9 Signs You’re Ready To Rap Full-Time

In today’s article, we’re going to give you 9 signs that you’re ready to start a career as a rapper full-time professionally. 

Now if you’re wondering, no I am not a gazillionaire rapper with 2,000 Billboard hits… 

But what I am is a normal person who learned how to rap… worked at hard at it… 

Started doing it full-time and by the end of my journey was able to be paid six-figures to travel around the world JUST from rapping to over 15 countries…

…So this video will serve as some of my best insights for you over the course of my career that you can use to know if you’re ready to do this full-time. 

NOTE: Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel “How To Rap” with notifications by clicking HERE because we drop weekly videos on how to go from literally no knowledge in rap to a full-time professional artist…

…And if you’re ready to jump into a full-time rap career right NOW, be sure check out our bestselling artist development course “Rap Tycoon” where we’ll show in just SIX weeks how to start a professional rap career… you can find more info on that by clicking HERE. 

Are You Ready To Rap Full-Time? 

Now, we’re going to order this list as a COUNTDOWN by the very basic information all the way to the advanced level so be sure to ready all the way through.

#9 “You Should Focus On Rap” 

Let’s start off with that fact that people in your life are already telling you to focus on rap instead of other things. 

Look, the truth of the matter is the vast majority of professional rappers… Famous or not (including myself)… 

Have been told over and over again by people in their life who’ve heard their music that they are GOOD at this thing and that they should FOCUS their energies on pursuing it. 

I’ve even had several times where after people heard a recent song of mine… 

…They told me to STOP doing this blog and rap coaching thing and just focus on my own career.

(Which of course I would never do)

Furthermore, there are numerous stories of rappers from Lil’ Baby all the way back to Jay-Z where their inner circle essentially had to CONVINCE them to start a rap career…

…Because they thought they were so good at it, it would be a waste. 

Now of course some family members and homies are going to question you, but if you’ve never heard online or in-person somebody SUGGEST that you should focus on rapping…

…That may be a sign to keep working at it until you hear people telling you that this is something you should focus on. 

#8 “You’re Already A Hustler” 

People should already describe you as a hustler or a hard-worker in other parts of your life if you plan to start a full-time rap career.

The truth of the matter is being a professional musician of any style is NOT easy .

Until you’ve been hungover in a foreign country where you don’t know what time zone you’re in and have to wake up to do a 12-hour music video shoot before going to do an extra show then heading to the airport…

…It’s hard to understand just how much willpower this thing takes…

…And let’s not even mention the emotional roller coaster of making more money than you’ve ever seen and social media BS. 

You already need to have a strong work ethic in place BEFORE starting a full-time rap career or you’re in trouble. 

#7 “Scroll Through My Timeline” 

Speaking of social media, by having an active, consistent social media over a long period of time… 

…It says a lot about you already when you jump to the professional game.

Number seven is you should already an active, artistic, and consistent social media presence regardless of your follower count.

It shows that you are able to be consistently creative and original in your artistic ideas…

…It shows that you have the mental stamina for new marketing promotions every season…

…And it shows that you are unlikely to get bogged down in the pressure of coming up with new promotional ideas for your career. 

Even if you don’t have millions of followers across all your social media outlets, the fact that you are consistently posting new and refreshing content is a MAJOR sign that you’ll be able to handle the “rush for something new” that a professional career takes.

#6 “Check Out My Homey’s New Track”

On the flip side of promoting YOURSELF on social media, if you already have people promoting YOUR STUFF for you when you’re NOT THERE…

…That’s an excellent sign that you’re ready to do this full-time.

This is similar to #1 in the fact that truthfully other people need to believe in you as much as you believe in yourself if you hope to do this professionally…

…Meaning that other people will pay for you to do it… 

…In order for you to have faith when you leave your job or school, your fanbase (a.k.a. other people) will get your music out there. 

If you are spending more time convincing yourself that you are good and nobody recognizes it, that’s probably a dangerous territory to be in because if you were truly ready to be PAID by other people to make music…

…Other people would already check your music FOR FREE. 

On the other hand if you already have a little street team of people willingly putting you out there, that’s a great sign. 

#5 “Aye, Play That One Song That Goes Like…” 

Even further than that, number five is people should KNOW the words to your raps/songs and be able to sing along. 

You know how when you hear a popular song you instantly like, after the first or second listen you ALREADY can hum along or rap a few bars to it? 

That’s because the song is structured professionally in an organized, fan-base manner that is likely to attract more people to it.

