How to Make a Ohgeesy Type Beat (+ Free Loops)

What BPM and key is an Ohgeesy type beat?

Most loops run 109 to 146 BPM, with the bulk around 125. That lower centre gives the beat its laid back, rolling West Coast bounce rather than a frantic trap rush.

The key is mostly minor. Take the key straight from your loop and put the 808 and the melody on the same root, so the eerie loop and the bassline share one centre. A simple way to move the chords is the 1, 5, 15, 17 pattern played across the scale, which keeps the loop hypnotic without getting busy.

Velocity matters more than most people think. Vary the velocity on the piano and the hats so the loop breathes instead of sounding stiff and programmed.

Ohgeesy Type Beat in 6 steps

The loops in step 1 stream right here and the mp3 is free. Then work through the six steps.

1. 1Pick a sample▾

   Grab a piano and strings loop in minor, 109 to 146 BPM, one with a shady, paranoid edge before any drums. Pick it from the list right below.

   • ▶
     Polite
     121 BPM · C#min
     AmbientStringsVintage
     @ndacompany
     ↓
   • ▶
     BIG RIMS
     143 BPM · Gmin
     ChoirDarkPiano
     @ndacompany
     ↓
   • ▶
     Swoosh
     110 BPM · Dmin
     AmbientDarkShoreline
     @ndacompany
     ↓
   • ▶
     Freitag
     116 BPM · C#min
     AmbientHappyVintage
     @ndacompany
     ↓
   • ▶
     100K
     111 BPM · Emin
     AmbientChoirPiano
     @ndacompany
     ↓
2. 2Lay the 808▾

   It is the foundation, start the mix here because it is the money. On the root of the loop key, eight bars kept plain, but give it some West Coast bounce rather than a static hold. Set it to cut itself and add a little saturation, then it pushes.
3. 3Hi-hats on top▾

   Start with a two-step and take single hats back out. The open hat drops into the gap for the bounce, with fast rolls only before a change. Pitching the hat up gives it a sharper, Detroit leaning feel if you want it.
4. 4Clap and kick▾

   A hard clap or snare on two and four, plus a quieter second layer panned to one side, with a few extra claps tucked in at the very end of the phrase. The kick stays soft and basic under the 808 and shares the bottom with it.
5. 5Try the pitch▾

   Once the drums sit, move the whole melody group one or two semitones and keep the shadiest, most paranoid position. Pull the 808 to the new root afterwards.
6. 6Arrange▾

   Keep it simple, less is more. 16 bars as the hook, a verse with one layer gone, then a bridge with a fresh sound. Drop a triangle riser every eight bars to lead into each change, swap the 808 for the synth bass under the verse, and pull the vocal chops out of the chorus so there is room for the artist.

West Coast and Shoreline Mafia

OhGeesy made his name in Shoreline Mafia before going solo with GEEZYWORLD. The LA style he rides, the one shared with Drakeo the Ruler and 03 Greedo, pairs tight, galvanising flows with paranoid instrumental loops and hyphy basslines.

A single like Big Bad Wolf with YG, produced by Ron-Ron the Producer, shows the mood: laid back and gritty at once. You are chasing that LA sensibility, not an Atlanta or New York one.

The paranoid loop and the bounce

The melody should feel a little shady and uneasy, not pretty. A piano or strings phrase with a tense note in it, kept simple so it loops like a hook and leaves room for the flow. A quick way in: play a triad, hit it twice, pitch it down 500 cents and hit it twice more, then drop one different chord at the very end as a small surprise.

Layering is where the loop gets its depth. Start with an acoustic piano, then stack an electric piano doing the same chords but staggered up an octave and strummed rather than hit flat on the one. A soft synth choir or a pad holding a single chord can sit behind it like a blanket, with no rhythm of its own. An eerie plugin colour on the strings, or pitching the strings down a couple of semitones, pushes the shady feeling further.

Under it, the bassline carries a rolling West Coast bounce. Let the 808 or synth bass move in a bouncy pattern rather than sitting on one long note, that movement is where the hyphy feel comes from. Many beats switch between a synth bass in the quieter sections and an 808 when it is time to bump.

808 and drums with bounce

The 808 is punchy and musical. Cut itself on and a little saturation, kept on the root, but written as a bouncing pattern so it rolls with the beat instead of just holding under it. Before you mix anything else, turn every sound in the project up to full so the 808 and the loop get an equal say, then balance from there.

The drums stay relaxed but in the pocket. A clap on two and four, a two-step hat with the open hat in the gap, and the odd roll before a change, with the kick written to follow the bassline so the low end moves as one. A rim or cowbell, a shaker and a triangle add extra bounce, but keep them light, a little goes a long way. A Bay Area style riser into the drops keeps the sections moving. Groove over clutter.

Common mistakes

A pretty, polished loop. This lane wants a shady, paranoid edge, a clean happy melody reads as the wrong coast entirely.

A static 808. The West Coast bounce lives in a moving bassline, so if the 808 just holds one note the beat loses its roll.

Leaving the lows in every track. High pass the piano and strings so the 808 owns the bottom on its own, otherwise the bounce turns to mud.

Overdoing the saturation. A small push on the 808 is enough, drive it too hard and the low end distorts instead of bumping.

Piling on percussion. The rim, shaker and triangle are there for a touch of bounce, not to fill every gap, and too much of them buries the flow.

In FL Studio and in Logic

Nothing in the steps above depends on the DAW. You need a sampler for the 808, an EQ and a reverb, nothing else.

FL Studio: the 808 goes in a sampler channel with cut itself on and some saturation in the channel. Draw the hats and rolls with the paintbrush, and write the 808 as a bouncing pattern rather than a hold. Select all the notes and use the strum tool to roll and spread the chords for that staggered piano feel. Route all the melodies to one bus and low-cut it so the 808 keeps the bottom, a vintage-style reverb like VintageVerb across that bus glues them.

Logic: Quick Sampler for the 808, set to mono, and pull the hold up in the amp envelope. Step Sequencer for the hats, one bus for all melody tracks with a Channel EQ cutting the lows plus a reverb.

Using the loops from NDA Company

Every loop here is played by hand, no AI, and free as an mp3. Grab a minor piano or strings loop with that shady edge from the list below, drop your 808 on its root, and you are most of the way to an Ohgeesy type beat before the drums are even in.