Hip-Hop Drumming: The Rhyme May Define, but the Groove Makes You Move

Author(s): Jeff Greenwald

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 259-271
Published by: Center for Black Music Research - Columbia College Chicago and University of Illinois Press
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 HIP-HOP DRUMMING:
THE RHYMEMAY DEFINE, BUT THE
GROOVEMAKES YOU MOVE

JEFFGREENWALD

In this article, I investigate the use, creation,and manipulation of the

drums in hip-hop. In most works on black popular music, whether refer-
ring to rock,jazz, blues, rap, or other genres, little attentionis paid to the
drummer beyond providing an overview.' I hope that this article can
begin a dialogue about drumming to compare with that surrounding
pianists, vocalists, guitarists, and other instrumentalists. I am not
attempting here to uncover the social, diasporic, or cultural significance
of the hip-hop genre;that has been and is being done by scholars whose
interest and expertise lie in these areas (Gilroy 1991;Lipsitz 1994;Rose
1994); rather,I am concerned with analyzing the use of drums in this
music and how that use exemplifies some of the musical attributesdefin-
ing the hip-hop style in a broad sense. I have chosen musical examples
that not only best illustrate my analysis but that also come from artists
who are important to the hip-hop genre, such as James Brown and A
TribeCalled Quest, whose 1991 album TheLowEnd Theoryis "hailed as
a masterpiece of jazz/hip-hop fusion" (Werde 1999, 44). My goal is to
provide a guideline for deciphering the drums within this music,
whether they come from samples, a drum machine, a live drummer,or a
combination.

1. There are important works that scratch the surface of the importance of the drummer,
including Berliner's Thinking in Jazz (1994) and Monson's Saying Something (1996). My con-
tention is that while these works (and others) offer great insights into the world of drum-
ming, they do not explore the role of the drummer to the same depths afforded to other
instrumentalists.

JEFFGREENWALD is a professional studio drummer and an adjunct faculty member in the

Fine Arts Department of College Misericordia in Dallas, Pennsylvania.

259
260 BMRJournal

The typical description of hip-hop states that the development of this

genre was influenced by four distinct elements: (1) break dancing, (2)
graffitiart, (3) emcees or rappers,and (4) DJs.Although each of these fac-
tors serves as a culturalmarker,the lyrics stand out to many scholarsand
fans as thedefining characteristic.BothRobinD. G. Kelley (1996,186-194)
and TriciaRose (1994,99-124) give evidence to show how lyrics are used
to createreal and imagined identities.2Greg Dimitriadis(1996,180)states
that "[t]heconstantsearchfor meaning throughrap's vocal content alone
has led to much cross-culturalmisunderstanding."Furthermore,if what
Ingrid Monson (1999,52) tells us is true-that "[h]owevergood various
types of grooves may make us feel,. . . they cannot be presumed to be
innocent of power"-then we must examinehow these grooves are estab-
lished. Therefore, I will not argue the position of whether the lyrics
should carry so much weight; rather,I will discuss the music that sup-
ports the lyrics, particularlythe groove, as establishedby the drums. It is
essential to examine not only how certain beats are manipulated but
where they originated.Olly Wilson's"TheHeterogeneousSound Ideal in
African-AmericanMusic"(1992)serves as a point of departureto address
this issue.
Wilson suggests that to define what constitutes black music, we need
to devise means through which to uncover meaning in black music, a
task that he notes, is "made difficult by the fact that the music of black
Americansexists within a larger,multiculturalsocial context, like that of
all ethnic groups within the United States"(327).He develops a concept
called the "heterogeneoussound ideal," which he defines as the "coreof
underlying conceptions that define African and African-American
music,"noting that "thereexists a common approachto music making in
which a kaleidoscopic range of dramatically contrasting qualities of
sound (timbre)is sought after in both vocal and instrumentalmusic. The
desirable musical sound texture is one that contains a combination of
diverse timbres"(329). Wilson presents two ways in which this ideal is
practicedthat can in turn be related to hip-hop drumming.
Wilson's first point is that the heterogeneous sound ideal is "reflected
in the nature of the 'sound' texture of musical ensembles, [meaning]the
relationship of the resultant qualities of sound produced when several
instrumentsperform simultaneously"(329).The basic drum set consists
of threeelements-a bell (hi-hator ride cymbal),a high drum (snare),and
a low drum (bass drum or kick drum)-each of which is generally dis-

