Hip-Hop Writing: Before You Begin
Writing the lyrics to a song is already difficult. The average pop song already goes around 3 minutes and consists of two verses, a hook that is catchy as well as the bridge. A rap song is a lot more intricate, generally consisting of much longer verses, that have much more inside of them than an average song that you will hear on the radio.
The first thing one should understand about the overall mechanics of rap song writing is knowing your own ability. How well do you flow? How technical are you? What is your strong suit? When you figure out all those things, you are now ready to truly write because know you know your overall limitations. If you don't know your limitations as both a writer and a rapper, you will over exert yourself trying to do something that you cannot or haven't done before.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't push yourself, but I'm saying that if you're going to push yourself lyrically, be conscious of it or else whatever you decide to put on the page will sound extremely forced and ruin your flow.
The next thing that I tell rappers when they begin writing is to be in a comfortable place and to already have a few ideas in your head. Whether that be in the studio or in your bedroom, do not be afraid to do what makes you be comfortable enough to bring the best out of yourself. I know some rappers that freestyle over the same continuous beat for an hour before they start to write whatever they want to put in the actual song. If you watched Notorious, the bio-pic about The Notorious B.I.G., it showed him smoking weed in the studio with a parade of women around him. I don't condone smoking weed as it is not legal in my country, but my point is to be comfortable and to be yourself.
I also like to advise rappers to know the crowd that they want to impact. Knowing your audience is extremely important if you want to know how to affect them and make the best song. Drake knows that many of the people that listen to him are in a certain emotional and introspective mood; that's where you'll see songs like “Over My Dead Body” and “Marvins Room”. That's because he knows who will listen. Now that he has the world watching, he isn't afraid to talk about “God's Plan” or how he feels that he has “Diplomatic Immunity”.
To conclude my preparation for a verse is to always be ready for criticism. The first draft that you make for a song will probably never be perfect. Therefore, do not be afraid to listen to your critics and to be ready to rework it so that it is a great song that you are proud of playing in the club or having heard when you're on stage.