How to Write Hip Hop R&B Lyrics
You’ve listened to the likes of Ne-Yo and Mariah Carey and you’ve been inspired by them, enough to want to write your own hip hop R&B lyrics. That’s nothing to be ashamed of and it’s actually a manageable objective when you consider the tips below.
Listen to your favorite hip hop R&B songs.
Use them for inspiration. Listen to as many varieties as you can. Listen to songs composed by male and female artists as well as R&B bands. Use their songs to inspire you to develop your own beat and style.
Remember the essence of hip hop R&B.
Before you get your pen and paper – or grab your laptop if you don’t want to write your lyrics the old-fashioned way – remind yourself of the essence of hip hop R&B. It fuses the unique beat of hip hop and the lush emotions evoked by R&B. These will help you find the right words to express your feelings through music.
Choose a theme.
Popular themes for this genre almost always have to do something about love. It can be happy or sad, but it always refers to matters of the heart. You can speak about falling in love or having your heart broken. You can speak about loving someone who doesn’t love you or loving someone who’s already gone.
But it can also about other things like hope, passion, or even a simple joy for living.
Draw from personal experience.
Ask any famous singer and most – if not all – will tell you that their best lyrics are those they’ve drawn from personal experience. If it works for them then it should work for you as well, don’t you think?
Don’t force yourself to use this method if it makes you uncomfortable, though. If personal experience doesn’t work, there are other sources of inspiration such as the personal experiences of people you know. You can also draw inspiration from your hopes and dreams, past and present.
Watch TV and movies. Read newspapers and magazines. Browse the Internet. Meet new friends. Basically, explore the world that’s always been around you and a part of you and you’ll find your inspiration sooner or later.
Speak the language of your listeners.
Lastly, remember that fans of this genre are often young and definitely hold modern views. These are the people you have to make a connection with and you can’t do that if you use old fashioned terms that would have fit a jazz or blues song better.
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