If you haven't already heard of the beat scene and decide to use google for information, be sure to dig a little deeper than the first few links.
The beat scene is located in Los Angeles and began forming around 2006 when Daddy Kev established Low End Theory (no not the A Tribe Called Quest album). Low End Theory was the public showroom for his label Alpha Pup Records which was home to a lot of the beat artists back then. By 2008 the scene had developed a following and Flying Lotus, one of the pioneers in the beat scene, released his first album which got heard across the world. And so a new scene had exploded from withing Los Angles.
Meanwhile the beat scene has made an impact on popular music. Some artists have become famous like Flying Lotus, Kaytranada, Thundercat, Shlohmo... Thundercat was featured in 2015 on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly. Flying Lotus has also collaborated with Kendrick lamar and Kaytranada produced his own album 99,9% which has gotten a lot of attention.
When listening to beat music you can immediately notice the presence of hip hop, 'wonky' beats and synths. Another good way to look at beat music is that it's a take on IDM (intelegent dance music) using hip-hop, R&B and jazz as a base rather than techno, acid house and/or ambient.
