How to Write a Rap Song

You may think you've got skills, flow and a fresh style, but unless you take time to learn the fundamentals of rap, you'll never write a rap song that gets you anything but ridicule. Rap songs need tight, original lyrics and rhyme schemes, a strong backbeat and a hook to keep people listening.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Hook
• Lyrics

1. Lay down a beat. Whether it's a digital drum loop or a homie beat boxing, you'll need a beat to rap over. Play around with beats until you get something that is driving and interesting enough to be repeated over and over in the background.

2. Create a bass line. The bass line can be spare and supplemental or melodic and hooky. Use a low-toned synth or a thick, clicky bass guitar.

3. Think of a catchy hook. This will be the catchy, melodic part of your song, which is often used as a chorus. Get a friend to sing a couple lines that relate to the main theme of the rap, or do it yourself if you have the voice for it.

4. Write the lyrics. Start out by freestyling over the backing track. Play with some rhyming words, and just see what comes out. Once you start grooving on a rhyme scheme, begin focusing the content of the lyrics and writing down good lines.

5. Structure the song. Most songs have two or three verses interspersed with choruses. Include a breakdown in the middle to add depth to the structure. The breakdown is often a moderate departure from the repetitive structure from the verse and chorus, retaining either the beat or bass line while changing up the flow of the lyrics.

6. Put it all together. Once you have lyrics that fit the structure, lay them down together and you've got a rap song!

Tips & Warnings

• For a hard-hitting bass sound, have the notes of the bass line fall on the same notes as the kick bass.

• Listen to some catchy rap or original rap songs to get some ideas. But instead of lifting them directly, put a new twist on it by tweaking it with your own style.

• Avoid repetitive or predictable lyrics, rhyme schemes and clichés.

• Don't rhyme simply for the sake of rhyming: "I had a cat/he always wore a hat/and my bros thunk that were phat/but enough of that/I think I wanna chat/about this saliva I spat/into the bottom of this vat." It sounds amateurish and makes the lyrics meaningless.