5 Tips to Improve Your Battle Rapping Skills!

The basis for all rap music is battling. The rapper with the best delivery in a rap battle, lyrics, and crowd response is usually the one who wins. Try out these techniques and tips to survive a freestyle rap battle.

Step One – Watch rap battles through video, or participate in rap battles locally. Study different artists who are proficient in rap battling. There is a lot you can learn from rappers like Tupac, Eminem, AMB, Atmosphere, Eyedea, Atmosphere, Tech N9ne, AMB, Nas, and Biggie. The Blaze Battles from HBO, and Scribble Jam, are among others. A scene from the movie '8 Mile' really gives a good example of what a rap battle is. You can enhance your own rapping abilities by studying these artists and freestyle rappers. Interact with other rappers, join rap ciphers, get involved and study your craft.


Step Two– Get busy writing songs. Try putting on some music and just writing what comes to your mind. Then, choose the rap lyrics that you feel are the best and go with them. Some individuals consider getting a rhyming dictionary. You will be a success if your ability to write an effective battle rhyme is sufficient. There are, of course, those rappers who don't write down anything, but keep all of their ideas in their head so as to talk about what's "real." One major thing you should not do is try and rhyme every word. It looks amateurish and not very good. But, try and do the best you can.

Step Three – Practice your freestyling. There is a misconception that prewritten rhymes are freestyles, and this is not the case. You must work on rapping without pre-written lyrics on the spot at any time, anywhere, and as often as you can. To be more specific, practice battle rhymes. There are different exercises you can do, such as looking at a photo, thinking about a person from your past, etc. Truth be told, you're coming up with as many creative ways to insult your opponent. Remember not to give up; the longer you rap without giving up, the stronger your skills will become and the more flexible you will be mentally.

Step Five – Stay calm. As anyone with common sense would tell you, it's good to keep your cool, especially when someone is insulting you. Not only that, but keeping calm will improve your delivery, which can make or break an insult. Because the purpose of a good delivery is timing, synchronizing your mind and mouth, and not in a panic, will prevent you from crippling your best diss rhyme.

 Now that you have a few ideas, in regards to what a successful rap battle entails, here are some suggestions on breathing. It is good to breathe deeply, because deep breathing stimulates the Vagus nerve, which produces a calming affect on the body and the mind. Scientists are even saying that a person can change the way their genes express themselves by simply relaxing and breathing deeply.

 It's also very important to have keywords stored in your mind. Some rappers like to have brief prewritten rhymes that they can refer to if they lose focus during the battle. For example, having a prewritten rhyme, "I'm the best in the game, call me Lebron James." This rhyme, for instance, can be referred to if the rapper runs out of spontaneous ideas or topics to rap about.

 With practice, you will get better. Try to make sure you have fun, and learn as much as you can. Growth is shown by how much we expand our knowledge. So good luck on your next rap battle in the cipher!