Writing Hip Hop Lyrics, The Basics

1. What To Write About 2. Rhyme Structure 3. Flow 4. Simile/Metaphor 5. Wordplay 6. Multies 7. Punch lines EXTRA 8. Alliteration

What To Write About A big problem new rappers seem to have is finding subjects to rap about. Now a lot of people might say you should rap about life and the problems you got. If you asked me that 6 months ago, I would say exact the same. Trust me, you can rap about a lot more than just those subjects. Look at 50 cent, Though a lot of people might define it unreal and fake, he enjoys the rapping and has a great flow in my opinion. Don’t you just want to have fun with it? And maybe make a nice income of it? Basic subjects Life

Problems Money Girls Cars Drugs Guns Love And so does the list go on. Now of course you can rap about the subjects I just mentioned, what I do advice just to learn what fits your style best. But let’s look at other ways to find a subject. Stealing Ideas This is the way I do NOT recommend. It is a sign of unoriginality and it’s also really amateur. There is another (more original) way of stealing ideas though. Let’s say you really like ‘Letter To My Unborn Child’ by 2Pac. You can name your song Letter To My Unborn Child and give it a whole different twist. Like writing it in a position being god. So you could write it like “I have a letter to my Unborn Child he comes in 09’” “He’ll tell all of you, that the world really is mine” “He can heal” “You can feel” “The power of the god, which happens to be me” ”Now In a whole new style, Look at it! A MC” Now that rap might not be the best ever. But the point I’m trying to give you, It’s original and people will recognize you. Another way to steal ideas is by going on different hip hop forums (I’ll use www.RapDogs.com as example). You simply register and log in. Then you go to the Freestyle and Open Mic subforum. I’ll give you some titles I see up there. Crime Of God by Red Tha Baron Against Time by makewayforenkay Magnetic Flux by T-Stylez Sweet Dreams by Danny JMC

Once again, I do not advice this kind of method. Inspiration Now this just might be the best way. Inspiration is different for anybody. Some get it from their fans, others from life and you could even get your inspiration from a playstation! Just look around you and try to think a line of it. This is also a great way to get similes which will be explained later on. I’m in my office now, I look around and I see my lamp. I look at it for a second and this comes up. “I hate life, it’s the Hip Hop I love” “’Cuz I Shine like a lamp but U Can’t Turn me off!” Now if you read it like this, It might seems wack. But I came up with it in less than a second, so it basically is a freestyle line. Just look around a bit and try to master your originality and skill. You might end up with these kind off lines: “You Can shine like the sun But I Turn U off Like A lamp” “You better start shining before I get into the game” “Stick a lamp in your ass, Flip u upside down and use u as a flashlight” Listening To Lyrics Another great way to get ideas is by listening to song lyrics. Right now I got the radio turned on. They are playing Soulja Boy – Crank Dat. I simply hate that song so normally I would turn off the radio, But I need to listen it for you guys! Well lets listen to the lyrics and write down some parts you hear. He Gon Pass It Lookin At My Neck Bouncin On My Toe

That’s what I got from listening that song. You might get more or less, but the idea will remain the same. Let’s look at each part. He Gon Pass It You might think, what the hell can I write about this? But Take a look. First I translate it to normal English, He is going to pass it. Now you can simply get ideas from this by setting up your mind the right way. “I’m in the club, Your boyfriend knows so he’s going to pass this one” “I get my Lay-Up on, he knows I score so he going to pass his ball” (Passing his balls, I bet you know what I mean with balls. And how do you call it when you get girls? I’m Scoring girls. That’s a bit of wordplay which will be explained later on) Lookin At My Neck I must confess, I can’t think of a line in a second with this one. “They be looking at my neck like, Damn!... he got fake chains!” “I Didn’t even hit you and I’m already blinding you ‘cuz u looking at my neck” Bouncin On My Toe “I shoot like westerns and get you bouncing on your toe” “I’m bouncing on my toe just to exercise foot muscles to kick you” Now you more or less know how to get idea’s we’ll take a look at what rhyme structure is and how to get a good rhyme structure.

Rhyme Structure A lot of people forget this one, Rhyme Structure. I’ll explain it by

giving an example. Which one of the two looks better? “I Shoot” “Just to get your girl who looks so cute” OR “Fuck Dress To Impress, I just shoot!” “Just to get your girl, who look so cute” I hope you chose the second one, since the bars almost have an equal length. Besides that, It rolls way better off the tongue. Try to keep it equal in length. That’s basically all I can say about this, It’ll return in the next topic, Flow!

