How To Write A Rap Verse
I don’t think people should write a rap verse the standard way. At least not when you are first starting to write lyrics. The standard way is to sit down with an idea in mind and to write a verse in one sitting.
You hear about it all the time. Your favorite MC goes to the studio, hears the beat and writes a hit on the spot. Trying to emulate what the greats do is misguided, because they have already put in the work to be an expert. You haven’t.
Structuring Your Lyrics The Right Way
The method of writing a rap verse that I advocate is writing it by piecemeal. Writing a high volume of lyrics, choosing the best bars and putting them together in one verse.
The reason why is to compartmentalize the tasks of writing lyrics and composing a verse. They are different things. Doing both things at the same time is too much for a beginner.
Why the Standard Methods Don’t Work
1. They Trigger Writer’s Block
Having to write a finished product in one sitting stops the flow of ideas. You discard a lot of great material because it doesn’t fit the topic you are writing about. That slows your pen, creating frustration. Frustration makes you stop writing. Inertia makes it harder to start writing again. It’s a vicious cycle.
2. They Train You To Be A Perfectionist
Learning to write exclusively in this way slows your progress. Most of the lyrics you write will not be to the standard you expect from yourself. This trains you that lyrics need to be perfect to be written down on a line of paper, instead of training you that writing is easy and fun. You need to face the reality that most of what you write will be cliche or low-quality.
3. They Inflate Your Ego
Thinking that you are already the best at your craft makes you think that you don’t have to work hard. That is what happens when you use methods that masters of the art use. It gives a false sense of mastery that slows your production. Being humble and knowing that you have to work hard to be the best is a good strategy, even when you really do become the best at your craft.
How Do You Know When You’ve Practiced Enough?
The cliched answer would be to say that you are never done practicing. Which is true. But, that is not the answer that you are looking for. You want to know how many lyrics do you need to write before you can start to make your lyrics into verses.
Previously, in other posts, I said to write for at least 20 minutes each day for one month. That equates to about 20 hours of practice. That is the minimum amount of time it takes to learn how to write a proper lyric.
Start Turning Your Practice Lyrics Into Verses
After 20 hours or one month of practice, you have practiced enough. This is a good time to start turning your lyrics into verses. As long as you separate the tasks. Now you spend 20 minutes writing new lyrics, then you spend 20 minutes turning your old lyrics into verses. Now you are incorporating a new skill into your repertoire. Instead of trying to do both at the same time.
Bonus: Overview of The Entire Process of Becoming a Master
Let’s do a little math. How much do you need to write to become a master? In real numbers. No bullshit.
Level 1: The Beginner (0 – 20 Hours)
It takes 20 hours to become good at anything. Or, about a month of writing at 20 minutes per day. I can write 16 bars in 20 minutes. And that accounts for all of the inefficient things we all do while practicing. Getting a drink, checking your phone, etc.
At that rate, in one month, you will have written 480 bars. The books I use have 22 lines, which means in one month I will have written 22 pages of lyrics. Not too bad.
Level 2: The Amateur (20 – 1500 Hours)
After one month of practice you begin crafting verses out of your written lyrics. You should increase the amount of time you dedicate to your chosen craft. 20 minutes is the minimum. I think you should spend anywhere from 1 to 4 hours practicing everyday. More if you can manage it.
I think you should spend more time practicing because you can get to the next level faster. I don’t think you can become a professional artist unless you spend at least 1500 hours practicing. That is about a year of practice for at least 4 hours.
Exceeding The Benchmark
I find that most good rappers spend only about 1500 hours practicing in their entire career. An hour a day for about 4-5 years. Then they give up because they see no success. That is why I think you need to exceed that benchmark before you can pursue rapping as a career.
Dedication
To become a master requires dedication. Can you dedicate 4 hours or more a day to your chosen craft? I usually write about 40 bars in an hour, more or less. That means, when you make it to the 1500 hour mark, you will have written 60,000 bars.
If your books have 22 line pages, like mine do, you will have written over 2727 pages. All of my books have 100 pages. At that rate, you will have written over 27 notebooks of lyrics. How much work are you willing to put in to make it?
Level 3: The Professional (1500 – 5000 Hours)
When you have put in a solid year of dedicated practice of 4 hours a day or more, you can finally present your art to others. Network with other people in your field. Start marketing yourself. Open for as many rap concerts as you can. Gain a residency somewhere.
