How To Become A Good Rapper

The Hip Hop industry is big business world wide, and music production a, rapping over beats
can net you millions of dollars. There are millions of up and coming rap artist who are
trying to get their piece of the pie. As an aspiring rapper you have a long road ahead of
you. Many people want to know how to become a good rapper. Well there is no one answer to
this question. Each and every person is different in their approach to the music. But one
thing is for sure, everyone cannot and will not succeed in being a rapper no matter how
hard they try. With that being said lets get down to what it takes to become a good rapper.

The first thing you should do is listen to a lot of rap music. There are many forms of
rap out there and you want to be able to expose yourself to a variety of rap styles.
Developing a genuine love for the art form itself will help you achieve your goal to
becoming a rapper. Listen to different artist and take notes of what you like and dislike
about the different forms of rap.

Next you want to memorize you favorite rap songs word for word. Pick a few artist that
have a lot of lyrical content in there rap songs. In this day and time that is not easy
to find. Reason being, rap is so watered down now that lyrical content is nearly extinct.
If you want to really learn how to word play, check out some of the oldschool rap
artists cds like Krs one, Rakim, Mc Lyte, and Big Pun. These artists were very lyrical when
it came to rapping. These types of rappers are now far and few in between. It would do you
good to listen to today's rhymers such as: Ludacris, T.I, JayZ and Eve. These four artists
are very lyrical when they do their rhymes, so if you want to learn how to move your lips
and tongue and speak your words with clarity, these are some of the rappers you should
emulate.

Practice doing vocal exercises and tongue twisters. Rapping requires fast and slow movements
of the mouth. You have to develop your skill of talking fast, slow and clearly at the same
time. While you are doing all these things you will also have to control your breathing.
Sometimes rapping can cause you to lose your breath quickly if your not use to doing it.

Next you need to start writing your own rhymes on a consistent basis. Any true rapper
will always keep a notebook handy wherever he or she goes. Always be ready to jot your
ideas down on paper. Anything can spark your thoughts. Rap about any and everything. Write
about your life experiences or other peoples life experiences. Write about material wealth,
poverty, gang violence, partying, women, drugs, and funny things. Make up rhymes that
tell a story. The great Slick Rick mastered the art of storytelling with rhyme. The skill
of putting words together takes practice, practice and more practice. The skill you
develop in your word-play and sentence delivery will determine weather you will be a rapper
or a good rapper.

Learn the skill of freestyle rapping

Another aspect of rapping that will define your rhyming techniques is free style rapping.
Free style rapping is the art of rapping right off the top of your head. This is extremely
hard to do for many people. This is something that you must learn if you want to gain some
street credibility. This is why you have to learn to rap without writing. If your in front
of a crowd of people and they want you to rap about any subject even if you have not
written a rhyme about the subject, you should be able to make up a rhyme about it right
there on the spot. This is free styling, and it is not easy for most people. However with
practice you can master this technique.

Become a good rapper by reading

The number one weapon any rapper can possess in his or her's arsenal is the ability to read
and do research. Reading is fundamental and I'm quite sure you have heard this. I cannot
express this enough, Reading will help you develop an excellent vocabulary. Read as much
as possible because this will charge your brain with more lyrical firepower than you
thought possible. The more words you know and learn will help you with your rapping when
your about to get brain lock in the heat of a rap battle. The big words you can use on
your opponents will crush them into nothing. In a rap battle, 99 percent of the time
the person who can display the most intellect and use the biggest words will win the
battle. This is just fact, I've seen this over and over again. Here is the best tip I can
give your to better your vocabulary. Read a page out of the dictionary every week. Learn
every word on the page and what it means, starting from A. This will increase your
knowledge of words 1000 fold. Count on it!!!

Learn the mechanics of word play

Your word-play mechanics will be the highlight of your rapping style. It is essential to
master this one area of rapping. You must learn to use puns, and alliteration. Assonance
and consonance will be the word methods that you concentrate on mastering. When you have
free time I would advise you to look up these words, and gain an understanding of what
they mean.

Next you want go out and start rapping in front of as many people as possible. At this
point you are now putting your skills to the test. You want to get as much feed back as
you can. Go from neighborhood to neighborhood rapping against other emcees. Join any
freestyle sessions or cyphers. This will build your fan base up and build up your
confidence. While your rapping switch up styles between flows. For example first rap
something positive, something you all ready wrote then change up and freestyle, then
change up again and do some gangsta then end your flow off with a tongue twister. Watch
how amazed the crowd will be if you can pull it off. Don't worry about messing up you
shouldn't have too much of a hard time with all the practicing you have been doing.

Next you want to get your range down to a tee. As a rapper you should be able to rap over
a fast or slow beat. You also have to be able to make your songs beleivable when you
perform them. Can you make yourself sound angry, scared, happy, strong or confident.
The more emotions you can display the more topics of material you will be able to deliver
on. When you rhyme make sure to put emphasis in your work as you do it. Make the listeners
feel what your saying. Make sure you feel what your saying. Mastering range will add
fire to your performance.

Next you want to focus on honesty, because this is similar to range but it's just the
other side of the coin. This is where personality and music will conflict with each other.
If you are more of a mellow type person or retlaxed most of the time, then trying to
rap like Buster rhymes is not going to work. It will look fake on your part. This will
only irritate the listener who is observing you. Imagine Snoop dog rapping and performing
like Mc Hammer... You would be like WTF????

Last but not least you have to have a strong voice that carries resonance from the fullest
potential. Don't just bring your words from your throat, you must bring it from your chest.
Work on vocal exercises to improve your resonance.

This is pretty much of what it takes to be a good rapper. As you can see you have your
work cut out for you. You can be a rapper with minimal practice, but to be a good rapper
takes more practice and effort than most people are willing to put forth. So If you want
to become one of the more exceptional emcees out there, put these tips into practice and
watch you take your rapping skills to the next level.