopped breakbeats but not really programmed * horns, lots of use of 16 level velocity on stabs etc..
It gets a bit weird the later you get as I'd say theres albums that straddle points I put above but have a later feel to them as drums got less and less dependant on the structure of their breakbeats or had more of a modern "kit" approach, basslines were more melodic; more obvious use of synths etc.
Take The Artifacts, or Pete and CL for instance. "Between a Rock" is a boombap album, but id say "Thats Them" straddles boombap/modern. "Mecca & The Soul Brother" is boombap, "Main Ingredient" is too but it easing out of it whereas "Soul Survivor" is entirely modern.
Wall of text aside though, when most people say boombap I reckon they just mean non 808 leant or "Trap, Drill etc etc (I cant keep up) "
I wouldn't say the stuff Nottz, 9th or Kev Brown (or Dilla did) does is the same as early 90's stuff, I don't even know what you'd call it (if you have to pigeon hole), then the more left of it (your Flylo's Hud Mo's, Dibiase etc) built upon it further but took it to different places.
meh I totally havent answered the question still and I'm no closer to one.
25. "i think boom bap also has to deal with subject " In response to Reply # 0
matter too like gangster rap isn't normally considered boom bap boom bap is specifically east coast music, centered around an underground aesthetic any boom bap atlanta artists? texas? california?
life always offers you a 2nd chance...it's called tomorrow. use it wisely
Dj Joey Joe Member since Sep 01st 2007 13770 posts
Tue Jun-19-18 02:40 PM
32. "It Seems Like You Don't Know What Boom Bap Is" In response to Reply # 0
You just try sub-sub-sub-categorize hip-hop beats too much in your own brain, when you just need to simplify it to basics.
Also why do you feel like you don't consider a lot of 2000 boom bap, boom-bap when it's it, just not the same as the 90's stuff; and if you don't want your beats to be pigeon held into a boom-bap category then don't put music out, cause there will also be somebody who will hear your music and give it a sub-genre that most might not consider what you think it is or isn't, it's part of the game.
--------- "We in here talking about later career Prince records & your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak
34. "it's all a learning experience to me" In response to Reply # 32
in trying to create music there are alot of subtle differences between styles as well as blatant ones great music fuses the best of them all into one and form something new
in trying to find my sound and musical identity, i recognize my roots are from the boom bap era, or even before the golden era i don't want to sound stuck in those eras, i want my music to sound fresh and innovative, not like a retread of what was done before
that's the challenge and goal
life always offers you a 2nd chance...it's called tomorrow. use it wisely
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
The Lesson
