Hip Hop Forum

I just thought this thread was necessary, it ain't aimed at one particular personal its just some general shit your drunken saviour is gonna share with ya'll

Common Misconceptions:

1. A bar is 2 lines: Not in any form of music no matter how you look at it, a bar is typically 2 snare hits in a beat not counting breaks in the beat(think heatmakerz type beats where theres a bunch of snare hits together every 4 bars or so as the melody changes) precise is probably going to come in here and say its 4 counts to try to disprove me or something but almost all beats have 2 snare hits per bar and most amateur mcs have no clue as to what a count in a beat is but can probably figure out a snare

2. Hitting every snare makes you on beat: You could not hit any snares in a beat and be perfectly on beat, if you attempt to hit every snare at the same time you'll have a generic ass flow (Pimp C is a good example)

3. Metaphors are a good category in judging a battle: Metaphors for the most part are completely irrelevant in a battle(there are some exceptions (mostly sarcastic comparisons) ex. "If you're a star i'm a galaxy" - Cassidy. Anyone that tells you otherwise is fucking retarded. Most battles are lucky if they have 2 metaphors. What people mean to put is SIMILIES, a similie is an INDIRECT comparison using like, than, or as(typically) ex. "Tons of hype i got more exposure than britney spears pussy after a drunken night"

4. Using multis makes you a good writer. Not completly wrong but I've seen tons of kids thinking they're ill just because they use multis when in reality they're awful. Proper usuage of multis makes you ill. When you're writing multis you shouldn't use any phrase that wouldn't sound right normal. Learn how to rhyme one syllable then work your way up. If it looks like you're throwing random words in just to rhyme and not really making sense with bars you're not a good writer. Your multis should be seemless so the verse reads fluently making perfect sense.

5. Yelling on the mic makes you have good presence and emotion. No, showing emotion doesn't mean yelling and if you don't have a good mic presence rapping normal yelling doesn't help any.

6. Having more punchlines/wordplay in your battle verse makes it automatically better than your opponents: No, they may help but unless they're significantly better than your oppenents it doesn't mean shit if you have more. Most people that try to cram as many references are lines in a battle verse end up writing horrible shit. Just try to make your bars personal, funny or mean, & creative... Showing you're truly better than your oppenent and he is obviously worse. I've won battles only using like 2 punchlines. People look at quality over quanity.

7. Multis don't win battles, I've seen numerous verses over the years where dudes just spit multis out the ass and don't have hardly any punchlines or disses in their verse and expect they should win. Multis do help your chances tremendously but unless you have substance with them racking your brain to rhyme as many syllables as you can in a battle verse isn't helping your chances. (ex Mac's loss to 16, no offense to Mac, its just the first thing that came to mind)

8. If you're an ill writer you're an ill rapper(and vice versa). The iller rapper you are the iller your lines seem. The delivery of a verse or a track is even more crucial than the lyrics you're delivering. If lines aren't delvered in a good polished fashion that takes away from the lyrics believe it or not. If you have an immaculate verse and you think its perfect but you don't deliver it like you believe its perfect iit won't have the same effect and response as if it was delivered better.

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Heres just some random tidbits of wisdom

The typical rap fan doesn't care about how ill you are. I see dudes making tracks with punchlines and no real topic just saying how ill they are and spitting random battle-esque punchlines and gettting confused when they don't get any more fans. The typical rap fan wants to here shit they can relate to they can't relate to how ill you are at writing, they wanna here a topical track they can relate to that tells them subliminally how good you are at writing. The majority of mixtape rappers STAY mixtape rappers because they don't write shit that people can relate to. Look at papoose, look at jae millz, look at shellz, look at stack bundles, look at JR Writer(i know he put out an album but it was wack cause he just rhymed about random shit for 95% of it)

Don't be offended or get upset with criticism. Any criticism is helpful even if its said in a negative way, nobodys perfect if you get the same criticism from a few people most likely its on something you are doing wrong so do your best to take criticism and learn from it. If you have the mindstate that you're perfect you'll never be any better, taking criticism and striving to be better is the key to being more successful in anything in life.