2. Neither Rose nor Kelley explicitly states that the lyrics are the defining characteristics
of hip-hop, but they do spend a fair amount of time discussing the role of lyrical presenta-
tion and reception.
Greenwald * Hip-Hop Drumming 261

cerniblefrom the others.3Besidesbeing audibly differentfrom one anoth-

er, each element serves both a singular and group function;that is, while
each instrument is played independently, it is also contributing to the
overall feel. This is not unlike the notion of coordinatedindependence in
jazz drumming, which states that each limb should work independently
to createa singular pattern.4Keil's (1995)notion of participatorydiscrep-
ancies can help us understandhow the various instrumentsof the drum
set interact within their own set of participatorydiscrepanciesbeyond
those that exist between the drummerand other members of the rhythm
section.5Thatis, it is equally importantto understandhow the ride cym-
bal interactswith what the drummeris playing with the other threelimbs
as it is to understandhow it is interactingwith the bass, piano, and so on.
The bass drum is importantto the beat because it signifies movement
on the dance floor,largely through matching the rhythm and sonic force
of the bass.6The bass drum in hip-hop usually does not mark the pulse,
falling in a syncopated ostinato pattern. This is much like the concept
within jazz drummingof droppingbombs, the placementof sporadichits
on the bass drum for the purpose of driving both the music and soloists
(see Greenwald1996).In hip-hop, the snaredrum often emphasizes beats
two and four,while the use of marginaland prominentghost notes adds
depth to the groove. The significanceof the bass drum and its sonic prop-
erties and snare drum ghost notes will be discussed later.
One of the most-sampled beats used in hip-hop music comes from
James Brown's "Funky Drummer" (1970), with Clyde Stubblefield on
drums.7 This recording demonstrates several aspects of the heteroge-

3. Kick drum is a term that I have never liked, but it is used for logistical reasons (it is
played with the foot) and practical reasons (a producer requesting "more on the bass drum"
wants to avoid confusion with more on the bass guitar). However, since I am relating hip-
hop drumming to jazz drumming, where the term kickdrum is not used, I use the term bass
drum here.
4. The term coordinatedindependencewas developed by Jim Chapin (1948).
5. A standard drum set is a combination of various percussion instruments from around
the world, including cymbals from Turkey, tom-toms from Africa, and the snare drum from
Europe. Just as a drummer simultaneously hears one groove as four separate parts and four
parts as one groove, drummers approach the drum set as both a singular instrument and an
amalgam of instruments.
6. My implications are that the bass drum and the bass provide the underlying pulse to
which people dance. In this article, I do not address the issue of how the drums relate to
movement, even though this argument is ripe for discussion. The topic of dance within the
realm of popular music is often cited because movement as a conveyer of musical meaning
helps us to understand both the performance and reception of music. For discussions of
music and dance, see Fikentscher (2000) and Aparicio (1998).
7. The James Brown CD In the Jungle Grooveis a collection of recordings from 1969 to 1972
and includes the original version of "Funky Drummer" as well as the remix version titled
"Funky Drummer (Bonus Beat Reprise)." Stewart (2000) discusses "Funky Drummer" as
262 BMRJournal

neous sound ideal. Throughout the recording, Stubblefield's playing

varies a specified pattern composed of fairly unchanging straight six-
teenth notes on the hi-hat, while the bass drum has slight deviations. The
snare drum is the most varied, notably through the use of short press
rolls. Around the five-minute mark,when Browncalls for "everybodyto
lay out and let the drummergo," Stubblefieldplays alone for eight bars,
slightly alteringhis patternfrom measureto measure.In comparison,the
remix version is basically one unchanging phrase looped together (see
Ex. 1).
Within each instrument of the drum set, there are a variety of tones.
Stubblefieldplays straightsixteenths on the hi-hat and changes the tone
by opening the hi-hat on the fourthsixteenthnote of beat two and the sec-
ond sixteenthnote of beat four,as indicatedby the open noteheads in the
example. The snare drum marks beats two and four,but two is the most
prevalent. The prominent use of ghost notes from the end of beat two
through the end of beat four creates a variable sound texturewithin the
snare sound. In addition, the bass drum plays loudly on the two eighth
notes of one and softly on the second half of beats three and four,again
creatinga variablesound texture.
Three key aspects of this pattern help establish the groove. The first
two, which are of nearly equal importance,are the bass drum strokeson
each half of beat one and the snare stroke on beat two. The bass drum
establishes the phrasing of the groove and grounds the pulse by defining
the downbeat, while the accentuationof the first weak beat by the snare
drum sets up the heavily syncopated feel of the rest of the phrase. The on-
the-beatpatternof "boom-boom-cha"grounds the groove while also say-
ing, "Thisis where things loosen up." The third key aspect of the phrase

Example1. JamesBrown, "FunkyDrummer(Bonus Beat Reprise),"Clyde

drums,recorded1970 (Polydor829 624-2)
Stubblefield,

Hi-hat

SnareDrum 4 >
41•7-.. - . . .. . .. . . . . . JJ .. . . ..5
.. . . . . 1J
. .. . .
Bas Drum ! 7 7

evidence of a stylistic development borne out of New Orleans "second-line" drumming.

