How to Play Better Old School Hip Hop Beats

Grab the transcription (and get my FREE 3-video mini-course): bit.ly/3vS51xD

[@8020drummer]

Guys if you're wondering why I didn't teach the *exact* beat Chris played with Lupe, it's because I was going from memory, and trying to show you an "average" hip hop beat, and thought of that song as an example of that type of beat. Hindsight 80/20, I would've reviewed the recording a little before shooting 🤷‍♂️

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

should've*

[@8020drummer]

@@andredeketeleastutecomplex I stand by "would have". Let history judge us both 😜

[@mauricenitro]

What are the cymbals you use for your hi hat

[@guypiechoczek880]

don't cross yourself man, it was a stellar vid - keep up the good battery beatage!

[@kkthedrummer8999]

Hip Hop where I come from in the Bronx cedar park my brother icon the late Dj Kojack when I did my first recording and not know about copyright and credit I drum on many of hip hop albums that is why I about to make noise I getting my lawyer to get my credit for the track I play in the 80'z

[@RobBeatdownBrown]

PROOOOPER lesson, bruh 🏆 Dilla beats been butchered out here mo’ times than whole cows! 🐮

[@blakenunndrums]

Hahaha! I absolutely love you, your sense of humor, your passion, and support of others. You're a FANTASTIC player and educator! Someone to strive to be as a proper drummer! Much respect and love!

[@8020drummer]

Thanks Rob!

[@blakenunndrums]

@@8020drummer Same goes for you, brother! I highly respect and appreciate you, as well as Rob, as my top online educators. You're both not only great players and educators; but great human beings as well! Thanks for all you do! Happy drumming!

[@Juline1221]

Def gonna check your channel out

[@dadecountyboos]

keys jingle, thats why they call it the change Time folds, thats why most musicians are broke.

[@rosiemurray2611]

10:07 hey look it's the intro!

[@addradz]

Sliced and diced! So sharp, loved that dissection with so many answers to many so questions we all had. Thank you!

[@jasdog]

I love your videos even more, you have made a great improvement in production quality, content is extremely helpful like always :)

[@dikbeats2720]

Nate.. seriously cool lesson man.. peace.. keep it up man, I love how u keep heavy theory light hearted and amusing! U r a good teacher.

[@benjamingaray5660]

YES! YES! YES! Exactly what im looking for. Stay hip Nate.

[@robsteele8689]

The man did his homework and gave a respectful nod to the roots of it all.. knows where HE came from as well as THE GROOVE. It's just a shame that even as recent as the late 80s , when I was fortunate enough to record LIVE DRUM SESSIONS to be sampled for DEF JAM RECORDS at the legendary Chung King Studios with Genius Producer POSITIVE K at the controls... it was considered "JUST" a DRUM BEAT .. not given the creative respect it deserves until very creative producer/ artists like TIMBALAND started getting a million dollars per beat ... Now don't get me wrong, I'm not bitching and moaning and placing myself in some high-up category I knew my place and I was paid for 4 MI time I'm talkin about the unsung heroes back in the day drummers that had no idea of the impact they were going to make in the future... those groundbreakers that were being sampled like crazy and not getting any Financial compensation in the whole Rebirth / Resurgence of the heart and soul contribution to Timeless Grooves. At best if anybody made money it the person holding the publishing rights which were probably swindled from the original artists in the first place

[@blakenunndrums]

INCREDIBLE lesson! SO many good aspects to consider in this episode. Demonstrated and explained flawlessly! This will be one that will age well, and ppl will be studying for years to come. Excellent work, brother! Much respect!

[@jeffwaters2470]

Hey nate - thank you, the better i get the more you teach me. Locking into some nate smith and dj scratch. I got a lot out of your lesson. Thank you!

[@tojafato]

I always learn something from these videos...🎼💯🥁 thanks man 👍🤓

[@danevansdesigner]

Great show Nate thanks. I love playing hip hop beats so I have some things to try tomorrow everyone goes out the house.

[@benjaminleach8582]

ThanksMan, this was really helpful.

[@milocero]

you nailed the swing man, awesome job

[@smacksalad]

Always giving me ideas for my drum programming, thanks man!

[@A.ChristopherJohnson]

Great lesson B.

[@lajeanette33]

Hi, it as absolutely nothing to do with this lesson, but i wanted to thank from the bottom of my heart for making me discover Hiatus Kayote (on a another video about hip hop i think) and i’ve been in love ever since. The new album made me think about you, so again a huge thanks 😊👍 Cheers from Switzerland 🇨🇭

[@alexeyvlasov8790]

Cool stuff! Really;) Thanks!

[@rockstarjazzcat]

Drum Nate ACTIVATED! Helpful. Thanks Drum Nate!

[@aldofloresesq]

Excellent.

[@TonesT4]

This video is super helpful mah man! 😊❤

[@InYourDreams-Andia]

The best, re visited! The orig is one of my all time faves, but this is ...beastly :)

[@MrTisjeboy]

Really like the off beat quarter triplet HH. Transcription was also very useful!

