rappable beats?

[jclay12345]

question.

When you all make hip hop beats, do you make them with an MC in mind, meaning that the beat is rappable or do you just simply make music and if it happens to be something someone will rap to, you will get someone to rap on it?

 

[JP hardboiled]

I create beats without MCs in mind. I guess I concentrate on just making music. Then I decide if I will rhyme to it since I also write. So usually if the beat doesn't sound like something I would ryhme to in the early stages I will trash it. Though I wish I could make more hip hop bouncey tracks all the time so anyone could rhyme to em. Ya know, like be more commercial or similar to other producers out there. I think my music has its own style which could be bad.

 

[jclay12345]

oh ok. I was just wondering because when I make a beat, I can hear a song around it in my head. I feel like why make a hip hop beat if no one can rap to it? No offense to some of the people in here, but I have heard some beats in this forum that other people say are tight, but I'm thinkin', "How, can't nobody rap to this." But I realize everyone is different and just has different tastes.

 

[Studiophile1234]

I create with MC's in mind. I structure them from intro to outro. I just imagine my favorite MC on my beat and how he would flow on it.

 

[aklaim]

I used to just make whatever. Now my near-total inclination is to get some raps over my beats. It's changed my music structurally since now I try to make things a bit more minimal cuz' lyrics make an instrumental an entirely different animal.

 

[MarkN]

i make hip hop beats for MCs to use so if i didn't have an mc in mind when doing it then it wouldnt work out, a lot of people make their music to be instrumental i think you really need to know wot aim you have with your music and have this in mind when making your music !

 

[Sin:Aesthetic]

i never make beats with mc's in mind, im never willing to compromise my ideas for the sake of a wholly irrational established ideal....but then as far as im concerned i dont want to make hip hop, i want to make beautiful music, and it just so happens that my general style would fall predominantly under the banner of hip hop, as i do truly see hip hop, or music within that broad field, to be the most common representative of important artistic styles in music today

i think its crazy to make music with a boundary around its possible structure, that promotes stagnant creativity, and possibly even de-evolutionism in one of many cultures that already seems to caught up in its own irrevocable decision to create such a defined and solidified image of what it is

hip hop is a fucking ostrich farm, and before it realises its spent its whole life too busy being what it knows itself to be, it will have its eggs sold to a ready market that doesnt understand what manner of amazing being it is truly capable of evolving into

fuck making beats for mc's, fuck making beats with any particular defined and finalised belief in mind, start with ideas, and try and make those ideas as perfect as you can make them as a whole, otherwise you are disrespecting the power of your own ideas, and what you are capable of as an artist....and that is truly not what any person needs, let alone the culture they choose to identify themselves with

 

[jclay12345]

i never make beats with mc's in mind, im never willing to compromise my ideas for the sake of a wholly irrational established ideal....but then as far as im concerned i dont want to make hip hop, i want to make beautiful music, and it just so happens that my general style would fall predominantly under the banner of hip hop, as i do truly see hip hop, or music within that broad field, to be the most common representative of important artistic styles in music today

i think its crazy to make music with a boundary around its possible structure, that promotes stagnant creativity, and possibly even de-evolutionism in one of many cultures that already seems to caught up in its own irrevocable decision to create such a defined and solidified image of what it is

hip hop is a fucking ostrich farm, and before it realises its spent its whole life too busy being what it knows itself to be, it will have its eggs sold to a ready market that doesnt understand what manner of amazing being it is truly capable of evolving into

fuck making beats for mc's, fuck making beats with any particular defined and finalised belief in mind, start with ideas, and try and make those ideas as perfect as you can make them as a whole, otherwise you are disrespecting the power of your own ideas, and what you are capable of as an artist....and that is truly not what any person needs, let alone the culture they choose to identify themselves with

See I don't see it as disrespecting the power of your own ideas. I see it as a way to challenge yourself to be creative as possible with certain boundaries. It's kind of like a beat battle with a theme. I make music because I am a fan first. It makes me feel good to just listen to it. Now when I can create something that I can just listen to over and over again and others can too, it makes me feel even better.
Since I grew up listening to beats first then lyrics second, I tend to make what I like. It's not that I am copying styles, I am simply displaying my interpretation of that style. For example, I shouldn't try to make music for a country song because I don't listen to enough of it. It could come out horribly wrong. But I have and will make a hip hop country song meaning it has the twang of the few country songs that I have heard mixed with the beat of hip hop drums and other elements I like to add.
So my point is, since I grew listening to hip hop beats made for rappers to rap on, that is what I make. Same thing goes for R & B. Because of this I just don't see the point of making unrappable hip hop beats. It shouldn't be classified as hip hop then. It should just be called hop music.

