how do i write a good sixteen bar verse ? + more questions
- Thread starter RC998
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Pinyapplesuckas
He's A Good Man
Sorry for the long post
Focus is honestly the answer to all of that. Lack of creativity and writer's block will always happen. You just have to fight through it, but you cant force creativity.
Your first line always has to stand out...not sure what kind of rapper you are trying to be, but you gotta find ways to set yourself apart. Someone like Crooked I uses word play and multis to stand out...Young Thug uses different rhythmic patterns and melodies and constantly switches them up every few lines to keep things fresh....TechN9ne also does this. Kevin Gates has an equal amount of voice and lyrics. Some rappers lean on their voice and others lean on the words. You gotta figure out which one is your strength and try to accentuate it.
Staying on topic was always an issue for me as well. My mind is a clusterfukk so sometimes it shows in my lyrics, you just have to study your bars. When you are writing a line you have to always make sure it relates to the one before it. If theres no relation then you are gonna veer off into a random direction like a lot of rappers do today.
One big key to writing a good verse to me is knowing when and how to breathe. You can write some deadinthemiddleoflittleitaly bars but you gotta be able to say them. You can always punch in lines in the studio but when it comes time to perform it your lack of breath control is gonna be exposed unless your hype man is putting in OT. Biggie and more recently Roc Marciano are great at saying lots of great things while finding lots of time to breathe on the track and not overstating anything.
Your words mean a lot, but your delivery of them means more than anything you can say. Someone like Papoose or Eminem have lots of amazing lyrics and lines, but their vocal performance of said bars make it harder to accept...But someone like Pac could put so much emotion into his words that no matter what he said it sounded real and like he meant it and not like just some words on a paper. Like Evidence said back in the day, "MCs without a voice should write a book" ...Experiment with your voice and try new ways to deliver your rhymes. Practice your shyt and sing a part that you didnt even intend to sing, or stretch certain words differently...maybe even just repeat a word or two as an adlib in the recording to make that line stand out more.
Theres really so much that goes into writing a verse. Just make sure that it builds up to something and wraps up well. I feel like I've typed way too much so this is where i say goodbye lol
Your first line always has to stand out...not sure what kind of rapper you are trying to be, but you gotta find ways to set yourself apart. Someone like Crooked I uses word play and multis to stand out...Young Thug uses different rhythmic patterns and melodies and constantly switches them up every few lines to keep things fresh....TechN9ne also does this. Kevin Gates has an equal amount of voice and lyrics. Some rappers lean on their voice and others lean on the words. You gotta figure out which one is your strength and try to accentuate it.
Staying on topic was always an issue for me as well. My mind is a clusterfukk so sometimes it shows in my lyrics, you just have to study your bars. When you are writing a line you have to always make sure it relates to the one before it. If theres no relation then you are gonna veer off into a random direction like a lot of rappers do today.
One big key to writing a good verse to me is knowing when and how to breathe. You can write some deadinthemiddleoflittleitaly bars but you gotta be able to say them. You can always punch in lines in the studio but when it comes time to perform it your lack of breath control is gonna be exposed unless your hype man is putting in OT. Biggie and more recently Roc Marciano are great at saying lots of great things while finding lots of time to breathe on the track and not overstating anything.
Your words mean a lot, but your delivery of them means more than anything you can say. Someone like Papoose or Eminem have lots of amazing lyrics and lines, but their vocal performance of said bars make it harder to accept...But someone like Pac could put so much emotion into his words that no matter what he said it sounded real and like he meant it and not like just some words on a paper. Like Evidence said back in the day, "MCs without a voice should write a book" ...Experiment with your voice and try new ways to deliver your rhymes. Practice your shyt and sing a part that you didnt even intend to sing, or stretch certain words differently...maybe even just repeat a word or two as an adlib in the recording to make that line stand out more.
