Though beats are sometimes considered an afterthought in rap music, Instrumental Hip-Hop makes them the main focus. Vocals — when they appear at all — are either sampled, or by guest artists. There are a number of different approaches to Instrumental Hip-Hop, from the more jazzy, downtempo sounds of DJ Vadim, to the genre hopping DJ Shadow, to the synthesizer songwriter Rjd 2. But in general, Instrumental Hip-Hop will usually incorporate a number of musical styles (what styles exactly depends on the individual act), but all rooted in hip-hop. Sampling is also quite common in this particular genre of music. Turntablism is a subgenre focused solely around use of the Turntable as an instrument, and Trip Hop can be considered a cousin. Many instrumental hip-hop acts have names with "DJ" in them.
Instrumental Hip-Hop Artists note
- Art of Noise (mainly during the first phase of their careers): "Beat Box"
and its remix, "Close (To the Edit)"; "Legs"
- Damu the Fudgemunk: "Brooklyn Flower."
- DJ Jazzy Jeff: "A Touch Of Jazz (Extended Re-Touch)"
- DJ Krush: "Kemuri."
- DJ Premier: "DJ Premier In Deep Concentration"
- DJ Quik: The "Quik's Groove" series.
- DJ Shadow: "Organ Donor."
- 1996 - Endtroducing.....
- DJ Vadim: "The Next Shit."
- El-P (His Mixtapes, his full albums are all rapping): "Drivin' Down the Block."
- Eric B. & Rakim: "Eric B. Is On The Cut", "Eric B. Never Scared"
- Flying Lotus: "Zodiac Shit" [Seizure Warning]
- Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (Trope Makers): "Grandmaster Flash's Adventures on the Wheels of Steel."
- Herbie Hancock
- 1983 - Future Shock
- Hermitude: "HyperParadise"
- J Dilla: "Lightworks."
- Joe Boyd Vigil: Probably best known for his work on Toonami.
- Kno: "Bones"
- Lord Finesse: "Smooth"
- Madlib: "Slim's Return" and "Solitude".
- MF Doom (Special Herbs album series): Arrow Root.
- Miles Davis: "Duke Booty"
- Nujabes (He specialized in instrumental beats but sometimes has a rapper or singer over them): "Counting Stars" and "Aruarian Dance."
- Paul White: "Alien Nature."
- Rjd 2: "The Horror."
