Friendly Tip #3

When you’re listening to rap music, especially by quality artists, the lyricism can really be deep and much of the content/meaning can go over your head. So you would have to learn on picking up patterns of how rap interpretation works, and see if you can use these patterns to reinforce your own work.

              

  So when it comes to rap, there are generally 4 types of ways you can break down interpretation:

                1) Base Value. What is said is what is meant. More common in old-school rap, though this is uncommon in modern-day rap, you can still find it. Many of B.o.B’s songs (ex. Airplanes, Both of Us) rely on base value.

                2) Symbolic Meaning. In many cases, rap consists of large amounts of figurative language: usually metaphors, similes, idioms (street-slang/urban expressions, derivatives and twists) and also slang terminology. In many cases, rappers will use themes involving everyday objects or processes (clothes, nature, games, light/dark, geography, driving/traveling, food, jewels) etc. so even if the lines may make sense by base value, keep in mind that the rapper may also be referring to something else.

                3)  Double/Triple Entendre. Similar to Symbolic Meaning but one step further. The sentence spoken has more than one correct interpretation. “ex.” by Jay-Z in Lupe Fiasco’s Pressure, “If you force my hand, I’ll be forced to draw.”

                On the surface, it sounds like a very basic sentence, but you can actually see three meanings in this sentence. The first meaning, you’ll probably think of playing cards, right? Your “hand” being the portion dealt to you, and draw meaning to pick up more cards from the deck. HOWEVER, draw, can refer to drawing a weapon, like a pistol—which, provided themes within the rap industry, is not surprising that this could be a possible meaning. The third meaning comes in context with the verse, where the theme is “artistry” so the meaning could be winking at you saying, If you force his hand, he’ll draw a picture.

4) Wordplay: The funniest thing about wordplay, is that in most cases, it doesn’t directly make sense, so don’t let it stump you. Very simply put, it’s a pun on words. If you can find the “link” between them, it’s all that matters.

So I realize this is only going to help but so much so what I would like to do now is introduce you to rapgenius.com, a very well-thought-out website of posting a large variety of hip-hop/rap music lyrics and offering the service of users and listeners interpreting them for you.  Enjoy!

Listen to This #3

Here's some soulful-organic rap for you.

Followed by an inspirational rap , Enjoy!

Rapping 101: Rhyming Part II

(Note: I'm considering changing the title from How to Rap to Rapping 101 because it conflicts with a well-established title that’s already been copyrighted. Additionally, I apologize for the font changes, I'm having trouble with the formatting.)

Now that you have gotten a foundation with rhyming, as well as the way to structure the content in your raps, I want to take you to the next step in rhyming. Chances are you will find that there isn’t a single good rapper who relies on single-syllable rhyming in all his songs. Time to move on to the next best thing, multi-syllable rhyming.

It initially may seem intimidating especially considering quadruple and quintuple rhyming, but start gradual. Double-rhyming is just as easy as single, especially when you keep in mind that the vowel sound matters more, just as long as the rhyming word coincides with a minimum of 2 vowels, it’s a multisyllable rhyme. But there are a few more tricks and more alternatives when you’re working with more syllables. (I’m going to stick with double in the examples though)

Alternative #1) The classic double-syllable:  Includes rhyming of two double (or more)-syllable words. Includes simple/easy words like “fire” and “power” but consider more original/thoughtful rhyme manipulations: ex. business/fitness/distance/vicious, deny/supply/collide/disguise, agent/station/complacent, etc.

Alternative #2) Build-up/split of single-syllables. Just as you can rhyme with big words, you can break up syllables back into small single-syllable words. Ex. “Get this, I’m reckless.”  “alone time/phone line.”

Alternative #3) Word foundation. Though you may not consider this as rhyming, professional rappers do it. The same word goes at the end of each line, but you rhyme with the word that comes before it. Examples of foundation words can be “me, you, up, down, in, out, again,” ex. “locked out, blocked out, knocked out.” It has the same effect as a double-syllable-rhyme, can easily be built to triple and quadruple-syllable rhymes, and it makes sense because all a rhyme really represents is a repeating vowel yet a similar beginning or ending consonant.

Don’t take my word for it? Here’s a professional example:

“Walk alone, talk alone, get my Charlie Parker on, make my mark alone, shed light upon the dark alone, get my sparkle on, it’s a mission I’m embarkin’ on. A kamikaze in a danger zone far from home.”

--Black Thought—The Roots—“Walk Alone”

One last tip: single-syllable rhyming can sound sophisticated when using big words. It also adds an element of unpredictability which I will talk about later. If you rhyme “key” with “conveniently”, for example, it makes for an unlikely yet effective rhyme. However, make sure you step-up your syllables. Arranging the larger word first or using two large words makes the single-syllable rhyme sound incomplete and unfulfilled.

So take up on this advice. Though triple-syllable+ is considerably more difficult than double, give multisyllabic rhyming a try. You’ll find it rewarding when you get the hang of it.

I’ll leave with one more professional example:

"I bomb atomically

Socrates' philosophies and hypotheses

Can't define how I be dropping these mockeries

Lyrically perform armed robbery

Flee with the lottery, possibly they spotted me" --Inspectah-Deck, Wu Tang Clan-- "Triumph"

And that's it. Happy rhyming!

How to Rap: Content Part II

                In this edition of Content in How to Rap, I want to highlight sentence structure. In the previous edition of content, I mentioned how you want your sentences to sound concise and to avoid saying “I” and “you” at the beginning of each line. One tip is that there are multiple ways to structure the same sentence: ex. You rap with a slow pace, OR You’re rapping with a pace that’s slow. Simple rearranging of words can help preserve the rhyme and the message you wanted to say, and adjust the flow (which will be covered later).

