How to Structure a Rap Song

Video Transcript

"Now we're going to conclude it with the overall song structure. You guys, it's kind of like your mental checklist. I want you to think to yourself: Did I have a hot beat? Did I really think about what I was going to say? Did I say what I wanted to say? Did I give the message I wanted to give? Is it the type of record I want? Does it have a hot intro? Does it have a hot outro? What about the hook? What does the nucleus look like? What about my verses? Are my verses up to par? Did I bring my A game on my lyrics? My rhyme words, my choice of words. Is my melody right? Is my flow right? Am I on time? Timing is everything! Is it a beat, or did the producer produce it? You see what I'm saying? Is there a string that comes in during the chorus and goes out during the verses? Is there orchestrated right? You know, this is your song structure. How many bars was my hook? How many times did it loop? How many bars was my first verse? How many bars was my second verse? How many bars was my bridge? What about my outro? Did I pick the right singer to sing it? Did I rap it the way that I wanted to rap it? You know, there's a lot more thought that goes into writing a rap song than people think. They just assume we're just idiots that go in the vocal booth and just "Buh"; we just say something. Like man, we really put our heart and soul into these rap records. To try to, you know, get a message across; to prove a point. That's what some people do. I myself just reflect myself. I just hold the mirror up to myself when I write a record and I look in that mirror and say "Is that the right reflection of myself? Is that the way I want to have these people view me? Am I comfortable in my own skin rapping that?" These are things you need to think about when you look. And you most importantly got to make sure you got the full song structure. Is there a hook? Is there verses? Is there intros? Is there outros? Are you happy with the beat? Are you happy with the song? That's your song structure."