How To Write A Rap Song, From Start To Finish (Step-By-Step)

This video won't like any other "how to write a rap song" training on KZbin... we're going to show you EVERYTHING...
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Start A Rap Career In 6 Weeks or Less (ARTIST DEVELOPMENT COURSE I MENTIONED): htr.freestylefortnight.com/pr...
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Master The Art of Freestyle Rap In 2 Weeks or Less (FREESTYLE COURSE I MENTIONED): htr.freestylefortnight.com/ma...
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
1:42 Start A Rap Career Today
2:00 Master The Art of Freestyle Rap In 2 Weeks Or Less
2:45 How To Write Your First Verse In A Rap Song
15:34 Rap Tycoon
15:38 Freestyle Fortnight
16:20 How To Write Your Second Verse In A Rap Song
29:04 How To Write A Catchy Rap Chorus
38:27 How To Write A Full Rap Song In 12 Mins. Or Less (Demonstration)
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Now, there’s a million things you can rap about and hopefully this won’t be the only time you sit down and write a rap…
…But for the purposes of this article, we’ve gone is researched what the most common topics to rap about are, based on the top 100 rap songs according to a ranked Google search…
…And what we’ve found is that there’s a common theme, among the Eminems, the 2Pacs, the Kendricks, and so on when they rap in their first verse, and that is…
FIRST PERSON
PRESENT TENSE
DESCRIPTION OF FRUSTRATING CIRCUMSTANCES
In other words, you describing your struggle, your difficulties in your environment, etc. but in FIRST PERSON and describing it as if it’s happening right now.
That’s how songs like “Cleaning Out My Closet” by Eminem, “Hate It or Love It” by 50 Cent and The Game, and “Changes” by 2Pac start.
Be Mentally Prepared
The first step when facing the verse 2 blues and wanting to know how to come up with a second verse in rap is to know that it is extremely common for beginning artists to struggle with this.
When I first started rapping over 15 years ago, I would often just write one long verse with no chorus or give up after the first verse, cut the beat off and call it a “freestyle” or “freeverse”.
(I’m sure many readers can relate to that)
The problem with this is that you are training your rapping abilities to GIVE UP on perhaps the most important part of the song… especially if you quit before writing a chorus.
Songwriting “Blocks”
Additionally understand that overtime it will become easier and easier to come up a verse 2 quickly if you PRACTICE pushing through it.
The way that I personally do this is organize my songwriting sessions into “blocks” where my only goal is to come out with a COMPLETED song in a given amount of time.
In other words, rather than most new rappers who just write rap when they feel like it or wait for “inspiration”, I tell myself “I will sit down for 2 hours and by the end of it, I will have a FULL SONG” done.
Not 2 hours of just writing random verse… 2 hours of a FULL SONG being created.
The more I do these songwriting blocks of time, the more I am reprogramming my brain to write in FULL SONG CHUNKS rather than stopping and starting by having half finished songs.
Anything you practice you get good at. Practice finishing songs.
The 75/25 chorus rule dictates that roughly 75% of your songs should BEGIN with the chorus.
When we say begin, we mean that the chorus should be the first vocals that the listener hears.
There are three main reasons this is a crucial songwriting tip for rappers who want to make catchy songs:
Easy To Remember = Catchy
First, if a future fan of your song can easily remember the most well-known part of your track - the chorus (also known as the hook) - they are much more likely to call it “catchy”.
Whereas us as rappers really dive into the science of rapping and bars, the fan who will will spend their entire savings on your concerts, streams, and merch often will simply define a “hit” by if they think it’s catchy a.k.a. memorable on the first listen (or not).
What better way to be seen as memorable and catchy than introducing them to the most repeated and repeatable part of the song from the very start of the track?
If Fans Can Repeat It, They Can Remember It
And that right there is the second reason. If someone has heard the most iconic part of the song from the very beginning, by the time they’ve hit the end of verse 1…
They’re actually going to be listening to your chorus a 2ND TIME because you’ve already begun the song with the first chorus.
The best part? Fans don’t even notice this simple song structure trick because they spent the beginning of the song just getting in the mood and waiting for the verse to start.
We bet you didn’t notice that of 18 musical tracks on 50 Cent’s legendarily catchy and soon-to-be diamond selling album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’…
A full 13 of them (72%) start with the chorus (including all of the singles such as “In Da Club”, “21 Questions”, and “Many Men”).

