How To Become A Rapper: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself
Today, we’re going to lay out five questions that you need to be absolutely SURE you will say yes to if you want to become a rapper.
These are questions based on my personal experience having worked with a host of multiplatinum producers, personally speaking with celebrities…
And overall interacting with the music industry while living out in Los Angeles for the better part of a decade.
While the contents of this article are just ONE man’s experience and it’s your responsibility to take action to see if your experience lines up with them…
I truly believe if you say YES to these five questions, you have an EXCELLENT chance of being ready for the fame and fortune of the rap game.
NOTE: Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel “How To Rap” because we drop weekly videos on how to become a rapper… and if you’re serious about professional-level rap songwriting, click HERE to get our free video course “How To Write A Rap On Any Topic In Under 20 Mins.”
1. Do You Enjoy Being The Center of Attention In Any Room You Enter?
As far as personality goes, of all the things I’ve noticed about people I’ve known who were either famous (especially a famous rapper) or would GROW to be famous…
When it came time to promote themselves or “perform” in any sort of way…
They came alive and LOVED being the center of attention.
Now, this doesn’t mean that these people were always extroverted and super excited to INTERACT with people…
(We certainly know many celebrities such as Beyonce and Jay-Z who like their private time and space from the media)…
BUT it means that these people are emotionally equipped to turn on that “IT” factor when they need to do… and in fact LOVE doing it.
One of the wildest examples of this is a good friend of mine I knew back in college who was a very studious, book-smart kind of guy…
And over the course of ten years became very well-known in the financial sector…
And when I say well-known I mean he was getting stopped in the street by people in front of the Staples Center (where the Lakers play) after the Rookie All-Star Game last year!
Anyway, if you met this guy you wouldn’t necessarily predict he was “famous” by his behavior…
He was pretty reserved in a college student sort of way…
But anytime people would stop him in the street he would turn into a TOTALLY different person and just BASK in the glory of what he’d accomplished…
I’ve similarly met several major social media influencers (I’m talking 2-3 million or more followers)…
And I was amazed at how EXCITED they were to talk about how many likes they get, what people are saying in their comments, etc.
I mean these people were OBSESSED with their own celebrity, for better or worse.
I say all this because I find that a lot of artists who watch music education videos online say things about how they’re depressed and nobody likes them and how music is their own love in life…
But then also say they don’t leave the house enough or don’t really socialize much.
I call these people “bedroom rappers” or “bedroom artists”.
While I can certainly empathize with how difficult it can be to motivate yourself at times, I can tell you straight up that if you are not SUPER passionate and excited about the prospect of being the CENTER of attention in a given situation…
It’s unlikely you’re ready to be famous.
2. Are You Obsessed About Improving The Skill You Want To Make You Famous?
Another common thing I’ve seen in influencers or people that are somewhat famous for whatever skill they’re involved in…
Whether that’s music, movies, entertainment, etc…
…Is that they talk ALL day long about the next big thing they’re trying to tackle in their career.
One of my best friends is one of the most celebrated trap producers of the last decade and his pure level of single-mindedness around beat making is sickening… (this of course would be a similar work ethic for a famous rapper…)
To this day, even though he’s older than 30 years old, he works on beats for 10-12 hours a day multiple days… every single week.
I know another heralded rapper who mentions how many hours straight he works on songs (usually over 7-8) every time I see him.
If you are a person that might be described as an “obsessive workaholic” when it comes to the music… you’re likely to be ready for the fame and fortune.
Never forget what Kanye asked us back on his debut album…
“What you know about doing five beats a day for three summers?
That’s a different world like Kree Summers…
I deserve to do these numbers”
Kanye West, “Spaceship”, 2006
If you’re an artist that wants to up your obsession to make better music while also creating tracks that are guaranteed to be compared to professional level songwriters…
Pick up our free video course “The Top 20 Songwriting Secrets of Full-Time Rappers” which comes with a free audiobook and full-length book as well by clicking HERE.
3. Do You Believe You’re The Smartest Person You Know (At Least Creatively)?
This one is pretty challenging for artists, but I wanted to add it because it’s another thing I’ve noticed a LOT in people who become famous for their art.
What I mean by this is that I find people who are famous for a particular skill are usually ALSO the leaders of a team.
So, behind every great rapper or influencer, there are managers, agents, artwork people, stylists, lawyers, accountants, and so on…
…And the famous people has to preside and make decisions over ALL of these people.
Furthermore, the artist has to make decisions that will affect not only their own life…
But the lives of their team as well… in other words the wrong decision by the artist could affect the families of everyone around them.
With this in mind, you can imagine how much pressure the artist is on to make good, smart decisions in their career…
…And in order to make those sound decisions, the artist often has to somewhere secretly believe they are SMART enough to make the right ones.
So, if you are a person that often thinks things like “I know EXACTLY what we should do to promote this…” or “My idea on how to market this is the BEST one I’ve heard all day…”
It’s likely you’ll be ready for the pressures of fame and fortune.
If, on the other hand, you often question yourself or change decisions frequently, that is definitely a point of leadership you want to work on before chasing the glitz and the glamour…
Because once you’re dealing with the pressures of fame… it will be TWICE as hard to develop that skill when you need it.
4. Do You Enjoy A Variety of Different Styles of Music?
Make no mistake about it – even the most hardcore, “one-note” (so to speak) rappers enjoy a variety of different types of music.
This is part of the reason why the genre of rap is so “elastic” when it comes to the types of music it can incorporate and be placed over.
In your case, there’s of course nothing wrong with being obsessed with Hip-Hop (and in fact you should be), but your ability to be open minded about other genres of music is crucial.
Think about someone like Kanye West, who, no matter how you feel about his off-the-mic antics, has been able to “reinvent” himself on basically every album, from the punk sensibilities of Yeezus to the soul-infused melodies of The College Dropout to the more recent gospel-inspired Jesus Is King.
There are rappers like Nelly who are having popular resurgences by collaborating with country artists…
…And the entire wave of “emo rap” is based on the 2000’s sounds of an outgrowth of rock mixed with punk.
So, ask yourself: are you into different genres other than just rap?
Rather than be ashamed of this, understand it’s actually a hidden ADVANTAGE, and run with it.
5. Are you an “obsessive worker” when you are interested in something?
Similarly to being the center of attention, you really need to check yourself on your work ethic before entering this game.
I’ve talked about this in other articles, but if you don’t know what it feels like to create an entire album while on tour while partying while dealing with the pressures of attention, you may need to re-evaluate what to means to learn how to become a rapper.
I can tell you from 100% personal experience that the sheer amount of unexpected work and “showing up to perform” that is required from rap is like The Matrix…
“You have to see it for yourself”.
Now, many of us didn’t do well in school because we weren’t “passionate” about it…
…But if you’re like me, I was an absolutely OBSESSIVE WORKER when it came to learning about rap even when I wasn’t doing well in school.
I can even remember my teachers writing in my freshman year evaluation that while I was a good student, I would commonly be writing RHYMES in class instead of notes… TRUE STORY.
Similarly, you can see how obsessive I’ve been about How To Rap over the years and we’re almost a decade in.
So, for you, ask yourself how your work ethic changes when something you ENJOY is on your plate.
Are you prepared for all the hustle this will take?
