How do I be a conscious rapper without being corny and preachy?

How do I be a conscious rapper without being corny and preachy?

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twitter.com/BladeeCity/status/942441497559031809
youtube.com/watch?v=RMIUWdh-LiU
youtube.com/watch?v=jw88aAQ02iQ
soundcloud.com/zan-trikx/sonic-droning
youtube.com/watch?v=Wifcyo64n-w&t=4591s
twitter.com/LivingLikeLogic/status/910712600035553280
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you have to actually be conscious and not just think you are

If you self-describe as a 'conscious rapper' and purposefully try to make conscious lyrics you're gonna be a preachy faggot

>a conscious rapper without being corny and preachy
you actions speak louder than words, also no conscious rap song will never not be corny even pac conscious songs are kind of corny on their own but pac as a person is not

pic related


but hes ascended
so dont even try

Go about things in a more implicit and metaphorical angle as opposed to explicitly stating the purpose of the song and what problem you are trying to solve

kek
twitter.com/BladeeCity/status/942441497559031809
based bbladee

Just don't do the following
>say the words "real hip hop"
>attack other rappers for ignorant or violent content
>talk about how much you respect women
Actually a pretty short list, those are the big ones.

I don't really think I am.

>and purposefully try to make conscious lyrics
How else do I do it though? I'm just supposed to wait for it to come to me?

Study the works of this gentleman.

I recommend Resurrection, One Day It'll All Make Sense, Water For Chocolate, BE, and Black America.

make statements that are less obvious than something your liberal auntie would share on Facebook

can you give an example of what you're talking about

all music you make will be corny if you're not genuine about it
if you don't actually think about struggle shit all the time, and passionately, well it'll be corny

Just write a normal rap song with some social/political lines in it, don't go full Joyner Lucas and write like a 7 minute song about white privilege and Brdumpf

Common is absolute garbage though, king cornball.

don't pull your thang out unless you plan to bang

i like this song and would consider it conscious

youtube.com/watch?v=RMIUWdh-LiU
or this one
youtube.com/watch?v=jw88aAQ02iQ

i would put greater focus on lyricism since Steez has great quotable lines

Storytelling is a pretty good example. Write a story that acts as a metaphoric vehicle for what you want to convey.
Also try not writing from your own perspective. That tends to diminish the amount of ego in a conscious rap song.
And consider nuances, don't blindly say "this is good, this is bad". Too often conscious/political rap falls into the trap of this kind of black or white sloganeering.

>make statements that are less obvious than something your liberal auntie would share on Facebook

That's what I'm trying to do, I don't want to be like Kendrick or J. Cole, but it's difficult to go deeper than surface level while still communicating it in a simple way. It also doesn't help when I'm not sure what constitutes as deeper than surface level.

do something original

soundcloud.com/zan-trikx/sonic-droning

>Common is absolute garbage though
There is no hope for you quit rapping now.

Explaining difficult thoughts or concepts in a simple manner is a skill that you definitely need to learn if you want to be a great lyricist of any kind. That's pretty much your job.

I think about it sometimes, not all the time. But I don't want to be socially conscious all the time.
I want to be like Kanye or Tyler and write mostly about myself and what I'm feeling, which is also very difficult to do, it's easy to come across as fake deep when trying to be emotionally vulnerable.

I never even noticed the double entendre.

I don't mean to be an asshole, but this seems fake deep to me too. And very generic.

Take Kendrick Lamar's "How Much a Dollar Cost?" for example. The actual song tells a straightforward enough story, but the meaning and implications behind it are left to the listener to piece together. Many songs by artists like Logic and Joyner Lucas, although usually story-telling as well, do not always lead to much deeper thinking from the listener and instead leave all of the meanings of the song on the surface.
There is also the factor of being genuine. Not writing for/about yourself and instead writing for other people's struggles or problems can easily come off as corny if not done effectively

I hate storytelling in hip-hop, for the most part.

>I hate storytelling in hip-hop, for the most part.
Jesus fucking christ how are you wanting to make conscious Hip Hop if you hate storytelling?

You might as well give up on the conscious aspect now.

It's hard though.

I think shit turns bad when rappers start to take it upon themselves to rap about things entirely outside of their world, like they're not some normal person who experiences things, but instead this prophet who comments on everything.

Tupac is like the embodiment of good conscious rap. The man never sounded corny cause everything he rapped about was real to him, and he said it in the simplest terms.

Compare this to Kendrick, who produces these giant "art" albums that his fans can barely relate to except WE GON BE ALRIGHT

Kendrick is doing conscious rap better than anyone else in the last 20 years

Oh come on, that's just what everyone says. KRIT's better than him.