[@HowToRapOfficial]

What do you think of this longer, more in-depth format of KZbin rap coaching?

[@speedomrecords]

Very helpful thankyou

[@csapanda0219]

Very helpful

[@kamalpreetsandhu]

I loved it el brooo

[@Jaymoudio]

I don't know why ....but Damn!!!! THank you Drew!!!!! Hope i'll finish my songs FINALLY with that!!!

[@TaeCobain]

This is what I need. As much knowledge as possible. You came through

[@blessingthegoat]

Been in the game for a year and I'm proud to be a member of this channel and to those who have just started keep pushing you will become better trust me it's not easy but it's worth it

[@HowToRapOfficial]

👊

[@IssaWayne-vv8sz]

Thanks for having strengthened us the comer ❤

[@dubstep_the_kidd_9230]

Fuck man thank you, I come from writing poetry and being forced into a church so I play all kinds of instruments. I’m 28 now and all of a sudden grew a huge love for rap

[@tacktime]

I been rapping for years but I still come back here when I got writers block. The simplistic way you break it down actually really helps. I have adhd when my mind is all over the place a format like this helps to refocus. Thank you bro.

[@user-qy2lv9vo3o]

same here bro i also have ADHD but i am new to the game.

[@jordanselemani9860]

I have been writing for years without following any structure but I can honestly say that trying the 16 bar frame work really helped me to narrow the subject of my song and to stay focus. just finished my first 16 bars rap in two days thanks for you guideline my brother !

[@HowToRapOfficial]

👊

[@sleepy5445]

Just finished my first song, and I swear it's much better than I would have thought it to be for my first attempt at writing! thanks so much for the tutorial!

[@Th4t0neF00]

post it pleaseeee🙏🙏

[@josephwirth3892]

honestly, best channel in my opinion. Well spoken man.

[@LevileeWilding]

absolute spectacular i really needed this as im currently working on my own rap song, influenced by juice wrld and all kinds of rap tutorials on youtube just simply arent enough. thanks so much for giving me such a clearer understanding as to how i am supposed to work with my rap, i am so grateful. once released ill be sure to mention you for the huge help in hand, my rap will be posted up on my channel, which is awful at the moment

[@lamborghinicentenario2497]

Yessss make more of these!

[@ezekiel47thehitman]

Thank you, amazing stuff

[@Keith-hu4lv]

Up bro i thanks you i just landed on your channel i was work-in on this song i wrote a longtime ago and i couldn't get it to work the way i was feeling but now i just finished the song by rapping the chorus and i did your whole process and I'm stocked. Game changer mix acoustic with rap///thats it...bang thanks bro

[@Mohamed-yi3tb]

Keep doing video's like this its really helpful man thank you keep doing you ❤️

[@HowToRapOfficial]

Dope! Glad to inspire you Mohamed!

[@PhilipvanKampen-gi6vd]

used this vid to cook up some fire, thanks man!

[@JoeySkate24]

More of theese!!! Yes!!!

[@raatttmagic474]

Been chilling in the bath listing in to this video.... Wow man, much love for making a video that doesn't over complicate and easy to understand,,, been writing for about 6 months now and hadn't a clue how to structure a song..... This video is wicked bro, much love once again 👊👊🤙❤

[@Ed_Deavors]

Thank you for this

[@Kandrive]

This video halped me a lot Thanks and love from India

[@nathanbullaft3445]

Love these longer, in depth video's!🔥

[@sadbunny.]

