Successful rappers often write songs about their vast wealth and party life, and who wouldn’t want to get on that train? But more than that, rap is a powerful form of artistic expression that harnesses the complexity of human language, rather than simply sound, to make music. Rap covers everything from the mundane to the sophisticated, from light-hearted joke rhymes to violent tales of urban struggle—the key is to write catchy lyrics and deliver them with style. Being a rapper is no easy task and there will be plenty of haters and competitors who want you to fail. But if you put your mind to it, make great music, build a fan base, and get the right social connections, you can accomplish great things in this "game" too.
Method 1 Learn to rap
1Learn to put words together based on rhythm, rhyme, and meaning patterns. At its most elementary level, rap involves reciting lyrics around a beat, but good rap uses a variety of linguistic strategies such as alliteration, repetition, and puns. Good rap also has energy and personal style that makes the song interesting and fits the beat.
• Study poetry, literature and music to understand what is possible.
• Play games to learn rap and try to express all daily sentences in improvised rap form. This will give you fresh ideas and help develop an intuition for how words naturally fit together.
2Write every day. Write about topics you know and care about, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Write down any lyrics that pop into your head throughout the day, but also take the time to sit down with a few lines, connections, and transitions to form a complete song.
• Write down as many rhymes and interesting word combinations as possible. Over the course of Eminem's career, he collected dozens of boxes containing notebooks containing possible rap lyrics. The lyrics you write should fill at least a suitcase.
3. Practice, practice, practice pronunciation and enunciation. The best lyrics in the world won't make you successful if you can't deliver them with confidence, energy, and personal style. Practice rapping the lyrics as loudly and passionately as possible. Experiment with different speeds, volumes, inflections, and pauses.
• Memorize the lyrics, add a rich personal touch, and try singing along. When you think you've got it, pick an instrumental version of your favorite song and try rapping the song without the guidance of the original singer. Once you have mastered this, then practice the unaccompanied form.
• Find out what's interesting in your own voice and make the most of it. Don’t try to imitate other rappers—use your own unique voice.
4Learn from top rappers. Listen to famous and influential rap artists and examine their lyrics. Look for the different techniques they use as well as song structures. Decide on a style you like and explore until you have a good understanding of the genre. Study the quotes and jokes behind many classic rap lyrics.
• You can be influenced by other rappers, but don't turn into a copycat. At a certain point, you need to cut out all distractions and focus on your music.
Method 2 Create Music
1 moves on to the next stage - the beat. Every great rap song should have a unique and catchy beat that sets it apart from the generic stuff that's flooding the airwaves.
• Buying beat-making software and equipment costs a lot of money, and learning how to make beats is often as daunting a task as learning how to rap. However, it's totally worth making your own beats if you can, as you'll have greater creative control and a deeper understanding of the song.
• If you don’t want to make your own beats, you can hire or work with a producer. Make sure the person is talented and listen to their work before buying anything.
• If you're just starting out and can't afford your own beat-making equipment, consider rapping over a backing version of a popular rap song. Just make sure you follow fair use rules for copyrighted material. Of course, you can't always rap to the accompaniment of other singers.
2. Record your own rap. It is best to record in a professional recording studio, but if the workload is small, you can also set up a recording studio at home.
• Take a few takes of each part of the song—you're not Jay-Z yet! Don't worry if you make a mess; you can always use another recording of that part.
3 mix songs. Master the recording and rap over the best beats. Keep tinkering with the song until it sounds great, adjusting the beat and vocals until they fit together seamlessly.
• Give the song a name. Consider using a recognizable word or phrase from a song.
4 Make the first collection. Many people think of a compilation as a CD of songs from various artists for your boyfriend or girlfriend. But a compilation is more like an album in the sense that it inspires rappers, albeit usually less polished and generally distributed informally or for free.
• Think about the order of the songs in the collection. Try to create a narrative or emotional mood with these songs, even if they are not necessarily related.
• Create album covers creatively. This can be anything, a photo of yourself, or just text on a blank background, or abstract art. If you're not artistically gifted with visuals, find an artist to help you.
• Burn CD copies of some collections to distribute to others, or publish online.