See: I want to be socially conscious in the way that Kanye and Vince Staples are socially conscious where they're actually saying something and it doesn't feel like virtue signaling.
>We need Tamikas and Shaniquas in that Oval Office
Obama ain't enough for me, we only getting started
>The next Bill Gates can be on Section 8 up in the projects

>I feel like Mick and Richards, they feel like Muddy Waters
>Uber driver in the cockpit look like Jeffrey Dahmer
But he lookin' at me crazy when we pull up to the projects
>We love our neighborhood, so all my brothers bang the hood
I never vote for presidents, the presidents that change the hood
Is dead and green, was standin' on this mezzanine in Paris, France
>Finna spaz cause most my homies never finna get this chance
All these white folks chanting when I asked 'em where my niggas at?

>virtue signaling
I don't know about you guys but I'm done with this thread.

The only thing KRIT has on Kendrick is that he's a producer as well. But KRIT's good

what happened

So OP since you’re talking about what you don’t like about hip hop (namely story telling which takes about 50% of it) I’m curious.

What are your 5 favorite rappers and rap albums?

Kanye, Tyler, A$AP Rocky, Vince, and Young Thug
Andre would be in my top 5 if he had a solo discography
As for albums
>Yeezus
>Cherry Bomb
>Late Registration
>The Love Below
>Me Against the World

That's probably accurate.

just rap and be honest.
don't force your own world views on people, just put your thoughts out there for people to consider.

I mean..they're unique choices I'll give you that much.
A few questionable ones there (Yeezy and YT specifically) but you do you.

Kanye is my favorite artist of all time.

Typo.
I meant Yeezus.
Late Reg is a fantastic album and my favorite Kanye project.

lets be real, there are a lot of things more important than music. If you really believe in something and you want to spread your message through music, you shouldn't water it down to try and make better music. Preach first, music second.

That second one is easily the most important, trying to call out mainstream rappers is corny as fuck

Are you white? If so don't make a fucking race relations song or a song about how you're not a cultural appropriate because that shit is stupid and will always blow up in your face because as a white man you could not understand the plight of a black man because you are not a black man.

But if you didn't understand that intuitively there's probably no hope.

Also yes do not ever write a song you don't have specific inspiration/motivation for, because you will be reaching for thematic content as opposed to writing thematic content, this was one of the first things I learned when I started rapping. If your first thought is "I want to make a conscious rap song" as opposed to "I have a specific feeling about an issue that I want to present in the form of rap" it's gonna come out wack every time. Have a novel idea/insight about the world around you and try to rationalize it in a way that rhymes is the best advice I can give you. A good rapper hears a beat and knows which parts of his heart to put in it, more by reaction than active thought process.

Ha, that last sentence unintentionally sounds like an Aes Rock line, tight.

This, write down shit you care about or think about in a surface level way, then say it in an interesting way. It's all about being inductive in how you write your shit (i.e. make something that's broad and general and break it down to basics)

This isn't rap but watch something like "waiting for Godot." Beckett breaks down life into the simplest actions and things we do and makes the audience actually think about what's going on.

I'm not white, no. I do come at with specific ideas, but the execution is still corny and lame. Like I wrote:

>Future of hip-hop you won't even see me
>In the dictionary near a pic of white boys in beanies

Terrible bars.

funny since blacks love to talk about shit like white privilege like they know what its like to be white. Fucking hypocrites.

Is there a good filmed version of the play? And making shit interesting is so difficult, maybe I need to read more.

Nah man that shit is good, own what you write, rap is also largely confidence of delivery. That line makes me think there is hope for you yet. Honesty will always shine through for people who really care about rap. That's another thing, is your goal to be at the top of the rap game or just make honest content? If the former just copy lil pump and fuck off, if the latter write your heart and hope people (specifically Dr. Dre) like it as much as they liked Kendrick.

lol u sound like a salty racist bro.

Kek, I'm with you. I was done after the guy said he hated Common and story-telling.

It's like they like the idea of good rap but don't like lyrics or paying attention to them.

yeah man here ya go, idk if watching the entire thing is worth it bc it can get a little boring, but after the first half or so you can get what he's going for

youtube.com/watch?v=Wifcyo64n-w&t=4591s

And to this end, it's more helpful (in developing your raps) to watch insightful movies, read philosophy books, really anything that challenges your worldviews as opposed to reinforcing them. Reading the Haga Kure helped my rap a lot weirdly, specifically the passage about how if you're trying to convince someone to feel the same as you, first judge if they're of a condition to receive your knowledge, then present the knowledge in a way where you're talking about yourself and how you changed as opposed to preaching about how someone else needs to change. Don't tell people how to think, tell people how you think and hope it resonates with them.