Whereas Stewart uses "Funky Drummer" as an end point of a musical evolution (funk), I
am employing "Funky Drummer" as a departure point for the evolution of hip-hop. Any
inconsistencies between his transcription and mine are my responsibility.
Greenwald * Hip-Hop Drumming 263

is the second sixteenth of beat four, which has both a bass drum stroke
and an open hi-hat serving as a breath mark. Whereas the first two ele-
ments give a jumping-off point for the syncopation of the groove, the
weight of the third signifies the returnto the grounded firstbeat.
Wilson's second point is that "theheterogeneoussound ideal is reflect-
ed in the common usage of a wide range of timbreswithin a single line.
... Within that tradition,the single-line instrumentalsoloist is expected
to explore a wide range of timbral variations, so much so that some
observershave spoken of the traditionof making the instrumentsimulate
vocal technique, or 'talk' or 'speak"' (Wilson 1992, 329). Regarding the
variablesound texturewithin the snaresound, ghost notes (whetherthey
are marginal or prominent) vary in tone color. A marginal ghost note,
achieved by letting the stick come to rest on the drum head after an
attack, tends to be faint and dull, whereas a prominent ghost note,
achieved through a definite stroke, tends to be clearer and brighter.8
Furthermore,there are gradations within these categories that allow for
what Wilson calls a "wide range of timbralvariations."
It is common in hip-hop to expand the timbralvariety especially along
the bell-type sonority, in effect replacing the cymbal sonically but not
functionally. These "replacement sonorities" refer to the many idio-
phones (sleigh bells, chimes, triangles,cymbals, tambourines,handclaps,
as well as scratching)that are available to most percussionists and pro-
ducers in the form of actual instruments or through a drum machine.9
Note that many of these "toys,"as percussionistsreferto them, have been
part of the jazz drummer's arsenal for decades. Sonny Greer,drummer
for Duke Ellington,surroundedhimself with a wide arrayof percussion
instruments ranging from orchestralpercussion (chimes or timpani) to
folk percussion (washboardand woodblocks).10
Two examples can serve to illustratethis use of timbralvariety.First,in
"TheDip,"by Goodie Mob, a triangleand shakerare used instead of a hi-
hat to establish the groove (see Ex. 2). This example has several distin-
guishing aspects. First,while the triangleand shakerplay a one-measure
ostinato, the bass drum and snare drum play a two-measure ostinato.
This is significant because it alters the phrasing to allow the listener to
hear the groove as either a one- or two-measure phrase, and it also cre-

8. Ghost notes can be replicated on a drum machine, (re)producing the effect of a stick
hitting the drum head with varying degrees of force and precision.
9. Scratching is a process in which a vinyl record is moved back and forth by hand while
the tonearm is on the record, producing a scratching effect that is understood both for its
musical characteristics and for the reference to the recording scratched.
10. I use folk percussioncautiously because it is a dangerously loaded term. I am referring
here to common items that have become employed as percussion instruments, notably the
cowbell, woodblock, and sleigh bell, to name a few.
264 BMRJournal

Example2. GoodieMob,"TheDip" (LaFace/Arista

73008-26064-2)

