Elektronauts Hip Hop Beat Battle #4 - Voting and Feedback

The Lounge Mission Briefs
#1

Alright, gang. I think this was another good one. Voting will go from today (9/21) to Friday (9/24). Votes after that will not be counted.

If you’ll remember, some of the rules have changed this time around. Most have not. Here are the rules that will carry over:

  • You need to have submitted a beat to vote.
  • You obviously cannot vote for yourself.
  • You can use whatever criteria you want to judge these tracks but you need to give them a fair chance, which means listening to all of them.

What’s different:

  • Rather than making a top three, you’ll choose one 1st place and two runners up.
  • Each 1st place vote will count for 2 points. Each runner up vote will count for 1.

If you guys could make it easy on old Dougie and start your post off with your top three, with the first place in bold like so:

First place
Runner up 1
Runner up 2

That would be great.

As always, please take some time to leave feedback for folks. I think that’s a lot of people’s favorite part of these things. So let’s keep it going.

Anyway, here are your entries in order of submission.

@Sleepyhead

@drrumble

@rockpapergoat

@Dheurt

Doug

@sezare56

@PineappleDave

@Yabba

@PeteSasqwax

@Kpucski

@simonbradford

CCMP

FNKSTRNG

TheGhostCat

Sherelle

LyingDalai

eerieacid

12 Likes
#2

@CCMP
@FNKSTRNG
@TheGhostCat
@Sherelle
@LyingDalai
@eerieacid

9 Likes
#3

I will listen again all the beats after work, the choice will be difficult. Props everybody, again quality is here!

8 Likes
#4

First : @drrumble
Runners up : @Sleepyhead and @eerieacid

I’ll add comments if I have time later!

@eerieacid Silly Putty reminded me Herbie Hancock so I wasn’t that surprised Stanley Clarke played with him here (solo @ 9m35s) :

7 Likes
#5

First: @Kpucski - I’m a sucker for darkness, and the vibe of this ticks that box big time… I think it was done quickly from what you said, but that’s a great reminder that sometimes the quick instinctive stuff is where it’s at. Great track. :+1:

Runners Up: @PeteSasqwax and @Yabba

I genuinely couldn’t split the two runners up and I had to whittle it down from 6 candidates.

Yabba, that track is great… I really liked your use of vocal samples, used really musically within the track without letting it dominate and be the focus of it (if that makes sense)…

PeteSasq, I could copy and paste what I said about Yabba’s for you too… and I really liked the overall vibe a lot, hitting the dark spot.

@rockpapergoat honourable mention to you too sir for being able to use those samples… I had a go at those and know how hard it was to not sound like hip hop umpalumpa, and yours didn’t!

Props to everyone else for their work too, I don’t think this one was the easiest to interpret, and obviously everyone who’s submitted has put time into it, and there’s isn’t a bad entry.

(I don’t want to hijack the thread, but I’d be interested in knowing peoples workflows… kinda why we are here… this is my 3rd Battle submission and each one I’ve had a different approach, this last last one being done 100% on my MPC… so, as someone who’s developing/learning a lot of sampling techniques along the way, I like seeing/hearing about approaches… maybe a supplementary thread at some point??)

12 Likes
#6

First : @eerieacid
I Like how you chopped that sample, the groove of the beat, it was obvious that you’ll be in my top :wink:
Runners up :
@TheGhostCat : great sample choice and great sample manipulation, it fit well with the acapella
@Doug : as always, that’s solid old school hiphop, your beats never disappoint me.

This batttle was the hardest to choose, i had to listen all the entries several times to make a decision.
Honorable mentions to @sezare56 (that’s funky!), @Sleepyhead and @Yabba (your beats are always solid and you two have your own style), you were close to make it to my top 3 but i had to make a choice.
Props to @rockpapergoat for using my sample, it was a tough choice and you made something totaly unexpected.
And again, big respect to everybody involved in this!

