Feeling a little aggravated, can't seem to get better as a lyricist - need advice

[CG Kid]

Here's a song I recorded recently and is my average performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3WzuP7PEXg

I just don't feel my lyrics are good enough. I need help. How do you practice to become a better lyricist? What's considered a good practice?

I use to play guitar, and it was practice this + practice that = get better. With the rap thing it's always been far from black and white, and I've never been so confused. I know what I want - to be a better lyricist - but not what to practice. I have memorized a chunk of a rhyming dictionary for 4 hours a day over 5 months. I got a big vocabulary. But how do I learn to use it?

And how to you write songs? How much time do you spend writing? Right now I write in about 30 minutes to a hour then read it while I'm recording.

 

[RzRbeats]

Hey,you've got a great flow and some good lyrics too,I wish I could rap like that,even though I'm a producer,I still write some lyrics on my notebook,I'm not a native english speaker so I try to write lyrics on my own language because I have a horrible accent in english,I usually spend about 30 minutes,even 45 sometimes and I first record my song to my cell phone to see how is it like and then I memorize the lyrics and record the final product,try playing with some words,expressing your emotions with some metaphors,and talk about real stuff that you live,that's how I think you'll become a better lyricist,I hope I have helped!

 

[dutchinlive]

I don't mind your song at all, man. If you want to improve, I guess you should really look at different rhyming structures in hip hop songs. Try to do different rhyming structures instead of having four lines all rhyme together, have it so even lines rhyme and odd lines rhyme: ABAB, after that 4th line, move on to the next rhyme, don't just keep going back for words with the same ending. Also consider breaking up rhymes into multiple words. "I fell into her, it was a force of *gravity*, she screamed but it didn't seem too *bad-to-me*" Rhyming words seem more powerful the more similar they are, but less powerful if the ending is EXACTLY the same. Indicate rhymes really well with Interstate, but doesn't sound as good with 'Suffocate'.

Also, keep track of your syllables. Sometimes you have to push extra words in outside the beat, but you should always try to punch your syllables through so your listeners know when the verse ends and the next one begins. Here is one I wrote recently:

It's a burden, a beast, blowing up the Middle East
Unleashed and now it feasts upon fragility and peace
And it's anonymous, honorless, erratic and autonomous
But as the impure defile, are they justified in bombing us?

If you try and say it out loud, you'll see the last line needs to squish a word out, so I cut out the 'are' and it fits perfectly.

I hope this helps, man. Your track is good.

 

[noahneevz]

1. Rap Everyday. Write Everyday.

2. Read Everyday. Dictionary plus anything else you can find.

3. Freestyle Everyday. I turn on Youtube or Pandora and freestyle over instrumentals for at least 20 mins.

4. Listen to Music Everyday. New and Old. Use as inspiration, but AVOID COPYING AND BITING AT ALL COST. Make your own stuff.

Hope this helped! Do all of these everyday. Rapping is a lot experience, and heart just gotta do it. Not a lot of technical memorization.

Keep pushing and learning!
Noah Neevz | Free Listening on SoundCloud

 

[dutchinlive]

Oh yeah man, this. Read. Read sci fi, read fantasy, read non-fiction, read the news. Seriously, turn off all other forms of entertainment that aren't music or reading. Pick up some of the classics, even young adult fiction gets pretty wordy at times. Anything that catches your interest and keeps you thinking will be good.