Flow If you just skipped the rhyme structure topic, go back and read it. Flow is pretty much the same. You can define “Flow” as “The way it rolls off your tongue or goes on the beat”. The better it goes on the beat or rolls off your tongue, the better flow you got. Everybody’s flow can be different. Compare Eminem’s flow to Soulja Boys flow. It’s different, thought both might sound good. I really can’t give an example with flow except for the one in the Rhyme Structure topic. Make sure your flow is good at any time.

Simile/Metaphor Simile is a comparison that uses the words "LIKE" or "AS". It's another way of saying something indirectly.

The heat got me handling "beef" like a "Butcher" I be 'punking' niggas like I'm 'Ashton Kutcher

Metaphore is another form of comparison. However, it does not uses the words LIKE nor As. Metaphores are very effective in capturing your audience’s attention if your creativity is there. ."I spit so sharpe, every point I make will pierce through your heart" "Fuck the Sun, I spit hotter than it's father"

Wordplay This has to be the best part of writing a verse. Wordplays are puns. Or words that has double meaning used to conjoint two different concept together yet make sense out of it. It's just basically that, playing with words. I got a ~shotty~ I call it my "AXE", its givin niggas "BODY SPRAY" I got a ~AK~ I call it my "TAG" and it'll do the ~same~ Explanation I got a ~shotty~ I call it my "AXE", its givin niggas "BODY SPRAY" Axe is a type of body spray. And I'm saying I got a shotty and I'm givin niggas body spray or I'm spayin(shooting) them in they body. I got a ~AK~ I call it my "TAG" and it'll do the ~same~ That line is simular to the one above Tag is a type of body spray. And I'm saying I got a AK and it'll do the same. Another example, try to figure this one out yourself. Shit im a Star cuz im "OUT OF SIGHT", the "DARK BARREL" of my gun look like the "SKY AT NIGHT"

I'm the "LIGHT", see a "FLASH" and it could change ya whole ~life~

Multies Multisyllable are words that has more then one syllable. Or a single syllable words that are combined with other words to make or give it that multiplesyllable sounds, this is something a lot of rookies have trouble with. Bad Examples: “Ill stump you cause your dumb as i jump you and thump you.” Single words that all rhyme, are not multies. “ill show you the pain in my world reality shows” “and make you a laughing stock like reality shows” Words that are the same, with different meaning also are not multies “I can easily beat the shit-out-of-you” “letting off min nines using clips-in-two” this isn't a horrible multi but the reasons are that their not even syllable, syllables are different in amount, and all the words don’t rhyme, only the first and last Good example: “As we're exchanging-final-hits-in-this-chain-reaction” “im rearanging-spinal-discs-in-the-strangest-fashion” Exchanging – rhymes with – Rearanging Final – Spinal Hits – Discs In – In (Filler) This – The (Filler) Chain – Stran.. (pronounce like strain) est fashion – reaction (both 3 syllables) A syllable is the space between the words, Reaction has 3 syllables. Clap between the word. Re-Ac-Tion.

Final has 2 syllables. Fi-Nal.

Punchlines It's simple, it's basically are dissing lines. Or can be just a harsh line referring to watever. Bad Examples: “ I have a flow that no one can compare cause everyone knows the fear I impare” that is a weak and really corny punch-line Good Examples: “Going against me will cause ya reputation to fade away” “Cause when I battle niggas be getting ripped like gifts on christmas day” “You can't spit, I've seen crooked ass drop better shit”

Alliteration Alliterations are rarely used. Though it's real nice as a skit or a non-battle writtens. It's bars or verse that start off using the same first letter. (Letter F) Fuck a fist fight, I fickle from fainted fire to ferrocious flame just so you frame can fizzle at the first light (Letter S) Simply stated, it's sad to say son, your stupid stories of soldiers that sold ya surpassed the second stage of stupidity

Final Tips - Sign up for a rapforum, show your raps and get feedback! -Joining A forum is way better than myspace. -Always look for more information (www.thestateofhiphop.com)

-Listen to all kinds of music to get ideas

Ok now here is my personal ad, yes I took my time to write this so you better visit my site! If you want to hear me rap? Or hear someone who used this? Go to www.hyperface.wordpress.com