11 Likes
#7

1st: @rockpapergoat
Runners; @drrumble @doug

Other notes from the round #4 field trip…. (Edit: I can’t tag everyone but this should cover every submission.)
^doug drove the god damned bus while we all made noise and looked out the windows. Thank you.
^sleepyhead showed us pictures from 1992
^drrumble reminded us all that mc solaar used to be our jam.
^rockpapergoat pitched an almost creepy, yet undeniably attractive circus tent smack dab in the center of the Bronx, the ensuing performance won our hearts.
^dheurt struck an old gong to conger a flock vengeful angels.
^sezare56 won the coveted ‘had the most fun’ award, the trophy made the whole bus jealous.
^PineappleDave arguably had more fun than ^sezare56 and was given an identical trophy when nobody was looking.
^Yabba - used classical instruments to build a radio tower then tuned in to something dark and massive, accidentally catching the attention of a mean King Kong from the old movies who wants the money that we owe him back.
^petesasqwax used similar technology to summon the beast that inevitably fought that King Kong.
^kpucski reanimated some skeletons in a nuclear waste zone.
^simonbradford offered us soft encouragement to explore the scary shadows in the back of that one cave that nobody wanted to go into.
^ccmp showed us how tension can be relaxed too. Minds were blown.
^Fnkstrng punched a sunset in the face for snickering.
^sherelle did a dance that defied physics.
^lyingDalai brought the important herbs and bandages.
^eerieacid won a game show in a fever dream and got to keep the prize money in waking life.

15 Likes
#8

First: @rockpapergoat

Runners: @eerieacid @Sleepyhead

Doug: Thanks for keeping things in line, you’re one hell of a “bus driver”! I loved your beat; you always get the right amount of knock.

Sleepyhead: Two for the price of one! Excellent stuff; good to hear Rakim

Rockpapergoat: This one was on point for me, I realy like what you managed to do to that sample. Each of your submissions have been really good. Keep doing what you’re doing.

Drrumble: Dope

Dheurt: Very moody; I could get lost in this one.

Sezare56: Keep adding vocals to your tracks! Your Jingle Bells song is still in my Christmas mix, right between The Waitresses and Burl Ives. I hope you’re over that cold.

PineappleDave: Going to town with the P.O.! You got down, man. Thanks for the sample material. I’m not sure how much “fun” I had with it, but it was a fun challenge overall.

Yabba: You did with that sample what I could not. Nice work.

Petesasqwax: Anyone who will one-up me with a Grouch track is okay in my book. I really dug your submission.

Kpucski: Better luck next time, youuuuu sucker:)

SimonBradford: Everything you do is interesting.

Fnkstrng: Glad you were able to sneak one in. A little Fat Joe never hurt anybody!

CCMP: I really liked what you did with your track, especially the little twist at the end. Thanks for the compliments!

Sherrelle: Had my head swinging to this one! Very funky track.

LyingDalai: Very creative.

Eerieacid: You could have easily been my first pick for the exact reason as Rock. You both wrecked with your submissions.

TheGhostCat: First you were a train ride, then you were a flying alien thing, what gives? Awesome track, I actually did a remix of “Catacomb Kids” recently, so it was cool to hear your take on “None Shall Pass”. Your summary was spot on. You get the award for Most Perceptive!

Another good one.

Take care,
-K

12 Likes
#9

All beats are really well done, these are some mentions based on my personal taste.

@Sleepyhead really nice straight up hip hop, also love the bonus beat at the end.

@drrumble another straight up hip hop classic sounding beat, reminds me of a 9th wonder thing and I mean that in the best way. Really nice.

@rockpapergoat great manipulation of the sample you definitely know when to drop the elements in and out also.

@Dheurt you definitely created a dark mood with this flip, I like it a lot.

@Doug another nice submission from yourself, love the filter sound when the high elements of the sample drop out, another classic hip hop sound, great stuff.

@CCMP I’m biased to this beat slightly because I posted up the sample, and I mentioned that I had sampled it before but I wanted to use it again because it has some nice chords and you certainly did it justice, nice work.

@FNKSTRNG nice mellow beat, classic acapella, Great Work!

@LyingDalai Head nodding funk, nice vocal that sits over it also.

@eerieacid classic sounding and mellow, a real head nodder.

But my top three will be

1 drrumble
2 CCMP
3 Dheurt

12 Likes
#10

@sezare56 what else is there to say about herbie… one of my favorites. quite the entourage on this stage! the physicality stanley plays bass with is unparalleled. thanks for sharing this!