Im getting better n better Thnxk You bruh ❤️❤️❤️

[@SHEmakesLOVE]

Timing impeccable 🎉

[@joshuafiegert4276]

Thanks for making this! It was like sifting through sh!t until I came across this

[@arcticleader6552]

please more of these!!

[@zealman7213]

Perfect timing this is what I needed

[@eleanorcox8058]

... *** Yeah *** ... *** n' ; Rapper - Friend - Named - Black - Man *** ... From .v.b.b.c. ...

[@denniskollie5887]

I really appreciate getting you bro, but I get lots of amazing knowledge on how to write a rap from your video and i have to keep being with you cause i do most of my rap in my local triber language so I will need you to show me more ways.

[@HowToRapOfficial]

Thank you, Dennis Kollie! 👊

[@allenrobinson8602]

Stumbled upon your channel outstanding content. 2day i became a SUB 😁

[@aeryntorres1950]

Iv always struggled with actually starting out i always said im finally gonna record and set myself up for that false accomplishment which i need to stop doing and had a few almost done tracks with missing hooks this really helps giving me ideas and improving as an artist

[@ivanjusino6116]

Hay you are good I always wanted to write since I was a toddler I didn't have the most important tool that I needed. It was my family's sport they didn't believe in me so I took a different path to make my father happier, I started Boxing I was good but I got hurt but I promise my self that I'm going to write a song (rap) before I die I only want to hear my self at least once. I can die happily.

[@RobotronSage]

Dude what

[@Break4life]

I’m currently starting to make some music on sound trap and writing lyrics. This helped a lot thanks 🙏

[@HowToRapOfficial]

one love, break4life! 👊

[@RafaelBergLopez]

thank you 🙏🏼

[@Unclesonali]

Right on time

[@josephwirth3892]

Thank you man

[@jorceibanez3705]

Very awesome!! Ty

[@HowToRapOfficial]

Thank you, jorce ibanez

[@mathewmena1688]

Thanks I wrote my first song in 10 years today. I’ll never record it cuz it’s really bad but lm glad I at least wrote something

[@ophwhite3618]

Perfectionist paralysis ruins a lot of good things you really can't create and edit at the same time. I'm giving you advice that I need to start applying myself. If you finish something record it and don't try to make it anything special just mix it down and after a couple months or in my case years pass you might play it back and have no clue how you ever reached such insane level. All of my songs are skeletons, if I didn't have people with me for a lot of the stuff I would of most likely deleted everything I ever made before I got to listen to it with a fresh perspective

[@eddie5964]

damn man, you really helped me a lot 🙌🏽♥️‼️

[@HowToRapOfficial]

Dope! Glad to inspire you Eddie!

[@princessndlovu5609]

Very helpful thank You very much

[@HowToRapOfficial]

Dope! Glad to inspire you Princess!

[@Mvalka_Jay]

Okay bro i will do it

[@amorbeats]

I have been freestyling by myself for almost a year now and your videos have been great. When i started i used to do it so much like many hours a day now i have been lacking i also make beats and it feel so weird to rap on my own beats.

[@Unknown_YT_11]

❤🌍 MUCH LOVE RESPECT ✅

[@alexanderthegrem]

Start❤✊🏿

[@tru4872]

Can you make a video on how to come up with song concepts?

[@chefnil]

Yes I want to see that

[@CelticAugur]

Think of something from your life you can put in your bars

[@chukasworld007]

Yeah concept and themes

[@2monthtrial]

Go live a crazy life or study someone who does and create a storyline

[@facesofevildead]

That's the thing, nowadays it can be hard to be original n not labeled a clone or copying someone's flow, style, cadence etc..

[@P_Corleone]

Thanks drew🤙🏻 stay well man

[@HowToRapOfficial]

👊

[@P_Corleone]

@@HowToRapOfficial can you do a masterclass on RAEKWON THE 👨‍🍳

[@onesidegamers8369]

Thanks bruh ❤🙌✨

[@HowToRapOfficial]

One love! One side Gamers!

