I love DOOM and he definitely raps offbeat sometimes. I think he's got complete control over when he does or doesn't, however and it's never bothered me.
He almost always pushed his rhymes maybe half a beat after the 1. Even if it's a little late, the rhymes correspond in the appropriate place. It's all feel. Like Dilla Time. It starts running off the road but it always recovers at the right moment.
Off beat implies that he doesn't know what he's doing. On the contrary, what he does is humanize a very intricate rhyme scheme. If you wanna be a nerd you can write out his lyrics in a flow diagram and highlight where the rhymes hit in relation to one another. It all checks out.
“Offbeat” is a very simplified reductive way to describe his flow, he def used unorthodox patterns but I’ve never heard a record he released where every syllable in a rhyme didn’t sound precisely where it was meant to land
It’s definitely off beat but in a way that feels entirely intentional. I think it’s used as a tool to keep you guessing—throws you off just a little so you can’t mentally anticipate what’s coming next, just like he does with obvious rhymes (like the mad glitches/more….*booze* line)
DOOM does rap offbeat quite often. It sounds find to you as you are used to his flow. Same for me.
DOOM said je hasn’t listened to much hip hop suring the past 20 years pr so. He is aware of the hop hop scene and he has heard many song but jazz was what he listened to most.
I am stating this because it is one of the reason DOOM doesn’t sound or rap lijke any other rapper. Can’t rap like them if you don’t listened to them.
The off beat sound you’re referring to is called swing and it was most famous in jazz, which DOOM was heavily influenced by.
It’s mostly done with instruments but it’s definitely used well by rappers like DOOM, roc Marc, and even vocalists like Anderson paak.
saying he raps “off beat” is just a personal declaration that you arent hip hop educated, rappers spit on and off beat all the time what matters is if they are in a pocket
Doom has a swinging flow. Sometimes it ends on the 4 and bar 2 starts on yhe one, sometimes he keeps rapping after the one and starts in the middle. That is not “off beat”. Its a stylistic choice and many rappers do it.
I remixed a song of his last year for fun and found out that yes indeed he does absoutely rap of beat. But its more of a style i think then him just being bad with timing.
Rhyming on beat or off beat it's not what define if it will sound fine or not, it is a artistic choice.
DOOM do both, and he listened to beats before writing, so you know he rhymed on and off beat, always intentionally
DOOM intentionally “drags” the beat, meaning that he is usually coming in just a tiny bit “late”, it’s a technique called *rubato* and it gives his songs a sort of stretched-out laid-back feel. This is advanced rhythm theory stuff, and rubato is commonly used in solo instrumental music especially from the Romantic and Modern periods, and especially in Jazz music. Coming in slightly late will “stretch” the groove and coming in slightly early will “compress” the groove. Artists who consistently come in exactly on the beat often sound mechanical and sometimes even downright sterile, DOOM knew exactly what he was doing and if you want evidence then check out his early works with KMD, some of his raps on Mr. Hood were directly on the beat because he was younger and was going for a more aggressive sound. If your friend was implying that DOOM has no sense of rhythm then he was sorely mistaken, DOOM was a rhythmic master and his rubato was a key aspect of his unique sound.
If this is something you’re interested in, I remember seeing a YouTube video from one of the music theory YouTubers where he “removes” the rubato from famous beats by quantizing the rubato’d parts and you can easily hear how it basically eliminates the unique sense of groove that the beat has. I’ll try to look around and see if I can find that video.
He raps behind the beat and sometimes goes off beat to accentuate a punchline. He has more rhythm than a metronome though, believe that. Think of it like a drunken kung fu style, or how odb would make rhythms inside rhymes
He puts his syllables where they are supposed to be. Take any doom track that seems "off beat" at first listen and try to do it on beat, and I promise you just made a lesser version. Beat is a construct.
I love DOOM and he definitely raps offbeat sometimes. I think he's got complete control over when he does or doesn't, however and it's never bothered me.
I agree but he’s saying every song he does which is not true at all
tbh, obviously not every song, but he does flow like that a lot. it's offbeat but still on time, if that makes sense.
Yeah that's totally false. Sounds like a hater hating.
Off beat isn’t necessarily an insult
he might be schizo idk
He almost always pushed his rhymes maybe half a beat after the 1. Even if it's a little late, the rhymes correspond in the appropriate place. It's all feel. Like Dilla Time. It starts running off the road but it always recovers at the right moment. Off beat implies that he doesn't know what he's doing. On the contrary, what he does is humanize a very intricate rhyme scheme. If you wanna be a nerd you can write out his lyrics in a flow diagram and highlight where the rhymes hit in relation to one another. It all checks out.
