Dreamville
Presents
Dreamville
Presents
One night, somewhere between instinct and accident, J. Cole heard a sound that stopped him cold: not a finished beat, just a fragment. He knew immediately it needed to loop. When No I.D. heard it, he stood up and clapped. Each layer came naturally, first the groove, then the drums, then the moment that gave it weight: the 808. "It's 8:08... definitely time for the 808." A slowed percussion sound changed everything, and by the time melodies arrived, the beat was already alive.
-J Cole
"And I'm in the crib going dancing and s**t. But this is where s**t got real… I found this percussion sound and slowed it down a little bit. There you go. This sound is originally uh… Oh, God. This sound is this [sound]. Oh, s**t. Woow. Yoo, that’s the, that’s the craziest part of this beat. I love doing shit though man. There’s something about it. [sound] Then I did … Something about slowing it down."
Source: YouTube interview
Try it yourself by toggling the core rhythm layers.
Tap timeline dots to place sounds on each step, then press play to hear your pattern.
Hi-hat
Kick
Snare
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