[@doemane]

Theres no real way you just gotta put in the work. Have a good ear for what sounds good and keep going. Eventually youll start crafting a style that works. Theres some great tips here

[@leandrobisangwa4781]

I like them

[@skmoses8001]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@K.C.JamesBRE]

Bout time we got a 40min+ video

[@kendrickruyten4188]

I really really really wanne hit the studio and mindfck with people in a artistic way to get a creation going... =)

[@bennynuisance]

ngl i i’m stuck n frustrated rn but ima js keep going

[@mateuszmaka2042]

It was a pleasure and blessing to meet you at the gym in Zakopane Poland . You are a legend ! Hit me up brother .

[@mateuszmaka2042]

Brother I have messaged you on messenger both private and howtorap page , it would be a pleasure if you could reply .

[@kendrickruyten4188]

Yow yow yow who's in the corner! Getting appointed a seat on the best TABLE! Holla!

[@THA_GOAT_OG]

This nice I love 'em, but not everyone would love to watch something long

[@mikinebula6872]

Yooooooo...for real the didn't let you talk at your house at all just get to it bro what the fuk i been watching the video for like a hour already and am still waiting to learn how to write a song 😂😂😂🤭🤭

[@TechnicalGamingop]

Very helpful

[@HowToRapOfficial]

Thank you, Technical Gaming!

[@TechnicalGamingop]

@@HowToRapOfficial 😊

[@erlee]

ppreciatchu

[@glareblair]

I purchased the rap tycoon course and the media empire course add on last year and never received it. After purchasing the course I clicked on the links to access the course but the links didn’t work. I tried emailing you several times but every time I tried emailing you the email would give an error saying not delivered. I don’t know what happened, but I would like to receive the course that I purchased. Could you please assist me with this?

[@calmingaudio2932]

i kinda messed up after writting the first 4 i just kinda kept goin and got all 16 came out pretty good tho

[@arshadbranch6083]

What if I ain’t in a fustrating circumstance 😂

[@nkululekomnyandu4124]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@denilsonthomas]

Yeah what if I wanna rap about selling a house? Or doing groceries

[@H.Testimony]

😂😂this my issue

[@darkskinwhite]

A bar in a rap beat is typically gonna be 2 snares. Every 4 measures is 1 bar, with the snare on the 2 & the 4. So ** kick - & - snare - & - kick - & - snare - & ** is 1 bar.

[@adplusthe1931]

I took your fortnite course to polish up on freestyle thank you

[@retroboy5977]

Does this really help.. I'm a newbie Someone let me kno please

[@astrixkz]

you should make a twitch channel

[@mr.nwambada]

This is super cute and Life Changing 🙏 thanks man

[@HowToRapOfficial]

Dope! Glad to inspire you Mr. Nwambada!

[@awrigato]

I’m in a state where the money don’t come easy Stuck inside a place, where my demons try to eat me Y’all couldn’t imagine what it’s like just to be me All my fake friends, always try to deceive me

[@awrigato]

Scrolling through the gram, and my friends flexin’ cash y’all don’t understand, man I’m stuck inside the past What’s holding me back if this life is moving fast They getting better jobs, while I’m stuck making jack Press on gas, close my eyes hope I crash Then the ones that I love, is what brings this life back

[@daantheman4626]

12:50 “write bars 9-8” aight i erased bar 8 and wrote 2 new bars with the second bar before the first one

[@Li_Ty02]

Can’t ever find no good beats

[@miguel_rxo]

The problem is I’m 16 tryna learn how to rap but I don’t want my family hearing me only time I can be loud and vocal is when I’m home alone

[@VexRoseDemons]

Idk if this a stupid question or not but how many words should each bar have?

