Transcripts
1. Yes, You Can Rap: Yes, You Can Rap.
I wouldn't know. My name is apollo J. And a few years ago, they Music was for me,
fast-forward to today. And I performed on
the same stages. Two chains, be crit, Tiger, Walk a flock of flame. That's me. And even more, my Music has
gone viral several times, leaving 2/7000000 streams
in more than 700,000 views. It all started with
me taking a chance. Growing up, I always
loved writing and I always knew I
had a story to tell. Learning how to translate
these thoughts, ideas, and emotions into VS. I've been able to travel, is performed and reach people all over the world
through my music. And with what I'm
going to teach you, you can to, in this course, you're going to learn
about structure, Delivery, flow and much more. But most importantly, you're
going to learn how to express yourself so that
others can understand. In resonate. Again. My name is apollo J, and this is how To Rap
2. Your Class Project: Your class project, you're
gonna be writing and delivering a sixt bar verse. Now what do I mean by Delivery? You're literally going
to be wrapping on video. By the time you've
completed this course, you'll be able to confidently
compose and deliver or Rap a verse on any
topic of your choosing. For this class project, you can deliver the
verse acapella. You can do it over a beat of a song that
you've always loved. You can do it over a beat, you just found on YouTube. You can do it over beat. You just made whatever fits
the vibe and the feeling, the emotion of diverse best. All you need for this is
a phone and a friend. Arguably, you really only need a phone because you can
prop it up or, or a laptop. You can have a recording from
the camera on your laptop. But anyway, after writing
and recording your verse, I'm asking you to not only upload the video to Skillshare, but also to upload it to your favorite social
media platform using the hashtag I Can Rap to. The reason for this is I
want you to be able to go up there and find other people
on the same journey. Has you other people out
there learning how To Rap? The reason I've been
able to experience such success is I'm
not doing it alone. I'm one-fourth of
the rap collective, bungalow collect, a
Music Group I formed, but some of my best friends
to get started spend at least 15 min brainstorming what it is you want
to write about. You can put down
some quotations, some numbers, some
emotion, some colors, whatever it is that you
think points you in the direction of what
you want to write about. As you go through this course, you'll be able to see
those thoughts and ideas slowly begin to form into bars
3. The Art of Self-Expression: Rap is about self expression.
It's about confidence. The first rappers were MCs
tasked with keeping the crowd engaged and excited between DJ sets and other forms
of entertainment. To do this, you not only
had to be confident, but you also had to understand the energy of the beat
so that you could work with it rather than against it for the betterment
of those listening. Rappers today are tasked
with doing much of the same. Your job as a rapper, along with the producer, is to translate energy and emotion into something palpable. More important than just
your ability to execute a technically sound verse is
your ability to stand out. When I tell people this,
they often disagree. However, throughout
the history of Rp, many have displayed an ability
to wrap and wrap well. Few have left an
everlasting imprint. Every rapper who has
stood the test of time, who is largely considered
to be one of the greatest ever had a unique flow, story, perspective that others
could and did latch onto. This all comes from doing
something only you can do. Think so. And that's
being yourself. The only person on Earth who can express the life you've lived with complete accuracy
and confidence is you. And that will be your
greatest weapons. Stay to for more. Okay.
