How To Rap 101

[pointproven214]

Multi is short for “multi-syllable rhyme.” Multies
are phrases in which more than one syllable rhymes.
Multies can be double, triple, quadruple (etc…)
rhymes.

Normal rhyme: cat / hat
Multi rhyme: my cat / hi-hat

 

[pointproven214]

how to count bars


A bar is 4 beats
This is a little tricky because rappers and musicians
use different definitions of the word “bar.“ To some
rappers, a bar is two lines of a verse (i.e. one completed
rhyme).

To other rappers it is one line of a verse. To a
musician, a bar has nothing to do with lyrics, it has to
do with the beat. And this is the definition we’re going
to use.

A bar is the time it takes to count to 4 on rhythm in a
song. This is only true of songs in 4/4 time signature,
but that includes every single rap song I’ve ever heard.

Typically the snare drum will hit on the 2nd and 4th beat
in each bar. Most rap verses are either 8 or 16 bars
long. A line is whatever lyrics a rapper spits over one
bar.



Here's how you count
1-2-3-4 (thats 1 bar of music)
2-2-3-4
3-2-3-4
4-2-3-4 (this is 4 bars of music)
1-2-3-4 (start over with one)
[...]
this continues...
now, depending on the genre, song, bpm, and even artist, a layering change will happen. It might be a new instrument added, an instrument removed, beginning of vocals, new effect, etc... SOME KIND OF CHANGE.

This will pretty much ALWAYS happen on after bar # that is divisible by 4 [more specifically after every 2^N bar, where N is typically between 2 and 6). In other words by the end of every 4th, 8th, 16th, 32nd, or sometimes 64th bar some part of the song structure will change. You will notice this, keep your ears open.

 

[pointproven214]

advance multies

The next thing you
need to know is the difference between prominent
(or “stressed”) syllables and silent (or “unstressed”)
syllables. It’s the same thing that your English teacher
was teaching you when you did that Shakespeare lesson
on iambic pentameter. In this case, we’re going to use
it to figure out how to create long strings of quality
multis that flow well. The general rule is this: you have
to rhyme with the prominent syllables; you can ignore
the silent ones.


Prominent vs. Silent
The basic idea is that when you speak or rap there
are certain syllables that you stress or put emphasis
on and certain syllables that you don’t. When
analyzing poetry, you’d place an accent mark (/) over
the prominent syllables and a dash (-) over the silent
syllables

You have to rhyme with whatever has the most emphasis. So it'd be like rhyming this:

Chillin' in the dark
Really isn't hard

Chill and Real rhyme equally, and there's emphasis on them. Dark and Hard rhyme, and there's emphasis on them. These are the "prominent syllables". So I'll bold them since that's gonna make it easier to look at:


Everything that's not bolded just kinda goes together. They don't necessarily rhyme with eachother, but they bring the sentences together and flow smoothly. These what they're referring to as "silent" syllables. Stress isn't put on them when you say them outloud.

In effect, by doing things like this you take a 2 syllable rhyme and turn it into a 5 syllable rhyme

 

[pointproven214]

rhyme scheme

Rhyme Scheme
The rhyme scheme in a rap verse (or in a poem) is where
the rhymes fall in relation to other words or lines. In
a simple verse, the rhymes will fall only at the end of
each line. In English class, when analyzing poetry, the
rhyme scheme would be written out like this:

Rats in the front room, roaches in the back, A
junkies in the alley with the baseball bat, A
I tried to get away, but I couldn’t get far, B
cuz the man with the tow truck repossessed my car B

 

[pointproven214]

“In-rhyme” is short for “internal rhyme.” An in-rhyme
is any rhyme that occurs internally within a line.
Using them is a sure-fire way to improve your rhymes.
Like a subtle ingredient in a recipe, in-rhymes can
add big punch without calling too much attention to
themselves.

Moving fast like a pack of wolves hunting,
Telling all of these fake haters to stop frontin’

 

[pointproven214]

What is Wordplay?
An instance of wordplay in rap is when words signify
two or more different things that make sense in the
context of the line. Wordplay is literally just playing
with the meanings of words.



Creating Wordplay
How are you supposed to write lines like that? Follow
these steps and don’t do too many drugs.

Step 1. Pay Attention to New Words
Pay attention to words and their meanings in your life.
When you read or hear words that you don’t know,
write them down and then look up their definition.

Step 2. Look for Multiple Definitions
When you do look up a word, don’t just read the first
definition in the dictionary, read all the definitions.
This is crucial because wordplay is based on messing
around with multiple definitions



Step 3. Think About Words You Already Know
Do this exercise: look around you wherever you are
and make a list of the things you see. You could write
it down, or do it in your head. Now go through each
object and try to think if there are alternate meanings
for that word. If there are, take note of them.


