It is no secret that professional rappers do not like to talk about the secrets of their skills, while not tire of noting that they achieved everything only thanks to their talent, work and determination. But many young people are very worried about how to learn how to rap. Therefore, we decided to help a little novice performers who want to express themselves in this very popular musical direction today.
How to rap: rhythm
To begin with, each rapper has his own signature style of reading - a special manner of performance characteristic of the musical style in question. But for any artist, getting into a bit is important here. It's not so easy. Despite the fact that rap melodies seem primitive at first glance, they are very rhythmic and it is important to catch this rhythm . Start your workout by downloading your favorite song in backing track (without lyrics), the manner of performing which you already know well, and try to read rap under it. At the same time, it is not at all necessary that your reading be identical to the original one - you can stretch the words, add your own intonations, and pause. In general, do not be afraid to experiment, because so far this is only a training session, and at the same time also the search for your own “I” in rap.
How to rap: diction
If you have been a listener of this musical direction for a long time , then you probably noticed how often some artists read quickly. It is like a tongue twister with musical accompaniment. Moreover, all the words are perfectly audible and understandable to you. Therefore, if you have trouble with diction, there are some defects, stuttering, burr, then this is extremely bad for a career. You may write wonderful lyrics and music, but the audience simply will not be able to make out what you want to convey to them through their songs. You can and should work on diction no less than the leading news and other radio and television programs do. Start with traditional exercises - tongue twisters of varying degrees of difficulty.
How to rap: breath
Some novice performers have breathing problems. There may be several reasons for this - smoking, asthma, chronic bronchitis , etc. This is also not good, because reading in some places of the composition should be performed, as they say, in one breath. And if at the studio while recording songs it is still possible to “retouch” somehow, then at a live concert you won’t be able to get out. Your breathing room should be developed. You can start by quitting smoking and then doing sports, yoga, performing various breathing exercises and gymnastics (for example, oxysize). In addition, the correct writing of texts is important so that there are pauses in certain places in order to be able to take a breath.
How to rap: emotions and dynamics
Emotions should be present at all in any songs, regardless of the genre of music. Well, in rap, with its lyrics of a social, political and other orientation, they should be even more so. In addition, emotions help convey to the public the meaning of the song, your words and thoughts regarding the issue raised in the track. Therefore, you yourself must not only understand, but also feel what you are singing about, experience it. And it doesn’t matter what kind of emotions they are (joy, disgust, anger, pity, hopelessness, etc.). The main thing is that they just were. You should also train yourself in this. For example, try simple phrases (“I love you” or “I have a laptop”) to speak with different emotions (with tiredness, anger, joy, fear, etc.).
How to read rap: feed and chant
Serving and chanting are important components that, together, give the compositions dynamism and revitalize them. The first is a loud, but not reaching to a scream or scream reading, which is characterized by emotionality. It should also be developed by training the voice, which is very easy to break during a live performance.
Singing is a transition from reading to half-singing. There are a lot of such examples in the songs of foreign rappers, as well as in our Noise MC, when after a reading couplet there is a very melodic chorus. Therefore, it is not enough to learn to read, you still need to have an understanding of at least the basics of singing.