Kendrick Lamar Teaches How To Write Rap Songs Faster In 3 Steps
“Big Boy: How many unreleased songs do you have in your head or that we haven’t heard yet?
Kendrick Lamar: Thousands. I done lost hard drives. Hard drives from ’05, ’06… we never got them back. Took it to San Francisco to get it fixed, never got fixed…
It’s a need to never be content or to be comfortable. You always want to continue to grow so, whatever that challenge is, I’m looking for it.” Kendrick Lamar Interview 0:00–1:23
In this clip, Kendrick Lamar discusses the necessary mentality for rappers and even creatives in any endeavor to succeed in their chosen craft:
Outwork your competition and you’ll outpace their success
In a second we’ll see Kendrick develop his thoughts in this clip on how to write rap songs faster…
But the fact that Kendrick Lamar has hard drives full of rap going back to 2005, more than 15 years ago, and STILL has that hungry creative edge to write better and better raps…
Tells you everything you need to know on why he’s in the top discussions for #1 rappers in the game right now.
In this article, we’ll use clips directly from Kendrick Lamar himself on his writing process, artistic motivations, and much more…
But with that said, let’s lock in on the first step from this clip taught by Kendrick on how to write rap songs faster:
#1 Obsession Leads To Inspiration
“Big Boy: Do you feel like you wrote your best verse yet?
Kendrick Lamar: No. I’m always searching for that.
Big Boy: When you write Kendrick, do you write in the head or on a device?
Kendrick Lamar: All three. However I can get to it, might just jump on the mic, might get a pen and just a tablet right (here).” — Kendrick Lamar Interview, 1:24–1:44
Rappers and artists of all styles often get mislead into thinking that we have to “wait for inspiration to strike” in order to make good creative product.
The entire concept of “inspiration striking” leads people to believe that the best writing process is one where you live a normal life, and then suddenly like a lightning bolt an excellent rap will buzz into your brain.
The truth of the matter is all of the GOAT level rappers do NOT think like this, and as Kendrick pointed out here, they are actively SEARCHING and PUSHING for their mind to provide them cutting-edge bars, rhymes, and song structures to take over the game once again.
The way this is done is by focusing more on having an OBSESSIVE mindset around knowing how to write rap songs faster… rather than having a “inspiration will strike” reactive mindset that so many artists fall prey to.
Quick-Tip: Screenshot Fresh Ideas
In your case, one of the first things you can do is as you listening to new music on Spotify or YouTube is screenshot any time you discover a new song title or song concept that you like the minute you see it.
That will help you to remember and build up a “library” of instant ideas you can pull from any time you’re ready to sit down to write.
The reason it’s important to always have an “idea library” as as someone who wants to learn how to write rap songs faster is you need to lower the amount of time each step in the process takes -
Such as how long it takes to “come up with new ideas” -
By having a library of titles and songs ready to go at any moment.
Additionally, if you’d like a more personalized method to writing rap songs (or any creative endeavor) at a professional level in video course form totally for free, click HERE to get our free video course The Top 20 Songwriting Secrets of Professional Rappers where we’ll show you how to go full-time in music.
But the first step to learning how to write rap songs faster the Kendrick Lamar way is to turn that “waiting for inspiration to strike” mindset into an OBSESSIVE, forceful mentality with a library of ideas ready to go at any second.
What makes this even better is that once you master the “obsessive mastery” mindset, when the pressure is ON in a studio and other artists and potential collaborators are ready to work, you’ll be able to do it consciously and creatively, which brings us to…
#2 Command Every Collaboration
“Big Boy: How do you pick and choose who you come out on stage with, or is it just availability?
Kendrick Lamar: It’s really artists I respect and a love for their music. And, off the record, it be some real cool individuals out there and it be some a$$holes that I really don’t rock with. A lot of people that I work with, we just have a mutual bond there…
It’s really all in the music at that point… ’cause you can rock with that person and it could be a trash song and I’m like ‘I’m just not inspired by it’ and the records just have to be inspiring.” — Kendrick Lamar Interview 4:48–5:31
A lot of up-and-coming rappers are simply “too cool for school” when it comes to collaboration.
They either only want to rap with artists that are WILDLY bigger than them to get “put on”, or they want to have a crew of little minions in their set who clearly are only there for protection and can’t really rap… I know you’ve seen that before.