              Another thing you want to avoid, which is going to take even more practice, is avoiding the SAME TYPE of sentence. Chances are, when you first start writing, most if not all your sentences are going to be declarative statements. Feel free to ask questions when you rap.

                When you write a line, you’re not restricted to start a sentence on a line, and end at that line. You can have two sentences in one line, or you can make four bars one sentence. In order to do that, you might need: 

                                1) Standard Conjunctions: and, but, so, or

                                2) Prepositions: Around, inside, beneath, beside, within,

                                3) A hypothesis-based statement (using the words “if” and “then”)

• Example: “If you wanna challenge me, or if you wanna test me, then give me the mic so I can hand it to you directly.”

 One example that uses one sentence, four lines, conjunctions and a hypothesis-based statement.

All the above alternatives can really help extend your sentences and give more depth to the meaning as well. Also, if you modify a statement with a hypothetical condition: like saying “When/Where x happens, y will happen,” that will also add more weight to your words as well as make you sound smarter and utilizes different verb tenses. So feel free to use subject matter that can use past and future tense too.

Fragments. Utilize them! Sometimes when you have too many words or just want to emphasize one thing, just use all that’s necessary (Kanye West’s “Two Words” is the perfect example for this). In many cases you can break the monotony of the “I” statements just by taking out “I” and letting the verb speak for itself.

3^rd Person. Maybe you’re not the kind to “speak the truth” about different people, cultures or countries, or you’re not ready for it. I admit I don’t rap a lot of “truth” in my raps, just passionate expression or experience. So you may find it hard to rap about people, or maybe not. But you can always rap about objects you interact with day to day, and make your feelings, or your possessions the star of the sentence.

So provided with the above tips, you have multiple different ways of forming sentences now. Stay tuned, next edition goes back to rhyming.

Hip-Hop vs Rap

Before I get to my next few rounds of advice, I’d like to drop a post about my thoughts between the breakdown of Hip-hop and Rap. There is a distinct way to identify the two and I thought I would share that.

Hip-hop, first of all, is a CULTURE, emanating from The East Coast in the mid-late 1970s, specifically Brooklyn, New York. Themes of hip-hop can be seen in artwork/murals/graffiti, clothing, and even literature/spoken word. When you delve into the actual music genre, hip-hop can be described as smooth, youthful, and energetic, with jazz or funk or even blues inspiration. Real hip-hop features talented singers, (John Legend, Kid Cudi ex.) and covers subjects such as love, partying, urban culture, or personal expression/experience. The more Old-School styles of hip-hop include MC-ing, sampling and turntables.

Now—though that is not mutually exclusive or debarred from rap, rap is a TECHNIQUE. When you speak with a flowing chant at a relatively quick rhythm with rhyme, that’s rap. Rap music, very broadly speaking, is what I like to call The All-Encompassing Genre. Because rap is a TECHNIQUE, and only provides the lyrics, that still leaves the music unaccounted for.  Now you do have specifically Gangster Rap, defined by heavy bass, “clap-and-snare” percussions, and synthesizers, and outside of that you do have East Coast and West Coast Rap, alternative, etc. But keep in mind all across the board, you can have a Rap song accompanied by instrumentals with the sounds of: “Pop, Techno/Electronic (Flo-Rida, B.o.B), Rock/Metal (Hollywood Undead, Rage Against the Machine), R&B/Jazz (Common) Ethnic/World (Lupe Fiasco’s American Terrorist) even Country (Dub Pistols’ Everyday Strangers) and then of course, Hip-Hop (Mos Def, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Nas, Game, Common etc.)  Now, like I said earlier, rap would be considered hip-hop, if it sounded influenced by the actual music genre, its inspirations, or something close to it. So the latter half of the examples/styles (except Country) would more align with hip-hop than the first half. And there's my two cents on the two genres.

So with plenty of artists referenced there, what are you waiting for? Youtube and Last.fm are great sites to keep streaming music, and Google searching info about these genres is a great way to follow up learning more about them!

Friendly Tip #2

So I was listening to a write-up on Lupe Fiasco’s Hip-Hop Saved My Life and I discovered a new word: Doggerel.

 “Doggerel is a derogatory term for verse considered of little literary value. The word probably derived from dog, suggesting either ugliness, puppyish clumsiness, or unpalatability (as in food fit only for dogs)” –Wikipedia 

“Loosely styled and irregular in measure especially for burlesque or comic effect; also : marked by triviality or inferiority” Merriam-Webster.

It’s not hard to know the difference between quality, innovative, meaningful works of art, and shallow expression that merely touches a surface.  There is a large border between today’s gangster rap which exploits women and glorifies money, drugs, and violence, and quality rap, which may include simple, wholesome expression to conscious lyrics that can get you to think about the complications behind and consequences of urban/gangster cultures.

In the end, to avoid writing a doggerel rap or a similar brand of any venue of art, make sure that you put forth time, effort, and thought behind the concept and the mechanics of it. Try to sound natural, honest, and to an extent, proper.  And rap, although usually easier to listen to than read, should double-up as a form of a poem, one way or another. So if the lyrics don’t act or flow like poetry, you should probably give a re-write a go. 

Listen to This (2)

Well, after exactly 9 months of blog inactivity and having half a summer vacation ahead of me, I'm going to try to get back into the blog-making-groove and notably advance what I had started.

Here's some 90's action:   AZ - The Come Up

Blackstar ft. Common - Respiration