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Okay, so you have a little concern about The Right Way To Practice Your Rap Craft.  Honestly – I used to have this same problem.  The whole reason for coming up with the book, The Official How To Rap Manual was because I wanted to come up with a way for me to better my self as a rapper. 

I wanted a guide, a manual of some sort and at that time it wasn’t any thing around that I could learn from.  The only thing I had to teach myself how to rap was listening to the radio learning form some of my favorite artist.

I didn’t just listen, I actually studied the way they rhymed over a beat.  Most people listen to the words, actually most people who are listeners, listen to the words of a song when they first hear it.  Me, I listen to how they say it rather than what they say over a beat.  When I first started, this helped me to learn different cadences, and rhyme schemes.

Once I would get home I’d remember what it was I heard and what format I wanted to try out.  From there I would pop in a instrumental on my computer and just start writing away. 

The Key To Rapping

The Point System I developed is the key to rapping over any beat every single way imaginable.  There isn’t a rhyme scheme or style that it doesn’t match up against.

After the point system came about I had a foundation I could bank on, I call it an understanding and that was something that I didn’t really have up to that point.  So this is where the practice part comes in.  I rhymed and rhymed and rhymed as much as I could. 

Compositions on top of compositions – That’s really the only way you’re going to get better.  Practice makes perfect when it comes to improving your craft.  Pick a style and master it.  Practice it until it becomes natural and stay on point. Staying on beat is half the battle.  That’s the only way to practice your craft. 

30 Day Rap Challenge

Everyday for the next 30 days commit to writing a verse a day.  That’s just 16 bars.  Pick a rhyme scheme and practice it for a whole month. 

For example, write a verse where each bar rhymes on point 8.  Once you master it, switch to something else.  Don’t let yourself get discouraged – if you feel like starting over… don’t.  Just continue to write and go where ever it takes you. 

It doesn’t even have to make since, just make the words rhyme on Points 8 of each bar.  Do this until it sounds natural. 

Sometimes I hear people rapping over a beat and you can tell when they are rushing or they are putting to many syllables in one line and it sounds like the bar is rushed and off point. (Make sure you write to a beat, so you can stay on point – if its not on point, your lines will sound out of place)

What ever you do, don’t get discouraged.  This is just practice – you don’t even have to let anybody listen to them…at first, but remember getting feedback is always a good thing.  The best way to critique your-self is to get a recorder and record your self. 

A Portable hand recorder or Studio will be fine, even a web cam can help you critique your flow.  Remember, listen to how you say it rather than what you say.  Try this little exercise for a month and I can almost guarantee you’ll be better than you were when you started. 

Also, next time your listening to your favorite artist, listen more to how they say it, rather than what they say and see what you can find. 

Most of the time your style or flow is going to be determined how you say your rhymes.  You can check out the article “Words Fall On Which Points?” for a better understanding of the point-system.

One more tip, and that is, switch it up.  Experiment – In other words, build your core foundation.  Pick a style that you like, master it and experiment with different ins and outs. 

How To Find Your Rap Voice

You’re searching for your rap voice.  This is when you come into yourself as an artist.  Some find their voice quicker than others.  I hope this helps, if so be sure to leave us a comment.

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Jamaal West is the author of The Official How To Rap Manual.  He has over 15 years experience helping others improve rap skill and rhyming ability.  Inventor of the How2rap Point-System & The Understanding Bars Tutorial his techniques on teaching others to rap have been regarded as one of the best of its kind since the year 2000.
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There’s no cutting corners when trying to be a better rapper.  It takes time and patience.  You’re only going to be as good as the time you put into perfecting your craft.

You have to work on all facets of your talent.  If you write tight verses but have problems writing hooks work on improving your hook writing skills.

Having problems staying on beat?  Master the point-system then choose a style and/or rhyme scheme that caters to your level, meaning if your rapping off beat over a fast tempo song work on a song that has a slower tempo and gradually move up.

