Tips on Mixing Hip-Hop songs?

A good way is to listen for keywords, if you cant match the beat or time the fade-out/fade-in.
If youre looking to do drastic jumps, bpm-wise, then a good idea is to track down the source song and do a doubled-up mix of old vs. new.. (Candy by Cameo and All Bout U by Tupac is a good example)..

Hope this isnt too vague

Buy remix services…they fix up the tunes so they are better for DJs with intros and breaks.

Rap music now has to be one of the most “unfriendly to DJs” music now. No intros, breaks, etc…even when I hear guys playing it it seems like there’s no sense of flow. They’re just slamming in the next record when they see the crowd is getting bored…even if it’s in the middle of a verse.

Plus I don’t know about now…but back when it blew up bigger in the clubs (2003-2009) I noticed the crowds really didn’t care about the actual lyrics…but the “catchy hooks”. I still think if DJs remixed their tunes to be intro-catchy hook-repeat-outro they would rule the crowd.

Well, that comes down to personal taste and preference.

Most of the time now, unless it’s a heavy black crowd or a true b-boy underground crowd…most people want popular rap music mixed with mashups and R&B. A former boss called it “chick-hop” because he really prioritized making women happy and wanted female-preferred music.

So it would be Beyonce, Rihanna, P Diddy, Kanye, Britney Spears, etc. I know really most of those aren’t “hip-hop” or even “rap”, but it was more about pop music in the rap music tempo.

D-Jam, post: 3156 wrote: Buy remix services…they fix up the tunes so they are better for DJs with intros and breaks.

Rap music now has to be one of the most “unfriendly to DJs” music now. No intros, breaks, etc…even when I hear guys playing it it seems like there’s no sense of flow. They’re just slamming in the next record when they see the crowd is getting bored…even if it’s in the middle of a verse.

Plus I don’t know about now…but back when it blew up bigger in the clubs (2003-2009) I noticed the crowds really didn’t care about the actual lyrics…but the “catchy hooks”. I still think if DJs remixed their tunes to be intro-catchy hook-repeat-outro they would rule the crowd.

that is very true! The song could have horrible lyrics, but if the hook is catchy, and the beat is right, they will dance to it.When I go out, Im the odd ball who knows all the lyrics lol and raps/sings to them while dancing to it.

When doing hip-hop in clubs and bars, ignore hip-hop purists. The main focus is getting people to dance. Personally, I focus on the women. If Laffy Taffy gets them to dance, I’m playing it. As for mixing itself, I attempt beatmixing towards the end of the song. Also, just like DJs in other genres, I mix by notes and try to mix not mix songs 4 BPMs slower or 4 BPMs faster than the current song. Oh yea, despite the popularity of not playing the whole song, a growing number of people don’t like that. Keep that mind when you mix.

Also check out this article on another blog about mixing. Hip-hop is mentioned later on.

bigmixxx, post: 4015 wrote: GET THE GIRLS DANCING! The will bring everyone to the floor. If you are doing that hard rap (Jeezy, Rick Ross, etc). Most of the time it won’t get them to the floor. Talk ’em out….some old slide music to get them going….Just as long as you have the girls on the floor, the dudes will follow and the floor will stay packed…

However, PLEASE know your audience….they will tell you what they like….

I usually save the hard rap songs toward peak times , which I also mix it up.I go between lady friendly songs, and hard rap.But you will be surprise that where i play at, the ladies would request gucci mane or waka flocka.