Elektronauts Hiphop Beat Battle #7 - Voting and Feedback

[Sleepyhead]

Happy New Year guys!

I think it’s amazing how many people managed to cook up something in between all the Christmas/NY celebrations/preparations/obligations/Covid issues. I hope those of you who got infected with covid recover soon! I’m honoured so many of you still took the time to create something.

Compared to earlier battles there was less immediate feedback going on than usual in the other thread. Apologies for not being more active myself, I sadly had very little time to listen to all submissions last week, and I guess most of you had this problem. My plan is to make up for this in the new year and give each of your beats the attention they deserve during this coming week. I hope everyone does the same thing, and although it’s not part of the rules, I’d love for you guys to not just vote, but give everyone some feedback if possible!

That being said, the voting rules are the same as the last few battles:

• You need to have submitted a beat to vote.
• You 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.
• 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.

**Votes are open until coming Friday (the 7th)

The beats in order of submission:

@Synu:

@ver.432_s.y.n.u

@onlyjust:

@TheGhostCat:

EHBB#7 by TheGhostCat

@Doug:

Merry Christmas / Festive Hip-Hop on the Elektron Digitakt

@NeonMelk:

@Yabba:

Digibatt 7 FROSTY

@Claid:

Sleepyhead:

@PineappleDave:

@rockpapergoat:

@Maisin:

looms:

Chef_capes:

[Sleepyhead]

@looms and @Chef_capes I couldn’t tag you because of the post limit, so here you go!

[looms]

Wicked work everyone. Having a proper listen to all of them this evening. Gonna be very, very hard to choose as is standard with these battles as imo everyone has brought some unique heat!

[Synu]

My main factors that determine nice track.

1. impulsive head nod - the vibe of drums the feeling of them.

First place @PineappleDave

2. mood of track - general impresion of sound and how samples flow.

2nd @TheGhostCat

3. Sound and mix quality - that golden recipe between wise lofi and pleasure of warm sound.

3rd @Sleepyhead and @looms

Peace everyone !

[Sleepyhead]

Just gave everything one last spin on my studio monitors. Love the style of the beats this round. Christmas seems to have brought out everyones MF Doom/Madlib for some reason. There’s some great vocal sampling and weird oldschool sounds going on!

I’m sounding like a broken record but this one was the hardest one to judge so far by a long shot. There are no weak links, and 7 tracks were on my shortlist for being first place haha. The tracks were closer in terms of overall style than most earlier battles, so I mainly judged these on overall vibe, mix, and skills shown.

Winner:

@Synu:
Love the energetic buildup of this track, and all the little details you put in there. I really admire the effortless skill you’re showing here. There’s great overall energy because of the drums and chopped sample with air in between the chops. I like the high end rawness and the bounce of the drums. The piece after the switch is my favourite actually.

Runners up:
@Yabba:
During these battles I’ve grown to love your very recognisable sound. This one is another banger. The bassline is very bouncy, and the sample chopping gives it a constant urgency without losing its bounce.
@looms
You also have a recognisable sound over these last couple of battles with the raw sidechain compression and hard knocking drums. All the parts of this medley have this same sound, I love it, and it matches the weird lofi sound of these samples very well. The first part sounds very punchy and in your face. I love the bassline. The drums on the second part are amazing, and the third part has kind of a modern wu-tang vibe.

Notes on the others:

• onlyjust: Love this. The drumloop gives this a hypnotic off-beat vibe combined with the detuned samples which creates kind of a trippy experience. The melody which comes in at 1.50 is very dope and could’ve had a more prominent place IMO.
• TheGhostCat: This track feels like an epic soundtrack to a distopian movie… The overall sound is very dirty but then I love the energy of the drums when they come in! You were close to the top3.
• Doug: I’ve come to expect nothing less than great tracks from you, and this one delivers as well (and was again very close to the top3). I like the boomyness of the snare, and the filtering (?) going on with the samples, this gives the track a very unique and full sound.
• Neonmelk: Immediate rawness. Love the variation in the drums and the crazy sample chopping.
• Claid: This reminded me of the madlib beatkonducta series with the cinematic, yet bouncy sample chopping and dusty drums. Great track, could easily be on a rappers album.
• PineappleDave: I had the sample piece of sample chopped up on my sp404! (but chose another part in the end) Love how you used it. The drums are very good. You got the mpc sounding dope!
• Rockpapergoat: I love your more raw sounding tracks best and this is one of em! The drums knock hard and the little piano melody sounds nice and lofi. The way the bounce comes together at 0.21 is awesome.
• Maisin: You’re one of the few people who got their beats to sound beautiful and lovely instead of menacing and crazy. I like the overall bounce and the kind of soft drum sounds as well.
• Chef_Capes: Had to turn this up after Looms’ loudness attack haha. This is the most madlib sounding loop I’ve probably heard from someone who’s not actually madlib, sounds great! Dope sound, and very fitting with the overall vibe.