Make honest content. I don't care about the game or rap beef, or being the best (not that I'm okay with sounding like shit).

I would like to be popular so I can reach more people, but I really just want to communicate my thoughts and feelings.

>Haga Kure

Hi Milo.

Look at other successful conscious rappers. J Cole being probably the biggest atm

Maybe I was wrong to imply I wanted to be a conscious rapper. All conscious rap is lame.

I want to be able to slip into consciousness like Kanye, Vince, and late 2Pac without being lame.

thanks, the both of you.

Not even gonna front you're totally right

racism is a two-way street

J. Cole is corny as fuck. Becoming like him, Logic, Joyner Lucas, Kendrick, Vic Mensa, and Joyner Lucas is what I'm trying to avoid.

So you don't want mainstream appeal then? Looks like you are halfway there

yah except one of the parties involved gets let off with a warning and the other goes to jail

Your smug remark doesn't make any sense.
And those artists I named aren't the only mainstream rappers, and out of them only J. Cole and Kendrick are really that popular.

That wasnt a smug remark bro he was telling you if you already aren't going in with the mindset of "i want to achieve pop fame" then you've got one foot on the right path already

oh fuck, that's the second time I pulled some dumb shit today. my bad.

kys

he only got corny when he got older

for sure bro, thanks for making an interesting thread with actual conversation. Hard to find that on Sup Forums these days

What do you consider non-corny Common then? Cause Be is shit.

I'm glad you could enjoy it.

literally impossible

Joyner Lucas is like the OK GO of conscious rap songs. His whole gimmick is making a song that is destined to be shared on Facebook with the caption "damn, rly makes you think ". His whole gimmick is DEEP REAL SHIT BRO with a video to go with. And I guess rappity rap remixes where he shows he's "better" by rapping fast.

Logic didn't ever strike me as a conscious rapper, it doesn't seem like he was marketed that way. I guess with that new song on the radio and his more racial subject matter I can see what you mean. So why is it lame? Well the Suicide song is a clear radio pandering single. You're in a different realm of corny on mainstream radio. But with his other stuff it didn't seem overly preachy or anything. He just talks about his life as a mixed race man.

Kendrick isn't corny but he's fake deep and pretentious, with bits of corn sprinkled in.

Good conscious rap is gonna be pretty much timeless, and a lot of rap is golden age rap is conscious. Public Enemy is a good indication, 2pac, scarface, Andre 3k. There you have 4 different varieties. Public enemy is "revolutionary" conscious, with humor in there too. They pull no punches and go straight at a problem without being corny. PAC is the more poetic and emotional variety. Scarface just tells you real life stories that illustrate all types of problems from his life to bring light to those issues, and 3k uses metaphors and stories fictional or otherwise to illustrate concepts that are "conscious"

Fuck off and find a different genre to mess up. Rap doesn't need more people making half-assed material.

lol

>Cause Be is shit.

Neo-Sup Forums, everyone.

here's what you do
start your song off with something that grabs the attention of the listener, it doesn't have to make much sense it just has to sound cool. here's some so you get an idea
>It starts with
>Is it me or
>It tortures my soul

now it's time to give your song some meat, you do this by finding an idiom or a saying that you like then you play with it, rearrange or just weave it into your rhymes. I also suggest reading some fables, to anthropomorphize concepts like time, fate, destiny and death is a very powerful tool.
this helps show that you're not just another common rapper man and that you have some mastery of the english language
some examples
>it's a matter of fact that half empty or not the glass was shattered and cracked
>in my car I catch my drift before I get off-track and hit trees
>running in place while my steps are traveling, swinging from the hands of time and grappling
>a generation of rude teenagers screwing you and nature, they fear to grow old but look for a fountain of youth in asia

Also namedrop a lot of names like Nekrassov, Spinoza and Dostoevsky

Rap on catchy trap beats, use nice flow & wordplay

If you think conscious rap is inherently lame, this isn't the genre for you.

...

I don't want to be a conscious rapper.

was there something that wasn't quite clear to you

I can't tell if it's pasta or not.

Don't be a rapper at all, is what I'm saying.

...

have good bars. subtlety >>> ham-fisted sociopolitical ranting

twitter.com/LivingLikeLogic/status/910712600035553280

take it, it's all yours

you quit rap to write essais

Agree except for Kendrick, he is the only one in that list that is not corny.

This is the best answer to op.

Just try and keep a good message to put across people but don't make it out like it's "oooo, I'm so good please love me."

Rap about real issues like Trump trying to put LGBT people in jail and white privilege

buy some plastic framed glasses and an old dictionary