Just cause you have ill lines doesn't mean your verse is ill. Even if you have the illest line ever it doesn't make your verse good. If a lines ill its ill, but the set-up and the bar after are just as crucial to a verse's quality as the lines. Make quality verses and songs not just quality lines.

The best way to win a battle is to take everything you know about your opponent and destroy his character and exagerrate his flaws to make them look worse than they are. No matter your respect for him you have to make it look like you think hes the worst rapper god, allah, or tom cruises space god, ever created. You can have some generic lines here and there but the key to winning a battle is making the majority of the lines directed directly to the person. If you have a line that could be used against another opponent it isn't that good in a battle(adding their name somewhere in the bar where it could be replaced with ANYONE elses doesn't make it anymore direct), you have to concentrate on directly attacking your opponent with ANY information you know about them.

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Don't make excuses for why anything you write or record isn't up to its full potential, niggas don't care if your dog was dying and you only had 2 minutes to write your verse before you took it to the vet, excuses show weakness in character and confidence. No matter what the excuse is it won't make your material any better than it was when the listener/viewer first viewed

Don't complain, if someone leaves feedback on your battle, lyrics, or track and it isn't what you would've liked to hear don't complain about it unless its blantant negativity that'll hurt your chances. Complaining in a battle will only lead to more responses and for new viewers to look at you in a different light and vote against you just cause you're not a poor sport. If you complain like a bitch it hurts your credibility, respect, & integrity. The only time complaining is reasonable when its random hate from a previous incident or just random hate or dickriding. No matter how much you complain it isn't typically going to make somebody think your material is any better unless it was something they overlooked in the first place you're complaining about and thats a rare occurance

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thats all for now i may add some later , enjoy

i don't think i'm perfect at all but theres only a few things i know alot about and rap is one of them, i've even seen my presence(posting verses etc) feedback, and advice helping people on the site that rarely lose battles, the people who are fairly new to the site won't really notice but i have made a difference... back in the days when i got here first practically the whole site was using the standard aabb rhyme scheme in everything a lil while after my presence people started improving their schemes and not just rhyming on at the end of the bar but rhyming 2 different rhymes in bars

ight good reading thanks i think this is gonna help me out alot

I figured I'd drop my pennies on the subject...I've been doing this shit a LOOONG time (lets not say how many years) so throughout that time I've already learned pretty much everything in this thread to be true....just some things I thought i'd point out....

Jesus wrote:1. A bar is 2 lines: Not in any form of music no matter how you look at it, a bar is typically 2 snare hits in a beat not counting breaks in the beat(think heatmakerz type beats where theres a bunch of snare hits together every 4 bars or so as the melody changes) precise is probably going to come in here and say its 4 counts to try to disprove me or something but almost all beats have 2 snare hits per bar and most amateur mcs have no clue as to what a count in a beat is but can probably figure out a snare

I don't have any clue how this rumor came about...but I think the ONLY people who learned that a bar was 2 lines is textcees...After i actually learned to rap i started noticing that a lot of these people who just go out and rap for fun and they'll like...beatbox or beat on poles or tables...they dont know WHAT the fuck theyre doing...theres no rhythm at ALL.

To the general public:

what most people these days don't know is that the word RAP is an acronym. It actually STANDS for something.

Rhythm
and
Poetry

simple as that.


You know people who HATE rap? What do the majority of them say? They say "Rap isn't music" most of them say that it isn't music due to the fact that there's no singing...therefore there's no melody.

Drums don't have melody....yet drums are still considered a form of music. Why? Because Rhythm is music just as much as Melodies and Harmonies. If you don't have RHYTHM you're NOT MAKING MUSIC.

Summed Up: IF YOU'RE NOT FLOWING ON BEAT, YOU'RE NOT RAPPING...You're simply TALKING over an instrumental. You NEED Rhythm. Rhythm is THE most important aspect of rap music because without RHYTHM, rap is NOT a viable form of music

just something to keep in mind.

2. Hitting every snare makes you on beat: You could not hit any snares in a beat and be perfectly on beat, if you attempt to hit every snare at the same time you'll have a generic ass flow (Pimp C is a good example)

A generic rhyme Scheme is what creates a generic flow. You need to incorporate some variations in your rhymescheme in order to keep it fresh. Most "Mixtape rappers" will only use the same AA BB CC rhymescheme which is what makes them really simple.

