Breakbeat Artists
Drum breaks chop and rearrange into syncopated rhythms, often driving bass-heavy tracks with sampled hits and restless percussion.
90 Breakbeat artists · 265 releases in the last 6 months · Top labels: Atlantic, Atlantic Records UK, OWSLA
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Artists
About Breakbeat
Breakbeat builds its rhythm from drum breaks sampled from early funk, jazz and R&B recordings, giving electronic tracks a cut-up, syncopated drive rather than a fixed four-on-the-floor pulse. The approach grew from those recorded breaks and became a rhythmic foundation for hip-hop before feeding into jungle, drum and bass, big beat and breakbeat hardcore. It also runs through UK garage offshoots including 2-step, breakstep and dubstep. Unlike techno or house, breakbeat’s defining feature isn’t a steady kick pattern but the shifting accents and momentum of the break itself.
Breakbeat at a glance
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Common questions
What is Breakbeat?
Breakbeat is a music genre defined by sampled funk, jazz, and R&B drum breaks, syncopated broken-beat rhythms, loop-based percussion, prominent basslines, and electronic production. Drum breaks chop and rearrange into syncopated rhythms, often driving bass-heavy tracks with sampled hits and restless percussion.
What BPM is Breakbeat?
Breakbeat tracks typically run between 120 and 140 BPM.
Where did Breakbeat come from?
Breakbeat originated in Bronx, New York City, 1970s.
What instruments are used in Breakbeat?
Breakbeat is built mainly from sampler, drum machine, turntables, synthesizer, and sequencer.
Which Breakbeat artists are most popular?
The Prodigy, Nikki Nair, Denham Audio, Overmono, and Alex Metric are the highest ranked by Spotify popularity of the 90 Breakbeat artists on this page.
Which labels release Breakbeat?
Atlantic, Atlantic Records UK, OWSLA, Warp Records, and Epicwin have put out the most Breakbeat records in the Tracknack catalogue.
What genres are similar to Breakbeat?
Artists tagged Breakbeat are most often also tagged Electronic, Techno, House, Breaks, and Electronica.
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