Rap Tutorials: Metaphors,,.rhyme schemes,.etc..

Short explanations for some different ways to do metas.

metaphor
you say one thing is another. like if you said 'my style is gravity', that's a metaphor. your style = gravity.

allegory
metaphor with a full explanation. like if you continued your meta and said, 'my style is gravity, everybody fall because of it' this is an allegory.

symbol
symbol is a part of something that stands for the whole thing. like instead of saying like you smoke cess, you say you smoke puff. cos when you smoke cess, you breathe out the smoke, you puff. so puff = cess. or if you said 'my @@@@@s is the peel and you: straight slippin' that could mean peel = bananas = crazy and slippin = meet your downfall if you step to them.

metonymy
when you compare something by what it what happens when you do it. like when some people call freestyling spittin, that's a metonymy. talking = spittin (while you talk)

metalepsis
like a metonymy but even more intense. like if you said 'my spits drown your earsnares' then spits = words, drown = fill cos you're talking loud, and earsnares = eardrums cos snares are drums.

implication
you sort of say something without saying it directly, you imply it. like if you was to say 'me and my @@@@@s break bread together' you don't really mean real bread, you mean you divide up your money. but the way you say it, people know what you mean. so bread = money here.

personification
you make inanimate objects act like people. like when bounty killa says his gun bark and bite, he means his gun makes nuff noise when he bus off shots and the bite is when bullets lick people. bark = gunshot noise and bite = bullet wounds here.

antipersonification
is the opposite to personification. you make people act like inanimate objects. like if you said 'ya moms is a doorknob, she gives every @@@@@ a turn.' then mom = doorknob.

simile
when you say something is 'like' something or 'as' ... as something. if you said 'got honeys like sand on the beach' that's a simile, (lots of) girls = (lots of) sand on the beach

parable
when you compare the two different things in your simile. like if you said 'got honeys like sand on the beach, love to get tossed up, always in reach, grab a handful of fine brownskin tans, and when they get all wet they just stick to me, man.' that compares sand and your girls, cos it describes both.

quotation
is where you repeat something else someone said before you. like if you said 'common is right. i see the bitch in yoo too' that's a quotation.

colloquialisms
colloquialisms are slang words or phrases like 'get busy' or 'drop it like it's hot' or 'beat that face' that people use. you build on these when you're using metas and punchlines so it's good to know lots of them.

metallage
when you treat a colloquialism like a person. like if you said, 'i ain't tryin to hear yes yes y'all, i done robbed yes yes y'all and beat it down in the hall' that means yes y'all = played out

proverb
an old saying that you repeat. like when meth said 'i'm a simple man, still i'm never satisfied like the stones' that's called a dueling proverb cos you take two proverbs that are opposite to each other and put them against each other.

apologue
apologue is a fable, you talk about animals or inanimate objects like they're people. any of aesop's fables are good. so is ll cool j's 'milky cereal' from mama said knock you out.

hendiadys/2 for 1
use 2 nouns to describe a thing instead of just one. like if you said '@@@@@s bite my style like kibbles and bits, head out to cyphers and hold their quibbles and tiffs' that's a hendiadys. style biting = kibbles/bits (different types of dog food). and later, cyphering = quibbles/tiffs (different type of arguments)

hendiatris/3 for 1
is like hendiadys but using 3 nouns instead of 2. when eminem says 'i'm a cross between manson, esham, and ozzy' that's a hendiatris.

FLOW

First off I'm not the best around here by far, but here are a few things I did to help myself improve on flow.

BAR LENGTH

in most cases (not all), when your flowing you want to have all your bars similar in length. this way your rhyming words will be pretty much always landing in the same spot. but where you put your rhyming words is another topic I will touch apon later.

SYLLABLE COUNT

this is partially hand in hand with bar length. IF you count your syllables in each bar you want to have them around the same as well.. I usually stay around 12-15 syllables per line/bar.
Practice and you'll find a syllable count which your comfortable with.

BREATH CONTROL

this is a really important factor when doing audio. text not so much. but important none the less.. the previous sections are contributing to breath control as well.. you want to have a steady supply of air in your lungs almost at all times.. theres nothing worse than hearing someone gasp for breath in thier audio. you dont wanna be paced on one bar, then hafta rush the next to spit it out on time for the beat. (I've been guilty of this, I admit it)

RHYME SCHEMES

a rhyme scheme is basically like a blueprint for your writtens or freestyles for that matter. Its all about where your rhyming words are that make this important. Cuz where you rhyme in your lines drastically dictates how your flow will sound.

the "x" represents filler words that pertain to the line but doesnot rhyme

the CAPPED letters such as "A" "B" "C" "D "E" represent your rhyming words.

examples.)
Ex. 1)
xxxxxx xxxxxA
xxxxxx xxxxxA

Ex. 1a)
"one day I plan to see amongst all of this, smoke and the ashes
to be a part of this hip hop when you, hopelessly gassed kid"

this is a fairly simple rhyme scheme, the end of each bar is what rhymes. basic, but a good start.

Ex. 2)
xxxxxA xxxxxB
xxxxxA xxxxxB

Ex. 2a)
"I try to see the light but Its seems to me it's dimmin
and every time i try to do whats right I end up sinnin"

notice the words "light" and "right" approx. in the middle of each bar. that adds an internal rhyme scheme to this.. this is a little more advanced but not hard to get the hang of once you get crackin at it. as well as you have the original end words rhyming..

Ex. 3)

xxAxxx xxxxxA
xxAxxx xxxxxA

Ex. 3a)
"I'm tired of wakin-up, havin ta take-the-bus
sick a not makin-bucks, an bein... flat on my face-wit-luck"

this takes a little more practice and as you get better with multisyllable rhyming you will find this scheme alot easier.

Ex. 4)

A B C D E
A B C D E

Ex. 4a)

" I spray fools like grafitti with my nouns and verbs
and stay cool like tahitti smokin pounds of herb"

that one there takes a long time to master and follow through on a whole verse like that, and you rarely see it done for anylonger than a few lines.. but it is quite a nice addition to a verse mos def.

well there you have it ... my little guide on somethings that can help you to being better at riding a beat.
If I think of anything I will mos def add it to this post. and if you have any additional comments feel free to speak your mind.. we're here for eachother.

peace out and happy flowin...lol