[@123unhooked]

This is THE video. Thank you!

[@baslindelauf3834]

Very nice!!!!!!!!!!

[@facksvillain2296]

This video is super dope!!!

[@teilzeittrommler]

this lesson is as excellent as the snare sound. which snare-model and which drumhead did you play in the video? thanks a lot

[@Juline1221]

I don't even play drums but this helps with my production tons thanks. Def need to get better with my drums

[@push_palo]

he played my playlist. mentioned my favorite drummers, Justin Tyson *Glasper subscribedddddd

[@mark52111]

Hey Nate, excellent video! Would also be great to hear you analyze and break down some of the New Orleans drummers and grooves like Zigaboo Modeliste on “Cissy Strut”.

[@tavismaplesden]

Hip hop guys just have a different feel. Hard to learn

[@Emirimol]

Great video! Thanks! Just a Q: what do you think about Anomalie beats? I hear them as Dilla beats (somtheing like Chris Dave), but more cuantiziced (as in 5plets swing)...

[@elijah1110]

awesome vid

[@peterpiper0815]

superdope! Thanks.

[@Matthew25662]

My name is Nate / My drumming's really great / No need for click bait / With a groove that's pretty as f... [ Shoulder Angel Nate: "Whoa! Dude, keep it clean!" ]

[@rafaelcarvalho3928]

Bom demais!

[@bobbyborg]

Hey Eldon, cool video

[@awwaves]

Thanks :)

[@ajk1989]

Thanks for posting this - really cleared some things up for me!

[@jean-pierremarinalonzo3204]

Cool 🤩

[@aguy65656]

Great vid Nate! Would be cool to see you breakdown some of Billy Cobham’s stuff sometime.

[@BrantWeckstein]

Agreed

[@_beatslayer_]

Killer Nate! Is it fair to say the offset 1/4 note triplet is between the sextuplet? If so, then you could diddle the 1/4 note triplet then get comfortable with just hitting the second note of the diddle (which would be helpful for guys like me who need some sort of referential algorithm and not just "feel" - at least as the starting point).

[@donnieolaughlin1758]

I don't even really particularly care for hip hop I mean well okay I'll tell you this good music is good music I have a little bit of different preferences but I did watch this whole video because I like the way that Nate explains nuances and next level advice in his videos.

[@thejula3695]

What snare do you play ?

[@tmmyt2005]

Hey Nate when you play the offbeat quarter-note triplets at the end are you pushing the snare forward slightly, like an eighth-note triplet or something? Because normally the snare would line right up with the hats on those on 2 & 4 a la Everybody Wants To Rule The World, correct? Not sure what I’m missing.

[@8020drummer]

It lines up with the snare when it begins on the last triplet of the phrase, but it comes one sextuplet after the snare when it begins on the last sextuplet of the phrase.

[@tmmyt2005]

That’s exactly what my drummer friend told me. Thanks Nate! Love your channel even though I’m not a drummer.

[@TheStudioDrummer]

That skip note beat is 🔥🔥🔥

[@t3hgir]

nice pocket here!

[@aRnBStar]

3:48 to 3:52 is the thang we wanna listen

[@poserp]

The pick-up kick (generally notated as two sixteenths) is important for many of the old-school beats, which sampled stuff like "Impeach The President", "It's A New Day", various Kool And The Gang songs, "Synthetic Substitution", and other stuff from that period when those were a central part of many funk beats. For example, Otis Redding's "Too Hard To Handle" -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpyaimONYqZ8bbc

[@poserp]

Er, I mean, "Hard To Handle"...

[@poserp]

Oh, and, the pick-up triplet on the hi-hat leading into the "one" -- basically three sixteenths where the third sixteenth lands on the "one".

[@poserp]

A good example of that one is "God Made Me Funky" by the Headhunters.

[@jcbozich]

Probably obvious to most, just not me. What IS the opening theme song?

[@stakesishigh577]

remember playing these beats on a drum set will never be the same. The beats are coming from a drum machine that are programmed to sound a unique way.

[@WollSockenTraeger]

For more nerd credit - say „boombap“ (90‘s hiphop) instead of „old school“ (run dmc and other 80‘s stuff). Keep it up :) greetings from berlin

[@genderfluids6448]

It's fine. As long he's not calling it "lofi".

[@MarkQuick0411]

Or East Coast 90s era Hip Hop has jazzy samples Southern Hip Hop has a lot of Trap Hi Hat style club West Coast is align with Funk samples

[@dmgsoultogetherness6667]

Come back dave 🤗🤗

[@RCorinti]

🙏🏿

[@mikehawk9461]

Where can I get get these esp shirts?

[@8020drummer]

I'd message these guys - facebook.com/Electronic-Sound-Percussion-112904718748693/

[@thomasnichol4138]

I'm stealing all of this.

[@neilhiggins1755]

Quantization artifact????

