The 6 Kinds Of Rapping Content
Braggadocio Rap Form
When you brag or boast its known as this content form. This form of content has ALWAYS been part of hip hop.
This kind of content combined with insults, put downs and disses makes up the form known as battle rhyming.
Braggadocio can take a number of different forms, from simply saying that you’re the best MC to getting even deeper and wittier with the boasting.
i get star affection i got a car collection
I could be a warden got a bar profession
Battle Rap Form
Battle raps have happened on A LOT of songs but they are usually recited or freestyled off the top of rappers heads in live battles.
This is were MCs perform on stage to see who has the best verses.
I’m assuming you are already familiar with this kind of rap but I have to mention it since it is a form.
Conceptual Rap Form
With conceptual form you come up with a concept and then you write your song around THAT concept.
You have one idea or theme that merges all the lyrics together.
An example of this is Lil Wayne’s Dr Carter where he played the role of the doctor who has to save the patients who have no style, confidence or respect for the game. This concept directs all the verses towards that and brings them together.
A lot of people have concepts before they begin writing songs but I find that sometimes you just start with a feeling and it eventually turns into an idea you can base the song on.
The main way to write a good concept song is to stick to the concept and not go off on a tangent.
I recommend that you have an idea and you write ideas about everything that comes to mind for that idea.
Quick example… if the concept of the song was about cars, you’d write on a piece of paper for the ideas to rap about
Horsepower
Body kits
V8 engines v10 Engines
Turbos and superchargers
Lambo doors
And then you can write entire 4 to 8 bar pieces around each individual idea.
For example:
My car has 750 wild Horsepower/
and tops out at 204 miles per hour/car black on black murdo/
v10 turbo makes your car look like a turtle/
Story Rap Form
This has always been a massive part of Hip hop and being a MC. Being able to set up and structure content in a form of a story is VERY important to being a well rounded rapper
Look at ALL of the legendary artists, they were generally VERY good at story telling.
Story telling can be fiction or even your own story. When you learn how to tell your story with the right words in your own style you’ll be able to gain serious hardcore fans.
Abstract Rap Form
Abstract lyrics are those written in a way that’s not obvious or straight forward.
Terms and description of them maybe not apply to concrete things or language may be figurative so even though a song may be about a simple subject it is not described in a simple way.
This can make lyrics very cryptic and hard to decipher. But this can be good as long as it sounds good.
Because if it sounds good people will listen to it more and every time they listen they will discover something new about the song.
For example, I tend to write lines in triple or quadruple entendres so they mean more than just one thing and you can dissect them.
My fans always say they listen to a song and every time they listen they suddenly realized another meaning for the same line.
It’s written so there is a straight forward line but also 2 or 3 additional lines you can break down and understand.
A great example is my new song Spray
In a line I say
I got goals to get, Ya get your goalie kicked
You try to check me, you get your goalie sticked.
Looking at it straight on, it looks like I’m saying I’m going for a goal by kicking for the goal in soccer and the next line also a goal in hockey.
But I also wrote it from a violent perspective because what I really mean is if you get in the way of me getting my goals, I’ll kick your ass and punch you in the mouth.
If you try to put me in check I’ll stick you.
And in hockey the term check is when the ref drops the puck and the players fight for it to get access to the puck.
You try to check me, get your goalie sticked.
Stick means punch somebody. You ever heard somebody say he’ll get stuck in the face.
But goalies have sticks.
Everything I write is in a puzzle form like this and people only realize it when they finally realize I’m a lyricist and start looking for them.
Humorous Rap Form
This is a form where you include humor in your lyrics.
Sometimes entire rap songs are filled with this humorous style.
Rappers like Lil Dicky or jokey music groups like Lonely Island only make humorous songs.
Eminem’s Rain Main is a great example of a humorous song where the majority of the songs lyrics are tongue and cheek, he sounds serious but he is clearly joking around.
I tend to do a lot of humor in my songs too because it makes the person feel your personality and like you as a person.
A great example of a super humorous form song I have that my fans love is my Head Band remix.
As you can see the lines are witty but clearly I’m joking around to make you laugh.
Rob Level Head Band Full Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA04ujHi4xM