4. Understanding Cadence: A big part of
understanding how To Rap is understanding how
to approach the beat. Tempo, or BPM,
dictates the length of a bar and therefore
the length of your verse, chorus or any other
musical section. So to write and deliver a 16, you have to know
how long has 16 is. Let's get into how
to decipher that. First, we're gonna be looking
at a song from one of my favorite artists
of all time, J Cole. She said Dollar Tree, one of his biggest songs, he's workout from
his debut album, cold world, the sidelines story. When counting cadence,
the claps and snare, or your best friend,
find them first. They usually fall on the 2.4, but on faster tempos they
can fall under three. But we'll get into that later. First workout. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 4 1 2 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 4 1 4 1 2 4 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 4, 1 2 3 4, right, one. So as you can see that the
standard 16 bar verse, the snare, fell on the to, and it fell on the floor. However, things tend to get
more complicated when we look at faster beats
with higher BPMs. So for example, we're going to look at one song from another, one of my favorite
artists, Kendrick Lamar. Now humble technically
says it has a BPM of 150. But here I'm going to
show you why that might not necessarily be the case. So the first thing I'm going
to do is approach this as if the beat is 150 BPM. And I'm going to count
them out for you. Earlier we spoke
about how sometimes the snare or clap can
fall on the three. And I'm going to
demonstrate exactly what that looks like to you
with this song here. Now let's to wanted to, I could keep going,
but you get the idea. Basically, if you keep going, you get at 32 bar
verse at that pace. However, because the
beat is so fast, it opens up a second pocket, which allows you to
rap at halftime. Now some people will look at it the opposite way
and they'll say, well the speed is 75 BPM. And what I was counting
was double time. If you look at it this way, Kendrick actually starts
humbled with a 16th. As you can see, that still
works realistically, is 16 or 30 to the verse labs. What's most important is
that you and producer, Any other artists are sure of exactly how you're
going to approach it. So now when you go out
into the world of music, Can you hear rapper
has references 16. You know exactly what
they're talking about. More importantly, you know
how to count and write out the appropriate amount
of bars to fill that 16. Let's keep going. I'll see
you at the next lesson.
5. Infinite Flows: A question I get
all the time is, how many flows are
there, Apollo? Okay. The answer is infinite. What I mean by that is now that you understand the
structure of a beat, what constitutes a bar, you understand that you can
play within this structure as long as you achieve the amount of bars that
are being asked of you. Now, this is not
to say that there aren't traditional ways to approach a beat or traditional
flows because there are. The more that you
listen to rap music, the more that you will start
to see that there are trends or certain ways that artists like to approach certain beats. And all that means is that that flow has been deemed Good. However, two artists
are never going to see the same beat
the same exact way. Now, in this example,
mask off by Future, you'll hear how the original
artist decided to attack the beat and how Kendrick Lamar decided to attack
it on the remix. Two for first steps. This is how Kendrick
approached it. Come with mice As you can see, two very different flows
but both work well. The key to being a
good rapper is to be a good student
of the rap game. The more that you listen, the more you'll see not
only what works, but why it works,
and then you can utilize that knowledge on
any beat that you listen to. Stay tuned. Next, we'll
be getting into delivery, how to choose words for your
rhyme scheme and much more.
6. Let's Rap: Infinite Flows In Practice: I got my rap it on
for this lesson. We can clean that up. I know, while it's
important for you to understand that there's a
wide array of possible Flows. I want you to get a glimpse
into the actual process of choosing a flow or Flows. For this lesson, I'm
going to pull up a beat and freestyle for you so that you can see how
I go from idea to verse. So when it's time for
me to write a verse, I have a process I
like to use. First. I listened to the beat. Now, the first listen for
me is extremely important. I'm a firm believer in your first instinct
is usually right. After listening to the beat, I'm going to start writing
down some thoughts, some emotion, some ideas, whatever it comes to
mind about the feeling. Beat. Then I'm going to start freestyling some
Flows and words. I say Flows and words because some of it might just be
mumble and that's okay. As long as you're
getting an idea out, you can always put
words to it later. Then to start actually
biting the verse, I need one line for me. The first line is
most important. That is what locks me
in and lets me know exactly where the
verse is going. And from there, I'll let it
flow. So let's get into it. Felt like regal
title is Bahamas. Living Live a real good
we in Bahamas Wien's law, we thought we guide off
because each strength me, everything that we did, it turned out to make money
on my green red region. Got it made sense.
