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Educational institutions, government agencies, libraries and
corporations are invited to inquire about quantity discounts.
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or
in part, or transmitted in any form, without written permission
from the author and publisher, except by a reviewer who may
quote brief passages in a review.
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Jabari Bristow (performing under the name Mayz) started his music career
when he joined the multi-platinum rap artist Twista and formed the rap
group The Speedknot Mobstaz. The group released the song "n your
World" on the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's "Dr. Dolittle film in 1998. Later
that same year the group released their debut album via CWAL / Atlantic
Records. The album featured guest artists Psycho Drama, Danny boy,
Christopher Williams and Shock The World.
The group's success allowed them to travel the country on multiple tours
and collaborate with some of the music industry's most successful artists
such as Lil Wayne, ce Cube, T.., Outkast, Jim Jones, Kanye West, Trey
Songz, Lil Kim and so many more. Jabari has also been featured on 3 of
Twista's solo albums and R. Kelly's mixtape. The group would eventually
enter the recording studio once again and release their second album in
2008 via Koch Records. Together the group has sold over 2 million albums
and now Jabari "Mayz" Bristow is working on his debut solo album and his
music education and instructional products. You can find out more
information by visiting his website at www.MayzMusic.com
Mayz is currently on a How To Rap Workshop Tour. f you would like Mayz
to do a workshop for your next event, conference, school, library or after
school program use the contact page on HowToRapDVD.com for more
information or email Mayz@HowToRapDVD.com.
This presentation is brought to you by:
www.HowToRapDVD.com
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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - The History
Chapter 3 - FreestyIe Rapping
Bars & Counts
Rhyme Patterns
Delivery / Flow
Styles
Chapter 4 - Writing A Song
Subject
Structure
Hit Songs
Chapter 5 - Recording A Song
Vocal Techniques
Lyric Recording Techniques
Dubs
Ad-libs
Voice Overs
Chapter 6 - Performing A Song
Aspects
Techniques
Without A Mic
With A Mic
Chapter 7 - Rap As A Career
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Welcome to How To Rap BASCS. The First book in the
HowToRapDVD.com book series. My name is Mayz and 'm from Twista's
group The Speedknot Mobstaz. have been featured on a lot of different
songs with a lot of different artist such as Psychodrama, Twista of course,
Juvenile, R Kelly, and more. 've done a few major tours and one of the
main questions always get asked is "Mayz, do you have any advice you
can give me? Well throughout my fifteen plus year career 've learned a lot
of different techniques and exercises that make me the rapper that am
today. All of the tips from behind the scenes, the music and studios will
finally be revealed in this book series. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of
techniques that are covered in this book series that some professional
rappers don't even know.
When you finish this book don't forget to checkout the rest of the books in
this series which include How To Freestyle, How To Write A Rap Song,
How To Record, How To Perform and How To Rap Master Series. Then
sign-up to and checkout HowToRapDVD.com, it's the spot where we will
share all the latest secrets that didn't make the book to keep you on point.
The website is so flooded with "REAL" information that your going to be
forced to subscribe to it, just so you don't miss anything. And we will
constantly drop those life and career changing gems.
Don't believe me? Well, for example, want to talk to the vocal coach that
got Kanye vocals tight? LOL. yeah, just like thought. Wanna know what
little techniques that Twista uses to keep his flow so rapid? Ahhhh, see
you buzzing. Wanna know what vocal recording habits that Snoop and the
whole Dogg Pound got from their Death Row recording days with Dr. Dre?
Okay, that's enough. You get the point. So as you can see, a lot of things
will be covered like vocal exercises, instrumental resources, career advice,
music industry contacts, interviews with engineers, vocal producers, rap
producers and your even going to get a chance to get some of your
questions answered. So stay tuned by signing up.
Also, Check out the How To Rap Beats collection. Where you can collect
your FREE Beat-A-Week (for a limited time) for becoming a member of
HowToRapDVD.com and get exclusive beats ranging from free to $1.00
and also up to $20.00 from our production team that has produced songs
for artists like me, Twista, E-40, Do-or-Die from Rap-A-Lot Records, Jill
Scott from Hidden Beach and others.
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Rapping is is a vocal style of music where the performer speaks in
rhythm using rhyming phrases and verses. This is sometimes done
acappella or to instrumental music. Rapping is an element of a culture
called Hip Hop. The four elements of this culture is Rap, DJing, Break
Dancing and Graffiti. The Hip Hop culture originated in the South Bronx of
New York City during the 1970's.
