What BPM is boom bap?
Boom bap is 88-94 BPM, and 91 is a fair single number. The machine above is playing boom bap at 91 BPM - press Space to hear it, then move the tempo and listen for where it stops sounding like boom bap.
Why boom bap lives at 88-94 BPM
Boom bap sits at 88-94 BPM because it was made out of records that were faster. The breaks it sampled - late-60s and 70s funk and soul, played by drummers at 95-110 - were pitched down on an SP-1200 or an MPC to make the drums heavier, and pitching a sample down slows it. A drum loop that lands at 91 BPM with a low, thick kick is the sound of a 100 BPM break played a couple of semitones flat, and the whole genre inherited that tempo from the technique.
The window is narrow and the edges are audible. Below 86 the same pattern starts to read as lo-fi or as a half-time beat; above 96 it turns into sampled-breakbeat hip hop and then into old-school, where the drums are running at the break's real speed. Most of the canonical records - the DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Large Professor productions of 1991-97 - are between 89 and 93. Swing matters as much as tempo: 16-24 here, which is 58-62% on an MPC, is what makes 91 BPM lurch instead of march.
91 BPM in milliseconds
For setting delay times, checking a sample's length, or programming by ear: at 91 BPM one bar of 4/4 is 2,637 ms and a 16th note is 165 ms.
| At 91 BPM | Length | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| One bar (4/4) | 2,637 ms | 0.38 Hz |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 659 ms | 1.52 Hz |
| Dotted 8th | 495 ms | 2.02 Hz |
| 8th note | 330 ms | 3.03 Hz |
| 8th-note triplet | 220 ms | 4.55 Hz |
| 16th note | 165 ms | 6.07 Hz |
| 32nd note | 82 ms | 12.13 Hz |
The genres either side
Tempo windows overlap, and what separates neighbours is usually swing and where the snare falls rather than the number itself. Boom bap with its nearest neighbours by tempo:
| Genre | BPM | Typical | Felt pulse | Swing | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lo-Fi Hip Hop | 70-85 | 78 | as written | 30-40 | Hip hop |
| Hip Hop | 80-100 | 90 | as written | 0-40, by style | Hip hop |
| Boom Bap | 88-94 | 91 | as written | 16-24 | Hip hop |
| Reggaeton | 88-100 | 96 | as written | 0 | Latin |
| Funk | 95-115 | 104 | as written | 10-16 | Funk and soul |
Frequently asked
Is 100 BPM still boom bap?
Just about, if the swing and the ghost notes are there, but it is on the edge. At 100 the pattern is closer to the breakbeat hip hop of 1988-90 than to the 1994 sound most people mean. Pull the tempo slider on this page up to 100 and hear where it stops feeling heavy.
What swing should boom bap have?
16-24 on this machine, which delays only the odd 16ths. That corresponds to 58-62% on an MPC (subtract 50 and double it). Below 12 it sounds programmed; above 30 it is drifting towards the Dilla lurch.
Can I make boom bap at a different tempo?
Yes, and the edges of the window are where the interesting records live. The point of the range is that inside it a listener hears boom bap before they hear anything else; outside it, the same drum pattern reads as a neighbouring style. Drag the tempo on this page to hear the crossover happen.
Go deeper
Every genre's tempo
- What BPM is lo-fi hip hop?70-85 BPM
- What BPM is hip hop?80-100 BPM
- What BPM is reggaeton?88-100 BPM
- What BPM is funk?95-115 BPM
- What BPM is afrobeats?100-115 BPM
- What BPM is amapiano?110-115 BPM
- What BPM is disco?110-125 BPM
- What BPM is afro house?118-126 BPM
- What BPM is house?120-128 BPM
- What BPM is UK garage?130-135 BPM
- What BPM is techno?128-140 BPM
- What BPM is the Amen break?136-137 BPM
- What BPM is trap?130-150 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is drill?138-145 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is phonk?130-160 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is dubstep?138-142 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is jungle?160-175 BPM
- What BPM is drum and bass?170-176 BPM
- What BPM is neurofunk?172-176 BPM
BAP Studio is inspired by classic 16-pad sampler and drum-machine workflows. It is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Akai Professional, Roland, or any other manufacturer.
Made by Max Berggren.