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Write a Rap

A rap is a popular type of rhyming poem., which is written to be spoken or performed. As well as plenty of rhymes, a rap has a very strong rhythm.

Here’s a poem written by John Foster about how to write a rap:

Wrapping up a rap
Snap it up! Clap it up! Rap it up, son!
And we’ll wrap up a rap before the day is done.

Take a leaf from a book or a leaf from a tree,
A feather from a bird or a wave from the sea.
Take a dragon’s fire or a witch’s spell,
A lizard or a wizard or a wishing well.

You can take any subject that you choose.
But make up your mind, there’s no time to lose.

Snap it up! Clap it up! Rap it up, son!
And we’ll wrap up a rap before the day is done.

Don’t hesitate. Let’s make a start.
For rapping ain’t so easy. Rapping is an art.
It’s time for a rhyme. Don’t sit on the fence.
But you’ve got to be sure that your rhymes make sense.

You’ve got to watch out. You’ve got to be wary.
If all else fails, there’s a rhyming dictionary.
There are rhymes by the dozen, rhymes by the score,
Rhymes by the hundred, rhymes galore.

Snap it up! Clap it up! Rap it up, son!
And we’ll wrap up a rap before the day is done.

Now you need some rhythm, you need a beat.
Get the drums drumming, start tapping your feet.
Let your hair down. Turn up the heat.
Skip along, trip along, dance down the street.

Now we’re getting somewhere with our creation,
It’s time for a little alliteration:

With a stomp and a stamp, a quiver and a quake,
A glimmer and a glitter, a shiver and a shake.
A grim grey gremlin’s gruesome grin,
And a slithery snake shedding its skin.

Put it all together with a zip and a zap
With a flip and a flop, and a trip and a trap.
And we’ve rapped it up,
                    rapped it up,
                     wrapped up a rap.

 

You can write a rap about any topic. For example, you can write a fairground rap. Here are two lines that you can use to get started:

Come on everybody, let’s go to the fair.
We’ll have a great time while we are there...

 

Alternatively, you can pick your own topic. You could use these two lines to start your rap:

Come on everybody, let’s hear you clap
We’re going to the... rap

 

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