90s Hip-Hop Soul drum pattern
A two-bar 90s hip-hop soul loop: a hard backbeat, swung 16th hats with a few gaps, a boom-bap kick that doubles up in bar two and an open hat that lifts into the top. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 92 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the 90s Hip-Hop Soul
Count it as: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a · two bars. The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar swung 16th-note hip-hop soul loop).
The 90s Hip-Hop Soul pattern, hit by hit
Each character is one step of the grid and each group is one beat. X is an accented hit, x a normal hit, o a quiet or ghost note and - a rest.
| Voice | Bar 1 | Bar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | X--- ---x --X- ---- | X--x ---x --Xx ---- |
| Snare | ---- X--- ---- X--- | ---- X--- ---- X--- |
| Ghost snare | ---- ---- ---- ---o | ---- ---- ---- ---- |
| Closed hat | xooo x-oo xooo x-oo | xooo x-oo xooo xo-- |
| Open hat | ---- ---- ---- ---- | ---- ---- ---- --x- |
Tempo and feel
Head-nodding and heavy. The backbeat is huge and the hats swing, but the loop feels smooth enough to sing over. The default tempo is 92 BPM. It plays with 57% swing by default; move the Swing control toward 50% to hear it straight. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the 90s Hip-Hop Soul
Play the swung 16th hats alone until the gaps feel like part of the loop. Add the backbeat as the loudest note in the bar. Add the kick and the bar-two doubles without straightening the swing.
Variations to try next
Set Swing to 50% for a straighter, more modern loop. Add a cross-stick on the a of 4 in bar one. Drop the open hat for a tighter turnaround.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Mary J. Blige - Real Love, SWV - Right Here (Human Nature Remix) and Jodeci - Come and Talk to Me. A drum-set study of 90s hip-hop soul, where R and B singers sang over sampled breaks and drum machines. The kit version approximates a programmed loop: hard backbeat, swung 16th hats and a boom-bap kick. It is slower and less hard-swung than the library's New Jack Swing, and it is authored for practice, not transcribed.