Triangle.... .
Shaker
4
Snare
Drumr

Bass
Drum f
ates a variety of polyrhythms that are reflected in the vocal rhythms.
Another important element is that the timbral qualities of the triangle,
shaker,and snare drum are distinguishablefrom each other as individual
voicings, while at the same time blending into a dense soundscape.
Second, "Humble Mumble," by Outkast, features an eight-measure
"break-down"section that uses a driving ride cymbal and scratchingto
keep the pulse as well as to add timbralvariety (see Ex.3). The ride cym-
bal, snare drum, and bass drum are constant, while the scratchingfea-
tures a differentrhythm with a slightly altered pitch in every other mea-
sure, beginning with the second. It is difficult to assign a specific pitch to
each note of the scratch,but there does seem to be a discerniblehigh and
low, which is representedin the transcription.The rhythm of the scratch
as a whole is unsyncopated, yet if one looks at the pitch change within
the scratch,a syncopated pattern emerges. This syncopated pattern can
be seen both within the scratch and against the groove pattern estab-
lished by the ride cymbal, bass drum, and snaredrum.
Like snare drum ghost notes, the tones of the ride cymbal and of the
scratchingare varied within themselves. A ride cymbal has two distinct
tones-the bell and the body. Within these tones, there are gradations,
depending on where and how the stick hits the cymbal. For instance,
using the tip of the stick on the bell createsa shorter,more piercingsound
than using the shaft of the stick on the bell, whereas using the shaft of the
stick near the perimeter of the cymbal will produce a more sustained
sound than hitting the midsection of the cymbal. Scratchingparallels
cymbal playing; just as where the cymbal is struck and the part of the
stick used affect the sound, what portion of the trackis scratchedand the
rhythm of that scratchaffect the sound.
With the basic understanding developed thus far of how the drums
function in hip-hop, it becomes imperative to investigate other avenues
that relate to hip-hop drumming:(1) the role of technology and its effects
on hip-hop drumming; (2) the repetitiveness of the beat and its correla-
tion to other African diasporic musics; and (3) the relationship of the
rhythm of the vocals to the rhythm of the bass drum.
Greenwald * Hip-Hop Drumming 265

Example3. Outkast,"HumbleMumble,"Earthtone
III,producer(LaFace/Arista
73008-26072-2)

Cymbal4
Ride

Scratch

Drum
Snare _w/

Bass Drum

• } f,, -
},
, }, .• , f.,fk,

~ IJ JI I7 J I
41 ww w w ww_ ww_

_- .
,

The most important element to come out of the technological develop-

ments in the hip-hop genre is the prominent use of the drum machine.
Second to the drum machine is the use of digital sampling and audio sys-
tems. Paul Theberge (1999, 218-219) describes digital sampling as fol-
lows: "[Sampling] refers to the use of prerecorded sound and music ...
in the creation of rhythm tracks for use in hip-hop and rap, in dance
remixes, and in so-called 'mastermixes,' with the origins of the sounds
being more or less recognizable depending on the intentions of the artists
and the knowledge base of their audience." Digital sampling, when used
as a form of musical (de)construction, dissolves the distinction between
musician and listener as one's musical memory catalog recalls sampled
pieces, thus bringing additional meaning and (re)construction to the
music. Not unlike the advertising world, which inverts images and
sounds into unified target audience categories, through this postmodern
assemblage, technology acts as a bridge between varied demographics.
As George Lipsitz (1994, 37) states: "Digital sampling in rap music turns
266 BMRJournal

consumers into producers, tapping consumer memories of parts of old

songs and redeploying them in the present, . . . [calling] into question
Western notions of cultural production as property through its evocation,
quotation, and outright theft of socially shared musical memories."
Tricia Rose (1994, 78) asserts that "[r]ap's heavy use of sampled live
soul and funk drummers adds a desired textual dimension uncommon in
other genres and that programmed drum machines cannot duplicate."
Indeed, sampling has been used to recapture established drum beats, in
which case the sampler may be considered a drum machine. There are
two reasons I place greater significance on the drum machine (or sampler
as drum machine) over sampling technology as a whole. First, the drum
machine allows for minute alterations of a groove. Take, for example, the
beat for "Funky Drummer" (Ex. 1). Perhaps a producer wants to move
the emphasis of the second sixteenth of beat four ahead to its third six-
teenth. The reprogrammed beat changes the feel to create a new groove.
Second, the drum machine eliminates the necessity for the services of a
live drummer yet does not allow for the elimination of drum (i.e., rhyth-
mic) sense.
Because many producers understand that subtle changes in the beat
can alter a groove or a song, they develop a sense of how to push and pull
the feel, which has a twofold effect. (1) The effect of subtle changes
answers the naysayers who claim that hip-hop is the same thing over and
over again. Through minutely significant (e.g., the change in sonority
from hi-hat to triangle) and significantly minute (e.g., altering the place-
ment of ghost notes) changes throughout a chorus, song or album, the
same thing is not happening over and over again." (2) It addresses the
issue of innovation. Hip-hop has been compared with bebop even by
beboppers themselves, most notably by drummer Max Roach. Roach
states that "[t]he thing that frightened people about hip hop was that they
heard rhythm-rhythm for rhythm's sake. Hip hop lives in the world of
sound-not the world of music-and that's why it's so revolutionary"
(quoted in Lipsitz 1994, 38). And although the technological innovations
are undeniable, the musical innovations appear to be more like musical
renovations. As Keyes (1996, 224) puts it, "[h]ip hop represents ... cul-
tural reversioning-the foregrounding (both consciously and uncon-
sciously) of African-centered concepts in response to cultural takeover,
ruptures, and appropriations." Said another way, the technical innova-
tions lead to a (re)interpretation of the rhythmic elements and freedoms
from bebop onto hip-hop.
One of the more prominent drum machines used in hip-hop is the
11. The recordings discussed in this article, notably A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End
Theoryand Outkast's Stankonia,exhibit these types of changes.
Greenwald * Hip-Hop Drumming 267

