Instrumental Versions of Rap Songs
Using beats to enrich your listening experience and appreciation of rap music.
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When I was in 10th grade back in 1999-2000, I remember hanging out at a friend’s house late at night when someone took out a mix CD they’d made from stuff ripped off whatever peer-to-peer service we were using back then. Suddenly the instrumental version of the Souls of Mischief classic “93 ‘Til Infinity” dropped and everyone went quiet. We were transfixed by the sounds coming out of the speaker.
I’m pretty sure everyone in that room had heard and most likely loved the vocal/original version. But something about hearing the deeply filtered bassline, the horn stabs, and the floating piano sample that accompanies the song’s hook without words was a magical experience. It enhanced our collective appreciation of Souls of Mischief member A-Plus’ remarkable instrumental - a beat he created in its earliest iteration while still in high school.
Having bought my first set of turntables about a year before this experience, I had already started to recognize the power of listening to instrumental versions of rap songs. I found that doing this helped me better understand what the song’s producer accomplished with their track. When I would listen to the song again with the lyrics, I studied the interplay between the rappers’ delivery, lyrics, and the beat. I never looked at instrumental versions of rap records and instrumental hip-hop as a replacement for rap music - listening to beats was a tool for deepening my appreciation for rap as a genre.
The streaming era provides additional opportunities for seeking out instrumental versions of albums and singles to pair with the original songs. I wanted to share some that I thought you might enjoy. Let me know what you think.
Adrian Younge Presents: There Is Only Now by Souls of Mischief and Adrian Younge (2014) - Spotify / YouTube
Bad Neighbor Instrumentals by Madlib (2017) - Spotify / YouTube
The Best Part Instrumentals by J-Live (2001) - Spotify / YouTube
Connected (Extended Edition) by The Foreign Exchange (2010) - Spotify / YouTube
Dirty Acres (Deluxe Edition) by CunninLynguists (2010) - Spotify / YouTube
8,000,000 Stories (Instrumentals) by Soul Position (2003) - Spotify / YouTube
86 Witness (Instrumentals) by Sean Price and Small Professor (2019) - Spotify / YouTube)
The Listening (Instrumentals) by Little Brother (2003) - Spotify / YouTube