How To Write A Rap Song | Part 7: FINALIZING THE SONG

Welcome back to the 7th and final video of my how to write a rap song series.

If you’re new here, my name is Cole Mize and I’ve been helping rappers perfect their rap skills on this channel for the past 11 years.

Now let’s first start off with a quick recap of all the steps I’ve taken to get where I’m currently at within my song.

1 PICK AN INSTRUMENTAL

In the 1st video I found an instrumental that moved me in an emotional way and then I setup a songwriting session and began scatting to make sure the instrumental felt right for my voice and if any creative ideas happened to come to mind I also wrote those down.

2 BRAINSTORM

In the 2nd video I began to brainstorm. 

I took a moment and let the instrumental speak to me. The different sections of the instrumental gave me different ideas of what I could talk about so I continued to write these down. I wrote down any random ideas, memories, feelings, or concepts that came to mind regardless of how unrelated they were. Brainstorming is all about being open and letting ideas come through, not being judgemental. So I stayed out of the way and let those ideas come through.

I Also started recording any musical ideas for different sections of the song by scatting.

At this point my song is really starting to take form as I have both musical and lyrical ideas for my song.

3 COMMIT AND CREATE A STORYBOARD

In the 3rd video I sifted through all of my ideas from my brainstorm and I committed to what the song was going to be about. This doesn’t mean I’m not still letting ideas come through, but I have chosen a concept that the song is supposed to be about and now I’m focusing on how to paint a picture around that concept in an interesting way.

And then I created a storyboard which is just a good rough draft concept of what my ideas are for each section of the song. This is a flexible way of being creative because you can easily play around the order that you present ideas before you even start writing lyrics.

4 WRITE THE HOOK

In the 4th video Then I started writing the hook using my scat ideas I already recorded and my storyboard. I didn’t follow my scat 100% and ended up making changes as I kept getting creative ideas.

I like to knock out hooks first because since they’re repeated 2-3 times you’re pretty much knocking out half of the song which gives you some good momentum!

5 WRITE VERSE 1

In the 5th video I wrote verse 1. And while writing I would often reference my storyboard and my scatting I previously recorded but I once again held on to my scats loosely so they wouldn’t box me in lyrically. 

Since I had already written my hook, I decided to create a theme throughout my verse based off of cars and driving from the last line of my hook “Foot on the gas, get on the road!”

6 WRITE VERSE 2

In the 6th video I did the same thing for verse 2. Initially I had planned on doing a 3rd verse since the instrumental has 3 verses but I decided on only writing 2 verses because I felt like I could say all the main points I wanted to hit from my verse 2 and 3 from my storyboard within verse 2.

The key takeaway here is that you don’t always have to follow the same song structure of the instrumental. You can remove parts of the instrumental or even rearrange the order of the verse and hooks. Even when you’re this far into the song you should still be open to new ideas as long as it supports the concept you committed to.

7 FINALIZING THE SONG

And now that the entire song has been written there’s only one thing left to do, finalize it and call it done! But how do you know when a song is done?

Throughout the entire process of writing a song you’re constantly solving problems. And your body will make you aware of problems when you playback your song because it will tense up when it hears something it doesn’t like. 

BODY LANGUAGE

One major indication that your song is complete is when you can play it back from start to finish and your body stays relaxed the whole time. Or better yet, you notice your head is nodding or your body is moving out of enjoyment to what it’s hearing.

This is really what we’re chasing the entire time we’re writing our songs. We’re trying to remove anything that’s causing tension in our bodies upon playback.

FOCUS

It’s also important to note that I’m mainly paying attention to the writing and rap flow aspect of my song at this point. It’s okay if my voice sounds a little out of tune on a singing part, or my delivery doesn’t sound as amazing as possible. I’ve just been recording rough draft vocals up until this point to get all my ideas down since I’m songwriting. 

And once I finalize my song, then I’ll go back and rerecord everything with the main focus being perfecting my delivery.

So now, go back and play your entire song and make sure there’s nothing bothering you from a writing or rap flow stand point. If so, focus on fixing those until your body no longer tenses up.

THINGS TO LISTEN FOR

• Here’s a few things to listen for…
• Did your song ever get off topic?
• Does it ever feel like you spent too much time making a point and it caused the song to drag?
• Do you feel like you said everything you were really wanting to say?
• Are there any parts where your rhymes don’t make sense with your message?
• Are there any transitions between changing rhyme schemes that seem too abrupt? 
• Are there any bars that feel overlay crammed with syllables and are causing the clarity of your words and or the musicality of your cadence to suffer?
• Does your hook sound too similar to your verse?

INTRO AND OUTRO

Now on my song nothing was bothering me except one thing, and this is one of the most common pieces of the song that rappers neglect, and that’s the INTRO and OUTRO. 

And If I write these, I typically do them last because everything’s already been written which helps me make a much better decision on what I could do during these sections to support the song.

The intro is really important because it’s the first thing a person is going to hear and the outro is also important because it’s what’s going to leave a lasting impression.

So ask yourself, do you need to say anything on the intro or outro? You don’t have to, but you should always double check these sections to see if there’s anything that can be done that will support the concept of your song.

INTRO

In my case I didn’t add any lyrics to the intro because I decided to add a sound fx of car failing to start which once again supports my car theme I mentioned earlier. Verse 1 starts off kind of being down and out, so having a car struggling to start felt like the perfect way to begin the song.

OUTRO

And I did decide to write an additional part for the outro. I wanted to leave the listener with a few more words of encouragement and I decided to play off the intro sound fx and have a sound fx of a car speeding by to signify overcoming setbacks and making progress.  

THE SONG IS DONE!

Now since I’ve completed my songwriting, I went ahead and re-recorded my vocals and mixed and mastered my song. And it’s now available for streaming everywhere! Just search for Cole Mize – Foot On The Gas or click here to listen wherever your prefer.

Now it’s time for me to start writing my next song, and I hope this songwriting series will serve as a great guide to help you do the same.

Again my name is Cole Mize with Cole Mize Studios and always remember when it comes to rapping, there’s no rules, there’s only techniques! Peace!