3 Likes
#11

sleepyhead - this was a super chill beat. had me zoning out and nodding along!
drrumble - the arrangement had me feeling the shifting moods of the vocalist and I don’t even speak french!
rockpapergoat - impressed with how you made these samples come together and work so well with the style, for sure a vibe
dheurt - dark and atmospheric af. could definitely soundtrack a moody film montage
doug - as a fellow digitakter, this is some sculpting. had to play this once to admire that p-locking and once to just enjoy the groove
sezare56 - that transition from stanley to nin… yet somehow felt natural? that was fun!
pineappledave - this one is living (and thriving) in it’s own realm. I’ve been on the fence of getting a PO and you’re helping push me over
yabba - this ones got some hype, thematic, like I gotta get up and get shit done
petesasqwax - ohhh that drop in was heavy! had me smiling
kpucski - from dystopia to leftfield. feeling unsettled and intrigued all at once
simonbradford - late night, back alley jam. has that comedown energy when perception and reality haven’t fully bridged yet
ccmp - I want this on my gta radio station, cruising music
fnkstrng - knowing you just had a child makes it that much more impressive how you could throw us such a laidback groove. mastering headspace
theghostcat - has the feel-good-ness of some alternate nujabes/samurai shamploo cut
sherelle - giving me some carefree strolling down the street vibes, all is well
lyingdalai - on. point. slices. hitting that balance between keeping true to the original and making it your own

on a different day my top 3 couple be completely switched out. truly. but alas, today is today so…

first - @drrumble
runners up - @LyingDalai and @Doug

13 Likes
#12

Alright folks, today is the last day for voting. I’m in California. So that means you’ve got until 12am PDT. As is tradition, I’ll vote last.

7 Likes
#13

First @drrumble

Mmm yes. This has all the elements I love. Lowpassed intro, bumpin’ drums, great usage of the samples to establish a central motif, just enough variation to keep thing interesting and a killer rapper on the beat. Overall, it feels extremely cohesive and sounds the most to me like a finished track, if that makes sense. Amazing job! :grin:

Runners up:
@rockpapergoat and @CCMP

rockpapergoat: As always, you came up with a wonderfully unique beat that uses such a random sample, but to good effect. Definitely one of my favorite tracks of yours that I’ve heard. The little lead you got going in the background is really catchy, and your intro is great, almost has a trippy feel to it. The a capella gels nicely with the beat too.

CCMP: I enjoy the vibes of this one. A solid, chill intro followed by a some soulful horns and shuffling drums. You added some new elements to keep in interesting, and then used some FX to make it more fun. Love the beat switch at the end. Props my dude.

Now for everyone else’s feedback. I kinda gave some earlier in the other thread so some of the feedback isn’t new, but I tried to add to what I already said if I could.

Sleepyhead: Super dope beats! The little synth sparkle bits on the first one were a nice touch. The Rakim verse went quite well and letting the beat breathe at the end was great too. (I actually found your second beat to be my favorite. The shuffling of the background drums are really rhythmically enjoyable.)

Dheurt: We got some dark vibes on this one. Brooding bass, and a snare that’ll snap your neck clean off. Well done.

Doug: I love how upbeat and fast this feels. I know BPM-wise it’s not exactly that fast, but it has a great sense of momentum. :ok_hand: Great sample usage as well. Thanks for organizing this battle. Boom to the bap, brotha. :grin:

sezare56: After futher analysis, this is quite the ride! An ambient intro that goes straight into some funky goodness which goes into this sort of almost rock beat (whose rhythm reminds me of the Home Depot theme) which goes back into the ambience of the intro. I can get down to this for sure. Props for adding your own vocals. :sunglasses:

Yabba: KNOCKING, BOOMY, BRASS! 'Nuff said.

PeteSasqwax: Absolute plodding doom. Watch out everyone. :skull: This beat’ll mess you up.
Kpucski: Two words: spoopy banjo. :ok_hand: Glad you had fun with my sample. :grin:

simonbradford: Yours wasn’t really my thing. :man_shrugging: Well made tho. GJ :slight_smile:

FNKSTRNG: Chill beat that contrasts sharply with rather aggressive vocals. Interesting juxtaposition mate. Also props for putting out a beat while taking care of your first kid. Congrats again. :partying_face:

TheGhostCat: I had never heard the original song that the a capella was from, and wow! Your beat gave the rap a whole different vibe. :sunglasses:

Sherelle: I mean this in a good way: this remind me of Animal Crossing. Especially the steel drums. Love it. :smile:

LyingDalai: I dig how present the bass sample is in the beat. The horn chops later in the track are great too.

eerieacid: Killer vibes, and I love how you used some FX to switch it up a bit.

