Big beat (also Big Beat, or sometimes chemical breaks) is a term devised in the mid 1990s by the British music press, as a way of describing the work of The Chemical Brothers, but was defined by the work of Fatboy Slim. At a time when electronic dance music tended to have deliberately artificial, robotic beats mixed with sampled drum loops, the Chemical Brothers took the unusual step of recreating rock-style drum lines with individually-sampled drums, their music consequently combining elements of dance and rock music. The term caught on, and was subsequently applied to a wide variety of acts, notably Bentley Rhythm Ace.

Other 'big beat' acts included Fatboy Slim as mentioned before, the aforementioned Bentley Rhythm Ace (and other artists from Brighton's Skint label), Mr. Oizo , and (to some extent with their later work) The Prodigy. By the time of the latter's successful 1997 album The Fat of the Land, the music press were increasingly drawn to the term 'electronica' instead, and 'big beat' is now no longer used.

Big beat tended to feature distorted, compressed breakbeats at moderate tempos, acidic synthesizer lines and heavy jazz loops. It was often punctuated with punkish-style vocals and driven by intense, distorted basslines, with conventional pop and techno structures.