How to Write Rap lyrics

Based on the song title to come up with a hook (sentence expressing the main message of the rap). Hook is the catchy part of the song and imprints on the listener’s mind. If you have found a memorable name for the song, you can immediately use the song title as a hook. Since this is the part that engages the listener, you should repeat the hook as much as possible. Many musicians place the hook at the beginning or end of the chorus, or in both positions. ^[11]

• For example, the hook in Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” is “Drop it like it’s hot” which is repeated many times throughout the song. ^[12]
• The hook in Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” is “These expensive, these are red bottoms, these are bloody shoes.” ^[13]
• You don’t have to use the song title as a hook. You can try as many different emotional phrases as you think are appropriate.

Experiment with different beats. Most raps have a beat of 80 beats per second (BPM), meaning each beat is a bit longer than 1 second. Typically, a chorus has 8 rap lines with the beat of a black note, meaning the chorus will have 32 beats. The tempo of the rap song will depend on the number of words in the lyrics. If there are 32 words (or fewer words but 32 syllables in total), you would rap each word or syllable on a beat. If you have 15 words, 14 words will rap to the beat, and 2 words can span 2 beats per word, or 2 beats and 1 beat per word. ^[14]

• Try using a metronome or a metronome app to keep the beat. After you’ve been writing for a while, you’ll probably start to keep your rhythm on your own. ^[15]

Try different rhymes. For those who are new to rapping, rhyming sentences is a good way to start. Many rap songs rhyme on the last word of succeeding sentences or interjections, but you should try with words in the middle. ^[16]

• A rhyme dictionary can be a useful tool if you’re stuck thinking of words for your next rap. ^[17]
• Once you’ve gotten used to writing rap lyrics, you might consider tweaking a bit by skipping some rhymes. Having to worry about rhyming all the lines can limit your creativity and affect your rapping circuit. ^[18]

Write the first main line. The main verse is usually 16 lines long, twice as long as the chorus. The chorus often has the role of conveying the overall theme of the song, while the main lyrics will provide more specific examples. Think of the lyrics as a narrative. The first paragraph will be the opening paragraph of the story. ^[19]

• For example, in Jay-Z’s “99 Problems,” the first line describes Jay-Z’s portrayal of him in the media and his problems with radio, rap magazines, and advertisers. ^[20]
• You should experiment with different rhymes and rhythms for the main verse as you would with the chorus. ^[21]

Write paragraphs 2 and 3 based on the first paragraph. Once you’ve written the first paragraph, the next two paragraphs should come to you fairly easily. The second paragraph will tell the middle of the story and the third paragraph will tell the ending. ^[22]

• For example, in the second verse of “It Was a Good Day,” Ice Cube raps about how he doesn’t mind his enemies after recounting that his mother prepares breakfast for him in the first verse. ^[23]
• Usually, rappers use the same rhythm and rhyme in verse 2 and verse 3 as in verse 1, but don’t be afraid to change it up to surprise the audience. ^[24]