How to Write a Rap Verse - 56juqingba: How-to instructions you can trust

Spread the love

Download Article
Explore this Article methods
1 Forming your Verse
2 Writing Your Verse
Sample Rap Songs Other Sections
Video
Questions & Answers
Tips and Warnings
Related Articles
References
Article Summary
Co-authored by Tanisha Hall

Last Updated: June 24, 2024 References

Download Article X

This article was co-authored by Tanisha Hall. Tanisha Hall is a Vocal Coach and the Founder and Executive Director of White Hall Arts Academy, Inc. an organization based in Los Angeles, California that offers a multi-level curriculum focused on fundamental skills, technique, composition, theory, artistry, and performance at a conservatory level. Ms. Hall’s current and previous students include Galimatias, Sanai Victoria, Ant Clemons, and Paloma Ford. She earned a BA in Music from the Berklee College of Music in 1998 and was a recipient of the Music Business Management Achievement Award.

There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

This article has been viewed 335,195 times.

While rap songs are made up of many parts, the verse is by far the most important. This is where a rapper shows off their skills, intellect, and rhyming ability, and develops the ideas of the song in depth. No matter what your topic, passion, or style, writing rap verses is an incredible method of artistic expression, as long as you keep a few tips in mind.

Table of Contents

Steps

Method
1 Method 1 of 2:

Forming your Verse

Download Article

{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/0\/0e\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-1-Version-3.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/0\/0e\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-1-Version-3.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 1 Listen to the great rappers for inspiration. Rap is, at its core, a form of poetry placed over a beat or instrumental track. Just like a burgeoning writer needs to study the great poets, a hopeful rapper needs to listen to the great rappers to learn from the best. It helps to read along with the lyrics as well to pick up on meaning. Listen to what you enjoy, but a small selection of verses to start with includes:
- AZ’s, first verse on “Life’s a B—“, on Nas’s album Illmatic
- Notorious B.I.G, “Notorious Thugs.”
- Black Thought, “75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction), on The Root’s Rising Down.
- Rakim on “As the Rhyme Goes On,” on Paid in Full.
- Kendrick Lamar, “Backstreet Freestyle”
- Lupe Fiasco, “Murals”
- Eminem, “Lose Yourself”
{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/8\/87\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-2-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-2-Version-3.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/8\/87\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-2-Version-3.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-2-Version-3.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 2 Get to know your beat well. If you are rapping over a pre-written beat, whether because you love the beat or because you were asked to collaborate with another musician, listen to the beat 4-5 times to get used to the rhythm. Get a feel for the speed and energy of the song as well as the mood. ^{[1] X Research source} ^{[2] X Research source}
- Uptempo songs (Das Racist, “People are Strange”) usually require fast verses with lots of words, while slower beats (50 Cent, “P.I.M.P.”) usually have laid back verses. This rule is not hard and fast, however (see Twista on “Slow Jamz,” for example).
- Your verse should fit the mood of the song whenever possible. On A$AP Rocky’s “One Train” for example, the beat is moody, dark, and cinematic. Accordingly, all 5 rappers with a verse talk about their struggle from poor, difficult neighborhoods to international superstar.
Advertisement
{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/ed\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-3.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/e\/ed\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-3.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-3.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 3 Find a story or idea to hold the verse together. While talented rappers can touch on many topics within just a few lines, all great verses have a central idea or theme that forms the backbone of the lines. Often, this idea is as simple as “I am the best rapper alive,” but many verses tell stories (2nd verse of Kanye West’s “Golddigger”), explore social issues (Killer Mike’s verses on “Reagan”), or simply muse on a question or theme (Mos Def using numbers on “Mathematics”).
- You do not need to stick completely to this backbone, but it will help you come up with ideas and keep your verse cohesive.
- If you are supplying a verse to another artist, talk to them about the themes of the song.
- Brainstorm for ideas and write them in a notebook, without filtering. Later, you can use your initial ideas to fill out gaps or holes in your verses.
{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/0\/0a\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-4.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-4.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/0\/0a\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-4.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-4.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 4 Determine how long your verse should be. Most rap verses have 16 bars, which generally means you have 2 rhymes per bar (length of each verse Cruel Summer’s “The Morning”) If you are collaborating with someone, be sure to ask how many bars they want. ^{[3] X Research source} At minimum, most rappers fit 2 rhyming lines in one line — “I treat the label like money from my shows / G.O.O.D. woulda been God except I added more Os” is equal to one bar.
- A bar is a measure of beats. Every time you count “1, 2, 3 , 4,” you’ve counted out 1 bar.

Method
2 Method 2 of 2:

