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Musical Styles with Polyrhythmic Structures

Musical Styles with Polyrhythmic Structures

This curated list of 7 songs per genre (totaling 70 songs) that prominently feature polyrhythmic structures — overlapping rhythms that create depth and groove — reflect rhythm complexity, syncopation, and layered percussion patterns that are hallmarks of polyrhythm:

Contemporary Pop

  1. Beyoncé – “End of Time”
  2. Billie Eilish – “Bad Guy”
  3. Lorde – “Royals”
  4. Justin Timberlake – “Don’t Hold the Wall”
  5. Ariana Grande – “Into You” (percussive layering)
  6. Dua Lipa – “Levitating”
  7. Bruno Mars – “24K Magic”

Classical

  1. Igor Stravinsky – “The Rite of Spring”
  2. Steve Reich – “Music for 18 Musicians”
  3. Béla Bartók – “Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta”
  4. John Adams – “Short Ride in a Fast Machine”
  5. György Ligeti – “Études for Piano”
  6. Charles Ives – “The Unanswered Question”
  7. Olivier Messiaen – “Quartet for the End of Time”

Country

  1. Zac Brown Band – “The Wind”
  2. Chris Stapleton – “Outlaw State of Mind”
  3. Dixie Chicks – “Sin Wagon”
  4. Sturgill Simpson – “Turtles All the Way Down”
  5. Kacey Musgraves – “High Horse” (country-disco fusion with layered rhythm)
  6. Johnny Cash – “Ghost Riders in the Sky”
  7. Willie Nelson – “Bloody Mary Morning”

Jazz

  1. Dave Brubeck – “Take Five” (5/4 meter)
  2. Miles Davis – “Footprints”
  3. Herbie Hancock – “Actual Proof”
  4. Charles Mingus – “Moanin'”
  5. Thelonious Monk – “Straight, No Chaser”
  6. John Coltrane – “Afro Blue”
  7. Esperanza Spalding – “I Know You Know”

R&B

  1. D’Angelo – “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”
  2. Erykah Badu – “On & On”
  3. Maxwell – “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder)”
  4. Sade – “Cherish the Day”
  5. Alicia Keys – “Unbreakable”
  6. Frank Ocean – “Pyramids”
  7. Anderson .Paak – “Am I Wrong”

Rap

  1. Kendrick Lamar – “DNA.”
  2. Outkast – “B.O.B”
  3. Kanye West – “Black Skinhead”
  4. MF DOOM – “Accordion”
  5. Travis Scott – “SICKO MODE”
  6. Missy Elliott – “Lose Control”
  7. Jay-Z – “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”

Hip-Hop

  1. J Dilla – “Don’t Cry”
  2. The Roots – “The Seed (2.0)”
  3. Lauryn Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)”
  4. A Tribe Called Quest – “Electric Relaxation”
  5. Tyler, the Creator – “See You Again”
  6. Childish Gambino – “3005”
  7. De La Soul – “Stakes Is High”

Bluegrass

  1. Béla Fleck & the Flecktones – “Sinister Minister”
  2. Nickel Creek – “Smoothie Song”
  3. Tony Rice – “Manzanita”
  4. Punch Brothers – “Rye Whiskey”
  5. Alison Krauss – “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn”
  6. Billy Strings – “Dust in a Baggie”
  7. Sam Bush – “Circles Around Me”

Latin

  1. Tito Puente – “Oye Como Va”
  2. Santana – “Soul Sacrifice”
  3. Rubén Blades – “Plástico”
  4. Celia Cruz – “Quimbara”
  5. La Sonora Carruseles – “Micaela”
  6. Grupo Niche – “Cali Pachanguero”
  7. Afro-Cuban All Stars – “A Toda Cuba le Gusta”

Rock

  1. The Police – “Message in a Bottle”
  2. Tool – “Schism”
  3. Radiohead – “15 Step”
  4. Led Zeppelin – “Kashmir”
  5. King Crimson – “Frame by Frame”
  6. Genesis – “The Cinema Show”
  7. Queen – “The March of the Black Queen”