Beats - The most important quality in a song?

[Night Senses]

Something I have noticed about a lot of the trendy hip hop/R&B songs lately is that the beats are hot, but the lyrics and overall concepts are crap. Have beats taken over as the #1 most important quality in a song of that genre? Are they more important than anything else?

At my recent New Year's Eve party, we had a DJ over, spinning some of the hottest hip hop/R&B songs of the past 2 years, and among those songs were Milkshake, Yeah, Only U, Get Low and Move Ya Body. Now, what I've noticed about these songs, is that you can get your dance on, but when you look at the lyrics and add a not-so-bangin' beat, they could have ended up really bad because they would only have lyrical content to live up to.

I understand that when you're listening to a club banger, the lyrics are completely secondary - and "catchy" is what comes first. But if that's the case, then beats are most-likely more important than anything else with these types of songs, right? When DOES lyrical content matter? If it's a ballad? A mid-tempo?

It's just something I've been thinking about lately. I'm always dancing and singing along to these club bangers, but I never stop to look at the lyrics and see how cheap and poorly-written some of them are. It's kind of like I'm settling for less, when these artists could do so much better. They know they could serve up a hot beat and a couple of catchy catch phrases and they've got a club hit. I'm not saying the lyrics have to be mind-blowing and incredible for a dance song, but you can still be catchy and do some good writing. Clever is fun, too, if it's not cheesy.

When it comes down to "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like, it's better than yours" - you're like, "Oh, damn, that's hot!" But is it, really? It probably didn't take much hard work.

The thing is, I'm still with most people, in enjoying these songs. But it seems really easy to write a hit, if you have a beat that connects with audiences. Drop It Like It's Hot is not brilliant at all, but the beat is. That's what connected - the lyrics could've been used for any backdrop beat, and it probably wouldn't have been as successful.

I guess at the end of the day, beats are more important. Because at first listen, you don't hear the lyrics, you hear the beat. What do you guys think?

[bluenote]

Beats are important but at the same time u need somethin catchy that people want to sing along to.

"my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard" may not be poetry but its catchy as hell, people can sing to it and it became a big hit. The beat was good, it was nothing amazing for The Neptunes who had better beats than that but just not a catchy enough hook nor the right person to deliever it.

People like Timbaland, Neptunes and Darkchild have hot beats for days but not every song has the catchy lyrics to make EVERY song become a hit. I think the beat and a cathcy hook go hand in hand because Neptunes, Timbaland and Darkchild all have their fair share of flops but they had good beats, just not catchy enough with the delievery. If peoepl cant sing to it and feel thehook then u dont have a hit no matter how hot the beat is.

[Night Senses]

BlueNote said:

Beats are important but at the same time u need somethin catchy that people want to sing along to. 

"my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard" may not be poetry but its catchy as hell, people can sing to it and it became a big hit.  The beat was good, it was nothing amazing for The Neptunes who had better beats than that but just not a catchy enough hook nor the right person to deliever it. 

People like Timbaland, Neptunes and Darkchild have hot beats for days but not every song has the catchy lyrics to make EVERY song become a hit.  I think the beat and a cathcy hook go hand in hand because Neptunes, Timbaland and Darkchild all have their fair share of flops but they had good beats, just not catchy enough with the delievery.  If peoepl cant sing to it and feel thehook then u dont have a hit no matter how hot the beat is.

Good point, but I've heard lots of songs that aren't catchy, but have great beats. Grindin' for example, didn't ride on the success of its one-word hook or its phenomenal swagger-prowess. The beat drove that song to whatever heights it reached. I'm not sure if it was a hit, but I know that people wouldn't have liked it if it didn't have that pre-Drop It Like It's Hot sound. You know what I mean?

I think it varies from song to song, but I definitely think the beats have become more important than anything. Look at Only U - how is that hook catchy at all? That song rides on its beat, and the beat alone. Only u can make me feel, only u can take me there - it's lacking so much. I don't think it would've even done as well as it did if the beat wasn't so good. And maybe the payola helped, too. LOL.

[bluenote]

well the "success" (if thats wat u wanna call it) of "only u" had more to do with it being her lead single. as u can see it doesnt compare to the other lead singles in terms of success but thats a different story. But yes the beat is good and it certainly heped.

"grindin" is a good example of a hot neptunes beat that underperformed. They funny thing about these so called "hit makers" is that they actually have more flops than hits but when they do have a hit its so major that everyone wants to work with them and it over shadows all the flops. Like out of every 10 songs a hit maker producers after a hit single, 3 of them will actually be hits and the rest underperform lol.

[Night Senses]

BlueNote said:

Like out of every 10 songs a hit maker producers after a hit single, 3 of them will actually be hits and the rest underperform lol.

That's so true. You know, when you mentioned the flops Rodney had produced, I got to thinkin'. He really HAS produced a lot of flops, hasn't he? There are so many songs he done for artists that have flopped, and the beats ARE actually hot. I guess it just depends on the song. Sometimes it's a fluke, a musical earworm or just an all-around perfect song (lyrically and musically).