• If you don't have enough songs for a compilation but still want to start your music career, consider just releasing a single song instead. Make sure the song you release is great and have an artistic cover for it like the album
Method 3 Start a Music Journey
1. Participate in open-air singing activities and rap competitions. Use it as your own stage to rock out and let everyone remember your name. All you have to do is participate and sing. Make sure the audience you pick for your event are hip-hop fans.
• Immerse yourself in the world of improvised rap. You don't have to be a great improviser to be a good rapper, but the latter certainly helps. Confrontation while rapping is a way to hone your skills and make yourself known.
2. Online promotion. A vibrant group of pioneering groups and aspiring rappers have formed a world on the Internet, sharing and discussing their music. Simply putting your music online doesn't mean that anyone will pay attention and listen to it—you have to promote it.
• Submit your music to sites like DJBooth and send it to popular hip-hop blogs.
• Create a Myspace account, a Facebook profile and a Twitter account. Share your music and promote shows and upcoming albums through these social platforms. Build a fan base and capture their interests.
3 Book a live show. At a music venue, perhaps as an opening act for a bigger act, ask around and try to perform interactively with the hip-hop audience. Try to make some money from these events, but don't be afraid to put on a few free shows just to get your name known to the audience.
• Print some t-shirts, burn some compilations and other merchandise to sell at the show.
• Work on your stage presence. Don’t just stand there and recite the lyrics—you have to interact with the audience. Use your words, expressions and body movements. Pay attention to what your audience likes and give more of it.
4 Find a manager. Once your music career gets off the ground, you may need help taking it to the next level. Music managers may be responsible for promoting music, booking gigs, and negotiating with record labels. Just be careful that he's looking out for your interests, not his own.
5 Collaborate with other artists. Rap is not a solitary art—most of the time you need to collaborate with other people, producers, singers or other rappers. Build strong networks with other people you meet in the rap industry. Work with them when you can.
• Writing lyrics for another rapper puts you and your skills in front of a whole new audience.
• Having another singer write lyrics for your songs is a form of support. If you have compelling collaborators, people will pay more attention to your music.
6Get a record deal or become an independent music producer. Signing to a major hip-hop record label is a dream for most rappers. A record deal puts a ton of resources and influence at your fingertips, putting you on track to become truly famous. However, remember that record labels are all about making money for themselves, and sometimes it might be better to go it alone or collaborate with other independent musicians to release records.
Tips
• Remember: not all great raps have to be fast.
• Always focus on the theme of the song.
• Be yourself on stage. Ignore the haters and do your best to make your fans happy.
• Do breathing exercises. There’s nothing worse than being out of breath in the middle of a song live.
• Ask for advice from a variety of people with different tastes to get a feel for how well your music will be received by a wide audience. Just make sure that the people being surveyed are trustworthy and will give you constructive criticism—they won’t ignore your shortcomings because they like you, and they won’t denigrate you because they want you to fail.
• Make sure to always maintain the confidence of a great rapper and you will eventually succeed!
• Rap themes are relevant to real life situations that people relate to.
• Never compare yourself to others, be your own unique self.
• Listen to as much music as possible, not just the rap genre.
• Be yourself on stage, never look at the audience, keep your head up, and only make eye contact when you want to make a key statement or move on to the next line of lyrics.
• Change your tone. If you're trying to show off, raise your voice. This will attract listeners to pay more attention to your music. Likewise, don't copy other artists' lyrics, as this won't prove your ability to make your own rhymes.
• read! Dictionaries and books help broaden one's vocabulary and grammar skills, and expand one's perspective on life, which can be used in music.
• A good voice is a gift from God, but you should also master basic rhythm and rhythm knowledge, and know how to mix and edit to make your voice sound its best. Practice as much as you can and eventually, you'll start to get noticed and maybe get booked for gigs at local clubs. Remember, practice makes perfect, so hit up as many music venues as you can. For example, many local youth centers have programs to help budding or talented writers and musicians for a small fee or completely free of charge.
• Rap in your own accent, don't pretend to be someone else's.
warn
• Make sure you get good feedback from someone other than family or friends before sending your music to a record label. You definitely want to make a good first impression on the company.
• Listen to plenty of other music, but don't plagiarize. This will make your song look unoriginal.
• Rap can be snarky. Practicing rapping with a friend or family member can help, but it can ruin your relationship if they take the lyrical content too seriously.