How do you train to be a better MC?

1. i would say freestyle over the grimiest and most horrible beats possible
also rhyme over stuff you would feel ashamed of rhyming over(traditional reasons) like some kurtis blow or some rakim, some would say you are not worthy of this but if you set your heart and mind to it you are worthy of rhyming over the sickest and most legendary beats.
2. get together some encyclopedias, thesaurus, dictionary, and a wide range of poetry books, anything intellectual in paper form is wise
3. do not lay your first track over a beat until you have been through at least 5 years of freestyling and rhyming, or 70-80 rhymebooks
after this no one can tell you **** about rhyming

ask mjg or eightball if they went through any of this/
then ask a more complex mc and they will tell you who's music is worth buying
 
Bravery Pandemic said:
1. i would say freestyle over the grimiest and most horrible beats possible
also rhyme over stuff you would feel ashamed of rhyming over(traditional reasons) like some kurtis blow or some rakim, some would say you are not worthy of this but if you set your heart and mind to it you are worthy of rhyming over the sickest and most legendary beats.
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I disagree with this one. It seems like tons of MCs ONLY rhyme to grimy beats and traditional beats. I think MCs need to step out of the box that hip-hop has been put into by experimenting with all types of different sounds. Grimy beats and beats the greats have used have already been done. Working with them will definitely not make anyone stand out from the crowd.


2. get together some encyclopedias, thesaurus, dictionary, and a wide range of poetry books, anything intellectual in paper form is wise
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I agree 100%. I dunno why I didn't think to put this in there.


3. do not lay your first track over a beat until you have been through at least 5 years of freestyling and rhyming, or 70-80 rhymebooks
after this no one can tell you **** about rhyming

ask mjg or eightball if they went through any of this/
then ask a more complex mc and they will tell you who's music is worth buying
Click to expand...
I think this kind of elitism could only hurt hip hop. The goal here isn't to be able to say that "no one can tell you **** about rhyming." The goal is to excel as an artist. Some people do well quickly, some people will take more time. Would you really listen to a catchy song with tight lyrics and perfect flow and say its worthless because the MC has only been doing it for a year? In the end, the final product always speaks for itself. I know a good amount of relative beginners who make the garbage veterans in the mainstream today look like babies. Besides, the day you claim "no one can tell you **** about rhyming" is the day you stop growing and begin to stagnate.

Also, I was able to record the very first verse I ever wrote and since then I have constantly been recording. Being able to hear myself has helped me a whole lot as an artist. On the flip side, I've heard guys who have been freestyling and writing for years who don't know the first thing about making a song because they've never tried to get in a studio.
 
i actually disagree with the encyclopedia cuz i know where im from and i aint usin no big words in everyday language ,i aint gonna bs on rhymes like when you writin an essay.
look at the real educated artists they aint usin big words but they are using a big picture.
people ALWAYS use so many big words and rhyme schemes and forget to make the verse have substance

i would say to practice everystyle and speak of true false what u see what you experienced and jus keep doin it
 
Greetings,

I would say this.. Rhyme about your life.. If you don't feel uncomfortable talking about a subject, then it ain't close enough to home..
 
Anointed - I think it's good to try to get out of your comfort zone, but most MCs are only comfortable talking about their own lives. There is a whole world out there.

chilla2 said:
i actually disagree with the encyclopedia cuz i know where im from
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We all start form the same place - not even knowing how to wipe our own asses. Knowing where you're from is no excuse to avoid knowledge.

and i aint usin no big words in everyday language ,i aint gonna bs on rhymes like when you writin an essay.
look at the real educated artists they aint usin big words but they are using a big picture.
people ALWAYS use so many big words and rhyme schemes and forget to make the verse have substance
Click to expand...
The point of educating yourself is not to be able to use big words to hide empty verses. The more you know, the more you will understand about yourself and thye world. As understanding of yourself and the world grows, you will be able to write about a bigger range of subjects.

