Your Writing Style

I usually freestyle a few take then get highlights from the takes then work it together.

I used to write before hearing a beat but I got tired of editting my lines to fit in a bar so I started writing/freestyling to the beat
 
Yea trying to apply a finished verse to a beat can be a headache i ran into the problem when i was rapping so i stopped and started writing to beats instead
 
I need a good beat first to stick my lyrics to. It is almost impossible for me to change the beat after I wrote my lyrics.
Somehow the instrumental and the voice becomes glued together in my head and because of this I dislike many remixes, though. But only if I know the original.
 
I like to do it both ways. Sometimes you have a dope beat, that needs lyrics. Other times you have dope songs that need a beat, this is the fun way. It is never easy to make a beat to fit lyrics, but it helps you grow as a producer to try these things. Sometimes you may not get the beat for that song on the first one you make. But, keep trying and you may be able to bring it to life. Sometimes you can just start with a snare and the vocals and build on top of that.
 
Every time is different depending on what I'm making. For example, if I'm making a chilled RNB or chilled then i'll start with chords. If i'm making an up-tempo track i'll start with kick and bass . once i've got all that i'll write vocals work with that.
 
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hmmm depends on the tempo and if i already have a story in mind for the song or if i find the story during creation of the beat c:
 
I think it can go either way. But sometimes it's harder to make the lyrics fit the beat if it wasn't written custom for that.
 
I usually freestyle a few take then get highlights from the takes then work it together.

I used to write before hearing a beat but I got tired of editting my lines to fit in a bar so I started writing/freestyling to the beat

lol me 2 i learned that the hard way also
 
I typically will write the lyrics to the beat as I listen to it... the only things I write down without having heard any music are concepts or one liners that can easily be reworded to fit to whatever beat I begin writing to. This is mainly so I remember whatever idea pops into my head when I am not actively writing a song.
 
I almost always write before the beat. I feel like I can collect my thoughts easier and apply more wordplay/multi-syllable rhymes without first worrying about fitting to the beat. I'll then find/make a beat, apply the lyrics, then cut or expand them as needed.

I've written to a beat only a few times, and while it was MUCH easier to develop flows that way, I found that the subsequent lyrics were extremely simple and deviated from my main topics.
 
I grew up doing a fair amount of manual labor, walking long distances, and other repetitive tasks for hours on end (way before I had portable music) like most others. I always enjoyed finding a rhythm and playing around with variations of it in such instances. In retrospect, I've played with the idea that you are your own metronome so what I would write during these periods had a meter to it, maybe several, and it was almost like a secondary stage to identify these subtle changes and separate them into independent entities.

During this stage, some things I would write would just propel me into a mission to find a beat to lay with it. Often times unsuccessfully and it would be relegated to the grey matter filing cabinet only to be rediscovered with the most immature smirk possible some time later. Redemption.

On the flip side, walking circles to a beat writing with structure seems so seamless after pressing play on a product.
 
I write the complete arrangement in my head first. If you write lyrics first then you end up telling the music what to do, since the amount of syllables are already decided in a way.
 
I do whatever inspires me first. If I'm thinking of a couple bars, I'll write for a bit and make a sound that fits the vibe. I suppose most often though, I start by just clicking random samples and sounds in my daw to get ideas, and the beat comes first.
 
For those thinking writing before getting a beat is impossible, watch this: YouTube

Bomb Squad production team member Hank Shocklee talks about working with Ice Cube on Amerikkka's Most Wanted. At around 1:09, Shocklee notes that Ice Cube already had pre-written material before actually being in studio session. Shocklee continues, explaining that he actually expects rappers to have prewritten material.

So one of hip hop's greatest albums had pre-written lyrics. :rolleyes:
 
^

Nas is pretty famous for writing without a beat.

I drink a lot of coffee and go crazy. I fold the paper in half If I want to rap fast, and I write on a full page for more slower stuff.
 
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