3 Tips for Emcees Who Are Starting Out In The Music Industry

Written by Ben Z @WI608

1. Study

A strong emcee is one that has studied many things. Those specific things can vary immensely but will typically include language and vocabulary, news and current events, culture and religion, and various art forms (film, music, literature, etc.). One can get away with elementary school rhymes for awhile, but sooner or later fans will become disinterested and the artist may feel unfulfilled.

Strong lyrical content is vital to every emcee. If you want to be a serious artist, get serious about studying up! A great way to do this is by filling your leisure time with more engaging activities. Find social media feeds with sources of inspiration and education. Following news outlets and creative accounts will keep new information flowing that you can draw upon when writing. Another way to study up is by listening to emcees that impress you and seeing what exactly about their content or style is so amazing. Then challenge yourself to reach their level.

2. Practice

I learned a saying called “The 6 P's” in high school football. This very much applies to emceeing as well. It is “proper practice prevents piss poor performance.” In order to perform well when the lights are shining one must have logged multiple hours of proper repetition. The energy an artist gives off is what the listener feeds on, so if the artist is lacking confidence the listener will quickly disengage.

You know that feeling right after having written what is possibly your best verse ever? Pretty amazing right? Now you must help others hear it exactly the way you intend whether it is heard recorded or live. Before you ever go into the booth or on stage, you should be able to perform every acute detail that you want in your song. If you can’t, you run the risk of looking like a fool or wasting your studio time because you had to do 35 takes just to get it right.

Back when I was unloading semis and stacking lumber at 5 a.m., I’d practice my freestyles and recite my songs. It was a great way to fill the droning warehouse noise with something that made me happy, as well as utilize long periods of time that would normally just leave my brain blank. Find times in your day that work for you and practice. Practice at home. Practice at work. Practice in the car, bus, or on your bike. Do it up!

3. Master

Mastering the craft is what truly sets apart those that are good from those that are great. This is where one must have knowledge of many acute details as well as skill that extends beyond just writing and rapping. There are a plethora of emcees who can write amazing tracks and even perform well, but they miss the small details in the booth or on stage. Finding those details and owning them will make an artist rise above others.

Let me ask you: who is more fun to watch — the artist staring off blankly while dropping a verse on stage or the artist using body movement and facial expressions to engage the crowd? That’s an obvious one. How about the performer oozing so much swag that they have to cup the microphone's grill while performing or the artist that learned to hold the mic properly? (The proper place is below the grill because cupping the mic will drastically increase feedback potential which will upset your sound engineer and audience.) This simple technique is a sure sign of a seasoned emcee. Lastly, let me ask you whose studio recordings turn out better: an artist who can’t stop swaying with the beat while leaning in and out of the microphone’s pick up zone or the artist who knows how to channel energy and maintain focus while projecting vocal tones directly into the microphone’s sweet spot? Of course an engineer has her own techniques and will be able to help the recordings, but artists who’ve mastered proper mic technique will leave the studio with better songs and a more professional reputation.