I don't want to take this off topic, but that "I know where I'm from so I won't learn" attitude keeps a lot of people down. How can you claim that "people ALWAYS use so many big words and rhyme schemes and forget to make the verse have substance" if you don't even understand the words? Obviously if you don't understand the words, you won't understand the substance. Instead of being mad at or looking down on people that use "big" words, pick up a dictionary and learn the words.

chilla2 said:
i actually disagree with the encyclopedia cuz i know where im from
Click to expand...
We all start form the same place - not even knowing how to wipe our own asses. Knowing where you're from is no excuse to avoid knowledge.

and i aint usin no big words in everyday language ,i aint gonna bs on rhymes like when you writin an essay.
look at the real educated artists they aint usin big words but they are using a big picture.
people ALWAYS use so many big words and rhyme schemes and forget to make the verse have substance
Click to expand...
The point of educating yourself is not to be able to use big words to hide empty verses. The more you know, the more you will understand about yourself and thye world. As understanding of yourself and the world grows, you will be able to write about a bigger range of subjects.

I don't want to take this off topic, but that "I know where I'm from so I won't learn" attitude keeps a lot of people down. How can you claim that "people ALWAYS use so many big words and rhyme schemes and forget to make the verse have substance" if you don't even understand the words? Obviously if you don't understand the words, you won't understand the substance. Instead of being mad at or looking down on people that use "big" words, pick up a dictionary and learn the words.
 
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Gripp said:
Yet another thread where no one really knows what the **** they're talking about.
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:sing: you got that right

Gripp said:
Yet another thread where no one really knows what the **** they're talking about.
Click to expand...
you got that right ....:monkey:
 
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Depends, lyrics are talent mixed with experience. If you want to sound better on the mic, some techniques I would suggest would be to memorize a song/artist you're influenced from and practice staying on beat with their lyrics over the instrumental of the song. Then try to create your own verses based on their verse structure/melody.
 
I think yall are over complicating things just a little bit. It's not the beats, its not the big nuclear words, it's simply creativety. To be able to pick a subject on anything and come up with 16 bars about it. If you prefer not to be all artsy then just be honest.
 
If you talk to any well regarded artist - whether its a hip hop artist, painter, whatever - they will tell you that creativity is just the beginning. Talent can only get you so far. To reach your full potential, you need to "overcomplicate" it and learn it from many different angles.

I found the original question so interesting because many MCs do not make the effort to do that. My partners and I have a weekly event with a cypher and performances, so I see a lot of aspiring MCs perform and freestyle. It is easy to tell the ones who just have talent from the ones who "overcomplicate things" and hone their skills. I've seen some extremely talented and creative guys clear a room because despite their natural gifts, they couldn't hold a crowd.

If your happy just being a freestyle MC or a studio MC or a battle MC, I guess talent will be enough, but if you're trying to be diverse in your material and in your abilities, then more is required of you.
 
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To reach your full potential, you need to overcomplicate it and learn it from every angle.[/QUOTE]
That's the sillest Sh#T I ever heard,:confused:
 
^ nah, that kinda makes sense to me...yo As str8, what exactly are you talking about? .....like studying different style flows, deliverys? ....?


as far as my own input goes.....one thing that really got me improving is studying offical statements/speeches that professionals make. im talking about presidential addresses, entertainment lawyers making a statement for their rapper/clients.....like all the legal quotes that reporters make in the news...to me, thats an art in itself.
 