Example of an AA BB CC Rhymescheme: (Taken from Pimp C since you mentioned him)

R.I.P. to Robert Davis he the king of the South/ (Bar 1)
Anything else said need to shut ya fuckin mouth/ (Bar 2)

I'm down with Lil' Flip and I'm down with T.I.P./ (Bar 3)
If them niggaz come together know how much paper we could see? (Bar 4)

Slim Thug and Z-Ro, y'all s'til bullshittin (Bar 5)
Need to sit down, take a tour, there's too much money to be gettin (bar 6)

now the ONLY TIME he rhymes is at the END of every bar.

South/Mouth, T.I.P./See and Shittin/Gettin

there's no inner rhymescheme which is what makes it generic.

Don't compare me to jokes, I strangle the air in ya throat/
Like you jumped from a chair n choked in midair from a rope/
Got a big gun and carry a scope, the flare and the smoke/
keep niggas quiet like words that librarians spoke/
I'm arrogant, outlandish - blow ya face out/
and shake out the dandruff the jakes wont make out the handprints/

he starts off with a fairly simple rhymescheme in the sense that hes really just rhyming on every snare...including the first snares of the bar. Jokes, Throat, Choked, Rope, Scope, Smoke and Spoke all hit the snare...then he switches up the rhymescheme in its entirety with probably the best 2 bars in the verse....He leads in with the original rhymescheme to make you think hes gonna continue with something that rhymes with throat/choked/smoke/spoke/etc. but instead he converts into a new rhyme....and then introduces ANOTHER so you dont know WHERE he's going til he pulls it all together in the end.

Elzhi hit EVERY snare and most definitely did NOT have a generic flow. Hitting the snares does not make a generic flow, generic rhymeschemes make a generic flow. Period. I know you already talked about rhymeschemes and shit but I wouldn't ever recommend telling people that they don't need to hit the snare unless they ALREADY know what they're doing...If you're talking to people who don't have a firm grasp on flow, theyre gonna be ALL OVER THE PLACE now because you said they dont have to hit the snares...yes, i know it's true...but you need to learn on training wheels before you jump onto the bike and fall the fuck off




"Riding the beat" means riding the drums....this is NOT limited to just the snare. You don't have to hit every snare but you do need to ride SOMETHING. It can be the kicks, the hi hats, hell you can even ride the rhythm of the melody. Again, you need some kind of rhythm.

5. Yelling on the mic makes you have good presence and emotion. No, showing emotion doesn't mean yelling and if you don't have a good mic presence rapping normal yelling doesn't help any.

You are 100% right on this...BUT, I learned this the hard way...through a LOT of practice of yelling and screaming. I think if you PRACTICE yelling and screaming, it will help you have a better grasp of your voice. You DEFINITELY need to be able to project your voice if you're in ANY type of live event. Concerts or even just rapping with a group of people. If you don't do it now and in the privacy of your own recording time...you will NEVER be able to do it and ultimately you will turn out to be a bad live performer.

PurleeDef wrote:I figured I'd drop my pennies on the subject...I've been doing this shit a LOOONG time (lets not say how many years) so throughout that time I've already learned pretty much everything in this thread to be true....just some things I thought i'd point out....

Jesus wrote:1. A bar is 2 lines: Not in any form of music no matter how you look at it, a bar is typically 2 snare hits in a beat not counting breaks in the beat(think heatmakerz type beats where theres a bunch of snare hits together every 4 bars or so as the melody changes) precise is probably going to come in here and say its 4 counts to try to disprove me or something but almost all beats have 2 snare hits per bar and most amateur mcs have no clue as to what a count in a beat is but can probably figure out a snare

I don't have any clue how this rumor came about...but I think the ONLY people who learned that a bar was 2 lines is textcees...After i actually learned to rap i started noticing that a lot of these people who just go out and rap for fun and they'll like...beatbox or beat on poles or tables...they dont know WHAT the fuck theyre doing...theres no rhythm at ALL.

To the general public:

what most people these days don't know is that the word RAP is an acronym. It actually STANDS for something.

Rhythm
and
Poetry

simple as that.


