when you give rappers beats to write to...

All good points.... I wanted to also add something. I think the other thing is to find a rapper that fits your style. If you can sit down with the person and kind of map out the process they might understand where you are coming from...
Tell them... Look, here is a raw version of the track.. write to it and then we'll go back together and make the changes...

Finding the right person to work with is hard to do!! good luck... if its all about selling tracks and thats it... then I don't know what the answer is... peace

TBonus76 wrote:I would say loop out the beat for at least 5 mins for em. Who cares if it is repetitive... it's just for them to write to... then by the time they are ready to lay down the lyrics, the producer can come with more of an arrangement.

That's how I roll,w/ a few breaks and different seqs for a tad bit of flavor
and feel, No format at all, about 3 mins.. I'll complete the work WHEN I see that the emcee is serious.

"Well, that was 2 f**ked up replies."
HAHA, funny guy on the premises, get off my land!

i think if you pre sequence then in the end if the mc is serious then you might have to make some changes or maybe none at all!!

intro-verse-chorus-2nd verse-chorus-break-3rd verse-outro. this gives more options!!! if they dont want the break, easy..... take it out. don't want 3 verses.....take it out. etc. plus you keep building your skills on sequencing. Hip-hop is not just repetative either, many producers make many changes in there music.

they asking for too much for "free" work.

all i gotta say is there are alot of cocky ass mutha **** emcees who think they know everything. Dont let them push you around.

part of being a producer is knowing when to speak up and when to shut up. You gotta let the rapper do his thing, but if he cant write because the format of the song isnt perfect..........then he's a pussy; if he had the ambition hed write raps over your farts!

Now with that said you gotta still be humble, proffesional and smart........ Business is business. If hes payin, thats one thing. But Part of creating music is working together.......so dont be an idiot, you gotta learn personalities of artists too, to help bring out the best in them; that might mean adjusting the format of the song so he catches the vibe!

you gotta work in a professional manner, and handing out sloppy work is stupid, because it reflects the way you work. If someone got ahold of your mixtapes and they were sloppy, they might not give you a second chance. SO dont cop an attitude if your emcee wants a differant format. You should be formating all your mixtapes in a standard way that is usable for just about everyone. What if your tape fell in the hands of a top artist? but you formatted stupid and they lost the vibe?

go with a basic rule of thumb:

intro -> 16 bars -> chorus -> 16 bars -> chorus -> 16bar -> chorus -> outro

depending on the track you can somtimes insert a break on the last verse, and maybe you might have bridges inbetween the 16 bars and chorus, you also might not need an intro. but you gotta have that verse chorus workin.

DONT hand out tapes with sloppy work or unfinished work, keep those mixes for yourself.

ALSO. Dont let the emcee take you for a ride. If he keeps askin for beats and isnt producin any work, then dont give him more beats, unless hes payin. Dont take lame excuses for why he didnt write, etc. Format isnt a bad excuse, but ask for your cd back, keep track of everything you are handing out. THose tricky ass emcees might be slangin your beats to his friend!

also remember. if you are giving beats for free, he should be equally contributing. there are people who will pay for good beats, so if he aint payin, what are you getting back? **** lazy artists.

cyrus wrote:all i gotta say is there are alot of cocky ass mutha **** emcees who think they know everything. Dont let them push you around.

part of being a producer is knowing when to speak up and when to shut up.

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