When I first started out making my recordings, it was both a fun, but it was also frustrating making my own hip hop beats. With lots of practice and time, I came up with good tips and techniques that will make your experience making rap beats a whole lot easier.
First of all, know your style. Pick your genre. Know what kind of sound you want to make and it'll save you time and energy. You can do rap, funk, soul, blues...just let yourself go and do what feels right to you.
Pick an artist your trying to mimic or just listen to anything you dig the beat on. You really have to tune in to the underlying beat. The next step is to get some good software.
There's a really good program that's only about 30 bucks that you can get at http://www.makeabeatsoftware.com
The next step is to format your beat. Listen to one of your favorite beats and pay attention to the timing and make sure to catch when the instruments come in. Some beats are simple, some are complex. The easiest is to use a 2-bar beat, then up from there. Eventually you'll make it to an 8-bar beat.
Drums are critical if your making a strong rap beat. If you're serious at making music, don't use pre-recorded drum beat kits. They are super weak in the finished product. If the drum beat in the hip hop track isn't strong, your whole beat will come down.
Pay attention to your rap beats and don't feel bad about trying to mimic some of the big name rap artists. These are the guys who know what they're doing.
