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Hip Hop

Hey guys, just a little question for some people with some experience in Hip Hop.

I've been mixing for about 6 months, and am just starting to feel confident with my mixing. I only own house and trance records/CDs, but I think its time I tried to get a gig or two, which will probably be at a nearby house party with some friends. Unfortunately, these kids only like hip hop/rap... so to get my name out there, I'm thinking I'll have to mix some hip hop.

I understand music and beat counting and all that essential stuff, and I'm just wondering what skills I'll need to effectively mix hip hop.

Thanks in advance for any tips provided.

i was in the same situation... i payed attention to the charts, listened to the radio a lot, and watched other hip hop dj's (actually there was only one in the area). the most important thing is practice. its a totally different style... When i first started w/ hip hop, i'd drop a new track (on beat and beatmatched) and fade right out of the other one. then i started scratching into tracks, mixing in instra loops, using effects to do transitions, and now i'm working on using the hot cues on my cdj's to do some crazy off the wall transitions. i taught myself for the most part...

i think the most important thing is song selection though...

the ideal setup for hip hop (in my eyes) is cdj's and serato. I used turntables and serato for about a year but i love the cdj's. i can scratch just as well on them.. the hot cues are what have me loving the cdj's over vinyl though. i still have some practicing on the cdj's before i bust them out for the public, but i like them better (this is all just my personal opinion)

if you take a look to your left, you can clearly see that being a hip-hop dj has its benefits. bitches cant keep their hands off of me!!

Thanks for you advice, should help a lot.

Some pretty cute girls in that pic too haha

being able to effectively count beats is extremely necessary for hip hop mixing. Unlike house and Trance, hip hop ranges from 64-128 BPM. Thats a huge spectrum so you will need to know how to effectively manage songs and transition to songs that are within close bpm ranges because going from 110bpm to 91 isn't going to sound good or get the crowd going.

also pay attention to your crowd...if they look bored its time to change to a different type of song (ie if you are playing extremely energetic hip hop, get some classier stuff going or throw on reggae or reggaeton...)

hope this helps and don't worry it is easier than you think (btw i have been doing hip hop house parties and clubs for 3 years now with only one experience of not performing to my crowds needs).

quote:

Originally posted by spdandpwr being able to effectively count beats is extremely necessary for hip hop mixing. Unlike house and Trance, hip hop ranges from 64-128 BPM. Thats a huge spectrum so you will need to know how to effectively manage songs and transition to songs that are within close bpm ranges because going from 110bpm to 91 isn't going to sound good or get the crowd going.

How would you suggest going about that? Sorry, may sound like a stupid question, but as a Trance and House junkie I'm used to mixing songs that are generally 4-5 BPM apart :P

get out into the scene and meet people, network

learn who are good people to know and get to know them

you don't have to play hip hop house parties if you want to play house and trance

playing hip hop house parties will get you more hip hop house party gigs, not house and trance

make me a cd FFS, i know a LOT of djs and promoters in calgary

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Morello get out into the scene and meet people, network learn who are good people to know and get to know them you don't have to play hip hop house parties if you want to play house and trance playing hip hop house parties will get you more hip hop house party gigs, not house and trance make me a cd FFS, i know a LOT of djs and promoters in calgary

I don't think I'm good enough to put something impressive out to most of them yet. I'm not legal yet either, so that definitely wont help. I just want to learn how to mix more than 2 genres, and help throw some good house parties until I hit 18.

why anyone would play music they dont love just to "get out there" is beyond me.

for me, i like mixing hip hop especially (slower more relaxed hip hop) and R&B...but as for others i must agree with the previous poster..you're wasting your time....and messing with my business

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN why anyone would play music they dont love just to "get out there" is beyond me.

+1 Dude dont play that shit hip hop and rap crap.

the hip hop spectrum is 80 to 160bpm imo...

you asked how to go about spinning such a wide array of bpm's... organization is important. in serato, i organize my tracks by bpm and mix up and down through bpm's in 2 or 3 bpm incraments. when i get down to 80, i jump upto 160 and work my way back down. if i'm going up in bpm's and i get to 160, i jump down to 80 and work my way back up. make sure you put the song back in its original bpm when you're fully mixed into it.

another important thing is having a lot of music because you want to have hip hop songs at all bpms. if you send me a pm, i can give you a list of popular songs and there bpm's so you can have a nice mix of songs ranging between 80 and 160. u can download em and put them on serato or cd's or whatever. i'll give you a starter list w/ 1 song for each bpm ranging from 80 to 160 (80 songs) and you can start w/ that. of course you'll want more songs, but its very important to have at least 1 for every/every other bpm.

let me know if i can do anything else to help

bisco

ps. look into baltimore club music. its structured like house/trance, but its high energy hip-hop (originals and remixes). google or limewire it...

quote:

Originally posted by spdandpwr hip hop ranges from 64-128 BPM.

