The Complete MC Blog

With the exception of Tupac Shakur, Gift of Gab is without a doubt the strongest MC to ever come out of the Bay Area. Whether working with Chief Xcel as Blackalicious, or doing solo work on “Fifth Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up” Gift of Gab has consistently proven himself to be a top notch MC.

Let’s break down this MC down by his strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths:

Lyrical content. Gift of Gab is one of the few emcees out there that can mix dope battle tracks with socially conscious songs. “Alphabet Aerobics,” where he raps the entire alphabet, and “Chemical Calisthenics” where he actually works his way through the periodic table are some of the most wickedly original songs ever written, while songs like “Make You Feel That Way” not only make you think but plug your heartstrings.

Speed. Following in the footsteps of E-40, another Bay Area rapper, Gift of Gab is one of the fastest rappers out there. His breath control is amazing on record; it’s as if he can rap over 30 bars without taking a breath. The very first track on “Fifth Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up” is one of the most amazing exercises of breath control I’ve ever heard.

Original rhyme patterns. Simply put, Gab is a true master when it comes to developing original rhyme schemes. For example, take a look at “Green Light: Now Begin:” his flow has a very distinguishable swagger to it.

Weaknesses:

Struggles with catchy hooks. This is a very common affliction of MCs worldwide. You can write some of the dopest rhymes ever, but it’s damn near impossible to write catchy hooks. Most of the choruses from blackalicious are cuts from other tracksStill, it’s touch to deny that the beats are still banging.

Lackluster live performance.
I’ve seen Gift of Gab perform three times, and have never been terribly impressed with his performance. He’s a really big guy, and it’s hard for him to move around the stage and interact with the crowd. It probably doesn’t help that two of the three times I saw him perform, Lyrics Born (one of the greatest live MCs I’ve ever seen) was a special guest.

Vocal quality. While he’s highly adept at changing flow patterns, Gift of Gab rarely changes the emotional quality in his voice. He’s a lot like Nas in that respect; always very calm, cool and collected. It makes certain tracks unbelievable; particularly when he is trying to come across as angry and upset. If you say you’re pissed off, you sure as hell better sound like you mean it.

This is the first installment of the masters of their craft. We’ll continue to look at some of the best rappers that are out there today, as well as some of the all time greats. Let me know some current MCs that you’d like to see on this board, and we’ll get cracking.

Gift of Gab
Blackalicious

Of all the aspects in hip hop, nothing illustrates the thrill of victory and agony of defeat as well as a freestyle battle. I’ve personally seen MCs break down and say that they would never freestyle again after losing a battle in front of their friends and family.

Freestyle battles are the measure of a MC; it shows how well you can handle victory as well as defeat. Over my decade of rapping I have encountered hundreds of battles; most of which I’ve won some of which I’ve lost.

Here are seven tips that have helped me win battles in the past. I hope they do the same for you…

1. Be specific. No matter how good your lines are, if the crowd feels what you’re saying can apply to anybody, it will fall flat. For example, I was in a battle a few years ago against a real fat dark skinned guy. In this scenario, had I used simple jokes about his mother, the crowd would’ve seen right through it and realized it was probably a written line. While a fat joke would’ve been better being more specific), everybody knows at least five or six fat jokes. In the end, I said “ he looks like this the stay-puffed marshmallow man burnt to a crisp.” The line was so specific that the audience knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was in fact freestyling, and it won the day.

2. Use props. Crush your opponents with the use of props. A freestyle battle is a lot like a kung fu movie; the best battles are the ones that are able to incorporate everything in the room. Look around. If there is a run DMC poster in the background, you can make fun of someone by saying he’s nothing more than a sucker MC. If he’s wearing a Public Enemy shirt you can call him a wanna-be Flavor Flav, an aspiring crack addict, a no talent ass clown who can’t rap at all.

