Breakbeat

/bɹˈeɪkbiːt/

Breakbeat

an electronic music genre with syncopated rhythms, chopped-up drum samples, and distinctive 'breaks,' originating from hip hop and evolving into various sub-genres

Examples

1. And then the breakbeat, the records that Jam Master Jay was scratching live.

2. Hiphop founding figures like DJ Kool Herc are credited with creating the breakbeat, which he did by playing two copies of the same record, and looping its break.

3. You know, it's like finding any other sample, like finding a breakbeat that was like a clean break that was super funky-- -

4. Sampling is the bread and butter of the pair's crosspollination, and honestly, we could devote a whole episode to jazz samples in rap solely from the late '80s and early '90s, but first, we have to acknowledge how the breakbeats of hiphop's early days predated the rise of rap sampling jazz, because those breakbeats were also taken from jazz cuts.