17BOOM BAP & UNDERGROUND HIP HOP
Sample-based, drum-machine-driven rap built on crate-digging and technical rhyme
WHAT IT IS / WHEN
"Boom bap" is onomatopoeia for the kick-snare pattern that defined East Coast rap from about 1988 to 1996 — DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, RZA. Its afterlife has been unusually long: the Griselda camp out of Buffalo (Westside Gunn, Conway, Benny) revived it wholesale in the late 2010s, sometimes stripping the drums out entirely for a "drumless" variant.
SIGNIFICANT ARTISTS
Gang Starr, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas. The underground continuum: MF DOOM, Evidence (of Dilated Peoples, and a producer in his own right), The Alchemist, Roc Marciano, Ka, and Griselda. ASM (A State of Mind) is a French duo — DOOM guested widely with European acts in his later years.
TRIVIA
The title track of De La Soul's Stakes Is High (1996) was the first beat the group took from a young Detroit producer named J Dilla, and it introduced him to a national audience. Separately, De La Soul's catalogue was absent from all streaming services until March 2023 because of unresolved 1980s sample clearances — three decades of a foundational discography effectively invisible. MF DOOM's death in October 2020 was not announced until December 31 of that year.
SONIC SIGNATURE
Dusty, band-limited loops — usually a 2–4 bar chop from a soul, jazz or library record — with the drums sitting slightly behind or ahead of the grid rather than quantised flat. Kick around 60–80 Hz, snare thick and mid-heavy at 200 Hz with a short room tail. Griselda-era production pushes this further: loops left unlooped, tape hiss audible, sometimes no drums at all under the verse.
KEY GEAR
The Akai MPC60 and MPC3000 are the genre's defining instruments — their 12-bit converters and slightly loose internal timing produce the grit and the swing. Also the E-mu SP-1200 (even lower fidelity, prized for it), Technics 1200 turntables for the digging and the scratches, and a Roland TR-808/909 for supplementary drums.
RATIONALE & PRODUCTION
The signature swing is a sequencer setting, not a performance: the MPC's timing-correct/swing parameter set around 54–62% pushes every off-beat late by a few milliseconds. Producers deliberately record loops through the sampler's low bit-depth and sometimes through a cassette deck for saturation. Modern practitioners recreate this with plugins but many, Alchemist and Evidence included, still track through hardware because the artefacts are the point.
TRACKS IN THIS GENRE
Each control plays a ten-second excerpt of the track, taken from its catalogue preview clip.
- Still DreamingNas, Kanye West, Chrisette Michele
- Love is...Common
- Scottie PippensCurren$y, The Alchemist, Freddie Gibbs
- Battle CryJoell Ortiz, Just Blaze
- Fist Full of DollarsNature, Dr. Dre
- Johnny P's CaddyBenny The Butcher, J. Cole
- 4 MoreDe La Soul, Zhane
- Stakes Is HighDe La Soul
- Baby BlueAction Bronson, Chance the Rapper
- KITCHEN LIGHTSWestside Gunn, Stove God Cooks
- Above The CloudsGang Starr, Inspectah Deck
- Meet Joe BlackNas
- What It's WorthBlack Milk
- Rollin' Down The FreewayStatik Selektah, Glasses Malone, Kali, Termanology
- Trouble in the Waterdj honda, De La Soul
- Welcome To New York CityCam'ron, JAY-Z, Juelz Santana
- TEMPTATIONJoey Bada$
- CheersObie Trice
- Circle Gang Anthem - Feat. KobeKXNG Crooked, Kobe
- The Red Carpet (feat. Raekwon & Ras Kass)Evidence
- My WayNas
- Rock BottomEminem
- Mic Jack (feat. Adam Levine, Scar & Sleepy Brown)Big Boi, Adam Levine, Scar, Sleepy Brown
- InvincibleCapone-N-Noreaga