You know people who HATE rap? What do the majority of them say? They say "Rap isn't music" most of them say that it isn't music due to the fact that there's no singing...therefore there's no melody.

Drums don't have melody....yet drums are still considered a form of music. Why? Because Rhythm is music just as much as Melodies and Harmonies. If you don't have RHYTHM you're NOT MAKING MUSIC.

Summed Up: IF YOU'RE NOT FLOWING ON BEAT, YOU'RE NOT RAPPING...You're simply TALKING over an instrumental. You NEED Rhythm. Rhythm is THE most important aspect of rap music because without RHYTHM, rap is NOT a viable form of music

just something to keep in mind.

2. Hitting every snare makes you on beat: You could not hit any snares in a beat and be perfectly on beat, if you attempt to hit every snare at the same time you'll have a generic ass flow (Pimp C is a good example)

A generic rhyme Scheme is what creates a generic flow. You need to incorporate some variations in your rhymescheme in order to keep it fresh. Most "Mixtape rappers" will only use the same AA BB CC rhymescheme which is what makes them really simple.

Example of an AA BB CC Rhymescheme: (Taken from Pimp C since you mentioned him)

R.I.P. to Robert Davis he the king of the South/ (Bar 1)
Anything else said need to shut ya fuckin mouth/ (Bar 2)

I'm down with Lil' Flip and I'm down with T.I.P./ (Bar 3)
If them niggaz come together know how much paper we could see? (Bar 4)

Slim Thug and Z-Ro, y'all s'til bullshittin (Bar 5)
Need to sit down, take a tour, there's too much money to be gettin (bar 6)

now the ONLY TIME he rhymes is at the END of every bar.

South/Mouth, T.I.P./See and Shittin/Gettin

there's no inner rhymescheme which is what makes it generic.

Don't compare me to jokes, I strangle the air in ya throat/
Like you jumped from a chair n choked in midair from a rope/
Got a big gun and carry a scope, the flare and the smoke/
keep niggas quiet like words that librarians spoke/
I'm arrogant, outlandish - blow ya face out/
and shake out the dandruff the jakes wont make out the handprints/

he starts off with a fairly simple rhymescheme in the sense that hes really just rhyming on every snare...including the first snares of the bar. Jokes, Throat, Choked, Rope, Scope, Smoke and Spoke all hit the snare...then he switches up the rhymescheme in its entirety with probably the best 2 bars in the verse....He leads in with the original rhymescheme to make you think hes gonna continue with something that rhymes with throat/choked/smoke/spoke/etc. but instead he converts into a new rhyme....and then introduces ANOTHER so you dont know WHERE he's going til he pulls it all together in the end.


"Riding the beat" means riding the drums....this is NOT limited to just the snare. You don't have to hit every snare but you do need to ride SOMETHING. It can be the kicks, the hi hats, hell you can even ride the rhythm of the melody. Again, you need some kind of rhythm.

Word, Jesus was saying the misconception is that a bar is 2 lines.

complexity wrote:Word, Jesus was saying the misconception is that a bar is 2 lines.

yeah i know i just have no idea where that misconception stemmed from...really it's utterly stupid when you think about it. A "Bar" isn't a hip hop term...it's a music term. We don't have the RIGHT to change the entire system for it to mean something else for an internet battle online

then again we use the "Metaphor" category to describe similes....which ultimately are wordplay...

i agree with most everything you've said but rhyme scheme doesn't necessarily dictate flow, two great examples are ludacris & bone thugs, both have great flow but use basic rhyme schemes alot of the time, while a rhyme scheme may help with rhythm they don't go hand in hand, flow is based on rhythm for a noobie using multis may help with rhythm but the same rhythm can be attained without a rhyme scheme

a good example of the opposite to luda and bone thugs is kool g rap, he uses alot of intricate rhyme schemes but his flow is average at best, you may disagree with me but if you listen closely his flow is real punchy he punches in constantly & you can obviously tell

& i didn't tell people not to hit snares, i said just hitting snares won't make you on beat, & hitting snares on the same timing(meaning tempo) will make you have a generic flow, pimp c flows with a constant rhythm the elzhi verse you quoted, he switched tempo while hitting the snares, which made the flow good

yeah i enhoyed reading this all starangly

Any real info is good info..