How to mix house music with r'n'b/hip-hop

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kandiman

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Hello!
I have recently spent some time behind the decks, trying to figure out how the hell can i mix house with r'n'b and hip-hop and came up with very little (i want to play in clubs and it's absolutely neccesary to be able to mix those genres there). So, what can the more experienced djs suggest?
 
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what i like to do is play hip hop and build up to some hip hop songs with faster speeds like 120-130 bpm. then i blend house music into it. some examples of faster house is In the Ayer by flo rida or disturbia by rihanna.

another trick i do is if im playin house music and i wanna slow it down to some hip hop at around 90 bpm then i'll play a siren sound, or some **** like that, lower the house track and bang in a hip hop track that is really popular. u dont always have to blend every song u play. its also more dramatic with this method and a cool reaction by the crowd.

hope this helps a little.
 
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Thanks a lot! By the way, do you have a cd with samples or is it an effect on your mixer(the siren) ?
 
There are transition tracks out there. Also, scratching is another option to transition between the two types of music.
 
Yes, you can find transitional "songs" on some vinyl that have built in transitions from like 90-130 BPMs.. kind of useful but doesnt take much creativity. I never really did house, but with Jungle or fast breakbeats etc, I will mix something at double the BPM of the slower song.. With some creativity you will figure it out..
 
i googled siren samples and found a bunch. and like patrickdpr said u can mix a house song into hip hop song that is half the bpm.
for example u can be playin a song at 140bpm and mix a song at 70 bpm in with it. it takes practice and doesnt sound great all the time but if u do it with the right songs, its sounds sick.
 
get some baltimore breaks... baltimore club bmore....

hip hop/r n b tunes done club house tempo... you can come up with some less harsh transitions from these when used wisely..

selcted samples from tunes bmore tunes in conjunction to their source will allow for a smooth cross over.. the use of samplers... echo effects also will work well..

the use of accapellas will also aid you in finding a tight effective method of crossing from style to style...
 
You could build the tempo up over the night. Do you spin disco, funk, soul, or anything else midrange between hip hop and house tempos? Just throwing faster/slower records over (without mixing) can work, too, if it's done right. Otherwise you might have to spin those R&B 12"s on 45---but that normally sounds heinous.
 
its easy,,,, i mix detroit ghetto techno and hip hop all the time
 
Find some transition songs that are a hybrid of both genres. A good one that I like to use all the time is Starry Eyed Surprise by Paul Oakenfold.
 
I tend to build my sets up in tempo if I know I have a crowd that's receptive to Electronic stuff. Also, there are quite a few songs nowadays that merge the genres a bit. I use those to "ease" the crowd into a switch in genres. For example, the N.E.R.D "Everyone Nose" remix has a great groove, and enough spots to loop/ beatmatch into an electronic segment.

Some folks like sfx/drops too, though I'm not a fan. I feel like they kill the flow of a set (completely my own opinion though, if it feels right, do it!)

Acapellas are a great way to do it too. Play the regular hiphop song for the first verse, switch to the acapella for the hook, loop the hook a bit, drop a low tempo house beat under it, then let it rock. Works better on songs that most people know. If people can sing along, you'd be surprised how quickly you can get non-house fans to keep grooving.
 
House music tempos range anywhere from 110bpms to 135bpm, with the average being between 121-126. With that in mind, that's the faster of your mentioned 3 genres. You can always match tempo for tempo. You can also match double time tempos, ie 60bpm with 120bpm. That's the easy part, the harder part is where the real art of DJ'n comes in. How will you arrange you're music, so as to keep the dancefloor interested? Sirens and countdowns are cool gimmicks to go from an uptempo set to a slower one, but if you know your music well enough, you can down mix, also. The best advice I can give you is to get familiar with your music, and try different things before you play live. I don't know if you mix freestyle, or from a playlist, but have some idea of what songs go with which(tempo, beat, melody, etc).
 
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