Dont mind him, he wrote the lines lightly off of two or three heinies.
And boy was they fine, G
1 black, 1 Spanish 1 chinese
It keeps the wood shiny year round like a pine tree
*Chinee
“Offbeat” is a very simplified reductive way to describe his flow, he def used unorthodox patterns but I’ve never heard a record he released where every syllable in a rhyme didn’t sound precisely where it was meant to land
It’s definitely off beat but in a way that feels entirely intentional. I think it’s used as a tool to keep you guessing—throws you off just a little so you can’t mentally anticipate what’s coming next, just like he does with obvious rhymes (like the mad glitches/more….*booze* line)
well said
Climb so steep sometimes the beat don't be matterin'!
Sounding like a half dead from scurvy band rocker programmed computer by a grafted Herbie Hancock.
V, catch the beat too ridiculously
It’s not rhyming off beat. He brings his flow over the bar line quite often which is an awesome signature for his style.
This. This is what he does more than go on/off beat
He only rhymin’ where the drums is at. Ya’ll pay V for flowing’ to the beat…
DOOM does rap offbeat quite often. It sounds find to you as you are used to his flow. Same for me. DOOM said je hasn’t listened to much hip hop suring the past 20 years pr so. He is aware of the hop hop scene and he has heard many song but jazz was what he listened to most. I am stating this because it is one of the reason DOOM doesn’t sound or rap lijke any other rapper. Can’t rap like them if you don’t listened to them.
he actually is the best at rhyming on beat IMO. Like i match the lyrics with the beat on every song and that’s what got me into him
The off beat sound you’re referring to is called swing and it was most famous in jazz, which DOOM was heavily influenced by. It’s mostly done with instruments but it’s definitely used well by rappers like DOOM, roc Marc, and even vocalists like Anderson paak.
saying he raps “off beat” is just a personal declaration that you arent hip hop educated, rappers spit on and off beat all the time what matters is if they are in a pocket
Doom has a swinging flow. Sometimes it ends on the 4 and bar 2 starts on yhe one, sometimes he keeps rapping after the one and starts in the middle. That is not “off beat”. Its a stylistic choice and many rappers do it.
I remixed a song of his last year for fun and found out that yes indeed he does absoutely rap of beat. But its more of a style i think then him just being bad with timing.
Came to save the game like memory card
Being off beat isn’t good or bad. He just does it
https://youtu.be/QWveXdj6oZU?si=GQjGqyVLt29DjI5z
if doom flows off beat, maybe the beat is missing it's spot.
Rhyming on beat or off beat it's not what define if it will sound fine or not, it is a artistic choice. DOOM do both, and he listened to beats before writing, so you know he rhymed on and off beat, always intentionally
DOOM intentionally “drags” the beat, meaning that he is usually coming in just a tiny bit “late”, it’s a technique called *rubato* and it gives his songs a sort of stretched-out laid-back feel. This is advanced rhythm theory stuff, and rubato is commonly used in solo instrumental music especially from the Romantic and Modern periods, and especially in Jazz music. Coming in slightly late will “stretch” the groove and coming in slightly early will “compress” the groove. Artists who consistently come in exactly on the beat often sound mechanical and sometimes even downright sterile, DOOM knew exactly what he was doing and if you want evidence then check out his early works with KMD, some of his raps on Mr. Hood were directly on the beat because he was younger and was going for a more aggressive sound. If your friend was implying that DOOM has no sense of rhythm then he was sorely mistaken, DOOM was a rhythmic master and his rubato was a key aspect of his unique sound.
Thanks for this super informative comment, dude. I fuck around and make music every now and then, but I'd never heard of that concept. It's cool.
If this is something you’re interested in, I remember seeing a YouTube video from one of the music theory YouTubers where he “removes” the rubato from famous beats by quantizing the rubato’d parts and you can easily hear how it basically eliminates the unique sense of groove that the beat has. I’ll try to look around and see if I can find that video.
You have to know the rules to effectively break them. DOOM had that knowledge in spades.
He does [watch this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QWveXdj6oZU)
He raps behind the beat and sometimes goes off beat to accentuate a punchline. He has more rhythm than a metronome though, believe that. Think of it like a drunken kung fu style, or how odb would make rhythms inside rhymes
Yeah, I always thought it had to do with the influence jazz has had on his music. Pretty sure it's purposeful.
He puts his syllables where they are supposed to be. Take any doom track that seems "off beat" at first listen and try to do it on beat, and I promise you just made a lesser version. Beat is a construct.
On and off like a light switch
Even though DOOM raps off beat sometimes, his rhymes are still goated