- When The Sky FallsBlack Milk
- MaskingASM, MF DOOM
- Be (Intro)Common
- EPMD 2 (feat. Eminem & EPMD)Nas, Eminem, EPMD
- I Gave You PowerNas
- You're da ManNas
- Trouble ManJuggaknots
- Belize (feat. MF DOOM)Danger Mouse, Black Thought, MF DOOM
- Sniper EliteJ Dilla, MF DOOM
- Survival TestJaylib, Madlib, J Dilla
- Book Of RhymesNas
- Chef DredsGriselda
- PublicityGZA
- Real Ni***sThe Diplomats
- Exhibit CJAYELECTRONICA
- Live On Live LongCapone-N-Noreaga
- Plane GangReks, Akrobatik, Edo. G, Termanology, DJ Deadeye
- Bad Name - RemixGang Starr, Redman, Method Man
- The GhettoBeanie Sigel
- 100Dice Raw
- For The RecordTorae
- Under Their Radar, Over Their Heads feat. J-Romeillmaculate, J-rome
- Bad NameGang Starr
- Remind My SoulAkrobatik
- HeroPivot Gang, Frsh Waters, MFnMelo, Saba
- RareNas
- Mighty HealthyGhostface Killah
- Rising DownThe Roots, Mos Def, Styles P
- Powder Cocaine (feat. Slug & Catero)Evidence, Slug, Catero
- Everything To GainPapoose, AG
- Wake UpObie Trice
- God Help MeApollo Brown, Black Milk, Ketchphraze, DJ Los
- If - Bonus TrackKenn Starr, Asheru, Talib Kweli
- HardknockJoey Bada$, CJ Fly
- Get Off the GroundSnowgoons, Termanology, Sean Price, H-Staxx, Justin Tyme, Ruste Juxx, Lil Fame
- Self Conscience - Dirty VersionProdigy, Nas
- Watch How It Go DownTermanology
- HustleM.O.P., Mr. Probz
- Losing Out (feat. Royce Da 5'9)Black Milk, Royce Da 5'9"
- Bullet (feat. Citizen Cope)Rhymefest, Citizen Cope
- We As AmericansEminem
- Better FutureMr. Green, DJ Kool Herc
- That's HardPete Rock, Smif-N-Wessun, Sean Price, Styles P
- Grown Man SportPete Rock, InI
- RING THE ALARMJoey Bada$, Nyck Caution, Kirk Knight, Meechy Darko
- Violet (The Upper Room)CunninLynguists
- Uncle Sam GoddamnBrother Ali
- Meddle with Metal - 7l's Nytyme MixCZARFACE, MF DOOM
- Ms. JacksonOutkast
- YesterdayAtmosphere
- The Matrix (feat. Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price & DJ Premier)Black Milk, DJ Premier, Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price
- Kid U NotViro The Virus
- All In Your MindViro The Virus, Snowgoons, Savage Brothers
- Rising to the Top (Grand Theft Auto Theme Song)Sean Price
- Don't Say Nuthin'The Roots
- Winds Of ChangeEMC
- Assassination Day (feat. Raekwon, RZA & Inspectah Deck)Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, RZA, Inspectah Deck
- Da Grind (Featuring Apocalypse)Masta Ace, Apocalypse
- I Got the JuiceDream Junkies, Beleaf, Ruslan, John Givez
- Think DifferentlyCasual, Roc Marciano, Vordul Mega, Tragedy Khadafi, Wu-Tang Clan
- Every Ghetto (feat. Blitz The Ambassador)Nas, Blitz The Ambassador
- ShadowsThe Evil Genius DJ Green Lantern, Styles P
- BreatheFabolous
- Highs and Lows (feat. DOOM, Phonte)PRhyme, Doom, Phonte
- 82 92 (feat. Mac Miller)Statik Selektah, Termanology, Mac Miller
- A Couple DollarsApollo Brown, Skyzoo, Joell Ortiz
- Be YouMark Battles, Curren$y
- Slang Blade (feat. Senim Silla)Binary Star, Senim Silla
- Survival TacticsJoey Bada$, Capital Steez
- Shame (feat. BJ The Chicago Kid)Freddie Gibbs, Madlib, BJ The Chicago Kid
- Mr.The Crest, Suparanks
- ROCKABYE BABY (feat. ScHoolboy Q)Joey Bada$, ScHoolboy Q
- DEVASTATEDJoey Bada$
- FOR MY PEOPLEJoey Bada$
- ConceptionBlack Thought, Salaam Remi, Reek Ruffin
- Ape in His ApexSean Price, Ruste Juxx
- I KnowHeiruspecs
- The SparkGZA
- That'll WorkThe Alchemist
- New ThangsCurren$y, Freddie Gibbs, The Alchemist
- Assassination DayDJ Muggs, MF DOOM, Kool G Rap
- Fine And Free (feat. Vivian Green)Guru, Solar, Vivian Green
- Moment Of TruthGang Starr
- Feel It In The AirBeanie Sigel, Melissa Jay