I get asked a lot "what are some good hip-hop VSTs?"

I tried to answer a few times, but I quickly realized there is no such thing.

There is sound and there is silence. What you do with both is what makes them hip-hop (or techno, R & B, cinematic, whatever).

Before there was Lil Jon and the Dirty South Crunk sound, there was already synths making that familiar sawtooth lead that was known mostly in the electronic/techno genre.

There is no drum sound I know of that was created specifically for hip-hop. Not even the legendary 808 was built with hip-hop in mind.

As a matter of fact I don't believe any sound exists that was created specifically for hip-hop, except for maybe the scratch which is actually another sound played back really fast.

What they are really asking, is "where can I find sounds that are trendy in hip-hop at the moment?". Or "How can I sound like a hip-hop song?". Unlimately they are looking for a way to be hip-hop when they don't fully understand what hip-hop is.

Hip-hop takes whats out there originally made for other things, brings em in, breaks the rules, mashes em up and spits it out with attitude and flava.

No sound will ever be to hip-hop the way a distorted, chunky guitar riff will be heavy metal. But you have heard that same heavy metal turned into hip-hop :)

Hip-hop has no one signature. It has a tag, a mural, a burner. It's a Sharpie and Krylon and Chalk and a pencil.

It's Kanye chipmunk fast and chopped and screwed slow.

It's the young'n with the sagging jeans and the OG with the pressed kahkis and the B-Boy with the velour sweat suit to the CEO in an Armani suit. It's Addidas, Nike Airs, Vans, Chucks.

It's the ghetto and yes it's the 'burbs. It's NY to LA to UK and beyond. It's the preacher and the sinner. The conscious and the unconcious. The celebration and the suffering.

Hip-hop is nothing and hip-hop is everything.

It sounds like a contradiction, but until you can understand that, you wont understand hip-hop. And if don't understand hip-hop, you can't make hip-hop.

As much as the world evolves and changes, someone out there will be there to mash up the next thing and get in your face. This is why hip-hop will never die.

So don't ask me "what is a good hip-hop VST or drum kit?".

Instead ask yourself how can you rock what you have to make it hip-hop?

That is your true path to hip-hop enlightenment.