Ever watch Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance or Eminem's '8 Mile' movie and wonder what you could do if you learnt the rap skills of the greats?
Artist, producer and educational content creator Mazbou Q understands the technical art and craft of rap. Dubbed the 'Rap Scientist', Mazbou Q has built a huge following on social media, breaking down the tricks used by the world's best rappers and putting musical theory behind that fire we hear played every day.
He's also the visionary producer guiding breakout artists to flip iconic Kiwi tracks into reimagined hits for 'Beyond The Beat'. The homegrown series released across NZ Music Month will see a range of genre-bending reworked Kiwi classics, from a rapper's take on a pop song to a DNB duo's spin on a hip-hop hit.
Dive into the science behind the music with three skills you can learn about rapping from Mazbou Q!
The Bar Heel:
A good rap always involves a good rhyme - but thinking about where that rhyme hits is key.
Mazbou Q explains the Bar Heel technique as "where your rhyme lands on the bar", and it's a discipline for beginners to learn.
For example, if you've got a standard 4/4 beat, getting your rhyme to land on the same fourth beat each time is a surefire way for a first-time rapper to learn flow.
As you develop, you can level up that skill by getting more playful and shifting the Bar Heel placement intuitively.
Four Bar Cadence
For rap beginners, Mazbou Q says the Four Bar Cadence is the best way to understand how to structure and divide up your verse.
For a standard 4/4 time signature, four beats make a bar. Put four bars together, and you'll get a 'Four Bar Cadence' structure, with 16 beats total. Don't let the math overwhelm you, because centring your verse around these 16 beats keeps your verse manageable and develops that flow.
Mazbou Q breaks down a few ways you can do this, with a standard 4+4+4+4 count, to a more playful 3+3+6+4 flow.
A Three-Step Guide for Creative Flow
Build from your first two techniques and start to create a unique flow with Mazbou Q's three-step guide.
He "reverse engineers" his creative rap flow by first creating a three-count repetitive rhythm. He then places this within a 4/4 time signature and guides you with ways you can fill out your fourth count. The final step that makes it unique is shifting your rhythm phrase by one main count, either earlier or later.
Watch the visual explanation in Mazbou Q's video, and it will change up and challenge the same rap patterns you may get stuck in.
Learn more techniques from 'Rap Scientist' Mazbou Q when he gets behind the tools to rework Kiwi hits in the new series 'Beyond The Beat'.
Catch the episodes when they drop every Thursday this May.
This article was written alongside NZ On Air.