The word Hip Hop was said to be first said by a member of the group
Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five named Cowboy. He chanted the
words to mimic the rhythm of marching soldiers while teasing a friend who
had just joined the army. Cowboy later started using the chant in his shows
and the term quickly caught on as other groups started using the term
themselves. The group would normally perform with disco artists and as a
sign of disrespect they would refer to them as "Hip-Hoppers. But the term
as it is being used today is said to be originated by artist Lovebug Starski
which led to the Godfather of Hip Hop, Afrika Bambaataa of the Zulu
Nation, officially naming the culture Hip Hop.
The Hip Hop culture is defined as a movement. Bambaataa said "When we
made Hip Hop, we made it hoping it would be about peace, love, unity and
having fun so that people could get away from the negativity that was
plaguing our streets ( gang violence, drug abuse, self hate, violence
among those of African and Latino descent). And the elements of Hip Hop
are the many artistic mediums that are used to express the movement.
Hip Hop Music was the catalyst for the creation of the Hip Hop culture. A
Jamaican born DJ who goes by the name DJ Kool Herc is considered the
father of Hip Hop music. DJ Kool Herc created after school parties in the
recreation room of his apartment building in the Bronx neighborhood in
New York City. His goal was to throw parties like the ones he saw while
growing up in Kingston, Jamaica that were called Dancehalls and the DJ's
of those parties would talk and chant over the music which was called
Toasting. A Jamaican DJ by the name of Count Machuki developed this
style in Jamaica after listening to the Disc Jockeys on American radio
stations jive talk over the R&B music that they were playing on the air.
Count Machuki would toast over songs without the vocals that was created
by a recording engineer named King Tubby who would create this music
on One Off Vinyl records known as Dub Plates.
DJ Kool Herc would later develop this format that created Hip Hop music at
these parties. He would create short instrumentals from the songs he was
playing by using two copies of the same record. He would play these two
copies by using two different turntables. Whenever a part in the song
would play where there were no vocals present (known as the Break in a
song) DJ Kool Herc would play the Break in the song on one record while
back spinning the other record and continuing this process back and forth
long enough for the Break Dancers to perform and the MC's to Toast and
chant phrases or instructions. Kool Herc called this process the Merry-Go-
Round and he would use records like James Brown's "Give t Up or Turn t
Loose.
As the DJ Kool Herc and his parties became more and more popular,
other DJ's in the neighborhood begin DJing parties like Kool Herc in the
streets and school yards. DJ's like Afrika Bambaataa would use his parties
to attract new members to his Zulu Nation Movement. The popularity of
these parties created a street subculture which became the Hip Hop
Culture.
n 1979, an American singer named Sylvia Robinson who started a record
label named Sugar Hill Records created a group she called The Sugarhill
Gang. The Sugarhill Gang is credited with commercially releasing the first
Hip Hop single in the music industry called "Rapper's Delight which
happened to also go multi-platinum. However, it has been argued that the
Fatback band's song King Tim was the actual beginning. King Tim
was released about 2 months before Rapper's Delight but Fatback Band
was categorized as being under the funk genre. Mainly because the song
was released as the B-Side of the 7-inch single "You're My Candy Sweet
which is a Disco song.
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Early on during the beginning of Hip Hop, Freestyle Rapping
(Freestyling) was rapping a written rhyme about no particular subject over
an instrumental or acapella. Usually its just a bunch of random lines and
phrases of the rapper jive talking about themselves. Freestyle Rapping
later evolved into rapping improvised lyrics known as rapping "off the top of
the head.
n order to learn how to Freestyle Rap, there are a couple of fundamentals
that you have to learn and practice. These fundamentals include knowing
Bars, Rhyme Patterns, Keywords, Delivery, Flow and Style. This is the key
to rapping effortlessly in a Rap Battle or in a recording session. Here's a
breakdown of the fundamentals.
1. Bars:
Bars is a unit of measure for music. t's a term used in the measurement of
music. The format of that measurement is called a Time Signature. The
natural Time Signature of Rap music is 4/4 and the first number represents
the number of Counts in one unit measurement. 1 Count equals 1 unit of
time within that one unit of measurement, similar to how seconds are to a
minute. The second number represents the number of unit measurements
in 1 bar. Therefore, a time signature of 4/4 is considered a 4 count done 4
times which equals 1 Bar. n Rap music one verse in a song is usually 16
Bars and this is why having knowledge of what a Bar is can be critical to
having perfect timing when rapping.
