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The Message

Signature Sounds in Hip-Hop

July 29, 2020

  Play Now [1:15:00]

On Aug 13, 1969, Leslie West got on the stage of Woodstock and started off his song "Long Red" with a drumbeat. He asked the crowd to get louder and to "Clap your hands to what he's doing," motioning toward the drummer. Those words, that beat, well, it's now a signature part of hip hop, a sound that artists like Common and Sampa the Great, Rakim and even Lana Del Rey use to give a song a certain vibe. This week on The Message, Sean and Sanni will explore the signature sounds in hip hop and R&B, the ones that producers keep on going back to to create great new tracks.

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Signature Sounds in Hip-Hop