Baltimore Club
Bass · 1992 · 128 to 135 BPM · also known as Bmore Club, Baltimore Breaks
Baltimore club is house music taken to the blowtorch, born in Baltimore in the 1990s: the Sing Sing and Think breaks hammered in an eight four four pattern, shouted samples looped endlessly, all at around 130 beats per minute without a pause. It was a raw, direct local music that stayed within its own clubs for thirty years before the Jersey and Philly scenes turned it into the root of today's club music. K-Swift and Rod Lee remain its living memory.
12 reference tracks
- Frank Ski: Whores in This House (1992)
- K-Swift: Bang Bang (1992)
- DJ Class: Tear Da Club Up (1995)
- Rod Lee: Dance My Pain Away (2005)
- Blaqstarr: Get Off (2006)
- DJ Class: I'm the Shit (2009)
- TT The Artist & Mighty Mark: Do Dat Dance (2020)
- Big Dope P, Mighty Mark: Ugly (2021)
- Househead Samira: Throw It Up (2021)
- Kesha: Only Love Can Save Us Now (2023)
- PinkPantheress: Stars + Yves
- James Blake: Days Go By
At a glance
- Tempo: 128 to 135 BPM
- First appeared: around 1992
- Machines: Akai MPC, Roland TR-808, Platines vinyle
- The sound: Break Sing Sing, Break Think, Kicks 8-4-4, Samples vocaux criés en boucle
- Labels: Club Kingz Records, Unruly Records, TCP, Moveltraxx
- Key artists: Rod Lee, K-Swift, DJ Class, Scottie B, Blaqstarr
Producing Baltimore Club
Baltimore club runs 125 to 135 BPM with 130 as its historic center, straight with no programmed swing, the groove coming from looping the Think and Sing Sing breaks with their own recorded shuffle. The sampled breaks sit under a huge, muffled 808 kick in a syncopated pattern, kick on beat one, beat two and two offbeat sixteenths, with an 808 clap on two and four, breaks cut, stopped and relaunched. The 808 kick doubles as the bass, a long, muffled hit with a 400 to 600 millisecond decay occupying the sub alone; many tracks add nothing else. The identity lives in its samples, a shouted rap phrase or crowd scream looped relentlessly, alongside sirens, funk horn stabs, whistles and DJ shouts, all grabbed raw and played fast.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Baltimore Club?
Baltimore club is house music taken to the blowtorch, born in Baltimore in the 1990s: the Sing Sing and Think breaks hammered in an eight four four pattern, shouted samples looped endlessly, all at around 130 beats per minute without a pause. It was a raw, direct local music that stayed within its…
What tempo is Baltimore Club played at?
Between 128 and 135 BPM.
Who are the key Baltimore Club artists?
Rod Lee, K-Swift, DJ Class, Scottie B, Blaqstarr.
In the same family
Listen to Baltimore Club in the atlas · Cette page en français