Roland TR808 "because of its 'fat sonic boom,' because of the way it
processes bass frequencies" (Rose 1994, 75). The TR808, a fairly large
machine (twenty-two inches by twelve inches by four inches), is relative-
ly easy to use.
At its simplest level is step-timeprogramming,which is a piece of cake.You
just select a drum sound with the rotary selector and start pressing the
coloured step buttons while the patternis running,then move onto the next
sound, building up your rhythm pattern, any mistakes are canceled by
pressing the button a second time.... Real-timeprogrammingis just as easy.
... It's possible to programmea total of 64 differentrhythmpatternsinto the
808. (Carter2000, 1)

The facility with which a producer or artist can use a drum machine
provides a plethora of sounds that can be combined to create a desired
sonority. Just as rappers can change their vocal styles to convey different
meanings, and just as a rock guitarist can use different electronic effects
to convey different meanings, the multiplicity of sounds that can be used
or sampled with a drum machine conveys many different meanings. For
example, sampling a drum sound that reminds an artist of being "back in
the day" to emulate nostalgia would be as appropriate as sampling a gun
shot for a snare sound to emulate urban decay. Referentialists, according
to Leonard Meyer (1956, 1) "contend that ... [music] communicates
meanings which in some way refer to the extramusical world of concepts,
actions, emotional states, and character." Drum sounds can be seen to
garner the power of suggestion through reference.
As already stated, repetition is important in establishing the groove
within hip-hop. James Snead (1984) notes that repetition is a crucial ele-
ment in black music. He discusses repetition through the introduction of
the "cut," which is the ability of performers to leave the music and pick
up where they left off-a reference point: "The 'cut' overtly insists on the
repetitive nature of the music. ... The ensuing rupture does not cause dis-
solution of the rhythm; quite to the contrary, it strengthens it, given that
it is already incorporated into the format of that rhythm" (69). This means
that familiarity is the base of a musical pyramid as a "cut" brings a
change or alteration of the musical elements, not its essentials. Repetition
serves as a qualifying element, not a determining element; repetition
enables musical progress, but the results of that progress are independent
of the repetition itself. Scratching, then, is a form of a "cut" because it
injects itself on top of the beat, like a drum fill, as a rhythmic diversion
only to resolve or cut back to the beat in order to keep the feel going.12
12. This analysis of the "cut" is my own; however, it should be noted that Rose (1994,
61-72) has a similar interpretation of Snead.
268 BMR Journal

Ingrid Monson (1999, 46) discusses three aspects of repetition in

African diasporic musics that can relate to hip-hop drumming. Her first
aspect, "how repeating patterns such as riffs are layered and combined,"
is evident in the layering of various timbres used to create the drum pat-
tern. Whether it is through the use of the Roland TR808 or through a stan-
dard drum set, the various timbres are often heard separately but listened
to as a whole. Second, "how repetition supports improvisational call and
response exchanges" can be heard through the scratching "cut" as well as
through a vocally stylized "cut." Monson's third aspect of repetition,
"how both shared and individualized patterns define overlapping stylis-
tic areas," is evident through the analysis of the drum parts as both sep-
arate and unified entities.
In addition to the roles of technology and repetition, there is the issue
of the bass drum rhythm in relation to the vocal rhythm. The bass guitar
and the bass drum logically are often coordinated, which helps to per-
petuate the desired "boominess" of the music, such as in the creation of
Jeep beats designed to be blared from car speakers. However, this is less
of an issue here than the rhythmic vocal patterns and how they interlock
with the bass drum. As Keyes (1996, 232) argues, "What performers
define as melodic qualities in rap, scholars refer to as tonal semantics....
Meaning is achieved, therefore, by accenting certain words or syllables in
a rhythmic manner, thereby creating fluidity within the text." There are
two fundamental elements within this relationship. First, there is the
prominence of an accentuation of the downbeat followed by a syncopat-
ed phrase. As mentioned in the discussion of "Funky Drummer," the
emphasis of the downbeat grounds the groove while setting up the play-
fulness of the rest of the phrase, as well as serving as a return from the
"cut." For this reason, both the bass drum and vocals emphasize the
downbeat while varying the remainder of the phrase.
Second, and this builds on the previous point, there is frequent use of
the "Funky Drummer" beginning to establish phrasing in hip-hop tracks.
This is clear throughout A Tribe Called Quest's album The Low End
Theory.13 On every track, the vocals and the bass drum emphasize the
downbeat, and except for tracks five, six, and eleven (out of fourteen), the
bass drum and vocals accent the "Funky Drummer" pattern of eighth-
note/eighth-note/quarter-note (boom-boom-cha) to begin each phrase.
The significance is not only in the coordination of the first two beats but
also in the variation of the remaining beats. The vocal rhythm on top of
the bass drum rhythm creates an interlocking pattern that gives move-

