In “Straight Loops, Light & Soul,” a project evoking Roy DeCarava’s Harlem jazz pictures and the music of J Dilla, Williams captures the underground beat-maker scene of Queens.

Picture a session where a producer starts with a meticulously programmed drum machine pattern ... hip-hop—raw, rebellious, and unyielding—remains the heartbeat behind every innovative beat ...

The time has come, my beautiful beat heads. This week's Ear Candy is Lowkey Hip-Hop & Rap. Maybe I'm partial, but plugging into this playlist, copping a squat, lighting one up, and blithely watching ...

Almost all skilled MCs use syncopation to create complex rhythmic patterns that ... in favor of beat machines like the 808 and other synthetic elements long used in hip-hop production.

Often the beats have a downtempo hip-hop feel and to that end we’ll be ... To develop the feel we’re going to embellish the kick pattern across a 4 bar cycle, so copy the main beats across ...

From spinning intricate lyrical webs and sonic stories to crafting visual epics for their ever-expanding discography, ...