Words by Mifa Adejumo
Firstly, make sure you have a dope rap name. Picking the names of famous kingpins and drug lords and twisting them to soothe your personality would do. But sometimes, you could just pretend you’re signing up for a social media account and make some shit up. It doesn’t matter; you’re a rapper. No one really cares.
Secondly, find the first three words that rhyme with the word ‘dope’. The first you’ll probably think of would be ‘coke’. You may tell yourself that it’s the soda drink you’re referring to. Whatever, just pick that word and screw finding the other two. Use that one. Yes –quite literally, use that one. *dragged sniff*
You should be feeling a little lightheaded right about now. Don’t be fazed, it’s all part of the drive towards your lyrical inspiration. No boundaries; no limit to the creative process. You’re a rapper; a suburban gangster. You bend to no rules. You are the rule.
Now the third thing to do is to get an adlib to start your verse. ‘Yo’, ‘Yeah’ and ‘Uhn’ are the most popular ones right now, but feel free to explore others.
Next, try stringing a bunch of random words together, either as a phrase or as a sentence. Preferably, ensure that those random words either makes you sound important, or fashionable; or both. But more importantly, ensure that the word ‘dope’ ends up at the end. Don’t forget that. An example could be…
Uhn (adlib) Young Escobar (drug lord and personality) looking so fly (fashionable) and feeling so dope
Now, do you remember the word you picked that rhymed with ‘dope’ at the beginning of this article, yeah, ‘coke’ right? Great…now, make up another string of random words and ensure that this ends with the word ‘coke’. It would help if you could throw in a few random feminine names into the mix. You’re a rapper; the ladies are at your beck and call. Don’t forget that.
An example could be…
In the club with Kiki (Feminine name) and Felicia (another feminine name) sipping coke
Now, bring both strings of words together and what do you have?
Uhn, young Escobar, looking so fly and feeling so dope
In the club with Kiki and Felicia, sipping coke
Does it make sense? Not quite. But you’re a rapper. It doesn’t have to make sense; it’s the rhyme that truly counts.
Mifa Adejumo is a Lagos-based writer. You can get in touch with him on Twitter @mifaunuagbo_. If you would like to have your articles considered for publication on Filter Free, send an email to articles@filterfree.ng