If you’ve put in the work to learn proper song structure, take audience feedback, and construct not just songs but ANTHEMS… 

That’s a great sign that you’re meant to do this professionally. 

NOTE: If you are still working out how to learn professional, hit-making song structure, check out our free video course “The Top 20 Songwriting Secrets of Full-Time Rappers” by clicking HERE. 

#4 “Come To My Show, Check My Video” 

One top of being able to make a catchy song, it’s also crucial – and this is number four – that you are an experienced live performer both on stage AND in videos. 

Now, at the writing of this article, live performances are currently on HOLD because you-know-why but assuming you’re either watching this AFTER that OR assuming you have experience performing live BEFORE all this… 

…That’s a super crucial aspect of a full-time career. 

Remember when I said even though I wasn’t super famous I was able to make six-figures from rapping and paid to travel the world? It was from LIVE SHOW MONEY.

The vast majority of your favorite artists make money from live shows partially because labels are shady like that sometimes and partially because you straight up can chart a lot more for a ticket than a stream. 

If you aren’t used to performing in front of at least hundreds of people at the start, that’s something you need to take very seriously to get professional. 

Additionally, you need to have experience shooting music videos. 

I can’t understate the importance of this enough and I’m going to keep it all the way real.

Most music video shoots are long, boring, and very technical in nature.

You’re going to spending most of your day sitting waiting for the lighting to be right for the shot, doing the same hand motion and lyrics over and over again…

…And trying to create a visual of “artificial fun” for literally hours on end. 

Do not think you are just going to walk on a music video set and be totally comfortable. 

It’s a unique experience that you need to get used to in order to get the best takes on the screen…

…And directors are going to expect you to try a little bit on these things and not just be a nervous inexperienced newbie. 

So if you’ve already shot a lot of music videos, amazing… but if you haven’t…

…Start practicing now so you are used to the grind of shooting, and then it’ll help you be ready to rap full-time. 

#3 “I Saved And Put A LOT Of Bread In This”

Now you might wonder, where do I get the money to shoot a music video? 

You SAVE MONEY and spend it on your career. 

If you are watching this and you relate to calculating your work check for the next two months so you have enough money to shoot your first video or buy a better mic…

…You are getting closer to that “professional mentality”. 

Number 3 is without a doubt “YOU HAVE ALREADY INVESTED FINANCIALLY IN YOUR CAREER”. 

There’s an old saying that goes, “Money just makes you more of what you are”…

…And another one that goes “It takes money to make money”. 

Most people think that second one I just said means “Only people WITH money are able to make money”…

…But I personally think of it more is “You need to spend money to make money”… or “scared money doesn’t make money”. 

I see way too many rappers complaining about being broke instead of thinking of how to make more money. 

The ones that I believe will be able to make the transition to a full-time career are the ones that are already finding ways… no matter how small… to invest financially in their career. 

#2 “Could You Make A Song For My Business?” 

In this vein, often wealthy people are willing to invest in YOU if you are making good professional level music…

…So number two is people already ask you to make music for their business as a sign that you’re ready to do music professionally. 

Now we’ve all seen rappers doing theme songs for the NBA or sneaker deals and things like that…

…But make no mistake that on a smaller level, me included, professional rappers get paid by small businesses to make theme songs for their tracks and are paid handsomely. 

This is one of the major licks for somebody like myself who isn’t playing the fame game as a rapper… I’m paying the PAID game. 

For you as an artist, if you have a little buzz and influencers and businesses are hitting you up for music… that’s a great sign you’re ready to go professional with this thing. 

NOTE: A lot of are artist development course is particularly about this topic – as in getting rich people to pay you for your music even if you aren’t famous – so be sure to find out more info on that by clicking HERE. 

#1 You Are Obsessed With Making Songs 

I ended with this one because I cannot stress enough for every rapper ever that…

The Song Is The Currency of The Music Industry 

This is one of our mantras here are how to rap. 

What I mean by this is that the VAST MAJORITY of music fans want to hear music in SONG FORM, not just “bars-bars-bars” form…

…Not that I don’t LOVE 5 Fingers of Death and LA Leakers, etc…

…But if you are an amateur artist trying to go full-time, you need to be able to craft a SONG well in order to get a critical mass of fans…

…AND THEN you can go on Sway and drop them bars. 

So the artists reading this who are passionate about making SONGS and not just rapping… 

…That is TRULY the number one sign you’re ready to do this professionally. 

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COMMENT: Which of the signs in this list have YOU experienced? 

–Drew Morisey, @drewmorisey on Instagram and Twitter