Prepared, Never Scared
By the time you start pursuing a career you will have written hundreds of verses. If you use only 10 percent of what you have written you will still have 375 verses at 16 bars each.
Now you can start turning your work into songs. Make demos. As many as you can. Hundreds. Choose a sub-genre. Build a persona. Choose themes. Tropes.
Move The Crowd
More importantly you need to learn how to perform. Both in the studio and on stage.
The Beatles performed in several nightclubs in Hamburg, Germany, for over 2 years before they became rockstars. The boys performed 8 hours a day, seven days a week. They made £2.50 ($20 approx. adjusted for inflation) a day and stayed in a disgusting backroom to become masters of their art. The Beatles performed almost 6000 hours in 2 years and became the greatest band in the world.
Level 4: The Artist (5000 – 10000 Hours)
If you put in 4 hours of practice everyday, over 3 and a half years, you will become a true artist. Now you must double down on your efforts. Make your art the sole way you make your living. Turn your demos into works of art. Show the world your innermost self.
Build an audience. Grow a fanbase. Hone your songwriting skills. Learn how to become an ecstatic performer. It takes 10000 hours to become a master at anything. That’s 3 and a half years at 8 hours everyday. 7 years at 4 hours everyday.
Level 5: The Master (The Next 10000 Hours)
By now, you are a legend. When you get here you transcend all of the knowledge in this blog. Reach the level of the greats. Rewrite the rules as you see fit. Decide what is cool. Define what is relevant. The difference between the pretenders and the Kendrick Lamars.
God MC
Now you can form an image to the public. Now you can focus on sales and views and followers and reviews.. but you won’t. Your reputation will be made. You will have internalized the entire game. You will find the criticisms and defamation laughable, for one main reason: real skills are becoming more and more rare. In the end, you are one of the last ones left.
Thinking Of A Master Plan
It’s nice to dream.. But, for now, back to reality. Before we can have the dreams we want, we have to get after the work it takes to achieve them.
How Do I Write A High Volume Of Lyrics Easily?
If you are asking this question, that means that you have not read the posts that have preceded this one. I cover this, and some other interesting topics, such as: how to freestyle, is it okay for a rapper to use a rhyming dictionary, and most importantly, every technique you can use to make your rhymes better.
My suggestion is to start this blog from the beginning, to really master all of the basics and begin building with solid foundation.
It’s Time To Build..
How do we turn loose bars into verses? What are the forms and structures we use to make a complete thought? How do we keep an audience entertained? What techniques do the best rappers use to make their lyrics more effective?
How To Innovate
An added benefit to separating writing and composing lyrics is that you can innovate both activities. You can find better ways of composing a verse as you practice. When you move past the learning phase you can innovate. It takes longer to get there if you try to do both activities simultaneously.
Rap Verse Structure
The Problem With Teaching Structure
First of all, when you teach specific methods of creating art, inevitably, the methods will become passe. If everyone uses the same techniques they become predictable and, therefore, boring. It’s a thin line. To show people how to write a verse without making a cookie-cutter outline for hacks to abuse.
Triple Stage Darkness
The alternative is having no structure at all. Or, more accurately, having no awareness of structure in a rap verse. That is how an amateur writes a verse. They just do what they “feel..” Not having a structure is even more erroneous than using a common structure.
Don’t Sweat The Technique
The excuse for having no structure is that MC’s think that they are innovating their verses, by using a loose structure with little to no limitations. How are you going to innovate your structure if you haven’t learned the best way of structuring a verse?
Therefore, master the technique first, before you innovate. Eventually you will not need the structure at all. You will have internalized the process and won’t need an outline to organize your ideas.
Classic Structure
That being said, we need to start with a base of knowledge. The most classic structure of a rap verse is a 16 bar verse with 4 phrases at 4 bars each. An alternative is a 12 bar verse with 3 phrases of 4 bars. I will explain by showing the structure of a classically designed hip hop song, “Eric B. Is President” by Eric. B and Rakim
“I came in the door, I said it before
I never let the mic magnetize me no more
But it’s biting me, fighting me, inviting me to rhyme
I can’t hold it back, I’m looking for the line,
Taking off my coat, clearing my throat
The rhyme will be kicking until I hit my last note
My mind remains to find all kinda ideas
Self-esteem makes it seem like a thought took years to build
But still say a rhyme after the next one
Prepared, never scared, I’ll just bless one
And you know that I’m the soloist
So Eric B, make ’em clap to this..”
