Even the most visionary musicians may go unnoticed if they're not able to 'get their music out there'. Other noteworthy producers that both pioneered and defined the sound of modern hip hop beats include DJ Premier, Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz & Large Professor.Ever wonder why some songwriters and hip hop artist get life-changing, rags-to-riches record deals while others with incredible talent and style seem to have difficulty? The crucial difference may be that one songwriter knows how to sell himself, while the other doesn't. The sound and vibe of music produced during this time is what many modern music producers are trying to recapture when making hip hop instrumentals. Most hip hop fans consider the 1990's as the 'golden era of hip hop'. J Dilla, Pete Rock) to dark and grimy (eg. These types of beats can be very diverse, ranging from soulful (eg. East coast hip hop beats rely heavily on samples and are often described as 'raw' sounding. Other elements found in west coast hip hop instrumentals include piano chords, string stabs, synthesized 'moog' bass and high-pitched 'worm' synth lead melodies. Dre in the 90s) are usually funk-inspired with simplified drum patterns. West coast beats (a style popularized by Dr. Boom bap beats are usually sparse melodically, instead focusing on loud, in-your-face kick & snare drum loops. There are a variety of subgenres in hip hop and the beats that correspond with these different subgenres are stylistically distinct. Many attribute this to the Akai MPC, which was a very popular sampler used by hip hop producers in the 1990s and had very pronounced swing settings by default.

Drums on a hip hop beat are often played in a swing/shuffle pattern, as opposed to straight-time - this is what gives many hip hop songs their 'head nodding' appeal.

This is done to avoid infringing on copyrights, clearing samples and paying royalties. However, this is not always the case - many modern producers have started composing their own melodies / basslines with virtual instruments and adding production effects to them instead of sampling vinyl records. These samples will usually originate from R&B / Soul records from the 60s and 70s. Rather than using electronic drums and sounds, most hip hop instrumentals use drums, melodies and basslines sampled from vinyl. Hip hop beats generally have a tempo of 80-100 beats-per-minute.