How to Make Boom Bap Beats
Hard drums, chopped soul and swing. The sound of golden-age hip-hop.
BPM
60%
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What Makes It Boom Bap
Three things: • Drums — punchy, dusty, often sampled off records • Swing — the MPC kind • Samples — soul, jazz and funk, chopped and rearranged Boom is the kick, bap is the snare. The two kicks running into beat 3 are the head-nod in the player above.
How MPC Swing Works
Since the MPC-60 in 1988, swing means: delay every second note. The number tells you how far. • 50% — straight • 54–58% — the boom bap sweet spot • 58–62% — heavy, Pete Rock • 62–66% — nearly triplets, late Dilla • 66%+ — shuffle Resolution picks which notes move. 1/16 shifts every other 16th — tight. 1/8 shifts the offbeat 8ths — bouncier. Play the pattern above and drag swing from 50 to 66. That's the whole lesson.
DJ Premier — Hard Drums, Kick-Kick-Snare
BPM
58%
Hard, dry drums and the double kick: a second hit a 16th after beats 1 and 3. Boom-boom-bap. "N.Y. State of Mind", "Mass Appeal". No off-grid kicks, light swing — the drums march. Push the swing and the doubles blur into flams.
Pete Rock — Smooth and Syncopated
BPM
63%
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Smoother, jazzier. The double kick on 1 stays; the next kick moves up to just after beat 2. That's why "T.R.O.Y." floats instead of marching. More swing than Premier, softer sounds: rounder kick, brushed snare.
J Dilla — Heavy Swing and a Flammed Snare
BPM
68%
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Dilla pushed swing past comfortable. The offbeats sit so late they're almost triplets, and the snare on 4 flams — a hit, then a ghost right behind it. That's Donuts. The ghost is where people go wrong. It isn't just quiet: it skips the attack, so it sounds brushed. In the Step popover that's velocity 25–35%, sample start 8–14 ms, drag 30–45 ms.
LoFi — Slower, and Less Swing Than You Think
BPM
55%
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LoFi is boom bap slowed down and softened: 70–85 BPM, often with the snare on beat 3 only. It takes less swing, not more — about 55%. The lazy feel comes from nudging single hits: a snare that drags, a kick that rushes. The rest is sound, not pattern: a lowpass around 3–6 kHz, light saturation, quiet vinyl crackle.
Chopping Samples
Load a soul or jazz loop onto a few pads. Give each pad its own start and end — that's a chop. Play them in a new order. Pitch a couple. Let the drums and the sample answer each other.
Chop a sample in PadwolfWho to Study
• DJ Premier — chops and hard drums • Pete Rock — smooth samples, heavy swing • 9th Wonder — soul flips, clean drums • J Dilla — the timing • Madlib — dust and strange records Rebuild one of their drum patterns on the grid. Then change it.
Frequently Asked Questions
54–58% at 1/16. Start at 58 and adjust by ear.
Sampled breaks: Amen, Funky Drummer, Impeach the President, Think. Or search r/drumkits for boom bap and vinyl kits.
Same scale, same timing. What it doesn't copy is the tone of old Akai converters — that's sound, not timing.
Barely any — around 53–56%. The wobble comes from nudging single hits.
An MPC 3000, later an MPC 2000XL, and a Boss SP-303. The feel was in his hands.