I'm a make sense. I'm going gets a great
just a great panel. That's a great pen. I got
less than what I've done. I never taught much things up. So you guys told me Freestyle on edited does my first
time listening to the beat. Now there's some lines I like, it's unlocked, I didn't love, but like I said before, most importantly, I
got my first-line. What's out of my first line? I think I'm going to go. So you guys gonna be able to
see me writing a verse out, going back-and-forth
with the recording of what I just did. Normally, I'd like
to use a voice memo, but since we're recording
for the lesson today, I figured I can just
re-watch the footage, so let's write this verse. All right, I think we've
got a bursa, right? Bonus challenge. Can you tell me how many
bars is versus checking? Living real good. We in Bahamas been involved
in the lobby. Top slow, who would think
we got it off the string? That we did everything that we did get turned up
and make money. You my green, red. It'll even gotten makes
sense. I'm a make sense. I'm going to go into great
depth, but my $0.08, a great listen is
filling take the clock, running off the centers
at your phone even got 100 plus another at five. I never stopped writing
one person celebrating, worshiping for my own tablets
off the CDs that I dropped. So that's a quick burst
the amen trying to keep or created and do
some different flows. You know, keep it entertaining, but also make sure
that it's on topic for the initial idea
is that we have. So see you at the next lesson.
7. Simple Is Better: At the end of the day, Music is communicate, meaning
it's meant to be shared. You want to create with the idea in mind that others were here, which you have to say
and attach meaning to, or at least attempt to,
if your lines feel to over-complicate it or
unnecessarily obscure. People are going
to stop listening. If however, you can condense a complicated thoughts or ideas into a relatable
and catchy punchline. The listener won't have
to do as much work and they will immediately
feel more gratifying. You'll feel like
they're in on a secret. Think about how it feels when everyone is
laughing at a joke. But if you just don't get it, that's how it feels when
you're listening to a rapper and you don't
understand their references. Now this isn't to say you
should keep things Elementary, but rather a reminder to keep others in mind while
you pan your vertices. And don't for a second, think
this is easier by the way, it's been writing more
wordy or complicated versus ability is actually
called songwriting. And there's an
entire hall of fame for it with some
pretty big names. So definitely not easy. For example, when
using metaphors, It's better to use items or things that the
average person with no fly like a bird might be better than
fly like a banana quiz. Yes, that's a type of bird. Invite people in,
they want to care. But you can't make it difficult
8. The Delivery: When delivering a verse, breathing is
extremely important. Well, it is all the time, but you know what I mean? Controlling your
breathing is important. You have to know when to
take air in and when to push it out to deliver a verse that
has some force behind it. You don't want to be running
out of breath at the end of each line or towards
the end of the verse, and then it gets difficult to understand what
you're saying, or just generally the
crowd or the audience, the listener can feel the
fall off in your voice. One helpful tip for this is
to go through the verse. So after you've
written it and you've read it out loud,
start to recite it. This way, you get a feel for exactly how you plan
to deliver the verse. Now, an important
part of this is to recite it as if you're
actually performing it. For the camera, for the people, for however you actually plan to deliver it,
don't hold back. By reciting it in a way that you actually
plan to perform it, you have an idea of the pace, the way that you
want to deliver it, and therefore, where you can strategically
catch your breath. The second key to successfully
delivering a verse is memorize, memorize, memorize. You have to know the
verse like the back of your hand, trust me, I get it. It's difficult. I historically
have a terrible memory. However, when it comes
to music and verses, I've always been able to
memorize them a lot easier. Something about the
thought and the emotion, the intention I put behind
each word that allows me to tap into a zone I don't
normally have access to. By memorizing not
only the words, but the performance, where you strategically take your breaths, any other pauses you
want to take for dramatic purposes,
whatever it may be, but by memorizing
the performance, not just the verse, you will
over deliver every time. This is what the
best performers do. They practice for hours
on hours rehearsed so many times that The actual
performance is easy for them. It's light work. They
don't even have to think. In order to deliver
your best performance, you don't want to be on stage, thinking about your next cue, thinking about where
this goes, that goes, what the next line is, you want to be able to
focus on just delivering. And finally, don't hold back. If you're going to
perform performance. That's what people came to see. It may be weird at first to be sharing your stories
and thoughts, your emotions with other people. But that's what music is about. And by acting out the
words that you're saying, you give people a
better chance to understand the perspective
that you're coming from. As you do this more and more, you'll only gain confidence with each performance and
feel comfortable taking more chances and just simply improvising on stage or in front of a camera
wherever you may be. In my time as a
musician and performer, I've done dozens of shows
with ten people or less. These are the best ones,
especially in the beginning. Starting with open mics or small gatherings of
friends allows you the opportunity to get some reps in without the weight of too
many people watching you. That's why now I can
get onstage in front of 800 people and deliver the same performance that I
would in front of my mirror, just my parents,
my dog, whatever. It's all about the reps. It's all about the practice, and ultimately, it will
be about your confidence.
