Writing good rap lyrics is just a matter mastering a certain set of skills. Follow the steps below and watch your raps go from plain and lame to polished and professional.
What Your Rapping About
The Subject matter, or what you decide to rap about is called content. Content is the big picture - the message of your lyrics. It can be something from your own life experience, something you heard someone say, or maybe just a story you made up. There are no right or wrong choices so if you want to write about politics AND expensive cars AND what you ate for dinner last night, go for it.
Whatever it is you decide to write about, it's important that you know your subject matter well. Don't feel like you need to write about something just because everyone else is, this will only get you into trouble. Not only will it make the writing process a lot harder and slower, but it will also require you to spend a lot more time practicing your delivery later on.
Choose The Right Words
Once you've settled on a subject, the next step is to choose the right words to describe it. The words you end up using and the way that you put those words together to form a lyric is called flow.
Flow is a lot like poetry. And just like poetry it's goal is to convey ideas, feelings, and images, through words. But choosing the right words can be somewhat difficult depending on your subject matter and your experience level as a writer. As a rule of thumb, they should be efficient- that is, they should be able to convey whatever it is you're trying to get across to your listeners in an interesting, but not overly complicated way. My suggestion is to go with what comes most naturally.
Stuck on which words to choose? Try this. Give up writing for a few days - maybe even a whole week. Take this time off to learn just how it is that you communicate. Pay attention to the way you talk to your friends and family, the words you use and how you use them differently than everyone else. How do you tell a story differently than most people, what do you find funny or sad that the people around you don't. These differences are your voice and the place you should be coming from every time you sit down to write. Trust me, the words will come.
Performing The Words
Congratulations you are now a lyricist. But a good rapper is a lot more than just lyrics. So, it's time to turn them into a rap. The performance part of rap and hip hop is called delivery and without it your content and your flow would just be a bunch of words on a page.
Think of your delivery as a performance, either on a record or in front of an audience. It's how you take a sheet of lyrics and literally deliver them to your listeners. The level of energy you bring, the way you accentuate and emphasize words, and the tone and pitch of your voice are all part of your delivery. How you perform your lyrics is a matter of personal choice. You can be smooth and confident or choppy and sarcastic, it's up to you so experiment and have fun.
How It All Fits Togther
You can probably see by now that there is a strong relationship between each of the elements within a rap. The way you deliver a lyric can depend on the words you choose. And, the words you choose can be influenced by what you rap about. Even the rap beats and hip hop instrumentals you choose can affect how you write.
While your writing, it's important to keep these relationships in mind. But, know that there isn't one right or wrong way to go about it. You can start with a certain kind of delivery in mind and work your way backwards if it works better for you. Rap, like any other art is about expression, so above all be yourself.
What Your Rapping About
The Subject matter, or what you decide to rap about is called content. Content is the big picture - the message of your lyrics. It can be something from your own life experience, something you heard someone say, or maybe just a story you made up. There are no right or wrong choices so if you want to write about politics AND expensive cars AND what you ate for dinner last night, go for it.
Whatever it is you decide to write about, it's important that you know your subject matter well. Don't feel like you need to write about something just because everyone else is, this will only get you into trouble. Not only will it make the writing process a lot harder and slower, but it will also require you to spend a lot more time practicing your delivery later on.
Choose The Right Words
Once you've settled on a subject, the next step is to choose the right words to describe it. The words you end up using and the way that you put those words together to form a lyric is called flow.
Flow is a lot like poetry. And just like poetry it's goal is to convey ideas, feelings, and images, through words. But choosing the right words can be somewhat difficult depending on your subject matter and your experience level as a writer. As a rule of thumb, they should be efficient- that is, they should be able to convey whatever it is you're trying to get across to your listeners in an interesting, but not overly complicated way. My suggestion is to go with what comes most naturally.
Stuck on which words to choose? Try this. Give up writing for a few days - maybe even a whole week. Take this time off to learn just how it is that you communicate. Pay attention to the way you talk to your friends and family, the words you use and how you use them differently than everyone else. How do you tell a story differently than most people, what do you find funny or sad that the people around you don't. These differences are your voice and the place you should be coming from every time you sit down to write. Trust me, the words will come.
Performing The Words
Congratulations you are now a lyricist. But a good rapper is a lot more than just lyrics. So, it's time to turn them into a rap. The performance part of rap and hip hop is called delivery and without it your content and your flow would just be a bunch of words on a page.
Think of your delivery as a performance, either on a record or in front of an audience. It's how you take a sheet of lyrics and literally deliver them to your listeners. The level of energy you bring, the way you accentuate and emphasize words, and the tone and pitch of your voice are all part of your delivery. How you perform your lyrics is a matter of personal choice. You can be smooth and confident or choppy and sarcastic, it's up to you so experiment and have fun.
How It All Fits Togther
You can probably see by now that there is a strong relationship between each of the elements within a rap. The way you deliver a lyric can depend on the words you choose. And, the words you choose can be influenced by what you rap about. Even the rap beats and hip hop instrumentals you choose can affect how you write.
While your writing, it's important to keep these relationships in mind. But, know that there isn't one right or wrong way to go about it. You can start with a certain kind of delivery in mind and work your way backwards if it works better for you. Rap, like any other art is about expression, so above all be yourself.
About the Author:
Get rap beatsfor your next project at www.monstamyndbeatz.com and read more about how to write a rap at our blog.
