It's probably fair to say that hip-hop has been the most globally influential style of music since some young wag stepped on Elvis's blue suede shoes. Getting started as a voice for African-American and Latin communities in the us, hip-hop soon spread and became the soundtrack to the 80's, 90's and the new millennium. Every year its influence and penetration increase, from commercials to films, and from charts to bars. In this section I am going to explain the fundamentals of hip-hop production in addition to 20 must know ideas to make the very best hip-hop tracks possible.

BEATS AND LOOPS

With hip-hop its about the beats - so get inspired!

Beats are the backbone of most hip-hop. Whether you're into the cheeky one-two of Dre's Eminem productions or the juddering steps of Dj Premier, it is advisable to ensure that if nothing else is playing, your beat still stands up to scrutiny. As US comic Chris Rock put it: "If the beat's alright, they'll dance all night."

As we've already seen, hip-hop beats began as breaks from records, beatboxes and sampling drum machines, so its super easy for hip-hop produced on a computer to sound a little lifeless. Live playing and clever quantisation can fix this, though. The main trick is to keep it sparse as soon as you have a basic groove going, try taking right out different percussive hits before adding more.
Also, its important to keep it simple. If you pay attention to professional hip-hop productions, you'll notice that its rare for just two different percussive elements to play as well - unless its a layered clap and snare, and even then they'll alternate over a bar or two between both playing and then only one or the other. You will also hear many parts were an instrument like a shaker only plays for a little and specific section of a looped bar, almost as though the various percussive elements are taking turns. This is no coincidence, as hip-hop culture is all about this kind of connection. Wether free hip hop instrumentals , MCs or breakdancers, hip-hop is, at its core, concerning this type of back and forth interaction, which transfers to every single production element including beats.

STEP-BY-STEP the drums

1-The first thing I really do when working on beats is lay out a hi-hat pattern. Usually , I do an eighth-note pattern and then go back and change it out if necessary after I've laid down the other parts.

2-Next up is the kick and snare . I keep them simple at first because I know that I'm going to be using a drum loop underneath. I focus on a drum loop and add extra kicks and snares to reinforce it. The kick and snare are both sounds that I re-use on many tracks.

3-Next I'll add a sampled kick and snare to reinforce the stock kick and snare sounds. This makes the beat sound a bit thicker and grimier. I also leave a bit of 'air' on the tail end - this acts like 'sonic glue', giving the beat a more sampled feel.

4-The basic beat is now complete and ready to send in to the arrange screen, down the road I'll utilize this pattern as a template for other parts of the song, were I'll add snare fills and rolls.

STEP-BY-STEP The loop

1-When using sampled breaks, I always make certain they're either royalty-free, original or so obscure they wont be recognized. That way I dont have to worry about sample clearance. I'm a fan of busy drums so I'll usually choose an action packed two-bar drum break.

2-Now you need to match the tempo of the drum break to the tempo of your song. You can certainly do this with any beat-slicing program.

3-Later on, after you've added vocals and such you can use this drum break, were its needed throughout your song.

MELODIES, STABS, SAMPLES AND SYNTHS
Just like every other design of music, hip-hop's gotta have hooks

Melody or bass: it's hard to say which one you should start focus on first, because hip-hop is at its best when its simple - great tracks frequently have a bassline but no melody or vice versa. And sometimes the bassline may be the melody.