2. Rhyme Patterns:
Rhyme Patterns (also technically called Rhyme Schemes) are the patterns
of all the locations of the rhyming words that are created between two or
more lines in a rap. Rhyme Patterns are very similar to Rhyme Schemes in
poetry. The major difference between the two is that Rap Rhyme Patterns
are always influenced by a consistent rhythm or beat.
3. Keywords:
Keywords are a collection of words that rhyme together. During a Freestyle
that is "off the top of the head Keywords are used to keep the Rhyme
going without hesitation. A rapper must always have a collection of
keywords that he can refer to at any given moment during his Freestyle.
4. FIow
Flow is a word used to described the characteristics of how a person
rhymes and how a person says their rhyme. The main two characteristics
that contribute to a rappers flow is their rhythm and their cadence. A
rappers rhythm can be categorized in many different ways. For instance,
some rappers rap in a bouncing rhythm, a melodic rhythm, a rapid rhythm
or a chant rhythm. The cadence plays a big part in flow as a whole
because its a term used to describe how a rapper uses their flow to end or
link phrases together. Which in turn gives a verse or multiple lines a
complete rhythm as a whole. Cadence lets your listeners know when a rap
and flow begins, when its going to keep continuing between lines and
when it going to end. And when it ends the correct Cadence makes it
sound like its ending with a sense of closure.

5. DeIivery
Delivery is a combination of having Breath Control, Emotional Performance
Vocal Presence. Breath Control is having the ability to breath while rapping
without it interrupting the rhythm of your Flow. Emotional Performance is
the ability to communicate the emotion that supports the words that you
are saying in your rap. Vocal Presence is the texture and characteristics of
your voice. t is important that all three of these characteristics work in
harmony with each other in order for you to communicate the message you
are trying to make and for it to be believable.
For more detailed information, examples, tips and techniques on
Freestyling, please checkout Vol. 1 "How To Freestyle Rap. Also coming
soon is "How To Freestyle Rap Advanced.
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Writing a rap song is more structured than the average person may
think. Sure, there are some rappers who Freestyle their rap songs but
there is a huge amount of rappers who have a method that they constantly
use when writing songs. These methods are used especially when the
subject of the song trying to tell a story or communicate a complicated
emotion. These methods of writing are based on the Subject of the song,
the Writing Structure and Song Structure.
1. Subject
The Subject of a song could be anything your heart desires. Possible
subjects could be a specific topic, a phrase or anything that inspired you to
write the song. nspiration could be from an instrumental you heard,
another song or a movie. But, keep in mind that the subject of a song can
have an impact on how you should structure the song. For instance, if you
are telling a story about something that happened to you because the
outcome inspired you to write a song about it then you should use a Story
Structure when writing the song.
2. Writing Structure
There are a couple of Writing Structures that are available for you to use
as an aide to writing a song. Solid structure habits will help you easily and
clearly communicate whatever your thoughts are. t is one on the main
reasons that some writers and artists have so called "writing blocks.
Because they have an idea but either don't know where to begin to start
writing about the idea or don't know how to write about the idea. Examples
of writing structures are The 4 P's, The 5 W's and Story Structure.
A. The 5 W's
The 5 W's are similar to the 5 P's. The 5 W's are Who, What, When,
Where, Why and sometimes How. Yes know How doesn't start with a W,
but it's sometimes necessary when you are telling a story that doesn't
makes sense unless you give your listener all of the details.
B. The 4 P's
The 4 P's writing structure is organized into 4 objectives. The 4 P's
stands for Promise, Picture, Proof and Push.
C. Story Structure
There are more than one story structures but the most common one
is the basic Three Act Story Structure. Act 1 (the beginning) is where you
introduce everything and set the situation up. Act 2 (the middle) is where
you build the tension, conflict and crises of the story. Act 3 (The End) is
where the story climaxes and resolves.

6. Song Structure
Song Structure is the most important part of writing a song. There are
many different song structures and all of them are covered in our "Writing A
Rap Song Advanced product. But, in the music industry the majority of
popular music fits into just a few of these structures. The most common of
these structures is the verse and hook/chorus structure. This structure has
different sections that can be placed in any order but the typical order in
which they are placed is in this order.
1. ntro
2. Verse 1
3. Hook
4. Verse 2
5. Hook
6. Verse 3
7. Bridge
8. Hook
9. Outro

These are just a few structures to introduce to you the concept. For more
detailed information and examples, check out Vol 2. "Writing A Rap Song
and for a complete instruction on all of the writing structures check out
"Writing A Rap Song Advanced.
