Lo-fi hip hop
Lo-fi hip hop is slow, mellow instrumental hip hop at about 70–90 BPM, with dusty boom bap drums, swung hats and soft jazzy chords on an electric piano. It took shape online in the 2010s as music to study and relax to.
The loop
- Bar 1Am9
- Bar 2Fmaj9
- Bar 3Cmaj9
- Bar 4G9
Four bars over Am9, Fmaj9, Cmaj9, G9. Mute a track or solo it to hear what each part does; tap any box to change it.
The recipe
The patterns this loop is made of. Point at one, or tap Show, to light up its lanes on the grid.
- Boom bap
Kick and snare, laid back.
- Backbeat
The snare stays on 2 and 4 underneath.
- Swung 16th hats
Every second hat late and quiet.
- Jazzy seventh chords
Ninth chords on an electric piano.
- Pentatonic riff
A five-note figure on a soft bell.
Also in the loop: a bass on each chord’s root, landing with the kick; a darker tone and vinyl crackle.
How it fits together
The drums are boom bap played gently: a kick that drags behind the beat, a snare on 2 and 4, and hats where every second one arrives late.
The “lo-fi” part is the sound: a darker tone, a little vinyl crackle and chords with colour notes that never quite resolve.
The loop in words
- Kick: steps 1, 8 and 11 of 16.
- Snare and clap: steps 5 and 13; quiet on 16 of 16.
- Hats: steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15; quiet on 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 of 16.
- Bass: steps 1, 8 and 11 of 16, notes held for 3, 6 and 7 steps.
- Chords: steps 1 and 11 of 16, notes held for 6 and 10 steps.
- Lead: E5 on step 7 of 16, each held for 2 steps; D5 on steps 5 and 10 of 16; C5 on steps 3 and 11 of 16; A4 on steps 1 and 13 of 16, notes held for 1 and 2 steps; G4 on step 15 of 16, each held for 2 steps.
- Chords: Am9, Fmaj9, Cmaj9, G9, one bar each, in A minor.
- Tempo: 82 BPM, 58% swing.
How to ask an AI music tool for it
Name the patterns instead of the genre alone. These are the words that describe lo-fi hip hop precisely; use the ones you can hear in your reference.
| Say | It means |
|---|---|
| boom bap drums | a punchy kick and hard snare, 1990s hip hop style |
| swung hi-hats, 55–60% swing | every second hat late |
| dusty, lo-fi drums | darker, softer, slightly saturated |
| jazzy seventh and ninth chords | chords with colour notes added |
| electric piano (Rhodes-style) | the warm, bell-like keys sound |
| vinyl crackle, tape warmth | the noise and softness of old records |
| 70–90 BPM | the tempo |
Neighbours
Trap
130–150 bpmA half-time snare, rolling hats and a sliding 808
Signature: Half-time snareSame chords. Move the snare to beat 3, swap the bass for a sliding 808 and speed up to 140.
House
120–128 bpmA kick on every beat, everything else in the gaps
Signature: Four-on-the-floorStraighten the swing, put the kick on every beat and the chords off the beat.
Make lo-fi hip hop yourself
The course starts with the beat under every genre and builds up from there. Unit 1 is free: sign up with Google and start the first lesson in your browser.
Pick up where you left off
Carry on with Unit 1; the parts of lo-fi hip hop come one chapter at a time.