BPM by genre

UK Drill

Curated by se7en beatlab · updated September 2026

Hip-Hop · 3 subgenres mapped

141 BPM typical

Range: 135–148 BPM

UK drill locks tight around 140–142 BPM — 141 is the classic sweet spot — inside a narrow 135–148 window. The head nods at half-time (~70), which is why detectors often read it as 70/71. What separates it from US drill and trap is the bounce: syncopated, off-beat percussion with that unmistakable sliding 808.

Use this BPM as a starting point

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Subgenres

Subgenre	Typical	Range
Classic UK drill	141	138–144
Melodic / afro-drill	140	135–145
NY drill (UK-influenced)	142	138–148

Typical structure

Short intro (4–8 bars) → hook → verse 1 (16) → hook → verse 2 (16) → hook/outro. Around 2:30–3:00, hook-first structures are common.

Production notes

Program drums around the drill bounce: kicks avoiding the obvious downbeats, snare or rim on the 3, and hats mixing triplets with straight sixteenths. The sliding 808 is the genre's signature — write the glides as part of the bassline melody, not decoration. Keep melodic elements dark and sparse (minor keys, plucks, eerie pads), leave space for the vocal cadence, and don't over-quantize the percussion: the slightly late rim hits ARE the groove.