[NeonMelk]

The Hip-Hop Nauts joigning these Battles are keeping it real…as the cool people say.
( or is it already obsolete…?)

1st : @looms
Yeah…i was just missing Quasimoto’s voice so badly ! So this was an easy win :
The textures/grain/grittiness, the medley/mixtape/mini-album factor, the infamous syncopated beats.
The whole packge perfectly executed…

2nd : @Doug
Top notch quality…but the opposite would be an anomaly.
Your productions are spot on and I like the “snow in july/Xmas by the pool” holiday mood of the track. Good vibes.

3rd : @sleepyhead
Perfect saturday morning vibe, perfect breakfast, no clouds scheduled.
And yeah, you talked about the overused fx but hey, it’s a Xmas tune and toys are made to be played with !

Extra mentions :

@theghostcat : Love the " what did you put in my cereals ? everything is weird" mood that goes with the track and the video.

@claid : So…it’s not the kind of Hip-hop i like, but you did it flawlessly, so congrats for the legit production factor.

@Rockpapergoat : Gritty and chaotic, what’s not to like ?

@maisin : real nice groove and tones with a vintage vibe that could fit in a weird spy tv show. (…why not ?)

[Kpucski]

Thanks for all the holiday cheer! I really wanted to jump on this battle but time was not on my side. Great beats all around.

@Claid your track is really slick.

[TheGhostCat]

Damn fine job everyone. Y’all certainly didn’t make this easy to judge (y’all never do).
After an initial play-through of each beat, I had four names written down.
After circling through the list of submissions a few more times, a fifth name was added.
I gave it a day, listened through each beat again… and…… added a sixth name?
Dang.
Seeing where this was headed, i hunkered down for one last listen-through and narrowed my focus to the single most important question that a person can ask themselves when dealing with a hiphop beat… “how badly do I want to rap on this ???” It was with this criterion, both infinitely specific and infinitely vague, that my final list took form.

1st: @rockpapergoat
Runners: @Yabba @Sleepyhead
Honorable mention: literally everyone else. There wasn’t a single beat here that I didn’t rock with… and there isn’t a single beat here that doesn’t deserve a top spot when scrutinized under a different lens. Props.
It’s been an absolute honor.

[Claid]

I had a great time listening to these while writing my thoughts. There can be only one… And runners!

1st: @looms
Runners: @Synu @Doug

I’ve loved this challenge, gave me something to think about while working my ass off over Christmas. Love this forum, thank you for being so awesome. Hope everyone had great Christmas times.

[looms]

Same as SleepyHead, I’ve found this really hard to pick as usual and had a looooong shortlist too. I hope people appreciate my notes Thanks to anyone that’s voted for me too, it’s a nice feeling that people out there enjoy my attempts, haha. Also really cool listening to what people come up with from the sample I quickly chose!

Synu - Really like the use of the samples. Flute stuff is dope and especially dig the change up near the end. Sonically on point too.

Onlyjust - Woozy goodness. Pretty different and that’s in a good way. Like the way the piano sample hits on the off beats.

TheGhostCat - Dig the dark vibe. Really well put together & the vocals fit the mood perfectly. Def a contender for me. That video is nuts!

Doug - Love the chops and filtering. This is an earworm. Its been in my head. Big up. Great sounding mix too. Sleigh bells for the win.

NeonMelk - Enjoy the cut and paste/breaks vibes of this. Really creative. Drums are dope. Please give me tips on Addictive Drums, haha.

Yabba - Super well put together… like a proper ‘song’. Dope bass. Great sounding mix too. Sounds like Yabba as Sleepy said!

Claid - Funky and a really different vibe to most the others. Sounds sonically great. Got my head nodding. Dig the bass line. Another top contender!

Sleepyhead - Slapping drums! Another great bass line. Lovely vibe on this

PineappleDave - Especially dig the drums. Neck snapper. The ghostly reverb-y noises are dope too.

Rockpapergoat - Really like this one. Another earworm! Top work. As others have said, strong DOOM vibes. Would love to hear him on it

Maisin - Very chilled and hypnotising. Dooope live bass (I think?!)

Chef Capes - This actually works as a lovely outro to all the beats! That loop though… Special props for putting it together with covid.

1st: @Doug
Runners up: @NeonMelk & @rockpapergoat

[Sleepyhead]

Whatsup guys! Today is the last day of voting/feedback:

@onlyjust
@Doug
@Yabba
@PineappleDave
@rockpapergoat
@Maisin
@Chef_capes

Hope you guys manage to get your votes in!