The first verse consists of twelve bars, 3 phrases of 4 bars.
What is a phrase?
The pattern of a musical composition changes at the end of every bar. In this case it’s a drum roll at the end of every second bar. At the end of a phrase the pattern changes in a more noticeable way. In this song, a phrase – the end of every fourth bar – ends with a symbol crash.
How Do You Decide What Structure To Use?
The way the music is composed should affect the way you structure your lyrics in a few key ways: It should change the patterns of emphasis (or flow), it should change your rhyme schemes, and most importantly it should change the content of your verse.
12 Bar Structure
I came in the door, I said it before
I never let the mic magnetize me no more
But it’s biting me, fighting me, inviting me to rhyme
I can’t hold it back, I’m looking for the line,
The song starts with a declarative sentence. A phrase that is exclamatory, and often references the beginning of the song itself. “Let us begin, what where why or when/ will all be explained..” (KRS One/ BDP) “You love to hear the story, again and again/ Of how it all got started way back when..” (MC Shan) It’s the same thing as starting a story with “once upon a time.”
State A Problem
The objective of the first phrase is to state a problem that needs to be solved. In this case, Rakim is talking about his addiction to rapping on stage. Another objective could be to state your chosen theme or values or to start a story. Often an MC will start a song with a short off topic intro before tackling the subject of a song.
Taking off my coat, clearing my throat
The rhyme will be kicking until I hit my last note
My mind remains to find all kinda ideas
Self-esteem makes it seem like a thought took years to build
Eric B. Is President is an anthem for DJs. The type of song you are creating should affect the type of rhymes you choose for your verse. Songs for DJs have rhymes that sound good looped, or scratched or replayed. Rakim addresses the purpose of the song with the first 2 bars, then fulfills the objective of the second phrase with the last 2 bars.
Elaborate
The objective of the second phrase is to elaborate on the problem stated in the first phrase. How do you react to your stated problem? What did you do? Provide a different perspective.
But still say a rhyme after the next one
Prepared, never scared, I’ll just bless one
And you know that I’m the soloist
So Eric B, make ’em clap to this..
The third phrase is the conclusive phrase. A 12-bar verse is a little too short to fully explore a topic, but you have to give a sense of finality. In this case it’s the fact that he raps without fear, because he is prepared. With the first 2 bars he fulfills the objective of the verse, to solve the problem.
Solve Your Problem/ Fulfill Your Purpose
With the final 2 bars, Rakim fulfills the objective of the song: a great sound byte a DJ can use. Eric B sampled the “Eric B. make ’em clap to this,” several times throughout the Eric B. and Rakim discography.
16 Bar Structure
“I don’t bug out or chill or be acting ill
No tricks in ’86, it’s time to build
Eric be easy on the cut, no mistakes allowed
Cause to me, MC means move the crowd
I made it easy to dance to this
But can you detect what’s coming next from the flex of the wrist
Say indeed and I’ll proceed cause my man made a mix
If he bleed he won’t need no band-aid to fix
His fingertips sew a rhyme until there’s no rhymes left
I hurry up because the cut will make ’em bleed to death
But he’s kicking it cause it ain’t no half stepping
The party is live, the rhyme can’t be kept in-
Side, it needs erupting just like a volcano
It ain’t the everyday style or the same old rhyme
Cause I’m better than the rest of them
Eric B is on the cut and my name is Rakim.”
The second verse of Eric B. Is President is 16 bars long. The 16 bar verse consists of 4 phrases of 4 bars. 16 bars is the most common length of a written rap verse. I think the reason is because in a 4/4 time signature, 16 bars is the most common length of a musical period in hip hop, made up of several phrases.
I don’t bug out or chill or be acting ill
No tricks in ’86, it’s time to build
Eric be easy on the cut, no mistakes allowed
Cause to me, MC means move the crowd
Sometimes a verse is not structured by the meaning or narrative. If the purpose of the verse is to have clever lines, the verse will be structured around which lines are the most clever. Here Rakim uses a simple set-up bar, pay-off bar structure. At the end of each pay-off bar he places a soundbyte for DJ’s to scratch.