Once your able to master staying on beat over a slow tempo track move up to a faster tempo and so forth until your comfortable rhyming over different tempos.

If your not happy how you sound figure out the problem and work on making it better.  For instance find your rap voice by rapping in different vocal tones.

When recording in the studio, rap in a high pitch voice on some songs or project your voice louder in some parts of your songs to see what you like and the type of effect it has on your music.

After you find a vocal range that your comfortable with let some people hear it over a beat.  Post it on a few forums or your Facebook and Twitter pages and get some feedback to see how well it is perceived by some listeners.

Don’t focus to much on negative comments but focus more of your attention on constructive criticism.  Never let anyone dictate your artistry.  Be who you want to be and write what ever you like.

At this point you can make more songs in your new rap voice or work on new songs exploring other vocal ideas.  As with anything you’ll get better with time.

The Key To Be A Better Rapper

No matter what part of your rap skill needs improving the key to making it better is to listen to your-self over and over again.  After recording your songs listen to yourself immediately.  Do this time and time again.  I can’t tell you enough how important this is.

Are you happy with the style you chose?  Is the vocal at the right pitch?  Do the vocals and verses flow with the hook?  Are you running out of breath at the end of some of your bars?

Pick your song apart as if you were Simon Cal from American Idol. Write down things that you think need improvement and focus on making them better in future projects.

Listening and reviewing your work will help you find things in your arsenal that need worked on.  Similar to reviewing game tapes in sports so players are able to see where they are lacking in performance.  The same tactic is used here.

Listening to your own music or watching video footage of a performance is important when trying to improve on becoming a better rapper.

6 Things To Help How To Be A Better Rapper

1. Verse/Hook Writing
2. Song Topics
3. Rap Voice
4. Rap Style or Scheme Formats
5. Production
6. Stage Presence

1. Verse/Hook Writing – We touched on this already but working on your song writing skills will help you create better songs.  Try to write as much as you can and over time you’ll see how easy writing songs become.  (Its still good to take your time on something you plan on releasing to the public)

2. Song Topics – Picking better topics may be what you need to become a better rapper.  Maybe you’ve been hearing that your content could use a little improvement.  Test different topics and pick a audience that your song is catering to for example you don’t want to write a happy song about picking flowers and then request feedback from a audience of thug inspired Tupac fans.  You might not get the love you expect.

3. Rap Voice – If you’re not happy with your rap voice find ways to improve it and see what you come up with.  We touched on this in the article.  The key with finding your rap voice is to record, record, record.  And when your done doing that record some more, making sure to experiment with different voices during the process until you find what your looking for.  (Me personally I think its always best to keep your original voice at all times but to eaches own)

4. Rap Style/Scheme Formats – Try different rap styles and schemes to find rhyme formats that mesh well with what you are looking for.  Understanding the How2rap point-system can get you trying tons of different schemes.  It’s all about how your words ride the beat.

5. Production – If your lacking in production start picking better beats – picking the wrong beats can drastically effect your music appeal.  Beanie Segal who was one of my most favorite MC’s during the time when he was with the Roc, has some of the dopest lyrics and a awesome style mixed in with that Philly accent but after leaving the Roc the beats he chose to rap on just didn’t grab me like they did when he was at Roc-a-fella records.

6. Stage Presence – Being on top of your performance game and how you work the crowd will determine how well your music is perceived.  This is definitely something that can make you a better rapper.  It can also crush your dreams if the crowd isn’t really feeling you.  So you at least want your performance game at its best.  Stage fright is something that can make or break you.

Hopefully this article has pulled you into the right direction on how to be a better rapper.  A lot of the time it’s just taking a deep breath and slowing down.  When you begin to rush on what ever it is your doing mistakes begin to happen.

Become A Better Rapper In 10 Minutes

Focus on improving at least one of the things mentioned in this article and I guarantee you’ll be well on your way to becoming a better rapper.  If you like this article please share it or leave me a comment and let me know what you think.