What BPM is lo-fi hip hop?
Lo-fi hip hop is 70-85 BPM, and 78 is a fair single number. The machine above is playing lo-fi hip hop at 78 BPM - press Space to hear it, then move the tempo and listen for where it stops sounding like lo-fi hip hop.
Why lo-fi hip hop lives at 70-85 BPM
Lo-fi hip hop is 70-85 BPM, and the tempo is most of what makes it lo-fi. It is boom bap slowed down until there is room in every bar: at 78 the gap between the snare on 2 and the snare on 4 is over a second and a half, and the style fills that gap with a soft kick pickup, a Rhodes chord and not much else. Go up to 90 and the same drums are simply boom bap; go below 65 and the backbeat is too far apart to feel like a beat at all.
Swing is heavy here, 30-40, inherited from the Dilla records the genre grew out of, and heavy swing needs a slow tempo to be audible - at 78 BPM a 16th note is nearly 200 milliseconds, so pushing the odd ones a third late is a clear lurch rather than a blur. The other tell is velocity: lo-fi hats rarely rise above half volume. A pattern at 78 with the hats at 0.9 stops being lo-fi instantly, without a note moving.
78 BPM in milliseconds
For setting delay times, checking a sample's length, or programming by ear: at 78 BPM one bar of 4/4 is 3,077 ms and a 16th note is 192 ms.
| At 78 BPM | Length | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| One bar (4/4) | 3,077 ms | 0.32 Hz |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 769 ms | 1.30 Hz |
| Dotted 8th | 577 ms | 1.73 Hz |
| 8th note | 385 ms | 2.60 Hz |
| 8th-note triplet | 256 ms | 3.90 Hz |
| 16th note | 192 ms | 5.20 Hz |
| 32nd note | 96 ms | 10.40 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. Lo-fi hip hop 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 |
Frequently asked
Is lo-fi always slow?
It is always felt slow. Some producers write it at double tempo - 150-170 - with the snare on 3, which is the same music with a different label on the transport. If your DAW says 156 and the beat sounds like study music, you are at 78.
What is the difference between lo-fi and boom bap tempo?
About twelve beats a minute and a lot of volume. Boom bap is 88-94 with hats at 0.6-0.85; lo-fi is 70-85 with hats under 0.5 and swing pushed past 30. Load this page's kit, raise the tempo to 90 and the velocities to 0.8, and you have crossed over.
Can I make lo-fi hip hop 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 lo-fi hip hop 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 hip hop?80-100 BPM
- What BPM is boom bap?88-94 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.