[@VexRoseDemons]

Hopefully I didn’t miss it if you said it cause if you did then shit I guess I’m dead or something

[@dontsaymynameunlessyouknow8775]

Hey drew . Can you please make a brief explanation of bars ? Like I don't know what people mean when they say "oh this rapper spat 32 bars within a 16 bar verse " Bro I know how to count bars on a beat. but.. I don't understand that term ... Like. How do you spit more bars in a fixed bar count of a verse ?- going faster or slower Is the same thing , a bar is a bar right ?- Whether you spit 100 syllables or 10 syllables. Within 4 bars is the same count of a bar , correct ? Unless they are just talking gibberish.? I don't know I'm confused here. 😕 I heard there's bar of a beat and bar of a rapper.. So I guess that's the lesson here

[@ophwhite3618]

half time, regular time, double time, triple time.

[@dontsaymynameunlessyouknow8775]

@@ophwhite3618 whatchu mean by time?

[@ophwhite3618]

Okay check it out go to a metronome and write to the click track at the beginning only focus on writing very simple lines that will usually have an end rhyme on the 4th beat at least or slightly before or after it depending if you want to sound like you're in a rush or laid back but that doesn't matter yet because once you get your timing down basically talking to a click track to start of you could only use a single syllable per beat if you wanted. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 could be a bar you could also choosing to fit as many syllables as you can into the same time signature so basically if you set a metronome to 170 bpm you could cut it in half and make it work on 85 bpm as well. Also once you get the timing and the structure down you'll be able to write a verse that you could fit to any tempo every time. To start off it's fun to not even worry about rhyming just stay on the metronome and increase it little by little until you could rap to anything. Also if a beat is slow you could write something to the kick and the snare or you could make the 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 count happen twice in one bar with the 3 landing on the snare that's popular these days but no matter how you go about timing it you could fit more words over a slow beat. I like to write in quatrains or the occasional pair of couplets but I think of random things that I want to say. Figure out a way to word the point I wanted to make in the best way that I can and make that the last line of a couplet the first line would be the set up line. If you do that twice with the same rhyme scheme you essentially set your self up to have a hard hitting punch line if that's what you're going for every two lines. You could also come up with the punch and use the entire three bars before it just to build up to it or create a serious set up to lead into one of your best lines in that verse especially if the 3 lines before it are all being used as an analogy or if you just want to play with flows and different literary devices. If you have a message you could break that down into thoughts that you build as you go even if after the four or eight bar stanza is complete you rearrange the lines so that the hardest hitting part comes at the end of that section. 4 sections of 4 bars that are written at random and then placed in order after words by choosing from those 4 and numbering them. Also, every 4 bars is a good spot to switch up the flow or the scheme or delivery. Breaking it up into sections let's you think about the way each part should be said so you could punch in to not only make it easier to get right but being able to focus on the emotion and delivery of every single line until those 4 punch-ins become a really well rounded and unpredictable verse. That's just one simple method. If the goal of your song is to just write a free verse in ten minutes and use the same rhyme scheme the whole time that could be cool to just make sure you don't trade in meaning for forced rhymes because you allow yourself to get stuck in one scheme and if your only focus is rhyming all the way through make sure you're still saying what you want to say or it will most likely sound forced. Switching up the style or even just the rhyme scheme every 4 bars will definitely be more entertaining to the listener if it's done right. You still need to learn timing which basically you could talk to the tempo of a beat and not even rhyme. I used to pick up random fictional horror novels and just talk pages to the instrumental to show my friends that once you get it down it will actually become difficult to fall off beat. In the beginning you should just take beats of rappers that you know and learn the basic flows and rhyme placement. In the beginning if you could just put a single end rhyme on the second snare. Listen to flows of rappers you like or if you're like me you could listen to anything from pop punk to alternative rock to spoken word poetry or even just read and become familiar with all the literary devices. I don't know exactly how long you been doing it and I been up for days so I'm kind of shot but I still wanted to give some very basic advice. I need an idea of what you do for practice but if you have any more questions I'll be able to deliver more concise answers once I'm even slightly rested.

