UK drill beats

Drill you can lease today: sexy drill

Not the London sound, but drill: the same slides and bounce under R&B melodies. These beats are ready now.

1. 
   First Frost Kehlani x Cash Cobain type beat · 153 BPM · A#m
   from € 75 Licence
2. 
   Meltwater Kehlani x Cash Cobain type beat · 148 BPM · D#m
   from € 75 Licence
3. 
   Trapdoor Kehlani x Cash Cobain type beat · 148 BPM · Fm
   from € 75 Licence
4. 
   Rooftop Kehlani x Cash Cobain type beat · 147 BPM · Fm
   from € 75 Licence
5. 
   Switchblade Kehlani x Cash Cobain type beat · 143 BPM · Fm
   from € 75 Licence

What UK drill is

Drill started in Chicago, but from around 2012 young artists in Brixton, South London, took it somewhere new. They kept the dark mood and the energy and changed almost everything else: the drums got busier and more syncopated, and the 808 started to glide between notes. That sliding bass became the signature of the sound.

From London, UK drill travelled fast. Its producers went on to shape drill in New York and far beyond, which is why so much drill today, wherever it is made, carries the UK sound.

The sound of a UK drill beat

• Tempo: around 140 BPM, usually between 138 and 145.
• Hi-hats: syncopated patterns that skip in groups of three and two, with quick rolls.
• Snares: off-beat snares and ghost hits that make the groove stumble forward on purpose.
• 808: gliding bass notes that slide up and down, often the loudest melodic part of the beat.
• Melody: sparse and minor: dark pads, piano, strings or bells, a few notes repeated.

Writing to a UK drill beat

UK drill flows ride the hi-hats more than the snare. Count the skips in the pattern and lock onto them; switching flows in the middle of a verse is part of the style. Keep the bars dense and let the hook breathe, often as a simple chant over a stripped-back drop.

The pattern is about rhythm, not language, so UK drill works just as well in Dutch, French or German.

A custom UK drill beat from TH6

Send two or three UK drill songs whose sound you want, your tempo if you know it, and a voice memo. TH6 builds the drums and the slides around your voice, and you shape the beat together until it fits.

How a custom beat works

1. Send references: two or three songs whose sound you want, your tempo if you know it, and a voice memo or demo.
2. You get one price up front, based on your brief. There is no standard rate, because no two songs are the same job.
3. TH6 builds a first version. You react, and the beat gets shaped around your song.
4. You get the WAV, the stems and an exclusive licence in writing.

More about custom beats

Licences

Prices include 21% VAT. If you live outside the EU, you pay the same amount without VAT.

Buy 2, get 1 free: of every 3 beats in your cart the cheapest is free. 2 Unlimited Leases for € 500 instead of € 600. One deal per order; the best one applies by itself.

Good to know

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Questions before you buy