K-Rino - How To Be An M.C. lyrics

Ya know, a lot of people ask me, they be
Like, "K, how can I be an emcee
How can I learn to rap?"

This is how to be an emcee, please
Take notes tryna keep you from mistakes
New cats make most
Whatever coast, continent, country
City or town if you ain’t true to it, homie
Put your pen back down

This is how to be an emcee, please
Take notes tryna keep you from mistakes
New cats make most
Whatever coast, continent, country
City or town if you ain’t true to it, homie
Put your pen back down

Aye, first off
Let me say before we even start
Ya gotta have love for this


Art-form in your heart
The money part can’t be
Most important to y’all
You would still do it if
It was no paper involved it’s a hard hustle
Don’t get in it if you're not a soldier
You have to go and study
The history of the culture
Every emcee dead or alive who ever wrecked it
If you don’t know how the game began
How can you respect it?
Learn how the styles evolved throughout time
The simple and the complex
Ways people would rhyme
Different flow patterns
Learning where certain words belong
But more importantly the content of each song
Expand your mind if you wanna
Be around for years
‘cause rappers with short knowledge tend
To have short careers
And when a thought appears
Cultivate it to the max stay motivated
Too many artists faded and relaxed

This is how to be an emcee, please
Take notes tryna keep you from mistakes
New cats make most
Whatever coast, continent, country
City or town if you ain’t true to it, homie
Put your pen back down

This is how to be an emcee, please
Take notes tryna keep you from mistakes
New cats make most
Whatever coast, continent, country
City or town if you ain’t true to it, homie
Put your pen back down

Gotta find your identity, second order of biz
Can’t be yourself until you find
Out who yourself is
Formulate your own ideas
Develop and write ‘em
You can listen to other rappers but
Don’t try to sound like ‘em
The goal is not to imitate
What clowns might do create your own style
Make them wanna sound like you
And even if the artist got
Skill that’s different and wild
You can learn from that talent
Without stealing their style
You copying hot rappers in the game
That sucks what if they style plays out
You gotta change back up
That’s the reason why most
Careers burn out faster
Originality’s what you should be
Tryin’ to master can’t slack
Gotta stay up and grind through the night
Redoing a line time after
Time ’til it’s right
Never run from the critics ‘cause
The great ones don’t
And not being scared to say
Things that most cats won’t

This is how to be an emcee, please
Take notes tryna keep you from mistakes
New cats make most
Whatever coast, continent, country
City or town if you ain’t true to it, homie
Put your pen back down

This is how to be an emcee, please
Take notes tryna keep you from mistakes
New cats make most
Whatever coast, continent, country
City or town if you ain’t true to it, homie
Put your pen back down

There’s a lot of elements that
Make your rhyming elite
Delivery, voice projection
Plus riding the beat
Everybody likes dope tracks but
Don’t confuse it a real rapper can wreck a
Mic without no music
No gimmicks or marketing
It ain’t about no hype
Hell, a real rapper can get
Down without no mic
Your words are more important than
The image and partying
Having a stage presence and
Controlling the audience
If you don’t wanna practice
Better summon the urge
Try to speak clear as possible
Don’t jumble your words
Test your skills anywhere that you
Can get the display
If you think that everybody gon’ love you
Quit today never start beef
That’s the way your enemies grow
Speak on real life and learn
How the industry goes
I can teach you all of this
And yet you still might flop
‘cause truth is this is a gift
You either got it or not

This is how to be an emcee, please
Take notes tryna keep you from mistakes
New cats make most
Whatever coast, continent, country
City or town if you ain’t true to it, homie
Put your pen back down

This is how to be an emcee, please
Take notes tryna keep you from mistakes
New cats make most
Whatever coast, continent, country
City or town if you ain’t true to it, homie
Put your pen back down