[@timekeep3r]

What a hunkkk

[@larrylar2112]

I can see why you broke out the nice hats for this. Bravo!

[@jcbozich]

Percussion success = Dynamics Dynamics Dynamics

[@leonardoziche6816]

13:14 Kinda like jd beckward Genius

[@jessyruel3006]

Eric B. and Rakim *drop the mic

[@donnieolaughlin1758]

Smash that like button

[@mancavemusician]

Or, get an 808 / RD8 😉

[@8020drummer]

more like an 8-oh-8020

[@BenjaminGoude]

A good Dilla beat is right after the first chorus in Return To Me by Reign of Kindo.

[@andreedipo6356]

Ey

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

oi

[@Heathensrule]

You’re just flossin! Lol. Dang

[@jessyruel3006]

i don't think shuffle is more or less the first and last stroke of a triplet, it's Exactly it, period.

[@debnlinda]

Not really, septuplet swing is what a lot of people are looking for so it depends.

[@williamstrist9300]

Hey interesting music !!! Maybe you should sing on a Instrumental by #WETHEDAWQS! Me and my friends think you would sound amazing together.

[@jackbrown3270]

that off beat shit is hard for my brain to compute lol

[@eboyeman8457]

Same lol

[@warpedmetalhead]

Hah! I caught you, you actually can play like a human afterall!!

[@alsv83]

The problem playing with "musicians" is they all wanna stand out. The best thing about playing with musicians is, what they all want is for the music to be heard. Someone probably said that, I don't give hoot who. Serve the music, not yourself people. EDIT: If you like sports. It's a team effort, even if you're the star. Play together, because thats that your musicians have to to do if you're the star. You're a team, stop doing stupid stuff.

[@jonblachley1911]

Fix your Hip Hop: find another jb

[@lecapitole5663]

hi hehehe

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

ha hihihi

[@starduststereo]

googles ableton beat repeat effect

[@thomasfrost1352]

Good video. I feel like the Dilla interpretation has become so popular and somewhat appropriated these days what with the quintuplet interp and what-not. This was a good video with good research and you refrained from saying “drunk.” THANK YOU that shit makes me cringe.

[@gcharocks]

Why is being inspired by something without necessarily knowing the history a bad thing?

[@t3hgir]

@@gcharocks ignorance is never bliss

[@brendonmasters]

A year of two tall cans a day DID NKTHJNF FKR MY DILLA BEATS

[@gcharocks]

@@t3hgir lol

[@leandrosinco]

Would love to see you go in depth with these types of grooves and unpack them more instead of just glossing over

[@pissilwhippa]

second lol

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

Hip Hop is just a slow funk beat with the emphasis on the snare/clap.

[@MarkQuick0411]

I’d say hip hop has differing styles Some have no drums and straight sample South has more emphasis on club trap hi hats

[@StuBotNYC]

You use stakes is high as the first example? That was De La Souls worst album from that time, and the last album of theirs I bought. Jeez, there's so many better examples by them or others

[@georgebirddrums]

SMH

[@maksimusthedrummer6236]

6:40 couldn't you just play the hi hat with your left hand?

[@Sundaydrumday]

Ya we all know your trolling the interwebs looking for any reason to complain...about anything...maybe he can or maybe he can't? Either way why not just support him or don't say nothing at all? I mean what are you lookin for him to profess his ambidextrous troubles just for you to feel better about yourself? If he even has them to begin with maybe he just likes the tambourine in that part and feels better

[@maksimusthedrummer6236]

@@Sundaydrumday Fair point, my friend, fair point

[@JoeGriertkjjlolCC]

Playing hip hop is a feel, it's just not Playing a beat. It has to move and that's something that can't be taught. I can hear your Playing but I can't feel the groove.

[@DanSharpDrummingChannel]

yeah cause hip hop beats are drum machines...

[@AfferbeckBeats]

Few styles of hip hop use drum machine sounds, none of which are discussed in this video. With sampled and sequenced hip hop beats there's a huge range of variety in tone and feel depending on how it's sampled and how it's sequenced and processed.

[@_blueboy95_]

Put some natural stank on it bruhh U look too serious and focused

[@jessyruel3006]

There's pretty much no dynamic at all in hip hop beats, everything is at the same level...hence jazz drummers struggle 😂

[@j.d.7208]

No thanks hip hop is complete trash

[@AfferbeckBeats]

An entire broad-ranging 40+ year old genre that can pull from any other genre is complete trash? Any drummer should be able to appreciate hip hop and the funk, soul and jazz that it's intertwined with. Any drummer that doesn't... is complete trash.

[@nonamedelaplaya83]

You talk too Much

[@kkthedrummer8999]

I think you should do more research on hip hop because you not playing hip hop at all I don't hear James Brown I hear jazz yes but spankly or Chris dill not hip hop

[@AfferbeckBeats]

He's talking about the 90s jazzy boom bap era of hip hop beats, and the kind of 'neo jazz hop' or whatever silly name people want to use for the modern style of J Dilla inspired drumming.