How to Rap: Rhyming Part I

It’s evident that rhyming is the most crucial and the most identifiable aspect to rapping. Deconstruct all the lyrical elements out of this form of music, and it basically boils down to the rhyme. It will absolutely have to be the first thing you learn to do before you attempt it. Because, without rhyming, rap would totally lose its structure, no matter how much stylization and flow you may have; you might as well just drop the act and say it in your natural emotion. Try rapping a page out of a newspaper article for example.

Now, even when writing, rhymes can take a considerable amount of time to come to your head. You will often find yourself running through the alphabet looking for a word with the same rhyme ending. So, if you ever need to use that technique, don’t forget about consonant combinations like “sp” “ch” “cl” “sl” “st” “tr” and “dr”.

When you first start rhyming, you might be tempted to pull out a rhyming dictionary or go online to search rhymes. To just have started, this is okay to use the rhymes from the dictionaries to help create your rap.

HOWEVER

I will give you some tips that surpass the knowledge of a rhyming dictionary.  The first tip and one of the MOST IMPORTANT is that the vowel sound is more important than the consonant sound. This means you can substitute the consonant sound for similar consonant endings, and it will still be acceptable as a rhyme and the subtlety between the pronunciations will be overlooked by your audience.

Some examples:

 

-Ace, -Aze, -Age, -Ange

 -Add, -At, -Atch, -Adge

 I, -ide, -ine, -ime

 -ot, -op, -ock, -alk

-oh, -oal, -old, ode

 

Now you may be reading these, able to hear the distinct changes between the endings, saying “That doesn’t rhyme!” But, even in everyday talk, we don’t put that much emphasis on the consonant endings.

To say “I read a book,” when you say the “d” in read, you just tap your tongue. If you say to someone (normal speed, no emphasis) “I read an ode book yesterday,” you’re not going to get a “WHAT?!” reply. What they heard was a slight muffle on “I read an old book.” They subconsciously give the “implied” ending to the word and dismiss it.

                So for those who would crave an example: Here’s one using the first scheme.

                   

                This new kid challenged me to a race,
                But I run so fast I'm leaving suckers in a daze

                Then stealing the spotlight when I'm on the stage.

                They can't compare with me, they are not even in my range.

If you read that at just a normal reading speed…by the time you got to the next rhyming word, that “emphasis” or “difference” was probably starting to disappear, and the faster you go, the lesser you are likely to notice it. So, although rhyming dictionaries separate them, try to find some endings you could link together.  Basing all your rhymes off of one-syllable dictionary matches make your raps sound elementary. Linking similar endings together will make your rap sound more natural, and your rhymes sound more knowledgeable. Next up we will go over content, followed by delivery.