Would 140 bpm be to fast for a rap song?

DJ HMV

New member
I have a beat that is 140 bpm, is 140 considered sort of fast?

Or would it be fine and the vocals would have to be "fast paced"?

And would there be ways of lowering the tempo without changing to much of the flow of the beat?
 
140 is like the average tempo for techno, rap is usually 80 through 100,, i mean its possible but most rappers will ask you to slow it down
 
noblewordz said:
Not if you double time it. 2 bars at 140 = 1bar at 70 .. Ya get the drift?
Ah okay I get that concept, I'll go back and work on this beat and try it tonight. Thanks, such an easy concept but I didn't see it, haha. Thank you.

Jramos said:
140 is like the average tempo for techno, rap is usually 80 through 100,, i mean its possible but most rappers will ask you to slow it down
Yeah, true I think most would tell me to lower it. I'll be going back and fixing it.
 
Last edited:
lol music is art.... why dont u try adjusting your rap projects to 140bpm... see how it sounds. as long as its pleasant to the ears, should be aiigghtt....

but to answer the topic... 140bpm rap would generally be techno/dance like; real mcoy, dj bobo... **** like that
 
eRiCz said:
lol music is art.... why dont u try adjusting your rap projects to 140bpm... see how it sounds. as long as its pleasant to the ears, should be aiigghtt....

but to answer the topic... 140bpm rap would generally be techno/dance like; real mcoy, dj bobo... **** like that

Well, it was already at 140 bpm when I finished, but then I thought what if it was to fast for the rapper, etc. lol.
 
cure4thehair said:
well it wouldnt be rap if it was unique and sounded different from every other song ever made would it?
It doesn't sound any different going from 140 bpm to 70 bpm, the only difference now is that everything has been doubled. So the rapper wouldn't have to rap faster to fit in his 16.

Unless you meant something different, then my bad on sounding pushy.
 
Last edited:
DJ HMV said:
It doesn't sound any different going from 140 bpm to 70 bpm, the only difference now is that everything has been doubled. So the rapper wouldn't have to rap faster to fit in his 16.

Unless you meant something different, then my bad on sounding pushy.


if you just double it, the drums will probably still be too fast to rap over,, what you could do tho is double it and work the drums to a pattern where it would sound as if its 70 bpms ( do this by spreading them out) but leave the music at the fast tempo....i hope u understand lol
that way its useable as a track, and the original composition sounds the same,,,.....you should post up the track btw
 
Its all about the drums man. I have several tracks that are at 135-140 BPM and are very rappable. Like I said the key is the drums. instead of having your snares hittin on the two and four make them hit on the three, That will slow the track down considerably and plus u can get really funky with your drum programming if youre good..If this is hard to follow lemme know, Ill post u an example
 
i swear ppl r retarted nowa days. (not u hmv) this is most likely gonna b the last post in this thread considerin its the only 1 that answers ur qstn. 70 bpm and 140 bmp r THE SAME THING. some ppl work in slower bmps, i actually perfer 160 bpm than 80. if ur workin in 70 bmp n u set a kick every 4 steps and go work in a 140 bpm beat and set a kick every 8 steps they WILL SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME. so 2 answer ur qstns

a. 140 can b fast if u make it fast. a 70 bmp beat can b just as a 140 dependin on how u map it

b. ur vocals DO NOT hav 2 b fast paced 4 a 140 bpm beat

c. n yes, if u wonna lower ur bpm witout changin the flow if the beat (which is pretty redundant) jus lower ur 140 2 70 by doubling the amount of everything in an orderly fashion. (see example above "if ur workin in 70 bmp n u set a kick every 4 steps and go work in a 140 bpm beat and set a kick every 8 steps they WILL SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME")
 
Last edited:
Jramos said:
if you just double it, the drums will probably still be too fast to rap over,, what you could do tho is double it and work the drums to a pattern where it would sound as if its 70 bpms ( do this by spreading them out) but leave the music at the fast tempo....i hope u understand lol
that way its useable as a track, and the original composition sounds the same,,,.....you should post up the track btw

I guess I should have included more detail into what I meant by doubling, lol. I did this beat in Reason and I simply highlighted the beat, right clicked "Change Events" and then Scale Tempo 200%, which for example fit 2 bars into 1 bar, so I simply "doubled" everything. So the drums weren't affected by anything. So that is what I meant by "doubling". lol.

And yeah I was going to post up the track before I posted this thread. I still am, but I was considering doing some final touches to it, and I should post it up by tomorrow or so.

JuggernautBlack said:
Its all about the drums man. I have several tracks that are at 135-140 BPM and are very rappable. Like I said the key is the drums. instead of having your snares hittin on the two and four make them hit on the three, That will slow the track down considerably and plus u can get really funky with your drum programming if youre good..If this is hard to follow lemme know, Ill post u an example

I get what you mean, it's just that I thought from the perspective of the rapper, it might have been alittle to fast if they don't prefer a faster tempo for the verse.

B-WaRe said:
i swear ppl r retarted nowa days. (not u hmv) this is most likely gonna b the last post in this thread considerin its the only 1 that answers ur qstn. 70 bpm and 140 bmp r THE SAME THING. some ppl work in slower bmps, i actually perfer 160 bpm than 80. if ur workin in 70 bmp n u set a kick every 4 steps and go work in a 140 bpm beat and set a kick every 2 steps they WILL SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME. so 2 answer ur qstns

a. 140 can b fast if u make it fast. a 70 bmp beat can b just as a 140 dependin on how u map it

b. ur vocals DO NOT hav 2 b fast paced 4 a 140 bpm beat

c. n yes, if u wonna lower ur bpm witout changin the flow if the beat (which is pretty redundant) jus lower ur 140 2 70 by doubling the amount of everything in an orderly fashion. (see example above "if ur workin in 70 bmp n u set a kick every 4 steps and go work in a 140 bpm beat and set a kick every 2 steps they WILL SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME")

Yeah, I took that advice from reading the replies.

And yeah they sound the same, but for me it's easier to arrange things somehow for me.
 
Last edited:
you could make 140 bpm work for a rap song. I actually have some songs myself that is that speed and some rapper like it. It just depends on their taste.
 
Well 140 tempo is a speed alot of rappers aren't accustomed to. Try to have two versions. So if you find a rapper who will be interested, and when you present the idea of rapping the 140, then it could be a really tight and creative track. Hip-Hop is boxed in at times, but no musical art form should be boxed in for the good in creativity.

LORD BLESS, PEACE.
 
If you're going to act like you know everything atleast give out the right info! 140 BPM is *not* the same as 70 BPM. The key word is beat per minute. Go ahead and change your 3:30 beat at 140 BPM "slowed down" to 70 BPM. Not many rappers can lay verses over a 7 minute instrumental. Not to mention you won't get the same phrase playing at 1min in for the 140 as you will at 1min in the 70BPM.
 
F00T said:
If you're going to act like you know everything atleast give out the right info! 140 BPM is *not* the same as 70 BPM. The key word is beat per minute. Go ahead and change your 3:30 beat at 140 BPM "slowed down" to 70 BPM. Not many rappers can lay verses over a 7 minute instrumental. Not to mention you won't get the same phrase playing at 1min in for the 140 as you will at 1min in the 70BPM.

It is exactly the same. Its just double time, its done a lot especially in Crunk and souther music, it makes it easier to create fast hats and those snare rolls.

No one said anything about slowing down.
 
Back
Top