3. Jump of the Stage. The most important part of winning a battle is getting the crowd on your side. A simple and effective way to do this is to jump off the stage and get next to the crowd. After all, if you’re standing next to someone in the crowd while you’re talking shit about someone on the stage, it’s pretty hard for them to disagree with you, isn’t it?

4. Flip your opponents punchlines to your advantage. If your opponent makes fun of you for being skinny, and he’s kind of on the heavy side, use that to your advantage. If he makes fun of you for wearing cheap clothes, you can make fun of him for being a pretty boy. Any approach that they use on you can be flipped easily and used to win the battle.

5. When you can’t beat them at their own game, change the rules. If your opponent is killing you on punchlines, tried to beat them using a different flow. I’ve seen people win battles not because they had better punchlines, but because they were able to win the crowd. Simple call and responses can give you the slight edge that you need to win.

6. Anticipate your opponents rhymes. In doing so, you are showing the audience that your opponents rhymes are so simple you see them coming a mile away. The most devastating lines that you can inflict upon your opponents are the most unexpected. Just like punches, the ones you don’t see coming are the ones that hurt the most.

7. Avoid racial slurs. This is always been a touchy subject in rap battles. Unless you can deliver a completely original line about your opponent (like the stay-puffed marshmallow man example) you’re better off leaving the subject of race alone.

I have the utmost respect for anyone who has the guts to get up on stage to face off with someone whose sole intent is to humiliate them. Battle techniques are constantly evolving, and if you have any other ideas that you’d like to share, I’d appreciate it if you left a comment below. Best of luck!

Click the link for more tips on how to win a rap battle

“How do I learn how to rap?” If you have a brain and a voice, you’re almost there. Now we just need to connect them.

Learning how to rap can be one of the most enjoyable ways to make friends and influence people. There is no other culture where you can get on stage and say the nastiest, filthiest things about someone, have them respond in like kind, and walk off as friends. Rap really is a great way to learn about yourself: Not only how well you throw verbal blows, but also how well you can take them.

My rap education began eleven years ago. Since then I’ve learned that a dope MC can be a lot of things to a lot of people: a crowd rocker, a poet (Rakim), a trash talker (Cannibus), a ghetto superstar (ODB), a gangster (Eazy-E), a teacher (KRS-One).

If you’re interested in learning to rap, here are the ten most important bits of advice I’d like to share with you.

1. Develop and memorize rhyme schemes. Rhymes are to rappers as chords are to musicians: the more your practice learning them, the better off you’ll be. Amateurs worry about making words rhyme; experts focus on making the rhyme clever. Let’s say you memorize five words that rhyme with “blue.” Next time you freestyle and the word “blue” comes up, you already, with no thought at all, have five ways to complete your next line. This is black belt technique.

2. Freestyle with as many different people as possible. If you want to learn to rap at a high level quickly, expose yourself to as many different styles as possible. Try to rap with guys who talk smack one day, then get into a cypher that’s more on a concious tip. You’ll be amazed how many sides of your personality shine through.

3. Learn to rap with a metronome. OK, you don’t really need a metronome (that tick-tock device that helps musicians keep tempo) to learn to rap. But you do need to learn to rap at different speeds. Play some of your favorite beats (both fast and slow) and try to rap over any and all of them. If you have a friend who’s a DJ, have them try and mix you up with different tempos.

4. Develop safe words, and change them often. Every beginner should have one safe word. No, I’m not talking S&M here, I’m referring to one word that you can say if you ever blank for a second. One that I used a lot was “lyrically.” Whenever I had a brainfart in a freestyle, I always had the option of using that as my filler. Word to the wise: while repeating yourself is better than dropping the beat altogether, it’s best to pass the mic quickly after.

5. Strengthen your voice with vocal exercises. There is no way around it: Without a strong voice, your rap will never sound real. After all, if you spit a verse about how you’re the baddest mutha on the planet, well, you better sound like it!

6. Learn to rap like your favorite rapper. Learn a style from a master. Mimic their voice and rap with them. Once you feel like you sound like them, try to write a verse that follows their rhyme structures. You can tell a Method Man verse and a Twista verse apart on paper; their wordplay is as signature as their flow.

