Do you feel like your raps sometimes sound a little…” samey”, or just a little too predictable and uninteresting mainly?
If so, then this is the perfect video, for you to grow, so take a seat. Because today I’m going to show you 3, techniques, that require you to get offbeat, in order to make your raps sound even more unique.
So without further ado… LET’S GET IT!!!
FUNDAMENTALS
When I’m coaching beginner rappers I always emphasize the importance of ear training and being able to stay on beat. But once they have that rock-solid rhythmic foundation I will then teach them the benefits of getting off-beat!
So just a heads up, if you haven’t learned how to get and stay on beat yet, I recommend you watch my video called Establishing Rhythm Part 3 first in order to apply these advanced techniques that I’m about to show you now.
For this lesson, I’m going to use a piece of a verse I wrote several years ago. I already love how this verse sounds but for the purpose of this tutorial I’m going to show you 3 ways that it can be altered to land offbeat to give it a different sound and feel.
You don’t have to use a verse that’s already written to use these techniques. These techniques can be implemented while you’re writing your verse.
Also the instrumental I’m using today is a beat I made called “Fairy Tales”. If you want this beat and also want to support this channel you can purchase it via my beat store.
Here’s how this verse sounds originally.
ORIGINAL
(B) I’m thinking about Georgia (B) that’s my mind state
(B) I can see bigger than the picture that’s my mind frame
(B) I envision a better livin or is it I’m in
a prison demented inventin new types of mind games
Currently, everything is sounding very nice and tight my cadences are right on top of the beats. For instance, notice how “bout” and “mind” are right on top of the 2nd and 4th beat so you hear me at the same exact time as the snare drums.
ADDING SWING
Now, one easy way that we can change the vibe and sound of these lyrics is by adding a little swing to them. Swing is when we intentionally get off beat by being a little early or a little late to change the feeling of our rap flow.
It’s more common to add a late swing because it will make your rap flow sound more chill and relaxed. If you were to add an earlier swing it will sound rushed or anxious and is typically not as satisfying to most listeners.
For this example, I’m going to add a late swing.
This can be achieved by simply pausing a little more before you begin rapping and it will push all of your lyrics back a little further in time if you maintain your cadence correctly. So for example, some of the syllables that were landing on the snare will now land slightly after the snare.
Now notice how “bout” and “mind” are no longer landing on the snares.
(B) I’m thinking about Georgia (B) that’s my mind state
(B) I can see bigger than the picture that’s my mind frame
(B) I envision a better livin or is it I’m in
a prison demented inventin new types of mind games
DODGING THE BEATS
Another way you can change the vibe of your verse is by doing something I like to refer to as “dodging the beat”.
Simply put, instead of trying to land on certain beats, we will intentionally avoid them altogether.
In order to achieve this, for this example, I added pauses on the 4th beats and I’m now saying the rhyme scheme after the 4th beat. I chose not to do this for the 3rd bar because I loved my really dense rhyme scheme and didn’t want to compromise it.
Also on a side note, I was already dodging the 1st beat of bars 1-3.
(B) I’m thinking about Georgia (B) that’s my (B) mind state
(B) I can see bigger than the picture that’s my (B) mind frame
(B) I envision a better livin or is it I’m in
a prison demented inventin new types of (B) mind games
SHIFTING RHYME PLACEMENT
It’s very common for us rappers to place a rhyme on the 4th beat of each bar. These are also known as “end rhymes”.
One cool thing you can do to change the sound of your raps is by placing your rhyme before or after the beat.
In this example, I’m going to alter my lyrics to make them shorter so that I can now place my end rhymes before the 4th beat. The main way I achieved this is by eliminating a pause and two syllables on the first bar. Again this shift is a Domino effect and thus freed up space for the rest of the lyrics as well.
(B) I‘m thinking about Georgia (B) that’s my mind state (B) I can see
bigger than the picture that’s my mind frame (B) I en-
vision a better livin or is it I’m in a prison de-
mented inventin new types of mind games (B)
RECAP
So if you feel like your rap is sounding a little too predictable try using one of these techniques to change the sound and vibe of your raps! Let me know below if you think any of these tips will help you out! If so, which ones?
Tanx champ?
U are a gem
Better by rapping offbeat?! But dude, hardly anyone raps on beat anymore. To be unique, my suggestion would be to actually rap on the beat. On the one in four. Even old school rappers like common rap off beat. I’m just saying, not trying to be confrontational.