Theres really so much that goes into writing a verse. Just make sure that it builds up to something and wraps up well. I feel like I've typed way too much so this is where i say goodbye lol
Kobes Two Jerseys
8 or 24 best player of the era
Read a dictionary
mortuus est
Veteran
read a book, watch a movie
if u want to stay on topic, for example, youre writing a 16 bar about the matrix
jot down some matrix key words
-Neo
-trinity
-agents
-zion
-guns and kung fu
etc etc
you see where this is going? dont be afraid to break down your verses
if u want to stay on topic, for example, youre writing a 16 bar about the matrix
jot down some matrix key words
-Neo
-trinity
-agents
-zion
-guns and kung fu
etc etc
you see where this is going? dont be afraid to break down your verses
Pinyapplesuckas
He's A Good Man
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!
i stopped practicing a few years ago and it shows when i try to perform or rap again...i can still do it but my breath control and overall intensity is lacking
i stopped practicing a few years ago and it shows when i try to perform or rap again...i can still do it but my breath control and overall intensity is lacking
FruitOfTheVale
Superstar
Cosign the bolded. I disagree with the idea of "starting the verse out well" though, if anything that's what the hook is for. If your song starts out with the hook and the hook is good, people will usually listen to the rest of the song.
The only thing I would add is that imo a good verse is by definition memorable... Your verse will be absorbed differently by different listeners depending on their preference, but what separates you from the other 1000 rappers they've heard before? That's a lot of why how you say it is important... Even if you're a talented lyricist, your verse might largely fall on deaf ears if you didn't put enough thought into how you're delivering it. I've ran into this myself in the past and at times still struggle with it. In my own experience I've found that effective/successful songwriting comes from taking concepts that are familiar to most people and then flipping them in a personal/unique way.
Pinyapplesuckas
He's A Good Man
thats why i think the first line of the verse has to stand out...you can have the hottest hook ever and follow it up with "i like to go out to a bar every now and then" or some bullshyt....but people will remember the track more if you start it "IM IN THE CLUB 7 DAYS A WEEK!" lol
FruitOfTheVale
Superstar
True. That applies to the entire verse though, not just the first line.
Pinyapplesuckas
He's A Good Man
true. i was just saying you gotta grab the people as quick as you can. might have the hottest 8th bar but if 1-7 are forgettable people might never make it to them.
there are so many factors
Taadow
The StarchBishop™️
Live.
The best raps come from chit that happens to you and stuff you feel.
So the best way to get those is to go out and feel things and do stuff.
When you get THAT SPARK, bars are gonna come pouring out of you.
When that happens, your bars will most likely stay on topic.
But even outside of that, break your mental chains. I mean...
- don't make rapping feel like a job. I say that to say, don't trap yourself into thinking
"I have to write all the time, and I have to write 16s..." When you get THAT SPARK,
you're gonna get bars...and you might fucc around and write 60 bars about one thing.
- don't be afraid of going off topic in rhymes...unless you're writing a story or something.
FruitOfTheVale
Superstar
Real spit, the best material happens when you let it come to you.
This.
Also, when it doesn't flow super easy, I start at the end. Sometimes, the big ending is easy, then you just have to get there logically.
Or you can just be like 90% of rappers out right now and have random bars after random bars and then drop a catchy hook that has nothing to do with any of the bars you just spit.
I can't beleive that that is allowed to slide....and most ppl just don't care. Its a huge pet peeve of mine.
I can't beleive that that is allowed to slide....and most ppl just don't care. Its a huge pet peeve of mine.
I would rather hear a rapper say "I like to go out to a bar every now and then" actually,cuz that would have me like "
",just because its not the typical thing you would here on a rap song
?But then I would be wondering "Hmm,well why do you go to the club only every now and then,instead of 7 days a week like everybody else
?",if you fail to have a profound explanation,or a cool explanation to why that is,you failed as much as the rapper who goes 7 days a weel,but failed to explain what makes him different from the other 1000's of rappers who go to the club 7 days a weekTheres no genre like hiphop breh
,its almost the same as running a political campaign
..You gotta explain why your way of seeing and doing things is cooler than everybody elses....even if you are basically the same as all the rest of the candidates,you gotta know how to say it in a prettier way where it sounds better,or word it where it sounds unheard of