What makes a wack rapper wack or a rapper wack at all? Great question my friend!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6izoo5lWOE0
Let me first point out that we all start out wack in some way or another. From rap artist clothing style to your musical style in general no one is naturally amazing… well… a very very rare few who grew up around the perfect mixture of musical influences their parents listened too… but again, that is extremely rare. Talent is not innate.
Let’s get to the list of things that makes a wack rapper wack!
1) Claiming that you are any of the following words (especially when it’s not true):
1) Lyrical
2) Dope
3) Spitting Fire
4) A Beast
5) A Monster
6) Any synonym of the word “great”
7) Nasty
8) Sick
Whenever a rapper says they are any of these words it’s not only corny and extremely amateur, it makes you look stupid to call yourself that. If you are established than you can state you are some of those words and brag a bit if you have some accomplishments.
If you don’t have the credentials to back any of these statements, don’t say them. Let’s also mention that when most people start rapping in general, these types of words are their go to words. So it is the sign of an amateur rapper. When I was new I used to say “My lines are sick/nasty/fire” and “Ima monster/beast/animal” and now even typing that made me feel like a dumb ass.
Avoid using those words ESPECIALLY IN CHORUSES AND SONG TITLES. Oh please… just please don’t do it lol.
2) Laying down basic rhymes in songs just because you think they sound cool
I recommend rappers write verses and then rewrite the verses. There are numerous advantages to this.
1) You have a fresh out look on what you wrote before and can see errors
2) You can add more rhymes, a better a flow, get rid of lines, replace lines and make it better overall
3) You grow faster and over time you won’t make the same mistakes in your writing because you’ll know what to fix before it happens the first time
I actually teach you how to take your basic verses and rewrite them way wayyyyyy better in my 4 Hour Video Master Course on how to write rap lyrics like a genius. I take you into my daily 1 hour writing session and teach you all of the methods I personally use everyday. It is all done on screen, recorded live as I do it with absolutely no edits. Check it out if you are a serious rapper.
Yesterday someone sent me a song at 2AM and said he had a single releasing next week. I was nice and was like “Send it now.” giving him a chance to show me what he was working with since he said “I have something I think you will really like noV!” And so I listened. I thought it would be better :/ he was literally just rhyming to be rhyming.
You may think it sounds cool because you rhyme a bunch but you have to find out how to say things in a way that is unique to you as an artist. No one feels basic rhymes with no melodies that aren’t saying anything.
Which leads me to the next thing that makes a wack rapper
3) If your rhymes sound like a Dr. Seuss Book
This one goes along with the last one but it’s quick.
We all know the guy at the party who thinks he is a rapper. We applaud his confidence but he rhymes like he has a vocabulary of 300 words. Don’t be that person.
You need to develop your vocabulary and actually put the sentences together like an intelligent person if you want to be taken as an intelligent Smart Rapper.
You’re probably asking what’s wrong with Dr. Seuss? Nothing is! But let’s remember that his books are for children, not rappers.
4) Shouting out rappers you don’t know in songs
In 2010 I released Ransom and I had a friend of mine who went by the name of Spitta. People thought I was talking about Curren$y. I definitely wasn’t talking about the rapper Curren$y. I mean, I don’t know the guy lol. Personally, I don’t listen to ‘weed music’ that is all about bitches cars money and weed so… I respect his hustle but I don’t think I’d ‘shout him out’ in the intro of one of my songs. At the time I didn’t even know who Curren$y was let alone did I know his nickname was ‘Spitta’.
Learning that made me ‘feel’ like a wack rapper because I felt like other people would see it like that too. On top of that, don’t shout out rappers you really don’t know. It makes you look needy, corny and wack. You may think in your head “Hey this is a great way to show homage to a rapper I like” but really people just hear you riding their dick and wondering why you are even mentioning them when they are on a level way above you.
Also don’t talk too much in the intro of your songs unless its interesting and unique. Also don’t shout out your homies and your city. That’s 1999 and as played out as the term played out.
5) Claiming you have ‘street cred’ when no one knows who the f**k you are
I don’t even think I need to explain this one. Just be you, honestly no one cares how much ‘street cred’ you have anyways. No one believes you until they see it happen when the time comes to get down.
Don’t make me start talking about the Stitches situation with Game.
6) Are your main influences just rappers that are currently hot at the time?
Your influences and who you listen to directly affect your musical style, lyricism and out look on the rap culture. So if you are actually calling the wackest rappers ‘Good’ and listening to their music. You are pretty much being dragged into the wack category since their wackness is rubbing off on you. It’s like being friends with a really really bad kid. You can try to be the good kid as much as you want, but eventually you are going to start getting in trouble too.
One of my favorite sayings is that you are an equivalent of your top 5 friends. That’s a HUGE saying in the entrepreneurial world. That is because it is extremely true. For people that can’t directly be affiliated with top industry leaders, we read their books or listen to their music and absorb and learn from them and their mistakes. If you can understand what I mean by all this it is that you are being affected by what you listen too and who you decide to look up too.
Make the right choices.
Note: This doesn’t mean listen to Tupac, Biggie, Nas and Jay Z just because music culture says they are greats. What you need to do is listen to music that really resonates with you as a person. Rap and Hip Hop music that you feel. The realer you are, the less wack you can possibly be. No one is going to call you wack if you are truly being yourself.
Which brings me to the next thing that makes a wack rapper on the list.
7) Wack rappers pretend to be something they are NOT
Back in 2008-2010 I had a best friend that I did music with. He started morphing himself into a ‘Super Star’ with the mind set that he needed to dress like a star at all times and that would make him a star. He would wear sunglasses and leather jackets and shit. It was abnormally corny. He got into my head and made me feel like if I didn’t do that stuff that I wasn’t a star. I had never felt cornier in my fucking life. After a fall out with him I began to be myself and that began the journey of finding who I truly was in order to be the best person I can.
If I have learned anything in life it is that being yourself is the best thing you can possibly be. Bet he best you that you can possibly be.
You don’t have to be a GANGSTER to be a bad ass or a rapper. You know that if someone disrespects you that you’ll smack the f**k out of them. It doesn’t mean you have to walk around like you’re tough. Just show it when the time comes.
I always felt like the world shit on me so I always had that south side Chicago attitude that no one was going to fuck with me. That got me into A LOT of trouble. Now I keep a smile on my face and if someone disrespects me they are suddenly flabbergasted when I suddenly smack them out of no where. It instantly ends fights faster than you would ever think. Boldness and showing you are fearless…. ah, getting off on a tangent.
Just be yourself, under it all, your true character will show. So why be something you’re not?
(W)RAPPING UP
I have way way way more things to put on this list but I know that people don’t like reading a ton. Maybe I’ll make a part 2 separately. Take these first 7 and internalize them. Be yourself and grow to be the best you that you can possibly be. We all have that ability. I believe in you! Don’t let the small stuff get you down. Overcome the things that would make you be considered a wack rapper.
– Novi NovAK
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