Artwork: Overriding Your System

 

 

 

It would only take one drop of water to short-circuit a whole electrical system.

It may only take one masterpiece, novel, blog, idea to be the change that you want to see.

You have a whole personality to express and you have the power to see what is missing.

 Stand out and override the system.

 

Stop, Drop and Write it Down

As I launch off the revival of my blog, I want to begin with just one notion.

 Your ideas are invaluable. You can't put a price on them, because you never know what they will blossom into as you develop them. Your idea could become the next bestselling novel, award-winning playwright, or chart-topping success on the Top-40 Radio station.

And they usually start with a draft that may not be impressive or groundbreaking at first glance. But we all had to start somewhere. Rome wasn't built in a day.

However, in the case that your daydreams or nightdreams or real life experiences strike you with divinely creative inspiration, realize that you've captured lightning in a bottle. Don't let it escape!

 Carry that notepad, recorder, sketchbook etc, and jot that idea down! Jot it down with the same urgency as if there was a fire, except the fire is not in the building, but in your mind!

You'll never know what that idea just might transform into.

Makin Moves by Hill Harris

      So to kick off the reboot of my blog I'm going to share my first Vibe: Makin' Moves by Hill Harris. Hard to listen to and not feel motivated and blood-pumped!

 

 How to Rap

This is the legacy page for what started this blog, originally titled Prestoverse: How to Rap, Write and More (though I only had focused on the Rap part). I still like to spit a verse or two, and for the future I may share "Presto-Approved" hiphop in my Vibes section or my own Lyrics/Poetry. However, I have decided that my primary pursuit will be on Creative Writing. Thanks for your understanding.

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!