If you’re looking for a dubstep, techno, or house music playlist, you’re not going to find it here. This is music that goes beyond the mundane repetition of beats thrown on top of beats on top of beats that leave you with only a migraine and significantly fewer brain cells. It’s still similar to the DJ fad, but it has more depth and you can listen to it anytime of day, not just while you’re out whomping and doing what ever it is that is done with that type of music. I’m not entirely criticizing this dubstep revolution, just more that every music has a time and a place and maybe just doing homework and chilling out is not the right place for it. But with this playlist I’m about to lay out for you, these bands truly are beat artists. They create the exact right flow, repetition, and overall sound quality through their songs. Since it’s normally pretty simple, they focus on quality not quantity. This makes it something that can be listened to whenever. And hey, if you feel like it maybe you can even whomp to it…but first someone is probably going to have to explain what that is to me.
1. “Mornin’” by Star Slinger
You’ll fall in love with this song instantly as it starts out simply and slower with samples from the Staple Singers song “Let’s Do it Again.” The Staple Singers were an R&B, soul group that add a little funk to this beat as it picks up quickly towards the end.
2. “The Anthem” by Onra
Using more of a hip-hop sound with his beats, Onra gives this anthem an Asian feel, with samplings from a Vietnamese song.
3. “Intro” by The xx
This wonderful mix of soft beats are the perfect ease into The xx’s album full of chill music, and although the rest of the songs aren’t just beat tracks, the time put into the background beats are entirely apparent.
4. “Massage Situation” by Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus is able to take us from a calm beginning into harder beats that pick up the pace without creating just a mess of sounds.
5. “The Makings” by House Shoes
Taking pieces of the chorus from Curtis Mayfield’s “The Makings of You”, House Shoes adds a simply refined beat to the song with drums, symbols, and other instruments that add up to make the song amazing.
6. “Saffron” by MF Doom
This is the instrumental version of one of their other songs, “Doomsday”, but this peaceful arrangement of beats deserved it’s own recognition with it’s own title and track.
7. “Intro” by Outkast
Who would have thought this hip-hop duo could come up with these sick beats? If you listen to the rest of their music, it’s not that far-fetched, in fact it becomes entirely plausible. It’s the perfect song to introduce their album, The Love Below, with a hip-hop, bassed out beat session.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois chapter.