Mar 4, 2016 So, I've actually been rapping a lot this year. I've already recorded about four tracks and finished about three of them. One problem I'm having is my production. As you may know, I don't have a studio or a producer to make beats for me. I use to get beats off of YouTube and record with my phone with some pretty wack lyrics (look at my older songs, like the ones from September and October 2015). Since then, my production has improved, as I now use Audacity to record my tracks. So, another problem I am having is with retakes. It takes me so long to do tracks. I have a New York accent and I s--- at pronouncing my "R's" most of the time, it usually sounds like I am saying "Sorwy" instead of saying "Sorry", some kids in my class say (btw, I now go to a private school and not that other s--- public school I went too). My accent tends to get in the way of my rapping it seems, which makes it difficult to understand me which is why I usually have to add the lyrics to my tracks. Also, I am not good with slang. Most of the time in my raps you'll notice I will rarely use the word "Ain't" or use double negatives, because I'm pretty formal. That also can get in the way of rapping too, because it can make bars a little longer than they should be. One other thing is the fact I tend not to speak very loud. Usually people can't hear me when I talk regularly and this also seems to follow my rapping too, For these reasons, I find myself having to redo verses constantly. Also, I need help on my delivery and the way I say some lines. Can you guys help me at all? Thanks in advance.
Mar 5, 2016 Practice. Write a lot, rap a lot, try different things, different flows... Try to improve everything.
Mar 5, 2016 Any way I could improve my skills, like what could I do so I don't have to do so many retakes on one verse.
Mar 5, 2016 I tend to write almost everyday, usually my flow tends to stay the same though. I'll drfinitely try that.
Mar 5, 2016 Aside from just giving very basic, and general answers, it's kind of hard to offer actual help when you don't post any of your work with this.
Mar 5, 2016 use different beat styles, listen to other rappers how they use their flow and try to practice as for lyrics you have to write as much as you can find what you really wanna express and try to add imagination, add ''color'' to it..
Mar 5, 2016 I get it, you guys need some of my stuff or else you can't really judge me or tell me where I need to improve. I don't really have much time to upload anything right now, but I should be able to do something later.
Mar 5, 2016 There's debate about this, but there are many times where writing will hinder you. Kanye, Wayne, and Jay Z all stopped writing years ago and instead memorize their lyrics..That doesn't mean freestyle, but teach yourself to memorize the bars and verses you come up with, without writing them down. Bounce those bars, verses, metaphors, concepts around in your head for a long time. Practice delivering it throughout the day until you finally figure out how to make that verse sound smooth AF over the kind of beat you want. This is how rappers like Jay and Wayne have a really LIVE sound because they aren't reading it off a peice of paper or screen. As Wayne said: Bleed through the pencil and leak on the sheet of the tablet in my mind, Cause I don't write s--- cause I ain't got time, Cause my seconds, minutes, hours go to the almighty dollar, And the almighty power of that cha cha cha cha chopper, Click to expand... Doing this really helped with my delivery. I feel like once I write something, it's set in stone and hard for me to change. But if it stays in my memory as a abstraction my mind will do all sorts of changes to it based on my mood, inspiration, beat, etc. I have tons of verses memorized that I can switch up the flow on to spit over any beat. If I had wrote them I'd have a harder time doing it. When your songs are memorized you can also make changes to them throughout the day as your practice them whenever. You won't have to rely on reading them off your phone, etc. Know that you might not be ready to memorize verses yet. This is something you do after you've got some experience. Practice, and it will get better with time. I'm almost at the point where I can memorize whole 16s at a time. Experiment with different "voices" and see which ones work better on different flows and beats. Studying poetry won't hurt. Knowing poetic devices will help you a lot, along with alliterations, iambic pentameters, repetition, etc. LESS IS MORE. Rap today is about being able to say a lot with fewer words. Not cramming rhymes and big words into a line. Sometimes rappers get so caught into their lyrics they forget THE WAY IT SOUNDS SONICALLY. Instead of "because" say "cause", Instead of "trying to" say "tryna" , etc. Slang works so well with hip hop because slang verbage can replace a whole sentence if used right. Watch more WorldStarHipHop and hang out with hood n----s and you'll pick it up very quickly. Also, always remember, your hook and opening verse is what makes the song. Nobody is gonna listen past the first verse and hook if they aren't feeling it. Your first verse should be the strongest and set the entire mood of the song. But having good hooks will get your more successful than having good rap verses. Anyways just thought I'd tell u some s--- I learned over the years.
