Beats Only May 2018 edition with rolling updates and additions. Instrumental hip-hop.
Enjoy selections from our submission inbox and our Beats Only Spotify playlist. Thanks for helping us reach 1,150 followers on Spotify!
Tall Black Guy “Make It For Forever And Ever”
TBG has some of the best chops. So much soul, so on point. Had this on repeat all morning.
Liam.M “I Don’t Need It”
We’ve featured Liam.M several times in the past (6 and counting I believe)… he always delivers. This is another head nodder.
Air Kalo “Midtown”
Heads nods here… it has that grit and soul. Channels Kaytranada, Dilla, and even some Dust at points. We’ll be looking for more from this producer.
Tonga “First Things First”
Mellow. Lofi. Soulful. This is a relaxing new instrumental track from Tonga.
Tonga is a multi-instrumentalist/producer out of San Diego. Born into a musical family, he was influenced by an early and constant exposure to various styles of music: Motown, reggae, jazz, and his father’s own Polynesian fusion music.
Bluestaeb “Alright”
Bossa Nove rhythms and trap drums… this works well here. It reminds me a little bit of Sango. This is a newly release single via Jakarta Records from his upcoming release Everything Is Always a Process.
Soul Choppa “Sunset”
Dusty soulful golden era boom bap. This is a stylistic nod to Pete Rock and other golden era production. Really nice vibes on this.
Mikey B. “On Top Of The Balance”
Wasn’t sure what to expect from this one. The artist describe it as, “Inspired by the general day-to-day hustle in Brooklyn, and of course being super hyped up on caffeine.” The energy is palpable on this one… he seals the deal with some dope flute work midway through the track.
Peter Spacey “LEX”
The pitch this producer sent was a winner and made me LOL: “Peter Spacey made a lo-fi beat tape inspired by GIF loop animations that he found online and we are releasing it on VHS cassette.” Now I gotta find my dusty VCR.
Osiris “Prime Directive”
It’s heavy on vocal samples but that helps tell the story on this funky (mostly) instrumental track. Aretha Franklin samples with 2001:A Space Odyssey vocal clips… a good listen here.
OtterNotBe “Who Am I”
Future boom bap from American producer OtterNotBe. Some nice jazzy overtones on this one too.
Billa Joints “Gotta Try”
Nice upbeat boom bap track from Canadian producer Billa Joints.
Flocks “Avocado”
This one is a journey. It takes some interesting twists and turns. Totally unexpected genre bending piece.
Raphy “Why I Hate Myself”
This one has some funk to it. Nice dusty sampling here from Raphy. Not sure why it’s given this title because it feels decidedly upbeat. Stay until the end. Maybe that’s our clue?
Alias Molombo “Richer Than Astronauts”
High energy drum heavy production on this one. Kinda tough to pinpoint a genre or artist comparison for Richer Than Astronauts… have a listen and let us know.
