When I started working on “Fantasmas,” I already had a pretty clear idea of the atmosphere I wanted.
I wanted something dark, raw and slightly mysterious — the kind of boom bap beat that immediately makes you think of late nights, empty streets and New York.
I wasn’t trying to make an overly complicated instrumental. My main goal was to create a dark boom bap beat with enough space for a rapper to really do their thing.
The beat ended up at 87 BPM, and I made the whole thing in FL Studio.
Starting with the vibe
For me, the vibe always comes before the technical side of production.
With “Fantasmas,” I wanted the instrumental to feel dark without simply throwing a bunch of dark sounds into the project.
The sample was the foundation of the beat. I wanted that part to establish the mood before the drums even came in.
Once I had that atmosphere, I could start building everything around it.
That’s one of the things I enjoy most about making boom bap. You can start with a simple musical idea and slowly build the beat around it until it develops its own personality.
Why I chose 87 BPM
I decided to make “Fantasmas” at 87 BPM.
I like this kind of tempo for boom bap because it gives the beat enough movement while still leaving plenty of room for the rapper.
When I make beats for rappers, I don’t want the instrumental to constantly fight for attention.
The beat needs to have its own identity, but there also needs to be space for the MC.
At 87 BPM, I felt that “Fantasmas” had the right balance.
It could work with a laid-back flow, but there is also enough room for a rapper to switch things up and experiment with different rhythms.
Building the drums
Once I had the musical foundation, I started working on the drums.
For the kick, I went with a dry kick.
I wanted it to hit without creating a huge amount of unnecessary low-end information. For this particular beat, I felt that a tighter kick worked better with the dark atmosphere.
The snare was completely different.
I wanted something big and fat, something that would give the beat that characteristic boom bap impact.
For me, the snare is one of those sounds that can completely change the personality of a beat.
You can have the same sample and the same melody, but change the snare and suddenly the entire instrumental feels different.
The hi-hats and groove
For the hi-hats, I started with a 1/16 pattern.
But I didn’t want them to sound like a perfectly programmed machine.
I added variations to the pattern to give the drums more movement.
I also used around 48% swing.
It’s not an extreme amount of swing, but it was enough to move the rhythm away from feeling completely rigid.
I like making small changes like this because they can have a surprisingly big effect on the overall groove.
The goal wasn’t to make the drums complicated.
The goal was to make them feel good.
Adding the bass
After getting the drums working, I added the bass.
The bass follows the melody of the sample, which helped me connect the low end with the musical part of the beat.
I didn’t want the bass to feel disconnected from everything else.
At the same time, I had to make sure it wasn’t fighting with the kick.
This is one of those parts of production that can be easy to overlook. You can have a great kick and a great bass sound individually, but if they are fighting for the same space, the whole beat can lose its punch.
So I focused on making them work together rather than simply making both of them as loud as possible.
Keeping the beat dark
The main thing I was trying to preserve throughout the production was the dark feeling.
It’s easy to start adding things to a beat just because you feel like something is missing.
I tried not to do that with “Fantasmas.”
Every element needed to have a reason to be there.
I wanted the sample, drums and bass to create the atmosphere together rather than relying on dozens of different sounds.
That’s something I’ve learned over time as a producer: sometimes removing something from a beat makes it stronger than adding another element.
How I mixed “Fantasmas”
Once the main production was finished, I started working on the mix.
For “Fantasmas,” I mainly used EQ, compression and saturation.
I used EQ to clean up frequencies and help the different elements find their own space.
Compression helped me control the dynamics and keep certain sounds more consistent.
I also used saturation because I wanted to add some character to the sound.
I wasn’t looking for an ultra-clean, polished modern sound.
I wanted the beat to retain some rawness.
For me, that raw quality is an important part of the appeal of boom bap.
The New York influence
The main inspiration behind “Fantasmas” was New York boom bap.
I’m not trying to recreate a specific record or copy a specific producer.
What I like about that sound is the combination of strong drums, simple but memorable musical ideas, groove and space.
There is something very direct about a good boom bap beat.
You hear the drums, you hear the sample and you immediately understand where the rapper is supposed to fit.
That’s the feeling I was trying to capture with “Fantasmas.”
Making the beat for a rapper
One of the most important things for me when producing a beat is remembering that someone might eventually have to rap on it.
That’s why I didn’t want to fill every second with sounds.
A rapper needs space.
They need somewhere to put their words, pauses and changes in flow.
When I’m making an instrumental, I always try to imagine someone actually recording vocals over it.
If I can imagine a rapper immediately finding a flow on the beat, I know I’m heading in the right direction.
That’s exactly what I wanted with “Fantasmas.”
The final result
“Fantasmas” ended up being a dark boom bap beat at 87 BPM, built around a dark sample, a dry kick, a fat snare and 1/16 hi-hats with variations.
The bass follows the melody, while the 48% swing gives the drums a little more movement.
I produced it in FL Studio and used EQ, compression and saturation during the mixing process.
But beyond all the technical details, what matters most to me is the feeling.
I wanted “Fantasmas” to sound dark, raw and atmospheric while still giving a rapper enough room to make the beat their own.
That’s ultimately what I’m looking for when I make beats.
I don’t just want to create something that sounds good on its own.
I want to create something that makes a rapper want to write.
If you’re looking for a dark boom bap beat with a New York-inspired atmosphere for your next track, “Fantasmas” is one of the beats I’ve made with exactly that idea in mind.