7. Enter a sanctioned, on-stage battle. Winning a battle on stage for the first time is one of the best feelings in the world. Losing a battle on stage builds character like nothing else in the world. You wanna learn to rap, you gotta battle.

8. Buy a microphone and rap with it. You can learn to rap like Supernatural, but no one is gonna hear a word you say unless you hold the mic right. Cheap mics go for less than thirty bucks, and the payoff is huge: you can appear better than more polished rappers just by holding the mic correctly. Think of it like an ice cream cone: you don’t hold it by the ice cream! Keep your hand on the “cone” part of the mic and you’ll sound like a pro.

9. Practice flow and lyrics separately. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice one to improve the other. How may times have you heard a rapper with crazy flow (Snoop) who says absolutely nothing? How about those rappers with great lyrics (Ras Kass) but no real style? Try to freestyle focusing just on lyrics; then freestyle focusing on flow. You don’t even have to use words: Just try to keep with the beat and make it sound interesting.

10. Practice rap kung fu. Ever notice the more badass martial artists are also the most humble? When you have developed your rap skills, grasshopper, you must learn to use them wisely. Build up those around you, rather than cut them down.

Free ebook helps you learn how to rap

Remember: To learn how to rap is an ongoing process. Best of luck!

So many aspiring MC’s focus all their time on trying to freestyle that they miss out on the most important aspect of being an MC: songwriting.

After all, if you were to name your 10 best emcees, I’m sure all of them would have several songs that you know and love. There’s a timeless aspect to songwriting; everything you’ve ever written and recorded is really a shot at immortality. You may know that Supernatural is the best freestyle MC in the world, but can you name a single song that he’s ever written? One of the greatest freestyle emcees of all time, Juice, went so far as to say that recording is your only real shot at becoming a legend.

Increase your songwriting ability with the following five steps:

1. Focus on effective brainstorming. The rhyming dictionary and thesaurus are your friend. Pick a topic, then use a thesaurus to generate similar words to use in your songs. Once you generated those words, look them up in a rhyming dictionary to find other words that rhyme with them. Very quickly you’ll be able to develop an entire page full of songwriting material.

2. Change your rhyming patterns frequently. Rakim is probably the best example of this; when your flow pattern changes, it forces the listener to pay more attention to what you’re saying. The more attention they’re paying you, the more likely they are to hear some of your best lines; and that’s what it’s all about, right?

3. Use as many different song formats as possible. No matter how dope you may be at one particular style, you have to keep the listeners attention by writing different styles of songs. Try to balance your battle tracks with more socially conscious jams. Mix dance songs with storytelling. If all your songs follow a simple 16 bar\3 verse space format, space you’ll lose the crowd.

4. Build each verse on top of each other. For some reason people seem to forget verse development when it comes to writing a hip-hop song. The masters of all done it: Common and Eminem are just two examples. When you complete the first verse of the song, you should always ask yourself “Where is this song headed? How do I get there from here?” One trick I’ve learned that has helped me is to write a verse that starts and ends with the same line. A great example of this is “Backstage Pacin’” by Brother Ali. Each version begins and ends with the phrase “_______ backstage pacing…” Each verse then explores the thoughts and feelings of a particular character as they (you guessed it) pace back stage at a live show.

5. Showcase your best lines. If you’ve written a song, and you found three or four lines that your absolute favorites give them a strong position in the song. You can either put them at the end of the verse, the beginning of the verse, or any lined it ends on a downbeat. For example if you have four measures the most powerful places are the second scratch that the most powerful lines should be second in the fourth. Think of it like volleyball; the first line sets for the second line. The best battle songs all follow a very simple one two punch delivery.

Flocabulary will help you improve your rap songwriting as well.

I’m always looking for new ideas for postings. If you have a question you’d like answered, or a topic you’d like to discuss, send me a comment.

Peace!