Hip Hop Forum

Whenever I'm doing whatever the fuck I call 'Rap', I always seem to exasperate my breath and it causes me to lose the flow of the entire rap or song.

Anybody got any techniques to help?

Would be much appreciated.

i have the same issue bro. you need excitement to show emotion ussualy and excitement is breathtaking. vicious cycle. pack of smokes a day probly dont help either. lol. id just wor on having every line memorized the way you wanna spit it before you aproach the mic. ines flow out easier for me when i do. and if you smoke cigs, QUIT. not preaching but it helps immensly. just stay at it bro and keep in mind that sometimes we force words in lines to get a point across causing an overflowing delivery. idk. good luck tho dawg. keep at it.

I usually jus find words that take up too much breath in my verse. Like exchange the word, for a breath. Feel me? Like sometimes ppl write too much which disallows em to breath. Sometimes, well at least for me, less is more wen recording.

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^^^^^ great advice easily put

Yeah, I'd agree with Loon's advice on this one.

When I'm writing, I usually try to keep in mind when I'm gonna give myself room to breathe too, occasionally a short pause after an important line can allow for that line to sink into the listener a bit more, and it gives u a second to take in a breath.
Depending on the flow style of the song, if u work on it, u can only let out a bit of breath with each word which can allow u to go for longer without needing to take a breath. But with this technique u gotta be careful ur vocals don't come out sounding muffled.
To get myself more breath/lung capacity sometimes I practice by doing freestyles with almost no room for breathing. It may not always sound the best, but I've found that the more I've done that the more I've been able to flow without the need to pause for a breath.
Another thing that's helped my breath control is living in areas with high elevation..LOL... maybe not an option for everyone, but I'm living in a place now that's over 7500 feet above sea level and I find that whenever I'm doing a performance or recording something down at sea level I rarely run out of breath anymore. LOL, but yeah maybe not an option for everyone...

there are breathing tech's out there to help out, especially with double time. but honestly you have to write around it, it doesnt hurt to punch in either. punch ins normally are the best option but if your like me id rather do shit in one take. i hate having to punch in but its the most effective.

Anybody feel like explaining rap 101?

Like basics? What are bars? And such.


For the breathing, I understand. For long lines I tend to run out quite quickly. However I NEVER flow well because I never actually rap to my comfortable decibel.

I'm one shy dickhead.

the way i was taught was 2 bars = 1 line... but the way the "industry" does it... is one bar is one line... depends on how u wanna do it honestly

It takes forever to find a "voice" to use so give it some time. Lawgix is right, we are taught 1 bar equals two lines but more and more I've seen 1 bar one line. Personally why are u going to call it a bar if its the same as a line? Anyhow, just practice a lot. Some quality time infront of a mirror rapping doesn't hurt much.each beat u rap to will be a different set up, I was taught a format of a rap beat is simply:

INTROxxxVERSE1xxxCHORUSxxxVERSE2xxxCHORUSxxxVERSE3xxxCHORUSxxxOUTRO.

But like I metioned each beat varies, some start with a chorus, some have a bridge. The usual build is 16 bars a verse, 8 bars a chorus. Again, sometimes a bar means a line. A line or bar is defined as such:

I'm explaining the method so u can understand/
Never mind the fact that it sucks but fuck it man /

The first line ends with my primary rhyme, being "understand". The second line has to follow with the primary rhyme as did "man". In some teaching this example is the equivalant of a bar. In others, well 2 bars I guess. Flow is what should be your primary focus when u start. Flow is usually determined my syllable count. If one line has 5 syllables but the second has 9 syllables, the flow will be harder to capture than 2 lines with perfect matching syllables. For example:

I can give a fuck less what people think/
Cuz being real, all people fucking stink/
^is better than:
I can give a fuck less what people think/
Cuz in all reality every one on earth fucking stinks/

The examples aren't the best, but hope you caught the drift. The rest in writing will come slowely. Hope this helps, ask some specific questions and I'll take a wack at it. Sorry for the misspelling lol,

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Thanks punch. You helped me out alot there. I'm learning this shit now but your insight was brilliant. Props.

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when i do my shit 1 bar in audio = 1 line and etc

best and most effective way even though i dont do it is punching or making an extra ad lib i dont like taking forever to record sometimes dont even do the dubs.....but emphasie what you want it to sound like and where you coming in to breathe maybe restructure ya verse i know my main problem is i cram to many words into my verses makes it sound clutter fucked....

So simple, clear flocabuary is the key?

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shiit... its all about timing really... if you can time your breaths in cirtin spots shit will come out like its been rehearsed for years...

best advice... go jogging while you spit your verse....
sounds stupid but after you do it it will come easy