[Yabba]

My bad for the delay, mad busy first week back at work.
I’ll give them all a listen when I finish today and vote before the day’s out, uk time

[Maisin]

Folks found some great vocal clips to use in this challenge. There seemed to be a lot of microchopping in the entries this time around too. All-in-all really enjoyed listening to all the entries and a big shout out to @Sleepyhead for organizing this and getting things going again.

Winner: @Claid real nice groove, kind of nu-soul vibe with the pianos

Runners up: @looms (2nd part of the medley in particular ) and @NeonMelk (kind of like a mellow Prefuse 73 track)

Here are the rough notes I made while listening, I won’t @ everyone:

Synu – piano chops carry the whole beat really well and worked with the reverby flutes

Onlyjust – sparse and melancholic, I liked the horns fading in and out with the touch of piano

Ghostcat – pitching the sample down gave the beat an ominous feel, wanted to hear more

Doug – Drums are tight as usual, enjoyed the subtle filter changes over the chops

Yabba – very laid back, bass held everything together

Sleepyhead – the intro vocal clip of turning on the radio was cool, great entry as usual but with a new machine this time!

PineappleDave – real moody and bare vibe to this beat, lots of room for some bars on this

RockPaperGoat – excellent vocal chop and you weaved it in with the beat so it worked great

Chef_cape – you found a good loop to work with. Well done on getting a beat submitted and looking forward to your entries in the future

[onlyjust]

1st place: @Doug - I just vibe with it. Love the chops and the volume

Runners up: @looms (love the evolution of the beat, excellent arrangement) and @Maisin (the melody gives me winter level vibes from some SNES rpgs, haha can’t explain but so good)

[Doug]

1 @rockpapergoat - I really liked the way you chopped that. It was just good.
2 @looms - Super dope. I also liked that you managed to get something out of the other part of that record that I played around with.
3. @Yabba - Just a classy beat. I really liked it.

Honorable mention: Claid for the kind of bugged out fancy early 90s kind of thing you had going. I really liked your flip.

[Chef_capes]

Yeah this is really hard. Haha. Echoing some previous posts saying how any number of them could easily have had the top slot. Incredibly impressed with everyone, to be honest, and any judgment definitely coming from a music fan, rather than someone who could make anything better myself (!). But the final gut judgment, with notes mainly pulled direct from my phone notes, goes:

1st - @looms - just felt right. Atmospheric and dirty. Total head nod. This sound could sit on any number of my favourite hiphop LPs.

Runners up

@Doug - Great use of sleigh bells. Total head-nodder. I like the filtering and the chopping. Vocals coming in. Layers. Sounded like Christmas, in a slow swung hiphop way.

@Synu - Very polished and beautifully produced. Felt like it had no weak element. And evolved and developed nicely too. Liked the breakdown.

Notes on the others

NeonMelk - Head nodder. Felt good every time it came on the playlist. Use of the drums. Proper arrangement. All sorts of elements tumbling in and out. Little piano touches. Hint of Shadow’s Number Song.
Maisin - really like the chop selection and their atmospheric sound. Inspiring to hear you pick up your bass on this.
onlyjust - The vocal sample of David Frost was ace. Hit the depressed Christmas tone perfectly - pretty much summed mine up this year, for sure. Use of the sleigh bells nice. Nice transitions. A great comment on Christmas.
Sleepyhead - Loved the groove and how the drums sounded with the samples. Could listen to it for ages.
PineappleDave - Another total head nodder. Really nice effects, transitions and, new word, fuckaroundery.
Claid A really nicely put together composition. Struck by how it feels moving further from source material - I can hear it in there, but it’s totally its own thing, which was cool.
ghostcat - Lovely murky hiphop sound, with another nice twisted comment on Christmas.
yabba - Crisp drums and the sound was just full and nice. Well put together. Using the source material as a jump for something completely unique.
rockpapergoat - love the spoken word, and the general sense of Christmas chaos. Built to something extremely nice and crunchy.

[Chef_capes]

Sorry, posted that as a reply to a previous post by mistake.

[Yabba]

In order of submission…

Synu.
Love the classic feel to this, it’s like some Showbiz & AG style beat.

Onlyjust
Nice and laid back with enough variation of drop-ins to keep it interesting

TheGhostCat
I don’t rap but if I did I would probably choose a beat like this, I like the way it keeps the tension, really nice.

Doug
Now this is a proper headnodder.
Kind of beat to put a smile on your face.
It’s a Christmas beat but it also sounds warm like summer

NeonMelk
Interesting beat, love the drumwork and pattern, an enjoyable listen.

