A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that rapping is easy (which it is not). The flow and rhythm involved in rapping can take years to master, and that too if you have the aptitude or the talent for it.

Nevertheless, these are 5 tips every aspiring rapper should keep in mind:

1. Become acquainted with all rap styles: East Coast, West Coast, South. Listen carefully to rappers from with different styles and note their rhythm, flow and lyrical structures. A good ear for different rap styles is probably the number one thing you can have to be a good rapper, and will eventually help you create your own individual style.

2. Invest in a dictionary. While this may not sound very “hip hop”, but a strong vocabulary can really set you apart from dozens of other aspiring rappers. If you don’t know a word, look it up, and learn to use it in appropriate situations. Cleverly rhymed words that depart from the norm are the best weapons in the arsenal of any rapper.

3. Don’t be very strict about your song structure. You don’t have to start from verse to chorus to verse and so on. Experiment with different writing styles, and let the tune come to you naturally in whatever order it appears. If you get the chorus before the verse, or the outro before the chorus, don’t worry about it; the song structure can always be modified and tweaked later on.

4. Record yourself rapping as often as you can. This is the best form of feedback you can get. How you sound in person may be very different from what you sound like in your records.

5. Practice your timing. Rap is all about rhythm, flow and timing. Note how rappers like Eminem will accentuate the the lyric at the end of a beat. Little tricks like this make all the difference and really sets you apart from the crowd. Get a few beats (or make your own) and practice rapping to it using any random words that pop into your mind (it doesn’t have to sound good or professional), varying your timing to see what sounds the best.

1. Rap Beats And Hip Hop – How To Set Yourself Apart From The Rest Of The Aspiring Rappers And Singers
2. Tips for Rappers – The Case Against Rap Dictionaries
3. How To Rap Like Lil Wayne
4. Rappers – How to Hone Your Voice to Become a Great MC
5. The Official How To Rap Manual For Aspiring MC’s

I go out of my way to find the latest band or artist to experiment with aural symphonies, lyrical structures, and chord arrangements. I’m not just a hip hop fan; I listen to indie rock, blues, classic rock, metal, and even Indian classical music as much.

So obviously, I need to be able to find some great music at all times. A few resources I use regularly are:

1. Last.fm

Last.fm is an online radio. If you enter the name of a band/artist or genre, it will play songs that are similar in structure or tonal arrangement.

For instance, I plugged in “Death Cab for Cutie” (a great Indie band) in their search field. Last.fm then proceeded to play music from bands as diverse as Imogen Heap (‘Hide and Seek’), to Fun Loving Criminals.

Often, you will come across well known bands. But sometimes, Last.fm will play some great piece of music by some completely unknown artist that will just blow your mind away.

The service is free to try, but I recommend getting their premium membership which costs $3/month. You can download a player that will sit on your desktop and play music. It will also gather information from your plays in iTunes to figure out the kind of songs you like.

2. iTunes With Genius Bar

I was less than impresssed with the ‘Genius’ feature in the latest iTunes. I considered it a breach of my privacy; no computer AI should know the kind of music I was listening to.

But as I started using it more and more, I realized that the Genius bar would often pull out some amazing music from the database. I’ve discovered more than my share of good music through this feature, so if you haev iTunes (you really should), be sure to enable the Genius feature.

3. Billboard

This is nothing new to most music lovers. The Billboard tracks the sale of music across the United States. Most of the stuff here is mainstream crap, but it sure helps to know what kind of music is actually topping the charts these days.

4. FIQL.com

FIQL.com calls itself the best source for music and video playlists, and this is one claim I cannot argue with. FIQL is simply a platform for people to share their favorite playlists. You can find all sorts of playlists, from the ultimate party mix, to a great workout track, to some really depressive stuff. The playlists are created by users so there can be some inconsistency in quality, but overall, a great place to find new songs and playlists.

5. MySpace Music

I hate to say it, but MySpace Music is actually has the best amateur and indie music scene on the internet. MySpace, the social networking site may have long been dead and dominated by bots and attention starved teenagers, but MySpace Music is still the go to place for bands and amateur artists.

6. Spotify

Spotify has long been touted as the ‘music label killer’. Right now, the site is active only in certain European countries, but its only a matter of time before the service arrives in the US too.

Spotify allows you to stream virtually any song ever made, directly from the site itself. No downloads, no 30 second sound demos, just full songs, streamed anytime, anywhere. The possibilities with this are endless. Imagine having this on your iPhone – just search for that 80′s rap song kicking about in your head since the morning, and presto – it’ll start streaming.

If you guys have any more resources to share, or any sites you think would make a worthy addition to this list, just let me know in the comments section.

1. Last.fm – The Best Way to Discover New Music
2. Featured Artist: Urban Rock Band
3. Hip Hop Artists Are the Best Businessmen in the World
4. Hip Hop Beat Production Software – Rappers.org Weighs Your Options
5. How Mobile Carriers Are Ripping Off Their Customers

Not At the Top of His Game...

The annual MTV’s “Hottest in the Game” poll for the hottest MC on the hip hop scene has thrown up some usual results: Jay-Z, Kanye, Weezy, etc.

This year, however, the above mentioned rappers have received less than 5% of the votes.

The list of nominees this year, therefore, looks somewhat odd – more than 30 MCs make up the list, with the likes of Young Jeezy, Redman, Rick Ross, 50 Cent making up the 30.

The real surprise, however, is at the top of the pack: 50 cent and Joe Budden – a rapper I haven’t heard a lot of – making up the top two. Sure, 50 cent is always going to be at the very top of any list for best MCs of this decade, but Joe Budden (is that a pun on Joe Biden? I’m not sure.. )

As The Source puts it, if the winners turn out to be anything like the nominees and the current leaders of the pack, some feelings will be hurt.

Joe Budden, seriously?

1. 10 Rappers Tattoos including Lil’Wayne, Plies, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, The Game and Rick Ross
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3. Spike's Top 10 Ugliest Rappers: Flavor Flav is NOT No.1!
4. The 25 Worst Rappers of All-Time
5. Jay-Z Feat. Rihanna & Kanye West – Run This Town