Grime drum patterns.

1. 2000s

   1. 2000
      

      Know We

      Pay As U Go Cartel

      Wiley's garage crew pushing toward darker, MC-led beats; one of the main contenders for the first grime record
   2. 2001
      

      21 Seconds

      So Solid Crew

      Root: UK No. 1 garage track rotating MCs over stripped 2-step drums, a bridge from garage to grime's MC format
   3. 2001
      

      Booo!

      Sticky ft. Ms Dynamite

      Root: dubplate-turned-hit whose heavy, dark garage production helped steer UK garage toward grime
   4. 2002
      

      Landmark

      Pulse X

      Musical Mob (Youngstar)

      ReBirth-sequenced 16-bar loop with no intro that drops to bare kick and snare; widely called grime's first beat
   5. 2002
      

      Landmark

      Eskimo

      Wiley

      Archetype of Wiley's eskibeat: icy synths over awkward, off-kilter drums, first sold on white-label 12-inch
   6. 2002
      

      Creeper

      Danny Weed

      Roll Deep producer's creaking string riff over a plain grime beat, among the first tracks labelled grime
   7. 2003
      

      Landmark

      I Luv U

      Dizzee Rascal

      Made at 16; a stuttering intro drops into a jerky, bass-heavy rhythm he linked to crunk and Three 6 Mafia
   8. 2003
      

      Ice Rink (Dizzee Rascal vocal)

      Wiley

      Eskibeat riddim of car-door-slam drums and clicks landing off the expected beat; voiced by a wave of East London MCs
   9. 2003
      

      War

      Jon E Cash

      Black Ops sublow instrumental: slinkier, garage-rooted drums over deep sub-bass; revoiced by Novelist in 2015
   10. 2003
       

       Cock Back

       Terror Danjah ft. Hyper, Crazy Titch, D Double E & Riko

       Eerie Aftershock riddim first out as a 2003 Nasty Crew single, then opener of 2005's Run the Road compilation
   11. 2003
       

       Fix Up, Look Sharp

       Dizzee Rascal

       Built on a sample of Billy Squier's 'The Big Beat' and its drum break; Dizzee's first UK top-20 hit (No. 17)
   12. 2004
       

       Wot Do U Call It?

       Wiley

       Wiley's naming-debate single; his Korg Triton work here helped make that synth a grime staple
   13. 2004
       

       Functions on the Low

       Ruff Sqwad (XTC)

       XTC's melodic instrumental, one of grime's most-voiced riddims; reused for Stormzy's 2015 hit 'Shut Up'
   14. 2004
       

       Pow! (Forward)

       Lethal Bizzle

       Dexplicit's riddim under a posse cut that hit UK No. 11 and was banned by venues over claims it sparked fights

2. 2010s

   1. 2012
      

      Kowloon

      Logos

      Keysound EP that thinned eski drums into sparse, spacious patterns, a starting point of instrumental grime's revival
   2. 2014
      

      German Whip

      Meridian Dan ft. Big H & JME

      HeavyTrackerz production that reached UK No. 13 and is credited with kick-starting grime's mid-2010s comeback
   3. 2014
      

      Landmark

      That's Not Me

      Skepta ft. JME

      Skepta's deliberate throwback to early grime with an 80-pound video; Complex's most impactful grime song of the 2010s
   4. 2014
      

      Take Time

      Mumdance ft. Novelist

      Mumdance production for teenage Lewisham MC Novelist; Clash called it one of that year's defining grime tracks
   5. 2015
      

      Shutdown

      Skepta

      Ragz Originale and Skepta beat with a Drake Vine sample; a revival anthem from the Mercury-winning Konnichiwa

Press play to loop each record's busiest two bars. Patterns are machine-detected from the recordings, not verified transcriptions.