Step 4. Create a Line Using Double-Meanings
Take a double meaning that you’ve observed and try to
craft some lines out of it. Here’s what I can do with the
three above. These lines don’t rhyme together, they
would be used apart:

 

[pointproven214]

Metaphor (noun) - A figure of speech in which
a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one
thing is used to designate another, thus making
an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or
“All the world’s a stage” (Shakespeare).
That’s a good definition.

In hip-hop, that definition
gets even broader. A metaphor is basically a creative
comparison between two things. For example: “I’m
going up faster than the price of gas” is considered a
metaphor. “The price of chicken is going up faster than
the price of beef” is not a metaphor (because it isn’t
creative; it’s obvious).

 

[pointproven214]

Punches are any phrases in your verse that diss your
opponent. Punchlines are lines that contain punches.
Punches can be general, broad attacks (“No skill, lil’
boy, you totally wack,”) or personal (“read my mind,
did your mama cut your hair, or is your barber blind?”).
But they should always hit hard.


Think of a freestyle battle like a boxing match. All the
fancy wordplay and sick flow is just you bobbing and
weaving. It’s important. You might sound good, and
people will feel it, but you can’t ever win the battle and
knock out your opponent if you don’t throw a few good
punches.

 

[pointproven214]

Perfect Rhyme (noun): Rhyme in which the final
accented vowel and all succeeding consonants
or syllables are identical, while the preceding
consonants are different.

This is what most people think of when they think
rhyme. Examples of perfect rhyme are: cat, hat, bat;
cake, bake, fake. Perfectly rhyming words don’t have
to be spelled the same way; it’s all about sound. For
example: great, late; height, fight; bought, knot. Those
are all perfect rhymes. And the words don’t have to be
the same length either. For example: rider, beside her;
dutiful, unbeautiful. Those are all examples of perfect
rhyme.


As Rakim demonstrated, however, we’re not talking
about “Hickory dikkory Dock.” In rap, not every
rhyme has to be at the end of a line. Rhymes don’t
have to be in a certain order or a certain word length.
In fact, some of the most prevalent types of rhyme in
hip-hop don’t rhyme perfectly at all. They’re called
slant rhymes.


In the Rakim line quoted earlier, he rhymes the word
“rhyme” with “line.” Those words don’t actually rhyme
with each other. “Rhyme” rhymes with “time, dime,
mime, I’m, and crime.” “Line” rhymes with “mine, pine,
whine, and tine.” But the two words sound remarkably
close. So Rakim uses slant rhyme to “finish the line.”


Perfect rhyme will work fine in a lot of situations. But
hip-hop innovators (and poets before them) found
it too limiting. Rappers began using slant rhyme to
allow them more freedom to express themselves.

 

[pointproven214]

Step 2: Add hooks and verses
Nearly every rap song consists of three basic parts: intros, hooks (choruses) and verses. Occasionally, you'll see some other elements, but usually rappers stick to these three.

Most songs begin with some instrumental bars, which are typically followed by a verse, although some do start with a hook. Very few songs begin with rapping. Usually the beat plays for 4 or 8 bars before the rapper comes in.

After the intro, most songs contain two to four verses of 16 to 32 bars each. The verse is the largest section of a song and usually contains the bulk of the information. When instructing your students, have them sketch out the song by dividing the academic content into verses that make sense. Verses are often of equal length, such as 16 bars each. However, they can also have different lengths.

After the first verse comes the hook, which is the most memorable (and often most important) part of many hip-hop songs. There are basically two types of hooks: rapped or sung. Many hooks incorporate both of these techniques. All kinds of rappers write the rapped hooks, while pop-type rappers favor the sung hooks. As your students are writing their hooks, know that they have these options.

It's important to have the hook accomplish two things. First, it must be fun to listen to, because it's the part that listeners are going to hear the most. This, I'm sure, is what The Sugarhill Gang was thinking about with this hook on "Rapper's Delight":

I said a hip-hop, the hippie the hippie,
To the hip hip-hop, uh you don't stop the rockin',
To the bang bang, say up jumped the boogie,
To rhythm of the boogie the beat.
That hook doesn't make any sense, but it is fun and oddly catchy. The second thing most hooks should do is advance the main idea of the song. Often, the best hooks do this without being obvious. Take this example from Jay-Z on a track where he basically just brags:

Can't touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable
Shake the unshakeable (it's Hovi baby)
Can't see the unseeable, reach the unreachable,
Do the impossible (it's Hovi baby)
He doesn't use the hook to come out and just say, "I am awesome," but that is the message. Since your students are writing an academic song, they'll want to think of a hook that can complement the subject. Students should always come back to the hook once they've written the whole song to see if they can improve it. Hooks are extremely important.