[bluenote]

yes Rodney, Neptunes, Kanye, Timbaland, Missy, all have a massive amount of flops. but the hits over shadow the flops. When a producer gets a really big massive hit, they have so many people coming and hoping to get the same success but they know that only a few will actually get the hits and the rest will flop but they take their chances because the opportunity to get one of those massive hits is there and everyone has to jump on the bandwagon.

For the last 3 years Rodney Jerkins has been obsolete, but 1 song with Destinys Child has put him BACk on the map and made him a sought after producer once again. He had a equally as hot song named "i'm good" with Blaque last year that also capitalized off the marching band feel but it flopped. The beat was hot and so was the song but.....still a flop. But "lose my breath" has him getting sought after by Whitney, Toni (well she never stopped using him), Jennifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan, etc. They all hope to be one of the lucky few to get a hit in between the next few flops lol.

[Night Senses]

Yes, yes, I'm Good was one of the songs I was thinking of. That song was hot. It even hit #1 on my personal chart.

I was so pissed when it flopped! >:(

[Ironically Ironic]

It also depends on the vocal production too. The beat can be tight as hell but if the voacal production is stupid as hell, the song will flop. I know because I heard some of my favorite songs have remixes with a different vocal production and it sounds so stupid.

[singingsparrow]

Melody makes a song in my opinion.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Crushcrushchris]

I think it depends on the song.

You can have a great melody but a lousy beat and vice versa.

Sometimes both are good at the same time...and it doesn't matter what genre of music. I think that beat is just about as important as melody because sometimes it's the beat that makes the song interesting.

My favorite song for a while had been A Perfect Circle's Blue. It doesn't have the most interesting melody in the world, but Josh Freese's drumming makes the song as good as it is. The beat of the song is great no matter what type of music you're into.

Other times, it's the melody of the song.
For example Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I love the melody of the song. The beat is really good, but when you focus on the melody it's something that a lot of people want to sing to. It's simplistic, but as good as any current song you'll find.

[freeek04]

So how does this explain "Goodies"? lol. you knew i was gonna say that. No beat, no melody, no tune, it's not catchy.

I know I like melody, and a good groove. But as for a "good beat", a lot of songs i hear nowadays haven't even got a good BEAT. I can't dance to these songs, whereas when Darkchild was the big producer, I was totally into R&B and loved dancing to all the songs.

But that's the thing, for awhile now, melody's been completely unimportant in hitmaking it seems. I mean, look at Mariah Carey. As much as I love her, barely any of her songs are at all catchy or have a strong melody. But it's only really gotten bad lately, with these songs from Usher and the like. Dare I say that Rap has done melody in completely in music? It might be harsh, but I think that Rap might be at the root of it.

"Drop It Like It's Hot" is an example. That song really isn't even a good beat, it's a boring lazy beat with a realy really irritating and stupid chorus. Then again, it might just be because I find Snoop Dogg's delivery really irritating.

[shark cousteau]

i feel that the reason beats are presding over lyrics is because people cant write or sing for sh*t these days. with a few exceptions, songs with both lyrics/beats that are really good make an impact. i cant think of how many songs have failed because of the lyrics are better than the beat. but what i think it comes down to is the hype the artist has. "dont say nuthin" from the roots has to be one of the better beat driven/lyric written songs of the year, but fails when hype artists like eminem release "just lose it". if u want to hear good lyrics, listen to AC or indie rock. if u wanna dance, listen to your radio.

[Deleted]

Absolutely not. It's the least important.

[freeek04]

scottE said:

if u wanna dance, listen to your radio.

I'd like to dance, but the "beats" on the radio are terrible and make me wanna curl up in a corner. Frankly i'd LIKE to hear some good beats for once.

[WhySoSerious?]

For Rap songs it's the most important.

[shark cousteau]

freeek04 said:

I'd like to dance, but the "beats" on the radio are terrible and make me wanna curl up in a corner. Frankly i'd LIKE to hear some good beats for once.

what i meant was that rado plays anything that is popular, and what is popular these days isnt based on lyrics, itz based on beats.

[halo19]

Nah. Most songs with great beats and crappy lyrics don't turn out great at the end of the day, in my eyes. For me, repeat listens reflect on the lyrical quality, and if it's groundbreakingly dumb, it totally hurts it.

Another thing, it makes the song style-over-substance when that's the only focus. But yes, the melody makes some of the structure, so it would matter.

It all depends on what's in the song, what stands out the most, etc. for me. If a great beat overshadows ridiculous lyrics, I end up liking it anyway.

[irice22]

TCorey said:

For Rap songs it's the most important.

Exactly! Rap fans will eat a great beat right up. For examplel "Drop It Like It's Hot" doesn't really have a hook, just a good beat. Even though I don't really like the beat, but other people like it.

[freeek04]

i don't think i'd even call Drop It Like It's Hot a song. It is JUST a beat. It's weird. I don't think the radio plays what is popular, it DETERMINES what is popular.

[automyskin89]

my favorite beat in a song ever is Lindsay Lohan's "Rumors"

[Peach]

TCorey said:

For Rap songs it's the most important.

Well, obviously. If they didn't have a beat you couldn't tell them apart.

[britrocks16]

TCorey said:

For Rap songs it's the most important.

[freeek04]

Phantom said:

Well, obviously. If they didn't have a beat you couldn't tell them apart.

If they didn't have a beat there'd be no song , they'd be rapping a-capella.