Hip Hop Production

Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and "scratching" using record players and the creation of a rhythmic backing track, using a drum machine or sequencer, it is most commonly used to refer to recording the instrumental, non-lyrical and non-vocal aspects of hip hop.

Production roles

Hip Hop Producers credited as the record producer and songwriter, are the instrumentalists of a musical composition and often creative directors involved in guiding a recording session. This can range from a single song to a full-length major.

A hip hop instrumental is colloquially referred to as a beat or musical composition and its composer is referred to as a beatmaker, track producer or track writer. In the studio, however, a hip hop producer also functions as a traditional record producer, being the person who is ultimately responsible for the final sound of a recording, for guiding the artists and performers and giving advice to the audio engineer on the selection of microphones and effects processors and on how to mix the levels of the vocals and instrumentals. Since Hip hop producers are commonly more heavily involved in the songwriting production process such as making beats compared with a rock producer, they are known as both the record producer and songwriter, wearing two hats. Receiving both songwriting and producer credits is very common among hip hop producers.