Hip Hop Beats in time signatures other than 4/4???

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Protagonist

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What up. I posted this question before but I think i was in the wrong area of the forum. Do any of you know of popular HIP HOP beats done in time signatures other than 4/4, 8/8 etc? The reason for the question is because I made a beat (https://www.futureproducers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200214) that was done in 3/4 and it gave it a bounce feel that I wasn't used to. Can you list any popular beats (billboard top 100) that were done in time signatures other than 4/4? If you can't can you think of anyone you listened to that sounded like it was in an odd time sig? Remember, I'm talking about hip hop only. I think Tim did some stuff in odd time sigs. Anyways, hit me back if you know of anyhting.
 
Sorry, I know that this is off the subject, but how do I start a "new" thread?
 
There are some beats in 2/4, lol I can't think of any off hand...2/4 can sometimes be misconstrued as 4/4.

I've tried making hip hop beats in 3/4 and it's confusing, lol.
 
Alot of West Coast Music and Alchemist is in 2/4.

I'll just open up 1st Infantry and tell you what songs arei n 2/4.

Dead Bodies - 2/4
D Block to QB - Could be 2/4 or 4/4. It's all how you subdivide it.
Where Can We Go - 2/4
It's A Craze - 2/4
Boost The Crim Rate - Very Strong 2/4
Bang Out - Strong 2/4 Also
Tick Tock - 2/4
Pimp Squad - 2/4


These are all the tracks that have the 2/4 feel.

I'm not saying that they are 2/4 because 2/4 = 4/4 kind of lol

It's just where the downbeat is placed.
 
3/4 doesn't work for **** for me just because hip hop so heavily dependent on snares on 2 and 4. that's one of the defining musicological characteristics of the genre, to me
 
shoduction said:
3/4 doesn't work for **** for me just because hip hop so heavily dependent on snares on 2 and 4. that's one of the defining musicological characteristics of the genre, to me
Click to expand...
You can still have a 3/4 song with the snare on two an four.


Kind of......:D

If I have the hi hats going on all 3 beats. (have 12 beats shown here)
kick goes onto 1. And the snare goes onto beat one of the next measure. You can then look at the whole pattern in 4.

x x x x x x x x x x x x
K......S......K......S.....
1......2.......3......4.....

Make Sense?
 
Hip-hop is not that dependent on anything but creativity. Even in 4/4 you can put snares in other places (syncopate) as long as the MC can still follow the beat.

I take that back. It doesn't depend on creativity, but it used to and it should.
 
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Resinate said:
You can still have a 3/4 song with the snare on two an four.


Kind of......:D

If I have the hi hats going on all 3 beats. (have 12 beats shown here)
kick goes onto 1. And the snare goes onto beat one of the next measure. You can then look at the whole pattern in 4.

x x x x x x x x x x x x
K......S......K......S.....
1......2.......3......4.....

Make Sense?
Click to expand...

I got what you're saying, but isn't that just manipulating 3/4 to sound like 4/4?
 
shoduction said:
I got what you're saying, but isn't that just manipulating 3/4 to sound like 4/4?
Click to expand...

Or it could just be 4/4 with the hi-hats doing triplets, so it's just giving the 3/4 feel.

When the quarter note gets the beat ( the /4 in 4/4) it can always be subdivided in a different way.
 
W.ill.i.am uses 3/4 a lot my favorite tracks he has done was the joint he did on hip hop is dead with the Nat Cole sample I cant think of the name of the song but i believe that was 3/4 and Compton on the Drs advocate
 
I gotcha.

Resinate said:
Or it could just be 4/4 with the hi-hats doing triplets, so it's just giving the 3/4 feel.
Click to expand...


Nah, it would give a 4/3 feel. Cuz 3/4 is 3 bars/ measure with 4 beats in each bar. so the hats would still be doin quarter notes/ eight notes/ sixteenths.

A 4/3 would be 4 bars/ measure and 3 beats/ bar. So THAT would have the hats doin triplets.

But with 4 bars in a measure you can switch between 4/3 n 4/4 in the same song easily, n it wouldn't disrupt nothin.

Also, 2/4 and 4/4 is really the same thing, cuz hip hop is rarely ever written down n it would sound the same, ain't no way to differentiate.
Really, if a song is based on real short loops n real simple drums, it would sound more 2/4, but it's all the same.
 
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Everyone please read, 'cause your terminology is confusing people:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_signature

There are beats in a measure (or bar).

2/4 and 4/4 are not the same thing. If it says two beats per measure, and the quarter note is the beat, then that is different than four.
 
remember that you can always go polyrythmic if you want to keep 4/4 drums, i often have bass and atmos in 4/4 and my breaks in other timesigs on my dnb/idm tracks
 
a lot of beats that have soul samples are in 6/8 to match the original songs. i can't think of many off the top of my head but i know i've heard a lot of 6/8 meters in dipset songs, also the last song on jay-z's black album is in 6/8...oh and that old outkast song that goes "the whole world loves it when you're in the news" is in 6/8...btw i think a lot of you guys are confusing 3/4 with 6/8
 
Example: Bloodstone's "Natural High"

Take to the
sky on a
natural
high
loving you
more 'til the
day I
die
 
a lot of diplomat songs are in 6/8,
6/8 works mainly because it is in compound time,
and the bars are divided into two(2) dotted quarter notes, giving a 2 bar phrase a 1,2,3,4 large scale beats, with a triplet feel superimposed over it
 
I'd be fascinated in hearing someone do a mix of "America" from West-Side Story...it's in 6/8 and there are lot's of recording out there to sample from. See what might be done with it.
 
If it's a half or even number count you may think it's 1/2, 2/4 or 6/8, but it can also be counted faster or slower to make it 4/4 or 8/8.

Perfect example is "Slow Jams" by Kanye or "diddy Rock" the song Timbo produced on Diddy's album with Twista and Shawna. The same song that get's way fewer bars out of a slow rapper/singer can get way more out of a faster rapper/singer.

It's all in your mind the way you count it. What you hear as 60bpm can be 240 to someone else. But most music can be broken down into 4's. There's a group out of atlanta whos names I can't remember(Ghetto Mafia i beleive), they were making a buzz in the late 90s. The had a reall choppy style, did alot of songs to 3/4 The rock group system of a down as well. But even "put your hands up" by Jay-Z is 4/4. Rock City by Royce 5'9 may be some wierd count, I'd have to hear it again.
 
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