Honestly, it was reeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaallllyyyyyyyy hard to pick the winner and runners up. I had it down to 9, but even then it was so hard. Everyone did an awesome job! Thanks for letting me participate.

Also, an extra point (if that’s legal) to @TheGhostCat for the most entertaining description possible. :joy:

Get it. It’s super basic, but so so much fun.

Anyways, that’s all from me. Cheers! :pineapple:

13 Likes
#14

Oh shot, haven’t even had the time to listen to the whole playlist!!!
A bit overwhelmed these days, sorry.
I’ll try to save some time for this tonight.

1 Like
#15

Great beats everyone. It’s been real hard to find time to listen to the tracks and even harder to write any kind of feedback. Anyhoo here’s my top three:

1 rockpapergoat
2 ghostcat
3 dr rumble

12 Likes
#16

Amazing beats from all:

@CCMP
@Yabba
@drrumble

10 Likes
#17

I’ve listened to everything in the other thread, and just now listened to everything again on my studio monitors. Great beats everyone! It’s really great to hear people coming up with consistently dope tracks throughout all these battles. Props to @doug for hosting. Here’s my top 3:

1: @drrumble great track! I love IAM, l’ecole du micro d’argent is in my regular spotify rotation. You did the track justice, this sounds like very well made late 90’s hiphop, and as I said before: your style is really recognizable between all these battles. I love the little variations throughout the song. Also: Maybe it’s me but you seem to be getting better with every beat you post here…

Runners up:

@Yabba: great track. Really like the way you chopped the sample and I’m mad I didn’t do what you did myself haha. I always like your drum patterns.

@rockpapergoat: I said it in the other thread, love your style, especially when it’s dirty like this one. When I heard your track I thought: Of course he picked this sample! You have a very distinguishable style, which is one of the biggest accomplishments as a producer I think.

My notes on the other tracks (Some of which I already posted in the other thread)

  • Dheurt this one sound kind of dark, like driving around at night. Kind of reminds me of more recent alchemist beats in that way. Dope!
  • doug another dope video showing the chopped sample. I’m a big fan of the way your drums sound in all of your beats, very full yet with enough space, something that is very hard to do. This one reminds me of something stoupe from jedi mind tricks would make. Very well done, you’re always close to (if not in) my top3.
  • sezare56 very unique, maybe not hiphop but who’s to decide… You really seem to have mastered the OT, it’s cool to hear the way you use it to create an interesting buildup. Dope track.
  • PineappleDave wow I have the po-33 as well, and I instantly recognize this sound, but its really impressive how freaky you got that tiny machine to sound. I usually end up with very straight to the point beats, you flipped the hell out of that sample haha. Very nice job!
  • PeteSasqwax: Really dope drums, bass and mix, I really felt like I was in the middle of the music here. This would be dope af in a club. You also just missed out of the top3.
  • Kpucski: Some madlib like weirdness, I like the drums a lot, very atmosperic/cinematic track, would work great as soundtrack for a dark scene in a movie.
  • simonbradford: Also very cinematic sounding. I Like the buildup and overall atmosphere.
  • @CCMP the way the drums come in is dope as hell. I don’t know if this is something you would do, but I feel like this track would work great for a female singer.
  • FNKSTRNG: Love the guitar here. Very chill track. Reminds me of Dela, the french producer (which everyone should check out).
  • TheGhostCat: This sounds like it was made for the acapella (which is was I guess haha). Fits perfectly. Dope drums, and really original way of using the sample.
  • Sherelle: Dope drums and percussion, reminds me of some early 2000’s RnB. This one also would work really well with a singer I think.
  • LyingDalai: Dope! I really love the way this beat explodes in the second half. Really well done, it sounds like a finished track to me.
  • eerieacid: Really neatly done on the sample chopping, it sounds like everything was meant to be like this. The breakdown at the end is dope.
12 Likes
#18

another difficult choice. you all stepped up your game, once again. props to all, and thanks to @doug for setting this up.

first:

@ccmp holy smokes. i love this flow. the drums hit hard. the bass holds it down. those synth string lines kill me. that outro was a nice touch. props, homie.

mentions:

  • @yabba some slinky villain/heist movie vibes here. i dig your stuff. that little melody adds so much to the overall feel.
  • @eerieacid love the intro. we used the same sample chops in different ways. when i first heard your take (will post mine later), i chuckled (in a good way). love the energy here and the direction you took stuff. that sing-song refrain in the background works so well.

feedback:

  • sleepyhead: solid as always; classic vibes, clean mix, easy flow with the acapella. the second beat at the end is also dope.

