BeatTips MusicStudy/Beat Breakdown: Ghostface and Raekwon’s “Kilo,” Beat by Moss
Clever Sample Flip and Understated Changes Mark this Moss Produced Heater
| By AMIR SAID (SA’ID) |
One of the clear standouts from off of Fishscale, Ghostface Killah’s dope sleeper album from 2006, “Kilo” is the first joint to bring Canadian beatmaker Moss (now Brooklyn-based) to my attention. Like many Canadian beatmakers, Moss is no doubt a student of the beatmaking craft. For “Kilo,” he flips a snippet of background vocals to come up with the catchy hook and refrain that Ghost and Rae devote the subject matter of their rhymes to. And throughout the track, Moss runs a hypnotic low-pitched wah wah guitar break that sounds like its warped and moving around inside of an aquarium. The drumwork’s steady; kick doesn’t do much more than it needs to; and Moss demonstrates how 1/4 hi-hat schemes can often trump the 1/8 hi-hat patterns that typically anchor most hip hop/rap beats.
The music and video below is presented here for the purpose of scholarship.
Ghostface Killah feat. Raekwon – “Kilo;” beat by Moss
