[Flocabulary] Rapper's Handbook - Part 1B

Step 6. Include Metaphors
Metaphors and similes are an advanced but important part of freestyle rapping. They are often found in a rapper’s funniest and cleverest lines, and they really differentiate beginners from skilled emcees. Take Talib Kweli’s lines:

We’re like shot clocks,
interstate cops and blood clots,
my point is... your flow gets stopped

Metaphors and similes are really the backbone of an advanced rapper. He’ll spit more comparisons than a door-to-door salesman to sink the competition like a leaky submarine. Learn how to use metaphors correctly, and your rhymes will not only be funnier and smarter, but they’ll sound better too. Take Kanye’s line:

Ooh, girl, your breath is harsh,
cover your mouth up like you’ve got SARS

Step 7. Reference current events
See what Kanye did in that line above? He snuck in the cultural reference. Other than amazing in-rhyming and dope metaphors, the most impressive thing a freestyle rapper can do is make timely references to culture and current events. Let’s say, for example, that you are at a cipher, rapping with some of your friends (dissin’ each other, just goofin’ around), and the day before you remember reading that Oprah recently lost 200 pounds. How dope is it if you throw that in your rhymes:

You big now, but you ‘bout to get cut down,
smaller than Oprah Winfrey dropping 200 pounds

I recently heard an emcee reference soaring gas prices:

Fast? son, that ain’t fast.
I’m rising faster than the price of gas

The sooner you can reference it, the better.

Step 8. Pass the mic like it’s contagious
Rap in ciphers - groups of two or more rappers playing off of reach other, trading verses. This is a great way to improve and it’s hell of fun. One of your friends can beat box, you can throw a beat on the stereo, or just freestyle over nothing. Take turns, cutting in whenever you want or when someone “passes you the mic” (you probably won’t have an actual mic). Never drop the invisible mic! Pick it up and pass it! Work off of other people’s rhymes. If they throw in something about the bible, pick up that theme and run with it. Try to stick to similar topics, or riff off of topics in creative ways. Expand / reference their lines. When my friends and I cipher, we like to kick it about random stuff that we all know about, like our personal lives.
Me:

Derek’s life is tough, his job is rough,
plus Suparna took all his dopest stuff,
for her apartment in NYC, ‘cause that’s where she be,
holding down a job at a publishing company

Derek:

Yeah, my life is tough, but not that hard,
‘cause I spend all my nights watching Sponge Bob,
Escher you the one with the job that sucks,
asking people if they want more pepper on their halibut

Or take this example from Eminem’s battle with Lotto from 8-Mile. Lotto starts off by referencing the old 50’s TV show, Leave it to Beaver. Eminem picks it up and spits it right back, referencing all the characters from the show. Lotto:

Fu** ‘Lotto,’ call me your leader
I feel bad I gotta murder that dude from “Leave It To Beaver”

Eminem:

Ward, I think you were a little hard on the Beaver So was Eddie Haskell, Wally, and Ms. Cleaver

Step 9. When you’re in a cipher, think ahead
One of the great things about rapping in ciphers is that after you spit one verse you get a break before you spit again. This break is your best friend. It’s during this break that you’ll be listening and responding to your friends’ verses. But you’ll also be planning out your next verse. Whenever I’m in a cipher, I never like to get back on the mic until I’ve written 4-6 quality lines. To be most impressive, these lines will be about things around you, or they’ll be about something your friend said in his verse. Let’s say your friend is wearing a shirt that has Daffy Duck on it. While he’s spitting, you can write a line like this:

I know you’ve had a tough year and had some crappy luck, but why you gotta wear a shirt with the face of Daffy Duck

That’s not an amazing line, but I guarantee you that in a cipher people will go nuts over that. (Make sure to point at his shirt as you say it). I always try to write 2-3 of those rhyming couplets before I spit again. Usually I’ll drop one right away and then use the other two later in the verse.

Step 10. Listen and Practice
Freestyling, like sculpting or shooting three-pointers, takes an insane amount of practice. Practice as much as you can. Freestyle with homeless people, with your friends, and with your family. Listen to pro rappers who freestyle and try to analyze their styles. Rap all the time, practice all night and day. Practice might not make perfect, but it makes damn good!