The pattern
140 BPM · 4/4 · 32 step
| Instrument | Beat 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Beat 2 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Beat 3 | Step 10 | Step 11 | Step 12 | Beat 4 | Step 14 | Step 15 | Step 16 | Beat 5 | Step 18 | Step 19 | Step 20 | Beat 6 | Step 22 | Step 23 | Step 24 | Beat 7 | Step 26 | Step 27 | Step 28 | Beat 8 | Step 30 | Step 31 | Step 32 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest |
| Clap | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Rim shot | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest |
| Closed hi-hat | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest |
How to play it and where it comes from
London grime (Bow/East London, 2002–2004: Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, Ruff Sqwad) at a flat 140, the default tempo of FL Studio (Fruity Loops) used by many producers. The snare/clap falls on 3 (half time), but the kick is broken and syncopated, inherited from 2-step garage: 1, the "a" of 2, the "e" of 3 in the first bar, then shifted in the second. Sparse hi-hats on the quarter notes or absent (many Wiley "eskibeat" tracks do without them and leave the rhythm to the square bass). The rim on the "crooked" sixteenths (4 and 12) adds a nervous air. The final snare on step 31 launches the turnaround. Variants: double time (snare on 2 and 4) in the most aggressive 8-bar sections, total stops to let the MC in, "reload" (the DJ rewinds the record).