13. This pattern can be heard in many different recordings. Listening to hip-hop on the
radio in search of the "Funky Drummer" beginning will reveal the prominence of this pattern.
Greenwald * Hip-Hop Drumming 269

ment or groove to the phrasing. Take, for example, track ten titled
"Everything Is Fair."
In Example 4, a nonvocal example from "Everything Is Fair," it is clear
that the "Funky Drummer" pattern begins each phrase, followed by a
syncopated pattern that ends on beat four, thus allowing for a slight
pause before the return to the strong emphasis of the downbeat. Example
5, a vocal example, shows the phrasing of the first four bars of the first
verse. Throughout the song, the vocal rhythms change, except for the ini-
tial emphasis.
Example 5 illustrates that the rhythmic delivery of the lyrics in coordi-
nation with the drums is as important in defining hip-hop as the lyrics

Example4. A TribeCalledQuest,"EverythingIs Fair,"SkeffAnselm,producer,

andA TribeCalledQuest,co-producer,
first verse(Jive1418-2J)

Hi-hat

Snare Drum

BassDrum 4
,l

Example5. A TribeCalledQuest,"EverythingIs Fair,"SkeffAnselm,producer,

andA TribeCalledQuest,co-producer,
first verse(Jive1418-2J)

Voice 4 . .-. i.
Look at Miss E-laine. runs the fast lane. Bare-I) knows her name. struck by fame. She

Hi-hat 4
J7 " 7
"7
Snare
Drumt - ..
4 7
Drum
Bas•
•.s -

just got a Benz. she rides with her friends. Got- ta keep- a beep-er in her purse to make ends.

,7, 7 iTK J7 ,7 77 T7IT

-77:--
270 BMRJournal

themselves. The drums provide the rhythmiccanvas that allows rappers

to portraytheir landscapes in unlimited ways.

Drums in popular music, even in jazz, are often overlooked. While

scholarsmay acknowledge the importanceof the drums, many stop their
analysis here. The drums in hip-hop serve an important role; they not
only establish the groove and emphasize vocal style, but they also act as
a cultural signifier.The incorporationof various drumming sounds and
styles (including scratching)into hip-hop adds breadthand variety to the
music beyond the lyricalcontent.The drums in hip-hop define the music
as much as any other element, musical or extramusical.As we further
understand the significanceof drums in hip-hop, we begin to see deeper
layers of complex musical production and sophistication.We should be
digging in the crates,listening for those backbeats,those grooves, that tal-
ented hip-hop musicians find and use referentiallyand creatively.It is
quite clearthat they acknowlege the importanceof the drums, so why are
we not listening?

Special thanks to Ellie Hisama and Robin D. G. Kelley for their insight and input in the
development of this article.

DISCOGRAPHY

Brown, James. In the jungle groove. Polydor 829 624-2 (1986).

Goodie Mob. Worldparty. LaFace/Arista 73008-26064-2 (1999).
Outkast. Stankonia.LaFace/Arista 73008-26072-2 (2000).
A Tribe Called Quest. The low end theory.Jive 1418-2-J (1991).

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Berliner, Paul. 1994. Thinking in jazz. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Carter, Chris. 2000. Roland TR808 rhythm composer. http://www.chrisandcosey.co.uk/
sitefiles/sospages/roland_tr808.htm, accessed on December 9, 2000.
Chapin, Jim. 1948. Advanced techniquesfor the moderndrummer.New York: J. Chapin.
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