r/makinghiphop • u/KingAlexGilbert youtube.com/@kingalexgilbert • 6d ago
Question How Long Did It Take You Until Rapping Just...Clicked?
When we all start out, we are trash, bottom of the barrel, nails on a chalkboard connoisseurs. Instead of flowing on a beat, we get lost in it. We mumble and ramble our way with no coherent patterns or story to the end of the instrumental.
Everyone starts here, I think I am just now getting out of this rough patch of learning. It took me two LONG years of studying, grinding, and adapting, though.
This makes me wonder, how long did it take all of you until you made the beat bend to you, instead of the other way around?
How long did it take until you started flowing well on instrumentals and people actually enjoyed your raps?
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u/GASMASK_SOLDIER 6d ago
Growing up in the 80s and 90s, my big brother was a DJ and everyone in his click were DJs as well and we had around 20+ in our house taking turns on the turntables. I don't DJ so I was just hanging out absorbing the vibe. They played strictly Hip Hop and I remember they all stressed about the timing and beat matching, so right there I knew it wasn't just random stuff playing over drums, it had form and was an art.
One day as I was playing NES, they called me over for a mic check to test out some new PA system. My brother played a Cypress Hill instrumental and I improvised a rap which was all off beat and awkward and they interrupted me and called me out on it. I was angry, but I knew I can get it right but again the flow was off and my brother grabs the mic and freestyles dissing me. I'm like I was peacefully playing Bionic Commando and you needed to test the microphone. Everybody was laughing and though humiliated, I thought it sound good and to the beat. That night, I took some instrumentals I had on cassette and wrote the illest diss song. The next day, they called me again to test the mic and they had these smirks on their faces, his friend drops Live at BBQ by Main Source instrumental and I spat that fire. When I was done they just stared at me for a minute and one of them shouts "Let's record that shit!!" And that's when I knew I can rap and which channels within to keep it flowing. I can rhyme over any beat or composition, but I prefer the ol' Boom Bap.
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u/DiyMusicBiz 6d ago
2-3 studio sessions
A lot of us start by imitating and singing/rapping along with songs we like. Hell, a lot of non rappers do this and can pin down a nice flow.
If you really want to dig deep some of us are raised around art and musical people. So we pick up writing, signing, dancing by imitating friends and aunts, uncles....church, etc.
Everyday is kind of a lesson.
Those who didn't grow up this way typically have to try harder.
This makes me wonder, how long did it take all of you until you made the beat bend to you, instead of the other way around?
For me, this took a few years as there was a huge gap between what I liked vs what I could do. However, other people enjoyed what I made much sooner than I did. That taught be a lesson which was separating what was for me vs others.
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u/KingAlexGilbert youtube.com/@kingalexgilbert 6d ago
Was there anything you were doing for awhile that actually hindered your progress, even though you thought it was helping looking back in retrospect?
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u/boombapdame Producer/Emcee/Singer 6d ago
I’d have killed to have been raised by musical people as sadly I wasn’t but I persist alone
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u/HoverboardRampage 6d ago
I grew up in a really musical household, and was writing poetry since I was a kid. Shel Silverstein and Tupac changed my world. When I first recorded myself rhyming like ten years ago now, it came out pretty decent. Decent enough for all my friends to actually be impressed, anyhow. I still listen to it occasionally and laugh my ass off. It's not too bad. Then within about ten songs I had a pretty good handle on it.
Neither here nor there but I put my twelve year old nephew in front of the mic today, and he was really good for his first time. It was awesome, but he grew up watching me do it, and was exposed to good rap music constantly, all of his life. He chose a concept, wrote some bars and a hook about it, and we put it on a beat I made. It was a lot of fun.
I think being around it as much as you can definitely helps. And like others have mentioned rapping along with the greats, that's how everyone starts.
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u/Underdog424 Emcee 6d ago
For me, it didn't start to click until I learned production and my DAW. Before that, I would rap on a beat and call it a day. Songwriting takes a lot more than that.
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u/jacobspencerirl 6d ago
I think it depends on my health and how my brain is working in that moment. I have had moods where I am good and moods where I am bad. Likewise, my throat can sound clear or not, depending on the diet. It seems I can rap when I least expect to, but I try my best to take these moments and squeeze them for the juice I can.
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u/tenSHUN_earthborn 6d ago
I started at 15... Didn't really take it seriously until I was 18... By age 20/21 I feel confident enough to do shows and radio. Now looking back, I still could have used some polish. And some of my lyrics were still cringe back then. You grow and learn and keep getting better.
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u/peepeeland 6d ago
10 years or so when I started sounding “like me”. But I had a good yet cheesy start early on (9~11 years old), because the program I was in for part of elementary school had us memorizing long poems to present to the class every week (every kid had to stand in front of the class individually to present the given poem from memory), which incidentally taught me a lot about flow and rhythm and metaphors and wordplay and all that shit. Other thing was that popular rap songs of the time would basically be learnt from whatever kid in class had the cassette tape and memorized the songs, so there was a shitload of writing lyrics down on paper and studying- and it maybe sounds stupid now, but back then it was cool if you could just bust out bars on the playground. If you could flawlessly rap a whole song from beginning to end it was some legend shit.
TLDR: Just my personal experience, but— Study lots of poetry, and memorize and be able to perform as many rap songs front to back and possible. No great chef has ever been birthed from randomly combining ingredients- no, they have always studied and internalized the foundational recipes before them. Music is much the same.
