If you want to start rap, you have to start somewhere. Biggie started on street corners in Brooklyn, singing with a boom-box and challenging everyone who wanted to compete with him, sometimes winning and sometimes losing. So he learned the art of rap, and he kept getting better. It probably won't be that hard for you, but your goal will be the same. Listen to the sounds around you, write rhymes and start building songs from them.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Listen to Hip Hop
Step 1. Listen to as much hip-hop music as possible
You will have to listen to a lot of hip-hop and rap songs before you try to write something of your own. Study the history and culture of rap and try to understand its bases and roots. Rap is a living and evolving culture in which you will have to immerse yourself. If you don't know who Big Daddy Kane is, or you only know Ice Cube for his funny movie roles, you need to do a lot of research.
In recent years, free online mixtape distribution has become an important part of hip-hop. Lil Wayne's success in the mid-2000s grew out of a free online mixtape, largely made up of freestyles. Listening to free mixtapes is a great way to enter the world of contemporary hip-hop
Step 2. Listen carefully
Study the skills of other rappers until you are able to form your own style. You are not copying, you are learning. Copy their rhymes and freestyles and read them as you would a poem. It will also be useful to study their music, to find beats you like to rap on.
- Eminem is known for his fast flow, intricate rhyming patterns and metric perfection, while Lil Wayne is known for his strong expressions and similes. Find rappers to challenge you like NF, A $ AP Rocky, Tribe Called Quest, Big L, Nas, Mos Def, Notorious BIG, Tupac, Kendrick Lamar, Freddie Gibbs, Jedi Mind Tricks, Army of The Pharaohs, MF Grimm, Jus Allah, Shabazz Palaces and the Wu-Tang Clan are very different and talented rappers or bands that you should listen to.
- Listening to rap you don't like can also help you find your style. Get opinions and argumentative. Start a debate with your friends about the different rappers. Talk about who sucks and who is great.
Step 3. Memorize the lines
Choose the best parts of your favorite songs and listen to them continuously, until you have learned them by heart. Recite them as you walk. Learn each syllable and how the words connect together, as well as the feeling that the words leave you when you say them.
- Think about what strikes you about the verse you are singing. What do you like? What makes it memorable?
- Find an instrumental version of the song you memorized and practice singing it to the music. This will help you understand the flow and speed of the exposure.
Part 2 of 3: Writing Rhymes
Step 1. Write a lot of rhymes
Always keep a notebook with you, or use your phone to write rhymes, and try to write at least 10 a day. At the end of the week, re-read them and choose the best ones to create a "Best of the Week" list, which you could use for a song. Eliminate bad stanzas and keep only the best ones.
At the end of the week, you may just have a few rhymes left. It's not a problem. When you are a beginner, you will write a lot of low quality texts. It is inevitable. It takes work and a lot of effort to write songs that everyone wants to hear
Step 2. Write "rhyming groups" in your notebook
A rhyming group is a group of short interchangeable phrases and words. For example, all participle verbs form a group of rhymes. Start creating an encyclopedia of rhymes that you can start memorizing and referring to when you write songs or freestyle.
Step 3. Insert the lyrics in your songs
After a few weeks of writing, you should have a good supply of rhymes. Put a few together, move them around, and start thinking about how to build a song. Write more verses to fill in the blanks and complete the piece.
- Songs that deal with a story they usually have tragic elements in classic hip-hop. Stories must tell who, what and when to paint a bold picture of the scene or event you are describing. Raekwon and Freddie Gibbs are excellent storyteller rappers.
- THE boast raps contain many catchy phrases. You won't need to go further than Lil Wayne to find the self-crowned king of rhyming self-celebration. Artists like him use many similes and metaphors to compare themselves to all kinds of greatness.
- The Pop rap or the trap gives great importance to the chorus. Chief Keef's rhymes can be terrible, but he has a great ear for choruses. Try to write simple verses that flow perfectly into the beat. "Don't Like" and "Sosa" have simple catchy choruses that will stay in your head for weeks. The same goes for Soulja Boy's "Crank That". To talk about more classic examples, think of "C. R. E. A. M." of the Wu-Tang Clan and all the songs of Snoop Dogg.
Step 4. Try freestyle
Find a beat you like, an instrumental version of a song that you always listen to, or try rapping on the intros and queues. Find the beat, get to know it, and try to sing what is on your mind.
- Start with a good "opening verse," something that strikes and stimulates your mind, then rely on your rhyming groups to move on.
- Don't try to freestyle in front of another person if you haven't had a lot of practice. You might get it wrong right away, but try to stay in time, follow the flow, and recover if you start to struggle. Don't stop, or it will be over. Even if you will be forced to rap nonsense syllables, make sure they rhyme and move on.
Step 5. Take your time
You won't be able to write great songs right away. Focus on the little things, get better at freestyle and learn how to write songs. Develop your voice and your style, without copying other rappers. You don't have to become like one of them, but develop your style and your rap.
Even Chief Keef and Soulja Boy, rappers who rose to fame at 16 and 17, didn't always know how to write songs, but they had to work hard for 6-7 years before reaching success. Judge your work critically if you really want to be a rapper. GZA found success at 25, and started rap as a child
Part 3 of 3: The Next Step
Step 1. Watch a freestyle competition or rap battle
In these races, competitors have to freestyle to a beat chosen by a DJ and have limited time available, so they don't have much time to think before they start composing rhymes. If you want to take part in a battle, you will have to face another MC who may be more experienced than you and is eager to embarrass you with crude insults to gain public approval. These competitions are some of the most exciting aspects of rap, but you'll have to learn to be tough and be good before you put yourself to the test.
You should attend many competitions before entering. Know your skills and those of your opponent before taking the stage
Step 2. Create original music
Try connecting with up-and-coming local or internet producers who offer you original beats to work on. If you have a beat, you won't need much more than an audio editing program and a microphone to make hip-hop music.
Attending concerts, competitions, and battles is a great chance to meet other rappers and producers you might collaborate with, or who may have resources to share with you
Step 3. Put your music on the internet
If at the end you have enough material that you are proud of, open a YouTube channel to show your music and start sharing it on social networks. Create a mixtape and distribute it for free on the internet. Increasingly, rappers who get big deals generate publicity and interest by releasing free mixtapes.
Write your music on CD and make copies for gigs and venues including your contact information
Step 4. Keep practicing
Keep the beats on your phone or iPod and freestyle in your mind when doing daily activities, such as walking the street, taking the bus or train, or shopping. The more you practice rhymes, the better you will get.
Advice
- A rhyming can be very useful to you.
- Don't rush the rhymes. Write them down so you can pronounce them clearly! Don't say what other people want you to say. Do what you want.
- Make sure you express yourself while rapping.
- Be yourself and move on.
- Make sure you declaim the text clearly and loudly. Fans want to understand what you say.
- Speak clearly when you rap.
- Many people would like to be like Eminem or Lil 'Wayne. Try to be yourself and to rap in the most natural way.
- When raping, try using instrumental beats to improve your skills.
- You write rap not only about yourself, but also about things that happen to all people. Don't try to be a role model, but to give comfort.
- Create a "crew" with other MCs to improve with them.
Warnings
- Don't steal other people's beats, or serious problems could arise.
- Don't drop out of school to become a rapper, because there is little chance that you will make it, even if you have a lot of talent. Even if you manage to rock, there will be time to rap and time to learn.
- Don't say anything that would offend a certain category or race of people.