How To Make A DJ Anthem
The “Move The Crowd” soundbyte is emphasized because Eric. B removes the beat underneath it, making it acapella. This makes it easier to sample in later tracks, like “Move The Crowd” which is also on the Paid In Full album.
Put A Quotable Bar At The End of Every Phrase
Rakim structures the verse so at the end of every phrase is a quotable lyric. The final line is truly the best line of the phrase. It contains a long sequence of “M” alliteration, and a clever play on the meaning of the term MC which rappers still reference to this day.
I made it easy to dance to this, but can you
Detect what’s coming next from the flex of the wrist
Say indeed and I’ll proceed cause my man made a mix
If he bleed he won’t need no band-aid to fix
The four bars of this phrase are a good example of a series of set-up and pay-off sequences. The first bar sets up a “this” rhyme at the end of the pay-off bar (“wrist”). The pay-off hits harder because Ra alternates it with “ex” internal rhymes, creating tension and releasing when the rhyme comes.
The internal rhymes on the second bar set up more internal rhyme patterns on the third bar, and pay-off with a continuation of the “wrist” rhyme scheme. It also hits harder again because of a clever alliteration, “man made a mix.”
Complex, From One Rhyme To The Next
The “indeed” internal rhymes set-up the “bleed” and “need” rhymes on the fourth bar. It also culminates in the wordplay for the words “cut” meaning “DJ scratches” taking the word literally. To really cement a great line, he adds a brilliant multi-syllable rhyme to end the phrase, and transition to the next.
His fingertips sew a rhyme until there’s no rhymes left
I hurry up because the cut will make ’em bleed to death
But he’s kicking it cause it ain’t no half stepping
The party is live, the rhyme can’t be kept in-
Continuing the ‘cut’ scheme from the previous phrase, Rakim adds vivid imagery “his fingertips sew a rhyme,” playing on the double meaning of the word “sew.” This line is both a pay-off from the previous phrase, and a set-up for the next bar.
“The cut will make’em bleed to death” is another instance of wordplay taking the phrase “cut” literally. This phrase is the final pay-off to a scheme that lasts 3 bars and goes across 2 phrases, bridging them, in effect.
The Rhyme Can’t Be Kept Inside
Rakim starts a new set-up with foot imagery, “kicking it, cause it ain’t no half stepping”. Also, a shout out to Big Daddy Kane. It also sets up a multi-syllable end rhyme on the last bar.
The fourth bar of this phrase is the climax of the verse, placing the most clever bar before the conclusion. Rhyming “kept in” and “steppin” deviates from the single syllable rhymes of the first two bars, making the pay-off more exciting.
Side, it needs erupting just like a volcano
It ain’t the everyday style or the same old rhyme
Cause I’m better than the rest of them
Eric B is on the cut and my name is Rakim..
The pay-off of the previous phrase crosses the bar line. This means that the content of the bar doesn’t end on the 4th beat, but it spills over to the first beat of the next bar.
“The rhyme can’t be kept in… side.” The word ‘kept’ falls on the 4th beat. The first part of the word ‘in-‘ falls on the off beat before the next bar.. The other half of the word, ‘side’, falls on the first beat of the next bar.
Self-Reference
It is so clever because it is a meta-joke. Meaning that it references the fact that it crosses the bar line. It also sets up a volcano metaphor. Which in turn, sets up an unorthodox rhyme: ‘volcano’ and ‘same ol’.
Crossing The Barline
It is important for the bar cross to fall after the end of a phrase. If the line crosses the bar after the end of a phrase it is more conspicuous. The instrumental will change underneath the lyrics, making it stand out. If it is done inside of the phrase it can be mistaken as just enjambment. Which is less effective.
What Is The Purpose Of Your Verse?
At last, the final part of the structure is the conclusive couplet. At the end, you must fulfill the purpose of the verse. You need to decide what the purpose of your verse before you start writing. How do you know your rhetorical purpose? There are common rhetorical purposes many MC’s use, that you can use these as a guiding light.
Fulfilling Multiple Purposes Makes A Verse Better
One rhetorical purpose is to provide the audience with clever lines, so you save your best line for the end of the bar. That is not the purpose of this verse. It is a secondary purpose, so it doesn’t get the final bar.