First of all you a got a lot of cat's out there that really can't rap. Today it's more about image unfortunatley. You have a lot of guys out there who verbal skills leave a lot to be desired. Anybody can boast with platinum chains on their neck, and talking about all the paper they gett'in that's tired, You have a lot of guys who raps revolve around very few subjects(Hoes, guns, paper, and cars... again Hoe's guns, paper, and cars) and to top it off, very few of them do it with any kind of cleverness or wordplay that's innovative. I think alot of rappers who skills are so so at best hide behind the getting money image or killer image(You know type...loud as a motor bike, but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight). Like I said there's only a few rappers out their that make consistent hit's, and you can name them on both hands. Honestly there are alot of carbon copies out there. and most of them are TRA-DASH NOT TRASH.. TRA-DASH.
 
when this question comes up, all i can think is read, practise your ryhmes, practise creativity which you make those ryhmes out of, get as much exposure to performing as you can, try to make a style in which you preform (originality's what i'm thinking), and if you want get some dance moves in the works.....

just keep building on yourself, if this is truly what is you want to do, put effort into it..

lol, just a couple more cents
 
kilpoetic said:
^ nah, that kinda makes sense to me...yo As str8, what exactly are you talking about? .....like studying different style flows, deliverys? ....?
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If you follow the link in my original post, I go into much more depth, but here's the quick list:

-freestyle
-pay attention to your energy and emotion when you perform
-Listen to different kinds of music critically
-try writing or freestyling to music out of your comfort zone
-practice and memorize your material
-review and edit your writing
-Try to find diverse subject matter
 
All this is really not necessary A_Str8. By overcomplicating your verse just for the sake of overcomplicating, it you negate the very soul of true hip-hop; namely originality.

Creativity is key to hip-hop's integrity. However I do agree with most of your post; after all, freestyling to music outside your comfort zone and writing about diverse subject matters are all characteristics of someone who is creative, which is exactly my point.

Think of people like Tribe Called Quest, they got a patent on "word play" and "verbal imagery". And Nas, he's got a patent on multis and complex rhyme schemes. Also, look at Guru, he doesn't have a patent on anything technical, but his content alone is complete genius.

My point is this, you cannot force genius, either you have it or you don't. What your saying is take Tribe's word play, Nas' multis, and Guru's content and throw it all in a blender and you got a classic. It simply doesn't work like that, because then you'll get the "sounds like" complex, which is basically people like you simply because of how much you sound like kanye west for example. Let's face it, we already have a 50cent, a eminem, a jay-z and nobody wants another one. How many people would spend the same amount of money on a original picasso painting as they would on an artist who copied his style. Nobody would.

Originality, Exposure, Honesty, Ingenuity. That's Hip-Hop.
 
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I never said anything about overcomplicating your verse. I think it's imortant to "overcomplicate" the art in your mind - see it as a thing you need to work for and think about all the aspects of it that you can work on - but that doesn't mean your verses should be so complex they take a week of study to comprehend it. Doesn't mean they can't be either. But no, I don't think a complex verse is necessarily a classic one.

Just because other MCs have used word play, verbal imagery, etc before, doesn't mean if you use any of those that you will sound like them. After all, those are literary devices that have been in use for ages. No one thinks Nas and Tribe sound like Sheakespare and Poe. As artists who work with words, we all have access to the same set of tools that other MCs have and that writers have had for forever. It's HOW you use, not simply the fact that you use them that will determine if you sound original or like someone else. It's like a piano - there are only 88 keys, yet after 300 years people continue to innovate and create new material with it. Using all the keys won't gaurunty that you'll create an original piece, but deciding to avoid the keys the greats have used definitly won't help originality. That only limits the tools you have, making it harder to be original.

And no, you can't force genius, but no one is born an expert. You will never know the level of genius you are capable of achieving if you do not work towards it. I forget when and where I saw it, but I saw an article once that pointed out that many of the people that we consider to be geniuses actually worked very hard to reach the level they were at. Beethoven and Mozart practiced for hours a day, Einstein read/studied a whole lot, etc. For a more recent and thorough example, I recommend Quincy Jones' biography.

Originality, exposure, honesty, and ingenuity are elements of good art, but they don't just come to you.
 
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You either have or you don't. If you have it(a natural talent for Rapping that is, or anything else for that matter) You can develope it. But if you don't have it, you can't develope it. There is a lot of crap out there that is masqueradeing as art, Anybody can rhyme....but not everybody can rap, there's a difference. If you believe you have a talent for it, go for it.
 
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