Published on 2024-07-29, 531 words
Lookin At Me by Chrome Sparks is, in my opinion, the most under-appreciated song of the 2010s EDM trap era. Jump to 42 seconds in and listen to the crazy time signature. (Spoiler: it’s just 4/4 (or is it?)).
This song, released as a standalone single in 2013, is a major outlier from the rest of Chrome Sparks’ music. He otherwise makes music that’s big-production, spacey, chill-but-danceable, deep soul samples and wide reverbing pads.
Lookin At Me is a bare-naked trap beat. You almost expect Big Freedia to start rapping. Then, you get served a drop with a mind-bending beat that slaps but feels totally out of time. Here’s a breakdown of what’s going on.
The intro and ‘verses’ of Lookin At Me use a basic trap beat based on the Tresillo rhythm. A 4/4 measure can be subdivided into 8 eighth notes. The Tresillo puts those eight notes into three groups - two groups of 3-eighth notes (or a staccato dotted quarter note) followed by a group of 2-eighth notes. You can count it as a fast “12312312”.
A variation used in many trap songs is to extend the syncopation over 16 beats - four groups of 3, followed by two groups of 2 - so that the beat doesn’t “land” on the downbeat for another measure. A classic example is A Milli by Lil Wayne.
The first “drop” of Lookin At Me, starting around 42 seconds in, is where the mind-bending beat comes in. It starts out sounding like the same syncopated tresillo beat - but then the syncopation keeps going. The punishing kick-drum eighth note pulse makes it extra disorienting.
This is like the 16-beat variation from A Milli, but here it’s stretched over 32-beats, or four measures. It’s ten groups of three (30 eighth notes) followed by a group of two, so the downbeat finally lands every 32 counts. This can technically be written over 4/4 time:
But, I think that notating it as three measures of 9/8 followed by a measure of 5/8 is much closer to the actual groove.
Things get more interesting is the second drop around 1:13. This doesn’t have the kick-drum pulse going; the kick and bass are following the 9/8-5/8 pattern.
But, now there’s a backbeat snare. The snare “sits” perfectly in the rhythm, but where is it actually landing? On paper, the snare hits look arbitrary. It doesn’t line up with the other instruments.
Why does this work? Let’s look at it in 4/4 instead. The snare lands on the offbeat (the 3-count) of each measure! It’s a polymeter.
That’s pretty much it - the song goes back and forth between the basic 1-bar Tresillo and the 4-bar 9/8-5/8 (or, 3-against-4 polymeter) beat, with some cool sounding vocal samples and other interesting percussion.
To get a feel for the energy that this song has, check out this live version too. The polymetric section starts at around :32. Jeremy (center) is bobbing his head in 4/4. The drummer (right) is playing both sides of the polymeter - offbeat snare hits, 9/8-5/8 kicks. The other guy (left) is playing the main 9/8-5/8 melody.