Hip House
House · 1987 · 118 to 128 BPM · also known as Techno Dance
Hip house paired rap directly with house rhythms in Chicago and New York in 1988, running around 120 beats per minute. The phrasing was chanted, the choruses built for the dancefloor, and the crossover was claimed from both sides: house producers like Tyree and Fast Eddie, and rap groups like Jungle Brothers. The wave was short lived, but its underlying idea, rapping over whatever club music was current, resurfaces every generation, from UK garage to grime.
7 reference tracks
- The Beatmasters feat The Cookie Crew: Rok Da House (1987)
- Wee Papa Girl Rappers feat 2 Men And A Drum Machine: Heat It Up (1988)
- Kool Rock Steady: I'll Make You Dance (1988)
- Jungle Brothers: I'll House You (1988)
- Fast Eddie: Yo Yo Get Funky (1988)
- Tyree Cooper: Turn Up The Bass (1989)
- Channel Tres: fuego (2020)
At a glance
- Tempo: 118 to 128 BPM
- First appeared: around 1987
- Machines: Roland TR-909, Akai S900, Roland TR-808, E-mu SP-1200
- The sound: Sampler d'accapella rap, Basse house standard, Scratchs
- Labels: D.J. International Records, Trax Records, Idlers
- Key artists: Tyree Cooper, Fast Eddie, Jungle Brothers, Doug Lazy, Mr. Lee
Producing Hip House
Hip house runs 118 to 124 BPM, fast for a rapper, kick staying a straight four on the floor while the rap phrasing reads in eighths with hip-hop syncopation, locked to the kick rather than a breakbeat. A 909 or 808 kick plays four on the floor under 808 snare or clap on two and four, often doubled with a breakbeat snare sample, sixteenth 808 hats accented on the offbeats. The bass stays synthetic and simple, octaves or repeated eighth notes on a filtered sawtooth or a cut funk sample, at most two bars long so the vocal stays legible. The real instrument is the sampler, an Akai S900 or SP-1200, chopping a cappella rap into syllables alongside horn stabs, crowd noise, sirens, a house piano and organ stabs.
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 Hip House?
Hip house paired rap directly with house rhythms in Chicago and New York in 1988, running around 120 beats per minute. The phrasing was chanted, the choruses built for the dancefloor, and the crossover was claimed from both sides: house producers like Tyree and Fast Eddie, and rap groups like…
What tempo is Hip House played at?
Between 118 and 128 BPM.
Who are the key Hip House artists?
Tyree Cooper, Fast Eddie, Jungle Brothers, Doug Lazy, Mr. Lee.