Writing Your Verse

Download Article

{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/6\/60\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-5.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-5.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/6\/60\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-5.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-5.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 1 Begin by free-writing lines about your topic. Using your topic as a launching point, start writing out lines of your thoughts, trying to rhyme the last words in each line. Once you’ve exhausted a set of rhymes, start another one and write lines until you run out of ideas. Explore ideas around your topic until you find the ones you enjoy or know best. ^{[4] X Research source}
- Don’t worry just yet about making your lines perfect — this first stage is used to create material to build your verse out of.
{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/9\/98\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-6.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-6.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/9\/98\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-6.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-6.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 2 Build a rhyme scheme around your favorite lines. A rhyme scheme is a pattern that give your verse structure — think of it as a blueprint of which lines need to rhyme with which. If, for example, you rhyme the first two lines with the word “me,” then the next two lines rhyme with the word “you,” then you have rhyming couplets, or sets of two (couples). For the rest of the verse, you would usually use couplets in all of your rhymes (hear MF Doom’s “Beef Rap”).
- Most rappers have mixed rhyme schemes, rhyming 2-3 lines together right before a longer string of 4-5 lines (Nas, “NY State of Mind”).
- Don’t feel beholden or trapped by a rhyme scheme — use it instead to help you build your verse.
{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/e8\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-7.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-7.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/e\/e8\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-7.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-7.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 3 Add metaphors, symbolism, internal rhyme, and poetic language to make your lines pop. The best rappers know how to use poetic language and techniques that are centuries old, giving their words power and rhythm that many genres ignore. Some good ideas to start with include:
- Alliteration/Assonance: Words with similar sounds that are placed close together, like “Two tip-top teacher” or “apple attitudes.” Listen to Joey Bada$$’s “Waves.”^{[5] X Research source}
- Internal Rhyme: Rhyming words that do not come at the end of a line but in the middle of it. For example, Madvillain’s “Rhinestone Cowboy:” “Made of fine chrome alloy / find him on the grind he’s a rhinestone cowboy”^{[6] X Research source}
- Simile/Metaphor: Closely connected, this is when writers compare two objects that aren’t usually alike to make a point or joke — listen to any Lil’ Wayne song to hear verses composed almost entirely out of similes and metaphors.^{[7] X Research source}
- Refrain: A line that is repeated at various points for emphasis. For a master class in how to use a refrain, see Kendrick Lamar’s “The Blacker the Berry.”
- Anaphora: When the first half of a line repeats, but the rest of the line changes, like in Eminem’s “If I Had” where ever line begins with “Tired of….” ^{[8] X Research source}
{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/e5\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-8.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-8.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/e\/e5\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-8.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-8.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 4 Start with a powerful line or hook. The first lines of your verse should introduce the verse and capture the listener’s attention. Ask a question (Kendrick Lamar, “The Blacker the Berry”), make an interesting metaphor (Tyler, the Creator, “Yonkers”) , or blow the listener away with deft wordplay (Outkast “The Way You Move”) — anything to introduce yourself and make yourself stand out.
{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/9\/94\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-9.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-9.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/9\/94\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-9.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-9.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 5 Develop a flow, or rhythm, to your rap. Once you’ve got your words on the page, you need to figure out how to say them. Flow is how a rapper delivers his/her lyrics in along with the beat. Listen again to the beat you are rapping over and practice fitting your lyrics to it. Are their any words that deserve special emphasis? Should you sound angry and fast or calm and deliberate? Your goal is to sound natural, as if the lyrics were coming from your spontaneously. ^{[9] X Research source}
- Listen again to A$AP Rocky’s “One Train,” where five unique rappers have verses over the same beat. Note how each one approaches the song differently: some urgent, some joyful, some angry, some contemplative.
- If you know about poetic meter, a traditional rhythm for poetry, you can use these to help design your flow. Eminem famously used Shakespearean meter for his verses on “Lose Yourself.”
Jay-Z, Rapper & Businessman

Make the beat and the flow work harmoniously. “The beat is only one half of a rap song’s rhythm. The other is the flow. When a rapper jumps on a beat, he adds his own rhythm.”
{“smallUrl”:”https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/eb\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-10.jpg\/v4-460px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-10.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”\/images\/thumb\/e\/eb\/Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-10.jpg\/aid592784-v4-728px-Write-a-Rap-Verse-Step-10.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=\”mw-parser-output\”><p>License: <a target=\”_blank\” rel=\”nofollow noreferrer noopener\” class=\”external text\” href=\”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/3.0\/\”>Creative Commons<\/a><br>\n<\/p><p><br \/>\n<\/p><\/div>”} 6 Rewrite your verse to fit the beat. As you practice your flow, don’t be afraid to go back and rewrite your verse so that it fits the beat better. If you are having trouble fitting all the words in, find a way to shorten your lines. Once you know what the chorus is, or what other rappers are talking about, you can adjust your lyrics to fit the song better, like Lupe Fiasco’s verse ending on “Touch the Sky:” “Now let me end my verse right where the horns are like [horn section blasts in.]”

Sample Rap Songs

Sample Rap Song About Money
Sample Rap Song
Sample Rap Lyrics

Become a Rapper with this Expert Series

So, you want to become a rapper? You’re going to need to learn how to write lyrics, freestyle, and more. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered with these expert articles.
1 Start Rapping
2 How to Write Rap Song Lyrics: Structure, Techniques, & Tips
3 Freestyle Rap
4 Get Good Song Ideas
5 Become a Better Rapper
6 Become a Professional Rapper

Video

Community Q&A

Search
Add New Question

Question How do I know my verse is now good? Community Answer Test it out on friends or family. Try rapping it out loud if it doesn’t sound natural then it probably isn’t very good. Make a YouTube video or say it naturally — most good rap verses sound really cool if said out loud. Also, make sure the subject goes with the rhythm. Thanks! We’re glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 9 Helpful 33
Question Where can I find examples of some good rap verses? Community Answer NF Really lays down a good beat; also try Eminem. They both a have similar flow to their music. Thanks! We’re glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 17 Helpful 41
Question Can a rapper rap throughout the whole song if he/she isn’t collaborating with anyone? Community Answer There are many popular solo rap songs. This doesn’t diminish the song; it’s just a different style than one where there are multiple rappers collaborating. Thanks! We’re glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 9 Helpful 26

See more answers Ask a Question 200 characters left Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit

Reader Videos

Tips

Make sure you stay on topic. If you stray too far from it, you might come off as a bad rapper, or at least a bad verse writer. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 0
Keep writing new verses as often as you can – the greats are great because they practiced often. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 1

Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published Name Please provide your name and last initial
Submit Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
Advertisement

Warnings

Never steal bars or rhymes from other rappers – there is no faster way to shame in the hip-hop community. Thanks Helpful 43 Not Helpful 3
Don’t lie or you risk being called a poser, fake, lame, and just plain bad. Thanks Helpful 7 Not Helpful 0