can you name some songs w/ bpm's ranging from 64 to 80 (i need songs w/ bpm's closer to 64)? i have a few songs in the 70's but i always thought hiphop started at 80... i'm not trying to be a dick, but it would help me to know of some so i can do 64 to 128 jumps you know what i mean? i do 80 to 160 jumps and being able to do both 64 to 128 and 80 to 180 jumps would make me even more flexible..


thanx
bisco

bpm artist - song

161 lil wayne fireman
160 lil flip - game over
159 brooke valentine feat dem franchize boys - pimped out
158 baby feat lil wayne - shine on
157 shawnna feat busta - gettin some (head)
156 juvenile - rodeo
155 d4l - laffy taffy
154 black eyed peas - pump it
153 chingy - holiday inn
152 young joc - shoulder lean
151 rick ross - push it
150 lil jon - what you gonna do
149 fat joe - make it rain
148 cherish feat sean paul - do it to it
147 three 6 mafia - poppin my collar
146 mary j blige - be without you (kendu mix)
145 purple ribbon allstars - kryptonite
144 bone thugs - crossroads
143 chamillionaire - ridin
142 n/a
141 n/a
140 ludacris - whats your fanitsy
139 mike jones and paul wall - they dont know
138 pitbull - getting freaky
137 rihanna - sos (resuce me)
136 shawnie - shake ya money maker
135 2 live crew - shake that ass bitch
134 da' dip - freak nasty
133 let me see your tootsie roll (dont know what artist)
132 mya feat missy elliot - my love is like woah
131 ludacris - roll out
130 black eyed peas - dont phunk with my heart
129 bone thugs - thuggish ruggish bone
128 christina aguilera - aint no other man
127 salt and peppa - push it
126 outkast - the way you move
125 sean paul - temperature
124 black eyed peas - my humps
123 eminem - just loose it
122 r kelly - feelin on your booty
121 pussycat dolls - dont cha
120 ll cool jay and jlo - control myself
119 pitbull and lil jon - toma
118 ying yang twins feat pitbull - shake
117 justin timberlake - sexy back
116 eminem - the way i am
115 nelly - tilt ya head back
114 nelly furtado - promiscious
113 caria feat missy elliot - one two step
112 gnarls barkley - crazy
111 usher - caught up
110 jagged edge - lets get married (remix)
109 missy elliot - we run this
108 pitbull feat lil jon - bojangles (remix)
107 young leek - jiggle it, eminem - shake that ass
106 kevin little - trun me on
105 beyonce - deja vu, pussycat dolls - buttons
104 mase - breathe stretch shake
103 destinys child - bootylicious
102 busta rymes - touch it
101 chris brown - run it
100 shakira - hips dont lie, cassie - me & u
99 julez santana - there it go (the whistle song)
98 t.i. - bring em out
97 bubba sarxxx - ms new booty
96 daddy yankee - gasolina
95 cassidy - get no better
94 t.i. - why you wanna, snoop - gin and juice
93 biggie smalls - hypnotize (biggie biggie), 50 cent - 21 questions
92 kanye west and jaymie fox - golddigger
91 fergie - london bridge, 2pac - california love
90 dr dre - keep their heads ringin (ring ding dong)
89 big tymers - number 1 stunner
88 daddy yankee - rompe
87 nelly - shake a tailfeather, beyonce - ring the alarm
86 juvenile - slow motion, sean paul - still in love
85 jay z and beyonce - upgrade you
84 kelis feat too short - bossy
83 fabolous - breathe, crime mobb - in my white tee
82 lil jon - snap ya fingers, chingy - one call away
81 50 cent - wanksta
80 fabolous - this is my party

this should help... good luck

you asked for some less than 80 I believe Kelis - Trick me...the original one is about 64 bpm...but I'm not sure

and there's really many more RnB/hhop songs with lower bpms

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN why anyone would play music they dont love just to "get out there" is beyond me.

Why not? Seriously, I just want to know why you would say that. While forumulating your response, thing about the entertainment industry, the club scene, and the music scene.

Go!

I'm by no means trying to get into the profession just yet, I just want to actually play a couple sets infront of an actual audience, and I don't want whatever my crowd may be to not enjoy my set. The parties I'll likely play at will want hip hop, so logically, I want to learn how to mix it.


And disco, thanks a shit load for those tracks, that'll help a lot

shit, i dont care what i play as long as the crowd is dancing and having fun... sometimes i have to resort to 80's funk and 90's pop when i have an older crowd... i never liked hip hop, and still would never put it in my cd player, but i love spinnin it and watchin the crowd have a good time. i dont hate hip hop, but when i'm driving, i put phish or the disco biscuits in my cd player... maybe some trance occasionally. i hear enough trance/house/hip hop at work... if i was armin or pvd or some big artist, i'd play what i want at the clubs, but unfortunately i'm just i normal dude who is trying to make a living... tryin to keep people on the dance floor...

ps i think above and beyond should have been ranked #2

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