Claid
Another Mc’s dream of a beat, love that piano sample and how it’s flipped, something I would happily put on a playlist

Sleepyhead
O damn, sounds like something off of Dooms special herbs, I would play this kind of beat regularly

PineappleDave
Sounds very recognisable to me because you used the same part as me.
I prefer yours though, it has more restraint and a lot of skill.
very nice work.

Rockpapergoat
This beat was still playing in my head when it was finished, really catchy sounding and very quirky. Nice!

Maisin
nice intro and set up to the main beat, really like how it’s flipped from then on.

Looms
This is like ‘speak your clout’ selection of beats, really entertaining to listen to and skilfully done, every changeup kept it interesting.

Chef_capes
Very trippy, on some madlib type ish.
I like this sort of thing as I personally find it a style tricky to make.
Good work!

Bit of criticism for myself, I should probably not be so lazy and give all the samples a listen through thoroughly as I didn’t play the David frost album through at all I skipped through till I found something half decent to layer over Lou Rawls and it sounds like I missed a lot of good stuff so props to everyone.
I also think I spend too much energy trying to get things like a snare drum sounding right, sometimes way more attention than the actual creation of the beat lol

This isn’t easy as I had to flip back and listen again but I’ll say

1 @Doug

2 @Sleepyhead

3 @looms @PineappleDave

Sorry for the joint third but I would have three or four beats as joint third if I could lol.

And thanks for your comments much appreciated

[rockpapergoat]

it’s been played out, but yes — judging these is tough. maybe next time, we skip judging and just appreciate what people make? dunno… maybe that’s not enough motivation.

regardless, you all crushed this challenge. every submission sounds good. all the sample choices ended up pretty unique, which is yet another reason i love these challenges and the community. i almost can’t go back and listen to my own track now because some of these others are so good. inspiring stuff, people…

here are my top 3 and comments. know that you are all number 1 in my heart.

1. @claid: that bounce! i love all the little touches in this one. there’s enough space to appreciate them but also lots of movement with all the piano chops handling the melody.
2. @neonmelk: oof, those drums… this one hits me just right. really dug it throughout. the changes really keep it moving.
3. @looms: a christmas medley! dig the loping beat throughout, the solid bass, the looseness… very good stuff, once again.

synu: classic beat. all the components really work well together. dig the breakdown with dialogue toward the end. very nice stuff.

onlyjust: nice dreamy, hypnotic flow here. i enjoyed the sparse dialog and appreciate how it seems like you used all the sample sources.

theghostcat: woo… that opening is nice. love the spin down into that slower tempo. it’s short and sweet but covers a decent amount of ground, really sets a tone well. nice job!

doug: smooth, smooth, smooth… i love that little piano lick. nice job fitting lou in there, too. i tried something similar and hung my head in shame. great track, once again!

yabba: dang, yo. those pitched and filtered vocals are so hot. i love that you put this together on the DT, too. damn, this one is hot. seriously, i am into those pitched vox here. damn…

sleepyhead: nice, solid, sparse beat here. the flute works really well as the main melodic element. production sounds dusty on this. nice work, as always!

pineappledave: dig that deep bass and the chop selection. that middle part sounds like we stepped into a haunted forest for a bit. solid work yet again, yo.

maisin: dig the wide stereo treatment and crisp drums, the solid bass line, and the orchestral chops. this one feels like a christmas walk after dinner with some stressful relatives. dope.

chef_capes: ha… that dude’s in rough shape. you took this in an entirely different direction with the easy listening vibe, but it totally works. i want to hear more of your stuff.

[PineappleDave]

Man, voting for these gets frickin’ harder every time! Thx to @Sleepyhead for organizing this round, and kudos to everyone who participated for jumpin’ in and cookin’ up some fire.

Numbah One: @looms

We got everything in this beat. Great sample usage, distinct sections that flow smoothly from one to the next, and your trademark sound to cap it all off. My favorite section is the middle part, but I also appreciate the chaos at the end with the long Christmas list and the massive bass rumbling all over everything else.

Runners up:
@Doug

This one honestly seems the most like Christmas thanks to those sleigh bells. I really love the feel of the drums in this one. The sleigh bells and swing on everything hits just right. Overall, short and sweet, straight to the point, and well executed.

@TheGhostCat

Yo this nasty! Crunchy, pitched down samples plus some boomin’ drums. We need some bars on this stat! I also totally dig the dark atmosphere of this one. My only complaint is that it’s too short.

Some honorable mentions would include @rockpapergoat and @Yabba for their consistent, distinct sounds, and @Claid for rockin’ his MPC. (MPC gang )

Cheers everyone!