Pour out all the ideas you have whether they’re single words, phrases, or full sentences. Let your ideas brew for a while. Carry a notepad around with you so that if you get a flash of inspiration while you’re on a bus, working out, or buying groceries, you can capture the moment and hopefully expand on it.
If you’re having trouble coming up with something out of the blue, riff off of or respond to a line you love from another rap song. Just don’t copy anything outright or you may find yourself in legal trouble. “Drop it like it’s hot” was originally a throw-off line from a Hot Boys single in the early 2000s, but Snoop Dogg turned it into a huge hit several years later!
Stay out of your own way. The biggest mistake you can make when you first get started writing lyrics is that you want to “say” something, and force abstract concepts into your lyrics. Be specific. Use concrete words, phrases, and images in your words to keep your idea in the background.
If you really want to write a rap about something you don’t do, make sure you make them as ridiculous as possible. Buff up the braggadocio; exaggerate to insane levels. Don’t do it often, and not in serious songs, but have fun with it. Be creative.
Focus on the most memorable lines and images, and cut out everything that doesn’t match that theme, that tone, or that story. If you’re having trouble figuring out what works and what doesn’t, try to rewrite the song from memory, without looking at it. This will act as a kind of strainer–you won’t be able to remember the less effective bits, and you’ll have to fill in stronger material for what you can’t remember. The average song will have 2-3 verses of 16-20 bars each, and 3-4 chorus sections of a variable number of lines. Try to aim for trimming down your output to that amount.
Find a producer online who makes beats and listen to several of them until you find some you like. Commission particular sounds or styles from the producer to get an original track. If you like samurai samples and old-school comic book references like the Wu-Tang Clan, send the beatmaker some examples. Even if you have a kind of idea forming for a kind of song or topic you’d like, try to come up with at least three possible beats before settling on one. Matching content, words, and music is a complicated process. Don’t rush it.
Start by sampling the break from an R&B or soul song you really like. The Meters were a relatively obscure New Orleans funk band from the late 60s, who became famous after being heavily sampled as the tracks for great rap songs. Chop the beat using GarageBand or other free software on your computer. Create beats with a programmable drum machine. The Roland TR-808 is the most iconic drum machine, used in many classic hip-hop and rap tracks. It features a wide variety of bass kicks, hi-hats, hand claps, and other percussive sounds that you can program in different patterns. You can also process and manipulate these beats on your computer.
Record a “scratch track” of yourself singing nonsense words on top of the beat to help find and remember the melody. It doesn’t matter if you’re a good singer, because this won’t stay on the song. Just allow yourself to explore the beat and find a melody in it by free-singing, humming, or vocalizing.
You may not have any clue where the song is going as you listen, and that’s ok. Go with your gut. If a beat “speaks” to you–it’s time to start making music.
Intro Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Verse Middle 8 (a. k. a. breakdown) Chorus Outro
Put your music on platforms like YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, and DistroKid. Create an account, edit your profile, then upload your track. Remember to use hash tags. Be online every day to get people’s attention and reply to every question you get from anyone.
