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!!

Last edited by discobiscuit on Oct-18-2006 at 23:44

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).

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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

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Last edited by Tony Morello on Oct-19-2006 at 00:44

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.

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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

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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.

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america controla

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...

Last edited by discobiscuit on Oct-19-2006 at 08:00

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