 

[aklaim]

i never make beats with mc's in mind, im never willing to compromise my ideas for the sake of a wholly irrational established ideal....but then as far as im concerned i dont want to make hip hop, i want to make beautiful music, and it just so happens that my general style would fall predominantly under the banner of hip hop, as i do truly see hip hop, or music within that broad field, to be the most common representative of important artistic styles in music today

i think its crazy to make music with a boundary around its possible structure, that promotes stagnant creativity, and possibly even de-evolutionism in one of many cultures that already seems to caught up in its own irrevocable decision to create such a defined and solidified image of what it is

hip hop is a fucking ostrich farm, and before it realises its spent its whole life too busy being what it knows itself to be, it will have its eggs sold to a ready market that doesnt understand what manner of amazing being it is truly capable of evolving into

fuck making beats for mc's, fuck making beats with any particular defined and finalised belief in mind, start with ideas, and try and make those ideas as perfect as you can make them as a whole, otherwise you are disrespecting the power of your own ideas, and what you are capable of as an artist....and that is truly not what any person needs, let alone the culture they choose to identify themselves with

It's possible to still have artistic integrity AND have a structure. Many people have a view of how their finished product should sound like. The thing is, adaptability can still remain.
Making instrumentals is an entirely different platform and can be approached more experimentally (different time-sigs, etc.). Hip-hop can evolve without being so elitish when it comes to actually making it. The best thing to do is find a balance of having fun with this while being serious about your output. To me, it's a release and it's hindering if I aim to make some snobbish/intelligent hip hop. Music doesn't have a brain so I hate that "intelligent" label. I just wanna hear the illest raps over my shit in the future. That to me is not cookie cutter or ostrich farm. I do recognize there is ALOT of wack shit. It's good to embrace it to better yourself.

peace.
b-blizzle

 

[jclay12345]

It's possible to still have artistic integrity AND have a structure. Many people have a view of how their finished product should sound like. The thing is, adaptability can still remain.
Making instrumentals is an entirely different platform and can be approached more experimentally (different time-sigs, etc.). Hip-hop can evolve without being so elitish when it comes to actually making it. The best thing to do is find a balance of having fun with this while being serious about your output. To me, it's a release and it's hindering if I aim to make some snobbish/intelligent hip hop. Music doesn't have a brain so I hate that "intelligent" label. I just wanna hear the illest raps over my shit in the future. That to me is not cookie cutter or ostrich farm. I do recognize there is ALOT of wack shit. It's good to embrace it to better yourself.

peace.
b-blizzle

^^
co 2 the sign.

 

[Sin:Aesthetic]

i guess thats my point man, i dont believe in ever categorising my music, so if what i make isnt hip hop in your eyes, thats cool, and i can understand what you mean now, and why you would think that way...i just guess we come at it from a different angle...i make music because of a love for art, and a primarily musical love of art at that.....so the art and the power of it come first

personally i think hip hop is considered an extremely broad term these days, and cats like scot herren(prefuse 73,savath and savalas) and boom bip are going to continue to be called hip hop, no matter what either of our opinions are.......but i can completely respect that your experience with the culture makes you see it as a kind've 4 elements of hip hop, must have an mc thing.....its more just about categorisation then

all im saying is i would never categorise myself, and i think too many hip hop artists do

 

[Greg Savage]

yes all the time

 

[jclay12345]

i guess thats my point man, i dont believe in ever categorising my music, so if what i make isnt hip hop in your eyes, thats cool, and i can understand what you mean now, and why you would think that way...i just guess we come at it from a different angle...i make music because of a love for art, and a primarily musical love of art at that.....so the art and the power of it come first

personally i think hip hop is considered an extremely broad term these days, and cats like scot herren(prefuse 73,savath and savalas) and boom bip are going to continue to be called hip hop, no matter what either of our opinions are.......but i can completely respect that your experience with the culture makes you see it as a kind've 4 elements of hip hop, must have an mc thing.....its more just about categorisation then

all im saying is i would never categorise myself, and i think too many hip hop artists do

ok, I can feel that.

