Being the best rap battler you can be

I've done a few rap battles in person and they were terrible lol. My mind went blank several times and my rhymes were not as good as they could have been. For a long time i often wondered "What's wrong with me?" You may have felt the same or currently do. After much reflection and meditation, i decided that this method should work to help everyone be better at battle rap.

1) Before you do anything or even talk about rapping, you have to love yourself. Appreciate everything about yourself and love your voice. Love who you are as a person and accept that you are unique. Once you love yourself then you can trust in yourself to create awesome freestyles and battle lyrics.When you make the choice to love and accept yourself then you have taken the very 1st step to reaching your potential.

2) Know yourself from the inside out. Know your strengths and weaknesses. What are you good at? What are you terrible at? What do you love about yourself? What don't you love about yourself? What would you like to change? Take a pen or pencil and a piece of paper to write about yourself. Be genuine and appreciate yourself as a human being. Don't rap about being someone your not. This helps shape your identity as a rapper in general. Knowing who you are enables you to know the flaws of another person and expose them.

3) Freestyle - Start rapping outloud or write on paper. It doesn't even have to rhyme. Just start rapping whatever comes to mind. The point of this exercise is to be comfortable with flowing at a consistent pace. Look at your surroundings and rap about them. The key is to adapt to your environment.

4) Practice writing raps - Everyone has a unique way of practicing their raps. Personally, i like to write whatever comes to mind for about 5 minutes then i do drills. I write a limited number of similes, metaphors, bars of alliteration, merism, parallelism, word play, analogies, multis, internal rhymes, etc. I try to master various literary devices daily. It would be helpful if you familiarized yourself with poetry. Having a unique writing style dramatically helps you reach your potential.

5) Be passionate about rap - Love your work. Love your bars, voice, and talent. Don't make trashy lyrics then say "I suck at this.." Make every bar count.

6) Know your enemy - Observe them, What are they wearing? What flaws do they have? What are they rapping about? What do they sound like? This is your chance to incorporate what you already know about poetry.

7) Know what it takes to win a battle - Always keep in mind that there's always a way to win. Dissing your opponent's looks, personality, personal flaws, lyrics, reputation, etc. are key in defeating him or her. You may think that in order to win a battle, you need tons of clever disses. While that may help you win a battle, it is not the only way to win. Battles can also be won by who has the most clever lyrics or creative flow. Complimenting yourself is also a good way of winning. Be familiar with rebuttals or taking an opponent's verses and flipping them around. For example, people might want to diss my long hair by saying that i'm feminine. In response, i could say that their feminine in thinking of me as the opposite sex if they're male. One of the greatest strategies used by Eminem is to admit your weaknesses first then diss your opponent. It's also a great idea to With the quality of your raps, you can turn the tide of battle.

8) Have a developed flow - You should have a flow or a voice when you rap. Putting emphasis on certain words, having an aggressive or a light tone, rhythm, and melody in your voice are all essential to having excellent flow in a battle. It shouldn't stay the same, it should be dynamic. Try double time rapping in which you speed up the tempo or "rap fast." Practice breathing techniques daily and when you freestyle, try to  be fluid with your flow. Once you make the crowd go wild with flow, it's going to be very difficult for your opponent to win.

9) Be confident and energetic - Most of all, have confidence in yourself. Trust in yourself that you can win the battle. Never look defeated or frustrated. If what your opponent says angers you, don't lose control because when you lose control: you lose. Channel that energy to come up with strong disses to help you win the battle instead. Take deep breaths before the battle. If you need to come up with something to say, take a moment to do so.  

Why certain genres of music shouldn't be overly criticized

Music has apparently always been treated with more concern than any other form of entertainment. Many musicians are the targets of parents, teachers,the media, and society in general. Based on my observations, it is usually rock and rap that are often criticized more than any other genre of music. I believe that the media has shown music genres such as rock, rap, heavy metal, etc. in a negative light because these kinds of genres are not widely accepted among the general population. Where is the criticism against pop, jazz, reggae, country and other such genres? I hardly hear of any country singer or reggae artist being given a bad reputation, so why target some genres and not others?

I have reflected on arguments against listening to "gangster" rappers and "obscene" metal bands because of a certain image projecting negative influences. People refuse to listen to their albums because they feel no connection or anything "positive" within the music itself, however i see no reason why there should be a restriction on only those kinds of musical genres. The Beatles played ballad's, but their song "Helter Skelter" was focused on being loud, noisy, and ridiculous. It was originally intended to be heavy metal and made to demonstrate that they did not only play ballads. Remember that musicians like Elvis Presley along with other musicians of whom now in our modern society look very modest, but in their own respective time were considered to be obscene. For these reasons, music should not be treated as a trend, but rather an art to express individuality and sense of character.

I've heard it's been said before against my choice in music "Listen closely to the music you are listening to..do you see any positive influences? Do you see anything which you can relate to?.." That is not necessarily the goal of music, music does not pick sides, so that is a rather overly judgmental statement. When we were kids, we may have watched superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Spiderman, etc. use violence for the greater good, should we then follow their example? Should we then be against them because they use violence? Why not stop watching violent action-adventure movies simply because they promote violence? More importantly, no one in our society is obligated to fully disclose their personal lives simply to satisfy your requirements of a good role model. Businessmen are there to sell and market products, policemen are present to protect citizens, and doctors are there to help the sick, not to be judged by your standards. Furthermore, musicians are expressing their view and life-experiences, so if i can't relate to it, that's not of much relevance because understanding is the principal goal being set in focus.

With these things in mind, music should never seen as only an instrument for self-improvement because that's not the essence of art in general. Art is the expression of the self whether it expresses positive or negative feelings, thoughts, and emotions. What you want to incorporate into your music or the music you listen to is up to you. In conclusion, the personal lives of musicians should not affect your joy of listening to a particular genre of music.