GENRE

Instrumental Hip Hop Artists

Beat-driven tracks foreground chopped samples, dusty drums, and melodic basslines while leaving space where a rapper’s verse would sit.

34 Instrumental Hip Hop artists · 67 releases in the last 6 months · Top labels: Friends Of Friends, VinDig, Warp Records

Related Genres

Artists

Clams Casino photo
Clams Casino
Clams Casino Productions · RCA Records · A$AP Worldwide
cloud raphip hopelectronic
TOKiMONSTA photo
TOKiMONSTA
Young Art Records · Rhino
electronichip hopwonky
Snakehips photo
Snakehips
Thirty Knots · Mine Recordings · Never Worry Records
electronicelectronicaindie
Gud photo
Gud
RealYungPhil
cloud rapambientwave
josh pan photo
josh pan
Nitepunk · New 11 Records · Kannibalen Records
ambienthip hopelectronic
Kenny Beats photo
Kenny Beats
Turbo Blanco · Loma Vista Recordings · Dead Oceans
J Dilla photo
J Dilla
The Conglomerate · SPA Recordings · UME - Global Clearing House
plunderphonicsalternative hip hopjazz rap

About Instrumental Hip Hop

Programmed drums drive instrumental hip hop, while bass, samples and melodic fragments take the space a rapper would usually occupy. The music keeps hip hop’s rhythmic focus but treats the beat as the complete composition, allowing loops, texture and arrangement to hold attention on their own.

Its range overlaps with downtempo, electronic music and lo-fi hip hop: some tracks are spare and hazy, others use sharper percussion or more experimental production. Without a lead vocal or verse-and-hook structure, small changes in rhythm, harmony and sound design carry the track forward.

Instrumental Hip Hop at a glance

Descriptorsatmospheric, head-nodding, experimental, melancholic, hypnotic
Characteristicssample-based beats, prominent drum breaks, layered loops and textures, instrumental arrangements, synthesized basslines
Key instrumentssampler, drum machine, turntables, synthesizer, DAW
Tempo70–100 BPM
OriginNew York City, late 1970s

Top Labels

Friends Of FriendsVinDigWarp RecordsSichtexotYoung Art RecordsMutombo RecordsTwenty Twenty London RecordingsNever Worry RecordsHip DozerHelix Records

Notable Contributors

Producers
TOBACCOFlying LotusBonoboJ DillaKenny BeatsSteven EllisonRobin Taylor-FirthShovell
Songwriters
TOBACCOFlying LotusBonoboGeorge EvelynBusta RhymesDenzel CurryKenny BeatsJ DillaRobin Taylor-FirthJahanbakhsh PazoukiAndrew LovellGilberto Gil

Recent Releases

Alps artwork
Alps
Sichtexot
Far Away (feat. John Glacier & Khadija Al Hanafi) artwork
Far Away (feat. John Glacier & Khadija Al Hanafi)
The Avalanches, Khadija Al Hanafi, John Glacier
EMI Recorded Music Australia Pty
I Don't Care artwork
I Don't Care
Your Old Droog, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Flying Lotus
REM-U-LAK RECORDS
Long Jacket artwork
Long Jacket
Cake, Chris Lorenzo, Chris Lake, Kenny Beats
Turbo Blanco
DILLAGENCE II artwork
DILLAGENCE II
Busta Rhymes, J Dilla
The Conglomerate
Talk to Me artwork
Talk to Me
Nicole Miglis, Bonobo
ii artwork
ii
Loma Vista Recordings, Loma Vista
Ether artwork
Ether
Silcrow, Nitepunk, josh pan
Nitepunk
Talk Ya Shit artwork
Talk Ya Shit
Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, J Dilla
The Conglomerate
Home (DJ Python Remix) artwork
Home (DJ Python Remix)
Merry Lamb Lamb, DJ Python, Lone

Common questions

What is Instrumental Hip Hop?

Instrumental Hip Hop is a music genre defined by sample-based beats, prominent drum breaks, layered loops and textures, instrumental arrangements, and synthesized basslines. Beat-driven tracks foreground chopped samples, dusty drums, and melodic basslines while leaving space where a rapper’s verse would sit.

What BPM is Instrumental Hip Hop?

Instrumental Hip Hop tracks typically run between 70 and 100 BPM.

Where did Instrumental Hip Hop come from?

Instrumental Hip Hop originated in New York City, late 1970s.

What instruments are used in Instrumental Hip Hop?

Instrumental Hip Hop is built mainly from sampler, drum machine, turntables, synthesizer, and DAW.

Which Instrumental Hip Hop artists are most popular?

Clams Casino, TOKiMONSTA, BADBADNOTGOOD, letherette, and Snakehips are the highest ranked by Spotify popularity of the 34 Instrumental Hip Hop artists on this page.

Which labels release Instrumental Hip Hop?

Friends Of Friends, VinDig, Warp Records, Sichtexot, and Young Art Records have put out the most Instrumental Hip Hop records in the Tracknack catalogue.

What genres are similar to Instrumental Hip Hop?

Artists tagged Instrumental Hip Hop are most often also tagged Hip Hop, Electronic, Downtempo, Instrumental, and Experimental.

Stop missing releases.

Tracknack digs through album credits — producers, engineers, labels — so you don't have to. One Spotify or Apple Music playlist, always up to date.