The Boom Bap feel

Laid-back 90s hip-hop. Dusty, behind, swung.

▶ Play the Boom Bap feel in the metronome

swung 16ths ≈ 90 BPM with reference pulse

What it is

The boom-bap pocket: hard kick and snare with lightly swung 16ths that sit a hair behind the beat, the way an SP-1200 or MPC60 nudges things when you don’t quantize hard. Dusty, head-nodding, unmistakably 90s.

How to practise it

Chop your samples and place your snare on the laid-back clicks for that boom-bap head-nod. Lives at 85–95 BPM.

Heard on

DJ Premier productions
Pete Rock — Mecca & the Soul Brother
A Tribe Called Quest

More feels in the library

SwingThe triplet shuffle. Jazz, blues, shuffle grooves. DillaThe drunk, lopsided lurch. J Dilla’s broken grid. Purdie ShuffleThe half-time shuffle with ghost notes. Behind the BeatThe laid-back pocket. Drag it ~35 ms late. On TopPushing ahead. Urgent, driving, on the front edge.