The truth of the matter is that you must collaborate not only to get your name buzzing in the industry, but also in order to put pressure on your self to learn how to write rap songs faster, more efficiently and more professionally.
Can You Write A Classic With Hit Boy Staring At You?
The best way I’ve found to lock this in is to give you a vision.
Let’s say that you’re lucky enough to randomly be in a studio with one of the #1 producers in the game right now, we’ll just Hit Boy for this example, but feel free to use whoever you’d like in your head.
But let’s say that you are in the studio with Hit Boy and he is cooking up a fire classic beat. You already know that getting on a Hit Boy produced track will not only help YOUR clout and star power as an artist…
But also it will help you get on other major artist’s radar. I mean Hit Boy has worked with everyone from Jay-Z to Nas to Drake and down the line.
Now imagine yourself in that studio as Hit Boy is cooking up. The whole room is nodding to the beat, and just as he’s about to finish up, he says…
“Damn this joint bumping, I think we need to get some basic vocals on there to see what it sounds like with a lyrical foundation on the music itself.”
Okay STOP!
In that situation, you as somebody sitting here reading “how to write rap songs faster”…
Do you feel CONFIDENT that you could raise your hand or interject or whatever and say:
“Yo, Hit! I got you… I’ma write something right here right now”
Meaning, it’s like a challenge… you have 20–30 mins. To write whatever you got in your mind to create a banger over a Hit Boy track. This is your ONE shot.
Do you feel confident you can do that?
If not, then you SERIOUSLY need to be following step #1, obsession leads to inspiration, until you can AUTOMATICALLY write songs on command.
This is exactly how it’s done in the REAL industry not on rap forums. Remember how we started this article with Kendrick Lamar saying in ’05 when he was 18 YEARS OLD he was already filling up hard drives with rap.
Therefore, as you develop and learn how to write rap songs faster, you must make it a MAJOR priority to know how to COMMAND EVERY COLLABORATION like a boss and write hits instantly.
In addition to our songwriting free video course, we also have a free video course “How To Write A Rap On Any Topic In 20 Mins. Or Less” which you can also pick up totally for free by clicking HERE to help you with this along the way.
Therefore, whether it’s Hit Boy or Kendrick himself, it’s crucial to know that the major artists and producers in the game expect THAT level of proficiency and efficiency when it comes to know how to write a rap song.
#3 Honesty Is The Best Policy
“Big Boy: I hear more of a message in the music, is that where you’re at?
Kendrick Lamar: It’s more like my views rather than throw it on the listener and I think that’s my biggest connection with my audience and why it connects the way it does.
Because it’s not necessarily preachy, it’s my own ups and downs and trying to figure it out as well as going through these times and traveling the world and my own experiences and putting them all into one.” — Kendrick Lamar Interview, 8:37–9:11
“Honesty is the best policy” is one of those old school phrases that you hear from parents and teachers that actually makes a lot of DAMN #kendrickvoice sense.
In this case, you can apply this phrase when it comes to learning how to write rap songs faster as well.
The truth of the matter is part of the reason many new artists struggle to learn how to write rap songs faster is because they are trying to live out a “character” rather than their real self in their raps…
Which leads them to run into things like writer’s block or feeling burned out when they write.
On the other hand, when you look at someone like Kendrick Lamar, he has always always kept honesty and authenticity at the forefront of his lyrical palette.
Normally when people hear “be authentic in your raps” people think it’s all simply about avoiding being exposed or being seen as fake…
But perhaps a better way to see this is simply:
Being honest makes songs easier to write
In my experience, when I was telling MY life and not somebody else’s stories, writer’s block truly started to disappear.
It was only when I had the weight of trying to live up to public expectation as a rapper that knowing how to write rap songs became more of a CHORE or an OBLIGATION…
And that’s when the trouble started.
Therefore follow Kendrick’s advice and work on the honesty of your music in order to improve the chances that the writing process as a rapper will become more fluid, more liberating, and overall simply more enjoyable.
When you mix that honesty with a consistent hustle and grind work ethic discussed in step #1 through that obsessive mindset, AND you make sure you always prepared for that BIG collaboration as described in step #2, you’ll be well on your way to knowing how to write rap songs faster just like Kendrick Lamar and we here at How To Rap have discussed today.
