The pattern
95 BPM · 4/4 · 16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest |
| Snare | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | rest | rest | hit | rest | rest | hit | rest |
| Closed hi-hat | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest | hit | rest |
How to play it and where it comes from
The "boom-ch-boom-chick" rhythm: kick on the quarter notes (four on the floor) and snare/rimshot on the last sixteenth of 1 and 3 and on the "and" of 2 and 4 (3-3-2 groups, a figure derived from the tresillo and from Shabba Ranks' "Dem Bow" riddim). The whole identity is in the snare; the eighth-note hi-hats are filler. Tempo 85–100. Variants: sixteenth-note snare rolls at the end of the loop, sampled timbales on the last beat, kick stop for 2 bars in the pre-chorus.