 

[Sin:Aesthetic]

It's possible to still have artistic integrity AND have a structure. Many people have a view of how their finished product should sound like. The thing is, adaptability can still remain.
Making instrumentals is an entirely different platform and can be approached more experimentally (different time-sigs, etc.). Hip-hop can evolve without being so elitish when it comes to actually making it. The best thing to do is find a balance of having fun with this while being serious about your output. To me, it's a release and it's hindering if I aim to make some snobbish/intelligent hip hop. Music doesn't have a brain so I hate that "intelligent" label. I just wanna hear the illest raps over my shit in the future. That to me is not cookie cutter or ostrich farm. I do recognize there is ALOT of wack shit. It's good to embrace it to better yourself.

peace.
b-blizzle

well everything has a structure no matter what, you cant help but atleast somewhat structure your work....and im not saying that plenty of very structured hip hop is not artistic....hey i love alot of what is inexorably considered hip hop.......im just saying you should never go through your entire career and for that matter life, by a strict doctrine of boundaries, because of what you percieve to be the culture you are part of, you should never close off the possibilities of what anything you do can become....now when i make a track the only rule is that it should be the best i can make it...so it can either turn out to be very structured, or constantly evolving, and either way, as long as i love it that is fine....what i am saying is that i would never start the track telling myself it had to be a certain way...but if it does turn out to be perfect for an mc, it just does, and that was the best way i could make it.......but i wouldnt make it perfect for an mc cos i have to make it for an mc, i would have made it that way cos it just worked right in my brain at the time......screw restriction for a career, we are all complex beings, and all capable of more than a rigid belief of what we are creating

 

[aklaim]

well everything has a structure no matter what, you cant help but atleast somewhat structure your work....and im not saying that plenty of very structured hip hop is not artistic....hey i love alot of what is inexorably considered hip hop.......im just saying you should never go through your entire career and for that matter life, by a strict doctrine of boundaries, because of what you percieve to be the culture you are part of, you should never close off the possibilities of what anything you do can become....now when i make a track the only rule is that it should be the best i can make it...so it can either turn out to be very structured, or constantly evolving, and either way, as long as i love it that is fine....what i am saying is that i would never start the track telling myself it had to be a certain way...but if it does turn out to be perfect for an mc, it just does, and that was the best way i could make it.......but i wouldnt make it perfect for an mc cos i have to make it for an mc, i would have made it that way cos it just worked right in my brain at the time......screw restriction for a career, we are all complex beings, and all capable of more than a rigid belief of what we are creating

coo, i agree with your words. payce.

-b

 

[Chrono]

question.

When you all make hip hop beats, do you make them with an MC in mind, meaning that the beat is rappable or do you just simply make music and if it happens to be something someone will rap to, you will get someone to rap on it?

great topic, i was askin about this a while back with no responses. i think any beat maker must first be able to compose great music, but nearly equally important to be able to showcase the MC. i think some beatminers forget that and make nice music, but not geared towards MCS

 

[M!nd_Ctrl]

What makes a beat rappable or not? Timing? Instruments? Drums? Is it a personal style? Are you saying that peeps here don't make Hip Hop up to industry standards? Please enlighten me. I can see if the snares or instruments were off beat or something like that but shouldn't a "good" rapper be able to flow over anything?


Ctrl

 

[Chrono]

listen, most people here are better than I am. Don't get emotional on me . The rapper is teh lead instrument and the beat should compliment the lead, just as in production. if you not an MC or have worked closely with one then you might not get it


"edited portion" - a good emcee can rap over silence, but the good mc also has the choice to not use something if it does not enhance their verses. you speak of breakin in the mainstream:

 

[jclay12345]

What makes a beat rappable or not? Timing? Instruments? Drums? Is it a personal style? Are you saying that peeps here don't make Hip Hop up to industry standards? Please enlighten me. I can see if the snares or instruments were off beat or something like that but shouldn't a "good" rapper be able to flow over anything?


Ctrl

You can just hear if a beat is rappable. Just try to freestyle to it in your head. Mainly I would say it is timing.

I'm saying in my opinion, some peeps here don't make hip hop beats that MCs can rap to. In theory a good rapper can rap over anything, but that does not make what he or she is trying to rap over a rappable beat. It will end up sounding wack.

 

[Chrono]

yay, it's j-clay/ portraying the versatil ways that an emcee can play/ and at the same time explain why ill MC's straight come off lame


R to the A K I M, if i wasn't then how'd you know my name????? hmm Eric B??