Spin-Off:Should a rapper listen to the beat and then write the song OR

[a.mann]

a lot of jay-z's shit is pre memorized

and it shows throw out the years....

no real thought was put into it....was is why major of his career is built on the same subject matter and also why he sounds so dis-passionate, and has to rely word play so much.

basically style over substance

 

[wordsRweapons]

On the eminem show, Eminem would sometimes make a beat to match his verse.

 

[wordsRweapons]

which is ultimately the best way to do it. If u make the beat first, then the beat dictates the vibe your song is going to have. If u write first, then make the beat, you have 100% control.

This might be the reason why eminem show is my personal favorite album. Eminem may not be the greatest producer but his beats always matched the mood of the song.

I think I like this style the best. This may also be why you have more rapper/producers out there

 

[I'm THAT guy...]

I have done both. Using a pre-written song before hearing a beat is hit and miss though. Sometimes it fits like a glove. Sometimes, alterations to the written verses have to be made.

One of the best methods though is coming up with something entirely from scratch. Either being in the same room with the producer and giving them concepts and ideas, then write the song or just producing and writing at the same time.

song making gem

it really all depends on how good the producer and artist are. A good producer can let a good artist hear a beat and tell him where he wants to with the song, same as a good artist can read a verse to a good producer and give him a feel of he wants to go with the song

 

[L3NU]

in terms of making your lyrics flow smoothly then of course write to the beat

but in terms of making the entire song sound cohesive..you gotta make the beat to match the lyrics...but thats alot tougher

 

[antarticp]

Everybody has thier own formula ... Go with what works for you and allows you to put out the best material u feel possible ... If u just started thier is no way u should be recording back to back songs that u just wrote a min before recording .... No one is that nice ...... Takes alot of writing to get on a professional level of someone like a nas, eminem or jayz .... Shit even big he had alot of practice sitting up in jail .....

 

[Trollio]

i listen then write

 

[bignorm73]

Write to the beat. Let it inspire you

 

[georgia boi]

agreed.

and always found it more interesting on how a producer can take an artist's idea and concept and shape the production accordingly.

which is exactly why some instrumentals doesn't sound right when other artist try to rhyme or freestyles over them. Because that production wasn't "made" for them.

But you have producers that make "blanket beats". Meaning the production could have been pre-made and has a "universal" appear and any artist can hop on it and sound decent to great on it.

I found that it is a good way to build chemistry. From personal experience, I only had a bunch of written verses, never an entire song until I went in with the producer. It was a little difficult, because I just thought he'd just give me a CD to pick from. He sat there and asked me what kind of beat did I want. As I told him, he sat there and created a beat. After that I just went home and wrote songs to those beats. The process took longer than I thought, but it taught me to be more song focused.

On the eminem show, Eminem would sometimes make a beat to match his verse.

I've used this method too. Every song that I had pre-written is a song that I produced myself or spit over an instrumental. I think having pre-written songs works best when if the song is self-produced because who else would see the vision and inspiration better than the person who wrote it.

 

[G.R.I.P. Money $$$]

i think its cool to have an idea or maybe a line or two or 16 b4 hand..

but its best to write/edit lyrics to the beat..