  • drrumble: classic, classic, classic. the flow is impeccable, as always. i love the horn stabs and strings in this.

  • dheurt: dark, moody; sax chop and bass line snake in there well

  • doug: honored that you chose my sample, yo. nice chops; the quicker tempo on this felt appropriate with the percussion in the background. so solid.

  • sezare56: what a wild ride! nice chops, live OT playing, vocals… truly impressive. i totally missed the mirror on first listen.

  • pineappledave: nice sparse chops! you really embraced the limitations to produce a cohesive beat here.

  • petesasqwax: man, this is haunting. love the production. this could totally be a roots manuva interlude on an album.

  • kpucski: a delightfully dark cacophony. the break in the middle was fun. i totally didn’t expect this, but it works really well as a whole.

  • simonbradford: another very well produced and unexpected sound exploration. listening again, i’m getting spooked out a little; it’s very eery. nice work!

  • fnkstrng: for a quick chop, this came out nice and smooth. love the beat, the chops, the vocals. excellent work.

  • theghostcat: ooh, video game vibes. this sounds like it could be the original version. damn, this is dope.

  • sherelle: love the buildup in the intro, the classic feel, the space, the bassline, the steel drums… such a chill tune.

  • lyingdalai: it’s interesting to hear how each person used that bass sample. i like the loping feel, the spoken word over it, the breakdown, the gated samples. you make it sound easy once again.

8 Likes
#19

:1st_place_medal: @rockpapergoat I just love the style. You don’t fear some dirt, and then your beat gets clinical, backs up the vocals to the perfection. Love it. The bass, the cuts, the crazy intro, the narration in the whole track. Glorious.

Runners up:
:medal_sports: @TheGhostCat OK, this is in my top 3 as well. Solid track.
:medal_sports: @drrumble At the moment I’m hearing this, it’s the 3rd track I’m listening to, and I already feel like I have my top 3. Do I love Akhenaton’s flow. Your beat does his vocals quite some justice, reminds me a bit of The Troublemakers (they are also from Marseille)

@sleepyhead I really like your sweet vibe. I would have love more breaks. But it’s beautiful as is.
@Dheurt I dig this dark sour taste… This beat is calling for some serious vocals!
@Doug I really like the way you show these waveforms. Quality beat!
@sezare56 : this video is worth watching till the end. So many good ideas! I would have loved them to get organized in a more coherent track maybe. But it’s interesting to see how this track mutates nevertheless ^^
@PineappleDave these accelerated/reversed glitchy chords are totally my thing. Nice mood!
@Yabba What a majestic intro! Then it gets heavy. Calls for a step further!
@PeteSasqwax Slow and sticky groove, cool one.
@Kpucski It’s like I’m watching some dark movie, someone has a knife and is ready to use it with a troubling toothless smile. I don’t know if I’m more frightened by the knife or the smile. Holy shit. Where are my legs?
@simonbradford Yummy. There’s something in these horns + screaming notes and overall darkmood that just touches me. You figured in my top 3 for some time ^^
@CCMP Sweet groove, at 0:45 I thought someone was breathing before dropping a verse.
@FNKSTRNG Why so short? It’s really nice, thanks for the ride.
@Sherelle Nice intro! It feels like it was kind of calling for something futuristic. I would have loved that. But funky is good as well :slight_smile:
@eerieacid You were pretty close from the top 3 as well. Oh my. I really loved this one.

This was some very interesting battle again, thank you @Doug for hosting this.
The tracks are plenty and of very good level, it really invites to push the level.
Very well done everyone!


PM me with a SC link if you want your track in the SC playlist :slight_smile:

11 Likes
#20

First @Doug
Second and third @LyingDalai and @Kpucski

I’m in the middle of an endless shitstorm of a day so don’t have time feedback properly right now I’m afraid but huge shouts to everyone who got down

12 Likes