[@dontsaymynameunlessyouknow8775]

@@ophwhite3618 ey bro I appreciate that whole essay but I didn't understand how one spits more bars within a bar .. but I assume so far you're saying If I can spit fast enough within A bar . 1-2-3-4 And land my rhymes twice in a bar and do it consistently for a whole verse It can be considered a 32 when is a 16? Or am I off somewhere?

[@ophwhite3618]

If the tempo is 80 but you're rapping at 160 bpm it still fits the beat bars are in all actuality just a measure of music in hip hop it's normally 4 beats or measures equals a bar in music but if you're spitting it twice as fast it can be slowed down to 32 bars or spit at twice the speed to equal the 16

[@HomageKeyfa]

noit a reach but im on waynes level of creativity i don't need to write i just need the beat, i sacraficed the pen and the pad let my soul speak, but nah writing is good also and very theraputheitc, you can limit your brain if you never use it .

[@denilsonthomas]

This nigga got bars

[@Couzzie-en3ew]

If u don't takes notes u trippin bro he has the best tips

[@anniegurung5171]

I making it in 3 am

[@AkemiNinjitsu]

Rhythm alone I can not condone on my own from the dome I’m in a position that’s known where I can’t listen to myself without the help of a phone

[@GtaBroski]

where can i get the rap dictionary

[@HowToRapOfficial]

Hi Jamcul, Thanks for reaching out! You can permanently access the free How To Rap dictionary at the link below. Feel free to bookmark it and come back as we update it. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zugoFxYssgR8yykSS-M9ivP_ByJhfQNl38eEye7EMdo/edit?usp=sharing Thanks for your interest in How To Rap products and services! All the best, How To Rap Staff

[@GtaBroski]

@@HowToRapOfficial thanks ❤❤

[@adegasxd4854]

do u think im too young to write raps? im 12 and i really want to be like Eminem

[@Whysthererain]

definitely not most rappers start off really young

[@adegasxd4854]

@@Whysthererain thx

[@shini9704]

It’s a learning process so, just do it bro💪🏻

[@GhostCry_Corpsey]

Are you ever to old to write your 1st rap song and get into it dude, I'm 35 and come from the metal scene and wanna try mixing rap into my music

[@ejrfbdisjw2530]

No

[@darkskinwhite]

Funk Flex said Drake knew the verse already but he pulled out the phone to make it look like he had just wrote it.

[@DonkeeBoyYT]

What's crazy is that Drake can't rap a lic. Also he is a professional actor since his early youth, and that is still what he's doing now. I think he is good as heck in this current role. He never has to write not 1 word, he does not have do actually live anything he "sings" about and he gets paid more than a regular A list actor does. How stupid are regular actors for real?

[@yeonhokang4360]

I feel like the video is edited too much it cuts off every time he talks still a great video but just wish there was less editing and cutting off :D

[@The.Works.]

If you need any beats hit me up. This was fire.🔥I got free beats for you guys to practice with.

[@ivanjusino6116]

I wanna let you know that I'm 54 I got part of my feet agitated I'm not doing too good but I can't give up on my dreams that I had in the past I want to write a sand I think I'm gonna need your help

[@irb4040]

all these views but no likes come on help a brother out

[@lamborghinicentenario2497]

The phone ring-like sound in the background music is super annoying

[@hailie-uf5lp]

step mf one: dont learn from the rapper that uses mf "gang gang" word.

[@supermodelatlanta1354]

I learned nothing from this guy. We all know we need paper daw etc

[@user-hx4dz9rr6o]

Damn don't talk so much in begin man a out comercial then you must cal titllr how to buy from me or this are my productsend keep en keep end keep Talking about other thing you make mad

[@OR-xs7fy]

14:50 to add to that tip. learn what you wrote in ur head as it makes it easier to change flows and stuff. i freestyle but cant write for shit as I'm dyslexic lol

[@eleanorcox8058]

... *** Yeah *** ... *** Britney - Cat - Girl - Murphy *** love *** Marshall - Method - Matters *** ; *** to - *** Gyd - Heir *** ... From .v.b.b.c ...