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Recording vocals is an art all by itself. There are a lot of artist who aren't
that talented when it comes to their voice. But, they make up for what they
lack vocally with technique. A bad vocal recorded is a bad vocal playing. f
the vocals are bad and they were recorded bad then the end result will be
bad no matter what you do. A lot of artist believe that everything can be
fixed in the studio when it comes to vocals. This truth is the first step to
good vocals is good recording techniques. There are three techniques that
you must learn. The first one is Microphone Technique and the second one
is Recording Technique and the third one is Vocal Technique.
Microphone Technique
The microphone is very sensitive to not only sound but also to air. That is
why in recording studios you will find a windscreen on the microphone. t is
also the reason why no recording studio should be without a compressor
plug in or effect rack. Now when it comes to Microphone Technique there
are two things that you have to learn how to control. That is your distance
and your volume.
Recording Technique
An artist's Recording Technique is probably one of the most underrated
aspects of recording. This can add a whole new dimension to your voice if
done right. Here are a few valuable techniques that can take your verses to
the next level.
1. Dubs
2. Ad Libs
3. Punches
VocaI Technique
Rap Vocal Techniques really doesn't have any rules. Knowing vocal
techniques for singers really wont help much unless your flow is real
melodic. Breathing Techniques for singers will help anybody in general.
But, if you find your voice's true tone and sweet spot those techniques will
help but it will not make a huge impact. Therefore, here are to techniques
that you should know.
1. Finding Your Voice
2. Breathing
For more detailed examples of these techniques and more tips like how to
quickly find the pocket and rhythm of a track while your recording, check
out the How To Rap volume on Recording. Wanna know some of Twista's
tips on how he is able to spit such a rapid flow? This information comes
from years of being in the studio with the majority of the music industry's
top rap artists. These are the tips that they don't talk about at all.
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Performing can be a rewarding experience if done right. f it is done wrong,
it can be one of the worst experiences in your life. The things you shouldn't
do on stage are more important than the things you should do.
What not to do:
1. Hold The Mike The Wrong Way.
2. rresponsible Eye Contact
3. Breathe Wrong
4. Get Stage Fright
5. Stand n One Place
What to do:
1. Constantly redirect your audiences attention
2. Strategically use props.
3. Dancers or assistants are always good.
4. Hype men are good
5. Find time to talk and connect to your audience without music.

For more detailed examples of what not to do and more tips like what to do
on stage check out Vol. 4 How To Perform A Rap Song.
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hear teachers and parents say all the time, "Everybody can't be a rapper,
you better do something more realistic. President Obama even said in his
speech, "Everybody can be the next Lil Wayne. Well to a certain degree
they are right. They are right about everybody can't be a major label
rapper, selling millions of records like Lil Wayne. But one thing can tell
you is that if there's a will there's a way. And that way is to make a living
rapping.
'm sure a lot of people that are so passionate about rapping that they don't
need to sell a million albums to be happy. They will be happy if they can
just make a living doing it and don't have to go to work every morning.
Now, the more education you have the more of a reality this can be for you.
f you don't get a college education in business, music business, marketing
or management you should at least read every single book on the record
business, business management and marketing you can get your hands
on.
n order to make a good living rapping you have to think like a
entertainment company with a marketing department. You have to realize
that the goal is to make money not sell a lot of records or become famous.
You have to make smart business decisions based of of your market,
location and resources. For instance, it might better for your rap career if
you didn't focus on making and selling albums right now. t might be a
better business decision if you just concentrate on live shows. Or it might
be a better business decision if you focused on merchandising. Like T-
shirts, Ringtones, Jingles or even Greeting Cards.
The bottom line is to establish your company first. Make sure your putting
your company in a position to be able to support you first. Support you the
easiest way possible using the least path of resistance. Once you do this
then the sky's the limit. But if your rapping just to get rich and its not truly
your passion then you will most definitely burn your self out sooner or later.
And when use the term "Passion 'm describing what you feel every time
you start rapping. f you find yourself spending hours and getting lost in the
time without even realizing it. Or if you have dedicated everything to
rapping and will do anything to rap for a living, even if you have to do it for
free, then you most definitely have a passion for it. Because it's that type of
dedication that's going to get you to the hump. But the knowledge of
business and marketing is whats going to get you over that hump.
For more information and tips on how to make a career rapping, business
management and marketing for rappers check out Volume 5 How To Start
A Rap Career.
Thank you for checking us out. Check the website to get our tour dates so
that you can visit our live workshop or just contact me for personal
coaching using the contact form on HowToRapDVD.com
HowToRapDVD.Com & Jabari "Mayz Bristow
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