Rakim’s rhetorical purpose in this verse is to provide DJ’s with great soundbytes to scratch or sample. “Eric. B is on the cut,” is also sampled several times throughout Eric B. and Rakim’s discography.
Story Verse Structure
“Go get a girl and get soft and warm
Don’t get excited, you’ve been invited to a quiet storm
But now it’s out of hand cause you told me you hate me
And then you ask what have I done lately
First you said all you want is love and affection
Let me be your angel and I’ll be your protection
Take you out, buy you all kinds of things
I must have got you too hot and burned off your wings
You caught an attitude, you need food to eat up
I’m scheming like I’m dreaming on a couch with my feet up
You scream I’m lazy, you must be crazy
Thought I was a donut, you tried to glaze me..”
Rakim changes styles several times in the course of this song. For the final verse he tells a story. He also talks about relationships. But, it’s misleading. His true rhetorical purpose is to say clever lines. Contrary to a story objective, which is to surprise the audience with a turn of events.
Go get a girl and get soft and warm
Don’t get excited, you’ve been invited to a quiet storm
But now it’s out of hand cause you told me you hate me
And then you ask what have I done lately
Every story starts with a problem. Something happens that throws the world out of balance. So, that’s how we start a story verse in the first phrase.
This is also a verse about relationships. Rakim introduces the subject in the first 2 bars. The next 2 bars he introduces his problem. His girl is mad because she thinks he is not living up to his potential.
First you said all you want is love and affection
Let me be your angel and I’ll be your protection
Take you out, buy you all kinds of things
I must have got you too hot and burned off your wings
The objective of the second phrase, again, is to elaborate on your problem. This is the weakest phrase of the entire song. Contrary to every other verse in the song, where every phrase is better than the last.
I never knew what the final line said until seeing the lyrics printed. This is because Eric B. removes the final line in the album version, instead over dubbing the line with, “make ’em clap to this..”
He does this because, though it is kind of clever, calling back to “let me be your angel”, the line doesn’t flow smoothly. Though I admit this hypothesis is purely conjecture, I suspect this is the case.
You caught an attitude, you need food to eat up
I’m scheming like I’m dreaming on a couch with my feet up
You scream I’m lazy, you must be crazy
Thought I was a donut, you tried to glaze me.
The objective of the final phrase of a story rap is to throw a twist, turn the events to surprise the audience. Rakim does this, but not in the way we expect.
We expect him to solve the problem, by reconciling with his sweetheart. A few reassuring words and all is well. Instead he provides us with an iconic final line.
Thought I Was A Donut, You Tried To Glaze Me
I don’t know why this line is so good. Sure, I know what it means, but, I don’t really know what it means, you know what I mean?
I know why it works though. With the ‘lazy’ and ‘crazy’ rhyme scheme, we expect a different pay-off rhyme. Maybe “play me,” or something. Instead we get a brilliant image to end the song. Classic.
Conclusion
The classic structure is simple. I will outline it again to recap:
First Phrase
- Start with a declarative sentence
- State a problem
- Introduce your theme, state your values
- End the phrase with a quotable
Middle Phrases
- Provide a different perspective, elaborate on your problem
- Remember to create a chain of set-up and pay-off sequences
- Keep your rhetorical purpose in mind. I will explain this more in future posts
- End the phrase with a better quotable than the last.
Conclusive Phrase
- Solve your problem
- Fulfill your rhetorical purpose, I will explain this more later..
- Volta: a single line where the story, or idea changes, and your point is made.
- Save your best line for the final line
How Do You Make Your Verse Perfect?
Rakim wrote verses that sound perfect. Meaning you could not reword it or remove phrases it to make it sound better. Why is that? It’s because every word and sentence has a purpose.
How does he achieve this? One line will be a set-up and one will pay it off, delivering a punch (or, in most cases, the bar will set itself up and pay itself off). In turn, every pay-off is also a set-up for the next bar, continuing in a stream of consciousness style, eventually leading to the best pay-off at the end of the verse.
As The Rhyme Goes On..
Beyond this fact, every Rakim verse is mathematically precise. He emphasizes the right word on beat every time.
In the next post I will explain how to improve your flow. I will explain exactly what it takes to keep your flow on beat. Rapping is math as much as it is poetry. I’ve never heard a hip hop blog say that before..
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Amazing piece!!! I have enjoyed following this blog and it’s been tremendously helpful,