9. Freestyling: One of the best
things you can do for yourself is learn
how to freestyle. Freestyling is more than just a respected
skill within rap. It's a way to get through writer's block and learn
to trust your intuition. We often put too much pressure on the first line of a song, making the process of even beginning of song feel
extremely daunting. Freestyling allows
you to put that fair to the side and just do. Always lean towards imperfect. Actually. Do it first and know that
you can revise it later. As someone who wrote a lot
before sharing any of it. I understand the pressure
of wanting to put together the perfect
combination of words mean. But I'm here to tell
you that mentality is more harmful than helpful. Perfect does not
exist in the idea. Is holding you back,
start freestyling for 15 min a day and watch her
hesitation begins to fade. The more you Freestyle, the better you will get at thinking of ideas and lines on the fly. Something that most
people don't know is I freestyle my verse on
tell me where to go. A song that now has
over 7 million streams and has gone viral
several times. I did this by sending hours upon hours freestyling
with my friends and developing the skill. So go out there, start
freestyling and remembered them. I don't think too hard. Just do it
10. Things Take Time: Understand you will
not become Drake J. Cole, Kendrick, Jay-Z, whoever you think the gold is, overnight, things Take Time. It's a years for me
to get to the point I'm at today where I can hear a beat and immediately have several ideas for how
I want to rap over it. It took countless Freestyle
sessions with the members of my rap group before I Freestyle the one verse that
changed my life. I know it's corny
and maybe overused, but Rome wasn't built in a day. Take pride in the process
and senior growth over days, weeks, months and years. If you feel like you're
not going fast enough or improving at a rate
you'd like to zoom out. Odds are you're in a
much better position than you were not too long ago. When we have high aspirations. Progress is easy to forget. Lastly, remember the journey is never complete so
much to this day, I still Freestyle, write, create regularly, and
I never plan to stop. The beauty of music is as
long as you have a voice, you can use their calendars. Musicians who have
had successful career as well into their 50s, 60s, 70s practice every day and I promised the change
will be noticeable
11. Why It's Bigger Than Rap: In society we are judged
on our ability to speak, on how we communicate
with others. This applies to
work relationships, platonic relationships,
and romantic ones. The ability to speak well,
to speak confidently, and to do so at your own cadence is a skill that will change your life by writing
consistently and delivering your
thoughts again and again, you will find that you have
a very strong perspective, very specific way that you
would like to Delivery. This is called your inner voice. Finding your inner voice will allow you to speak
confidently like you never have before since
becoming a torn rapper, I've seen how my ability to
handle words and fill up any room with my presence has left an
impression on others. Even more. I've seen it transforming into a
more confident person. So keep going. And that can be YouTube
12. Conclusion: Be You: You're now equipped
with the tools it takes to rap and Rap. Well, so forget everything you thought about what
it meant to be a rapper. You are a rapper. So BU, my entire life, I've been blessed by others
who've taken the time to show me I was
talented and capable. I've always had a
desire to do the same. So hope that you leave this
course feeling empowered, knowing that you are a rapper to analogy required on Cadence, Delivery Flows,
freestyling and more. You have all the tools
it takes to have a long successful career. The best rappers, musicians, artists of all times where
the best at being themselves, whether they had a traditional
style or unique one, their combination of experience, perspective, and inner voice
allowed them to stand out. No one else can be you
as well as you can be. You. Take out that pen in Notepad, start writing and share your finished verse
with the world.
Apollo J, Rapper & Educator
