The East coast genre of music was where the original hip hop was born. New York City and the Bronx was at the heart of this subculture in the early 1970′s and soon emerged as the epicenter for the hip hop and rap music and beat industry. Following east coast, other regional genres of music soon emerged, west coast, the east’s #1 rival, as well as dirty south and the midwest.

What distinguishes east coast from its counterparts is the intense focus on the complexity of the lyrics involved and the rhythmic interjection of words, rhymes, and verse to give it a unique flavor of hip hop.

Another distinct style of east coast is the continuous hard hitting drums and kicks throughout the music. Most people would agree that the drum or kick is the foundation of the beat, and establishing this rhythm is essential to get your beat to flow and groove. A great example of an artist that was beat making heavy was Public Enemy

Other artists that focused more on wordplay and mixing and rhyming of the lyrics were Boogie Down, Daddy Kane, and DJ Kool Herc. The evolution of east coast changed from the 70′s and 80′s to the mid 1990′s when its cousin west coast rap would enter into the mainstream by none other than Dr. Dre himself.

This intense rivalry between east coast and west coast was famed largely in part of the tragedy slayings between Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG. The most famous label coming out of the east coast during this time was Bad Boy Records backed by Puff Daddy.

If you are looking for some east coast flavor, listen to the sample east cast beat below by Sonic Producer: