Rap

Related pages

• Rhymecraft - Rap/Poem-creation tool

Related websites

• Metal In Theory

Forums

• Lil Wayne HQ - http://www.lilwaynehq.com/forums/

Criticisms of rap

• The lyrics
  • Lack of substantial / sophisticated messages in the lyrics.
    • Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones) - "So many words, so little said." (Source)
  • Lack of variety in the messages / topics of songs.
    • Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones) - "So many words, so little said." (Source)
• The accompaniment
  • Lack of sophistication in the melodies

    • Keith Richards (of The Rolling Stones) - "What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there. All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they’re happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can’t tell one note from another." (Source)

Books

• Lyrics
  • Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop
    • This is by an English professor, so I wouldn't expect much from this book.
  • The Complete MC ← Website is dead.
  • Hip Hop Rhyming Dictionary
  • How to Rap - Paul Edwards
    • This series seems like it's probably the most legit of those in this list, but Vol. 1 covers the entire process of rapping, so the process of writing lyrics only takes up a fraction of the book.
    • Contents
      1. Content
      2. Flow
         1. How Flow Works
            1. The Flow Diagram
            2. Beats and Bars
            3. Syllables and Stressed Syllables
            4. Fitting the Lyrics to the Beat
            5. Rests
            6. Overlapping Bars
            7. How Is the Flow Diagram Useful?
            8. More Examples
         2. Rhyme
            1. Perfect Rhyme
            2. Assonance (Vowel Sound Rhyme)
            3. Alliterating and Consonance
            4. Compound Rhymes (Multisyllable Rhymes)
            5. Coming Up with Rhymes
         3. Rhyme Schemes
            1. Types of Rhyme Scheme
            2. Extra Rhymes
            3. Number of Rhymes in a Bar
            4. Rhyme Placement
         4. Rhythm
            1. Coming Up with Rhythms
            2. The Pattern Diagram
            3. Patterns of Rhythms
            4. Rests
      3. Writing
         1. The Writing Process
         2. Beats and Freestyling
         3. Structuring, Editing, and Selecting Lyrics
         4. Writing with Other People
      4. Delivery
  • How to Rap 2: Advanced Flow and Delivery Techniques
    • This seems like probably the most-useful book of the books in this list.
    • Contents
      1. Advanced Rhythm Techniques
         1. Vocal Percussion
         2. Writing from the Rhythm
         3. 16ths
         4. 32nds
         5. Triplets
         6. Flams
         7. One Syllable on Each Beat
         8. Sliding Off the Beat (Lazy Tails)
         9. Rolled Rs
         10. Rests
         11. Punctuating the Offbeat
         12. Repeating Phrases with Different Rhythms
         13. 3/4 Time and Other Time Signatures
      2. Advanced Vocal Techniques
         1. Section A - Overall Voice Sound
         2. Section B - Specific Techniques
         3. Section C - Sounds Without Words
         4. Section D - Melodic Deliveries
         5. Section E - Character, Personality, and Emotions
      3. Advanced Rhyme Techniques
         1. Runs of Rhyme
         2. Alternate Rhyme Scheme Patterns
         3. Joining Rhyme Schemes Together
         4. Popular Couplet Rhyme Placement Patterns
         5. More Complex Extra Rhymes
         6. Breaking Patterns
         7. Three-Bar Loops
         8. Poetry Terms Versus Rapping Terms: A Note on Terminology
      4. Enunciation Rudiments
         1. Basic Enunciation Guidelines
         2. Consonant Sounds
         3. Consonant Combinations
         4. Vowel Sounds
         5. Vowel Combinations
      5. Final Words
         1. Summary: It's just ~2 pages of 1-paragraph advice from the interviewed rappers.
         2. Advice given:
            1. Listen to and study as much rap as you can; listen to and study all the rap that has come before you and use it to build your repertoire of techniques and to better understand how rap works and what's possible.
               1. Three different rappers gave this as their advice.
            2. Have a unique sound and identity. Too many people are copying each other and whatever's successful.
               1. On the other hand, I think even Eminem shifted his style from his first LP to the Slim Shady LP to be closer to what was selling (violence). So you want to try to satisfy the underlying cause of what's selling while making your product different on the surface so it'll be more interesting / fresh.
            3. To sound really good, put time into what you make. Don't just focus on doing whatever's trending.
            4. Make your flow great.
               1. "You could be saying something degrading, but if the flow is great, everyone is gonna listen to it. And you can be saying something that's worthwhile and great and positive, but if the flow was cheesy and wack, no one's gonna listen to it."
            5. Show your work-in-progress to strangers while you're working on it to get honest feedback that'll make the final product better.
               1. NW: This was probably the most significant advice I read. This is exactly what comedians do.
            6. Work as hard as you can if you want to make a living from rapping, because there's a ton of competition.
            7. Don't think talent is what dictates record sales.
               1. "Record sales have nothing to do with having talent, having ability."
  • How to Rap - Tayker
    
  • How to Rhyme Vol. 1
    
    • Seems useless. There's no table of contents, the rating is 3.5 stars with 39 reviews, the book just looks shoddily put-together.
  • How to Rhyme Vol. 2
    • Seems useless for the same reasons as with Vol. 1.
  • The Rap Rebirth Lyricist Guide: How to Write Amazing Hip-Hop Lyrics
    
    • 16 reviews, 4.5 stars, but the sample was pure fluff, and the samples on the author's website are not good.
  • The Rap Year Book
  • The Rapping Manual
    • This is a song by the author, so I wouldn't expect much from this book.
• Beats / Melodies
  • Make Beats Forever
• Books about different rap songs' lyrics, but not exactly a 'how-to' for writing lyrics:
  • Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies
  • Decoded by Jay-Z
    
    • The book consists of lyrics "decoded," where Jay-Z explains both where the song ideas came from and the way all the lyrics are connected to each other, as well as portions of his real-world story
  • Rap-Up: The Ultimate Guide to Hip-Hop and R&B
    • This is just a simple history of hip-hop.
• Not rap, but related:
  • Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting: 126 Proven Techniques for Writing Songs That Sell
  • Songwriting Without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice
  • Writing Better Lyrics

Rap-analysis websites

• http://www.rapanalysis.com/
  • Rapper's Flow Encyclopedia - Earl Sweatshirt
• https://genius.com/posts/1669-The-rapper-s-flow-encyclopedia
• https://genius.com/posts/1610-How-to-listen-to-kendrick-s-backseat-freestyle

 Terms

• punching - A technique used when recording a track where the rapper will start rapping part-way through the song, and then multiple recordings of them rapping will be stitched into a single track. This allows the rapper to correct mistakes more quickly. It's criticized by some people because it seems to make it possible to record raps that the rapper isn't actually able to perform live, because there's not enough gaps in the rap for the performer to breathe or because it's simply too difficult to get through the song without making mistakes.