Over the past 4 years, I've had the opportunity to speak with thousands of struggling rappers and I've been honored to see so many people grow their skills very quickly! But I've also seen many people continue to struggle and not see much improvement. Why is that? How come some are getting awesome results and others aren't? It must be because one person is just more talented than the other right?...WRONG! It's really all about learning how to learn. Over the years I've noticed a trend in the patterns of both types of people and I'd like to share some of them with you today and hopefully, … [Read more...] about The Top 4 Reasons Rappers Struggle To Improve Their Rap Skills
How To Rap
The Top 4 Ways Tempo Affects Rappers!
When you're learning how to rap it's important to have a good grasp on what tempo is because it impacts you dramatically as a rapper! Within this article, I'm going to be explaining how tempo affects the length of your bars. As well as the top 4 ways it will impact you as a rapper! So without further ado...LET'S GET IT!! Tempo First off you need to understand what tempo is. I've already done an in-depth video which not only explains what tempos it but also how you can detect tempo as well. Be sure to check it out here. But to give you the short and skinny, Tempo is also known as BPM … [Read more...] about The Top 4 Ways Tempo Affects Rappers!
How Long Does It Take To Get Good At Rapping?
Have you recently embarked on your musical journey in hopes of one day becoming a "Rap God"? Just like any other trip you may take, you're probably wondering how long it's going to take you to reach your destination. Well, after reading this article you will certainly have a better understanding of how long it actually takes to get good at rapping. Let's get straight to it! What's Happening? I have been personally training and developing rappers 1 on 1 via my coaching service for the past 3 years and I've certainly noticed that some of my students grow faster than others. As a … [Read more...] about How Long Does It Take To Get Good At Rapping?
How To Improve Your Rap Freestyles With Rhyme Lists
Today I'd like to share with you a very practical way of not only improving your rap freestyles but your songwriting as well using something called Rhyme lists. As the name implies, Rhyme Lists are simply a list of rhymes. The Struggle If you're freestyling off the dome your biggest struggle is going to be coming up with rhymes quickly before your bar runs out. In fact, while you're rapping one bar you should already be thinking of the word you're going to rhyme with it on the next bar. That Guy We've all heard that guy freestyling who keeps using the same words over and over … [Read more...] about How To Improve Your Rap Freestyles With Rhyme Lists
The Four Bar Theory – How To Keep Your Listeners Hooked!
Today I'm going to share something with you that will not only make you a better rapper but it will make you an outstanding entertainer! This "thing" I'm talking about is called "The 4 Bar Theory" and it doesn't just apply to rapping but it's also useful in songwriting, music production, and mixing as well. The 4 Bar Theory is simple. 4 bars isn't too long nor is it too short. If you can create a payoff for your listener every 4 bars you will have them locked in because your song will be highly entertaining! Let's take a quick look at the word "entertainment". To entertain means to … [Read more...] about The Four Bar Theory – How To Keep Your Listeners Hooked!
The Biggest Mistake I Made When I First Started Rapping
Have you ever heard the quote "hindsight is 20/20"? If not, basically it means that mistakes you made in your past due to a lack of experience and understanding are crystal clear to you now in the present moment. What once was so confusing and mysterious is now so simple that you regard it as common sense. Time Traveling I wish I could jump into a time machine and travel back 22 years when I first started rapping. Not just so I could play video games all day without the worries of paying bills, but mainly because I could save myself so much time and frustration with learning this … [Read more...] about The Biggest Mistake I Made When I First Started Rapping
Breathing Techniques For Rappers
Have you ever thought about how much your breathing plays a huge role in how well you sound when you're rapping? Most of the time, us rappers mainly focus on the parts that are being spoken and overlook the importance of the pauses. We have a tendency to overload our bars with too many syllables which cause us to rush words, reducing their clarity while compromising our vocal quality in the process. Let's look a little deeper into this, shall we? Preserving Your Energy Your voice is actually an instrument and in fact, it's typically the main instrument in each of your songs. In order to … [Read more...] about Breathing Techniques For Rappers
How To Improve Your Rap Delivery
Oh the mysterious and elusive technique we know is rap delivery... what is it? why is it important? and how can you improve it? All of that will be covered within this article so without further ado... LET'S GET IT!! What Is Rap Delivery? Think of rap delivery as like a parcel delivery service such as UPS. Your catchy cadences, witty wordplay, and mesmerizing rhyme schemes are your product or package that you've created that's been bundled together in what we know as a song. Once You've created your awesome song you now have to deliver it to the consumer so that they can bask in the … [Read more...] about How To Improve Your Rap Delivery
Why Counting Your Rap Lyrics Syllables Isn’t Accurate
In this article, I'm going to share some advice that will help you the next time you're trying to get your rap lyrics to fit within your bars properly. Counting Syllables I often get asked a question that goes a little something like this. "Cole, how many syllables should my rap lyrics have per bar?" Pretty straight forward right? I usually respond with saying that 11-14 syllables are a good generic syllable count to shoot for. The reason being is because rappers typically rap using 16th notes for the majority of the time while occasionally using 8th and 32nd notes. So even if … [Read more...] about Why Counting Your Rap Lyrics Syllables Isn’t Accurate
5 Steps To Learning How To Rap And Write Catchy Songs
Learning How To Rap If you have recently begun your journey of learning how to rap then you may find yourself stuck wondering where is the correct place for you to begin in the first place? This article will serve as an easy to follow step by step guide to help you navigate this new and unfamiliar territory. You may want to bookmark this article in your web browser so that you can keep revisiting it as you keep advancing in your journey. So without further ado LET'S GET IT!! Wait!! Before you go any further you may want to read The Top 5 Mistakes Rappers Make When Learning How To … [Read more...] about 5 Steps To Learning How To Rap And Write Catchy Songs