Rap Rebirth Blog Hip-hop ghostwriting and lyricism

24Feb/113

The Science of the Rewind Effect

As a hip-hop writer you want to engage your audience and make them active listeners. You want them to say "what the fuck was that, that sounded dope" and rewind.

There are many ways to achieve this.

1. Say something off the wall and surprising. This will depend on your style and your reputation with the listener.

Ex: "Rhymes is made of garlic" - Ghostface

2. Say something that provokes thought.

Ex: "Just because no one can understand how you speak - don't necessarily mean that what you be sayin is deep" - Talib Kweli

3. Use a complex rhyme scheme.

Ex: "In the middle of Little Italy little did we know that we riddled some middleman who didn't do diddily" - Big Pun

4. Use inventive wordplay.

Ex. "Safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex 'cause you don't want that late text, that 'I think I'm late' text" - Lil Wayne