How To Rap With Emotion

Beware! Wack, Lifeless Rappers Are Everywhere!

Have you ever heard a rap song by a friend or someone else that just sounded bland, flat and lifeless?

Well that is because they weren’t using any emotion when they were recording their song.

Think about it like this. What kind of music do you like the most?

The music that makes you feel AN EMOTION! That’s right. Music creates emotions in people and it does that through the instrumentation, song key, chord progression and balance.

Your voice is an instrument and you need to make sure that that instrument is creating the emotion you need it to create.

One of the things that makes Eminem such a great artist (not rapper) is the fact that he sounds serious and emotional about everything he is saying. Imagine him when he says “So you can try to justify the way you treated me ma!!!” EMOTION!

Your songs should be filled with emotion too.

The Reason You Need To Become An Actor As Well As Rapper

Not only did I study music but I also studied some acting just to learn it a bit more. After all, who you are as an artist has to be able to be triggered and ‘acted’ upon anytime the need calls.

So I studied Acting.

As a rapper or ‘Artist’ you are getting into a role. The person you are on camera, with industry professionals and other rappers isn’t the same exact person you would be with friends or family.

No. It is a face you put on, and act to carry yourself GREAT and like a somebody.

I know some people may argue with me and say “No, I’m the same person I am in my music.” Well you are lying to yourself lol Everyone on this planet in any job has to put on a different face in different company to be successful.

If they didn’t they would consistently lose networks.

Being yourself 100% of the time would mean that you expect everyone to like you for who you are or too bad. That can’t be your attitude around people of influence who YOU NEED and their attitude is that you like them or too bad.
Anyways let’s get further into it.

So What Are Some Methods Of Acting You Can Use?

After watching tons of interviews of super stars like Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and many more I came to understand a bit more about what is necessary to be a great actor as well as some cool techniques.

One technique I learned was how you say the emotion out loud and that actually creates it in your mind. Do you want to sound sad… say “Sad” 10 times out loud.

Want to sound angry? Say “Angry” ten times out loud. You will actually notice RIGHT NOW if you say “Angry” you will get a little bit angry in your core.

Try it.

It’s actually crazy. First time I did it I was like “What in the….”

The end result of your song is that matters so don’t worry about how many times you have to try it to make it work.

While the above technique DOES work, I personally can just go into any emotion automatically from naturally writing and recording for countless hours. I can be myself on the microphone.

Plus everything I write is from the heart or on my mind so it’s much easier to conjure up the emotion when recording it.

That gets us into the fact that you should be writing things that relate to you. Things that you feel and things that make you happy or pain you.

This makes it much easier to deliver the words with emotion.