Buildup punchlines reveal a connection or add meaning to a previous statement in your rap to create surprise, anger, or amusement in your audience. Eminem gives a great example of this in “Nail in the Coffin,” where he says, “But then again you’ll finally get your wish, / Cuz you’ll be all over the street like 50 cent. ” One-liners are usually clever and to the point. Like: High class like a senior in secondary. You couldn’t make fans cheer if you were the leading genius in the wild rap frontier. [3] X Research source
For example, Chino XL in “Creep,” says: “As far as that album you dropped, I ain’t feelin’ it / I wouldn’t buy your record if it had a hundred-dollar bill in it. ”[4] X Research source You might imitate Chino by saying something like, “As far as your skills, I’ll admit, they’re polished / But rhymes don’t have to sparkle to leave fools demolished. ” Some prominent punchline rappers you might want to study include Biggie, Big L, Lloyd Banks, Nas, Eminem, Jay-Z, and more.
To create a punchline from a proverb, you might say, “Two wrongs may not make a right / But it ain’t always wrong to fight. ” A punchline that uses a timeless theme like love might look something like, “It’s true that only fools fall in love, / But for what it’s cost me, it’s an emotion I’d get rid of. ” Using common experiences in punchlines might look like, “Elevator muzak is a practical symphony, / Compared to your rappin’, this audio villainy. ”
A punchline that uses a natural disaster might say, “My words rush at ya like a Japanese tsunami / Your rhymes sound more like you’re callin’ for mommy. ” Punchline about the local climate, like in the example, “Though I spit rhymes on stage cool, precise, and clear, / Is the AC here broke? It’s hot up in here. ” If you noticed someone tapping their fingers to a beat, it might inspire the line, “I seen you dancin’ your fingers on the edge of the table / Could just be nerves, but I think you’re unstable. ”
Nervousness very frequently makes artists rush when performing. This can result in your rap being too fast to be clear. Massage your face and neck lightly by rubbing them with your hands in small circles to help release tension. Tongue twisters can be a valuable resource for warming up your mouth before rapping. Do a few of these before you go on stage. [6] X Research source Try to speak clearly while you have several ice cubes in your mouth. This is an old technique for training greater precision in speaking. Change up the delivery of set lines you plan on using to prevent your speaking from becoming robotic or wooden. Try varying speed, volume, and stress.
“I would never claim to be no Ray Benzino / An 83-year-old fake Pachino / So how can he hold me over some balcony / Without throwin’ out his lower back out as soon as he goes to lift me / Please don’t, you’ll probably fall with me / And our [butts] will both be history / But then again you’ll finally get your wish / Cause you’ll be all over the street like 50 Cent. ”[7] X Research source
Lil Wayne had a particularly impressive one-liner in the song “6 Foot 7 Foot,” where he said, “Real G’s move in silence like lasagna. ” In “Just a Memory,” Notorious B. I. G. utters the memorable one-liner, “Climb the ladder to success escalator style. Big Daddy Kane throws down the gauntlet in “’Cause I Can Do it Right” with, “I won’t say I’m the baddest, or portray that role, but I’m in the Top Two, and my father’s gettin’ old. ”[9] X Research source
Foo’, in front of y’all here I’ll thoroughly embarrass / Yo’ [butt] like a whoppin’ by your ma on the terrace. ”
Add pauses between revealing moments in your rap, like where the setup begins to transition to the payoff. The shift in meaning created by the payoff will be highlighted by the pause preceding it. Stressing certain words can create interesting sound patterns in language. This can result in ordinary things sounding weightier and deeper than they might otherwise.
Lil Wayne puns the line, “Don’t [mess] up with Wayne / ’Cause when it Waynes it pours. ” Childish Gambino evokes the suave image of the actor and his role in the movie The Fly with his Goldblum pun: “More green than my Whole Foods and I’m too fly, Jeff Goldblum. ”[11] X Research source
”She was the nastiest hornet to sting my heart / Lucky me, when I met ya’, I bought an EpiPen dart. ” ”His momma wasn’t cucumber cool, she was iceberg lettuce cold. ” “My words are leopards / They quick, they real, and on stage, they got spots on ’em. ”
Irony in your rap could might look something like, “I roll real big / Every time I ride a Ferris wheel. ” The following is an example of irony with a little buildup: ”You might feel like a million dollar [smash] / But you are what you eat, / And Imma make you eat [trash]. ”
Some words don’t rhyme as easily as others, like orange. However, with a slant multi, you can rhyme “orange” with “door hinge. ”