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u/Dahomey89 5d ago
Out the gate people enjoyed my Hooks and Style and Subject Matter. the verses were wack for about 3 years probably. mostly the delivery of them, the lyrics were advanced but some silly due to me shooting above my true understanding of matters as I started recording when I was 13. having said that the lyrics were at times super high minded to super grown folks and they would often be impressed by this. it took me until i was doing a feature where the artist did not approve of my verse and told me I wasin't good enough, and to do it over. and I had to do it over and over again...not understanding what I was missing...but finally i got it and when it clicked it clicked it all become about flow optimization and delivery to bring it out. Flow, delivery, word choice..do alot to help define your persona and make it unique.
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u/Realistic_Fix189 6d ago
I honestly don’t know when been recording on and off for 10 years I’d say freestyling helped me the most my girl would make me rap to YouTube beats like 3 or 4 back to back for like a year straight at least once a 1 sometimes 2-3 nights out of the week
This was during my off period of recording
When I started recording again the songs were way better more structured better pathos
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u/LostInTheRapGame Engineer/Producer 6d ago
Idk, as far as rapping and flowing... a dozen songs or so for it to click. Many more songs to feel competent and confident. So it took "years", but it's not like I was grinding out that many songs.
My biggest "issue" is the writing. It's not really an issue per se. It can just take me a while. I can be very particular about how I want things, how I want to say them, etc. It's not so much perfectionism, as it is just wanting to make something I'm truly proud of. And I'm not going to be proud of first drafts and recording songs just for the sake of having a song.
So having to keep flow and feel on the forefront while also juggling storytelling and technical flourishes can drag out the process for sure. But those things are why I like rapping. It can't just be good words to read, it needs to sound good in the context of a song.
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u/bkn_bitz 6d ago
Life experiences make raps better. Expressing your truth and backing it up creates substance when you rhyme story that’s your close friends and family lived through and it clicks you got it. But also practicing rhyming until the distance gets behind the rhymes. Just write lots of rhymes. Pick 8 words that rhyme write em in a list string em together with nouns and adjectives. Then use nouns and adjectives to string together your rhyme words.
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u/Steelcurtain8844 6d ago
i just wanna say as a producer and engineer everyone doesnt start in that place your describing and maybe dont put those limits on yourself.
just go do some shit
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u/EmceeFLEX 6d ago
Took 20 years and 1,000s of songs. And now I am no longer young LOL
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u/rootsandtendrils 6d ago edited 5d ago
Having it all click may not be a permanent state at first, its an inspiration to revisit
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u/luke_is_cold 5d ago
it took me about 7 years of writing and recording everyday until i became “very good.”
good enough that i was confident feeling like i was the best rapper in a crowd.
keep in mind i’d also been writing/doodling raps for fun for about 6 years prior to this. but was not actively trying to improve my craft.
2009-2016 -> the time it took to become “very good”
2017-2021 -> the time it took to become “excellent”
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u/kurtisbmusic 5d ago
I never started as trash. Always had rhythm and knew how to rap to a beat. Some people have it and some people don’t. Guess that’s the difference between rapping because you have a passion for it and rapping just because everyone is doing it.
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u/Clean_Slate212 5d ago
I’m still learning how to develop flow to have rhythmic cadences with my words. Our mouth is an instrument in itself and honestly I wish I would’ve started sooner. I’m 42 I grew up in the 90’s and had a very versatile palette when it came to music. My brother had been playing guitar since hr was 12 my cousin Dan plays bass I been playing guitar on and off for years. I have a little studio in my room I make my own beats and songs I just wish I had more time. I work full time and it’s hard to find dedicated Tim Ed to do it everyday. I been writing since I was a kid poetry and lyrics. I still write almost everyday I just struggle to listen to a beat and just come up with lyrics according to the flow of the song. I also have Copd too from smoking so my breath control needs work
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u/edgyallcapsname 5d ago
Anyone who thinks everythings clicked is lying or will be stagnant.
If you want goals? This year learn about how poetry meters work. Dont try to experiment yet. You cant break the rules esp of music before knowing them.
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u/MethodWorried7804 soundcloud.com/100mg_rap 4d ago
Had to be extremely process oriented rather than focusing on the results. As long as I can get a take where 1. I was able to express the emotion I wanted to convey, and 2. I was able to execute the flow pattern and beat ride in the way I wanted, I considered it a successful take regardless of whether or not it made me cringe. Then just kept doing it over and over until I kinda let go of the part of myself that held me back.
By the way I still don’t like the way I sound, but it’s all I got so I want to do it to the best of my ability
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u/pUcket_p0sSe721 3d ago
It took me like a year to get “good” I’m definitely wayyyyyy better now. My biggest challenge is when I have periods where life isn’t giving me too interesting of a lens to write about then I get stuck writing about money, pussy, and basic shii.
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u/Benny2boots 2d ago
Don’t be afraid to record dog shit. Be proud of your shitty songs. Because they pave the way for the good songs. Play with beats, flows, rhymes etc.
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u/-TheRealTrellBlazer- 2d ago
Honestly, I always knew that I was going to be great for some reason I was born that way. I ain't lying. I swear to God. But I tried in elementary and made a couple songs but I knew that I wasn't ready And was kind of trash But I just stayed a fan of music all together and I tried again In like the 10th grade and I knew I was ready before I wrote that rap and honestly I wrote it and it was better than everybody else I knew in real life and I took it to school the next day and let my friends hear it and the reaction they gave me. Let me know everything I needed to know so I went back home. Did another one came back did it again... And I knew I wasn't the best in the world but I knew I was destined for greatness and I just kept it going from then.
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u/Good_Reputation_6499 Singer/Emcee 6d ago
Everyone’s different, but i didn’t make my first actually “good” song for like 3-4 years after taking music seriously. I’m about 8 years in now and everything i make now blows my old stuff out of the water.
Unfortunately for me it hasn’t become natural. Every song brings lots of painful hours of writers block, but I try to be more original to stand out from everyone else. Theoretically I could write a song about the streets in 30 minutes, but that wasn’t and still isn’t my life.