 Hi, my name is Olisa Enrico, but some people know me as another name. It's my pseudo name, it's my superhero name, it's my rap name, spicy. Now rap is a part of hip hop and hip hop is the ultimate form of expression. So rap is the ultimate form of expression in word, whether it's written word or spoken word. That's what I think. Now, you might already have a way of writing, lots of ways to get in, or you may never have tried writing a rap. I'm going to show you one way you can try, whether it's your first time or your thousandth time writing a rap. You're going to need a few things. You're going to need a pen and paper, or if you prefer, you can use a device. I'm not really a device person when I come to writing, but whatever works for you works perfectly. Let's get into it. Do you know what a bar is? People say this all the time and they'll be like, oh, you got bars, but they don't know what that means. They think it's a clever line, but really, it's a measure of time. A bar is a piece of music, usually it's one line. Let's use something you might know, green eggs and ham by Dr. Seuss. So he says, I do not like them saying I am, I do not like green eggs and ham, I will not eat them in a house. I will not eat them with a mouse. I know the whole thing by heart, but anyway, did you notice every line right? Each line would be a bar. Watch me count it. I do not want them saying I am, I do not want green eggs and ham. I will not eat them here or there. I will not eat them anywhere. Each one counted four beats. Each one is a bar. Each line is a bar. So now that you know what that is, we're going to write some bars. In green eggs and ham, the bars rhyme at the end. We're also going to try to rhyme at the end of the line, but if we rhyme in between, that's fine. And what's really cool about hip hop, about rap, is we don't have to be perfect. Our rhymes don't have to be perfect. Our raps don't have to be perfect, just like in life. You don't have to be perfect. We're just going to do our best, and that's all that really matters. So don't get in your own way. Don't sink too hard. Just try some stuff out. Make lots of mistakes. That's the best way. The strategy we're going to use today is called a word bank. I'm going to write my words on the board. We just need a rhyming word to start with. Now a word bank could be anything. Maybe I write all words that are about space, and they don't rhyme at all. They're just all words about space, and then I build a rap about space and be super cool. I've done it before. Love that. Our words are going to rhyme. Let's see. What words should we do? How about time? I like time. Time. And we're just going to brainstorm a bunch of words that rhyme. So I'll use the alphabet. I don't know one for A, B, blind, sublime, sublime, C, crime, dime, crime, crime, crime, enlighten. Told you it doesn't have to really rhyme, because kind of rhyme or use assonance if you want to fancy words. Enlighten, which reminds me of frightened, grime, E-B-C-D-E-F-G-H, high, sure, why not, high. I'm J, I don't know one for J, maybe later, K, kind, line, lime, I got to say my alphabet you guys, help me out, L-M, mime, mime, do you know one for O, I don't know, maybe later, P-Q. I think that's the word, I think it's the word, it's the word, like a, like a peel, or a rhyme, or a rhino, maybe, I don't know, Rhine, Q-R-S, where did it sublime, sine, like a math, or sine, like here's your sine, sine, T, we did time, time, vine, wine, or wine, like that, W-X-Y-Z, ooh, maybe we think that's the word, I think it's the word, maybe we think of wine, and maybe some more will come up, but we just do this and do this and do this until we can't think of any more, we could probably go on for a long time, but let's try to build some rhymes now. Now, don't think too hard, this is the part where you start going, does that make sense? Is that cool? Am I cool? None of that matters, we're just trying out a new technique, or one you've used before and having some fun, the more you do it, the better you get at it, like anything else in life, anything else in life, you get better with practice, okay? So first I'm going to look at the words, hmm, and see what I see, what does it make me think of? Maybe something silly, I don't know, I like to mine, build a box, once upon a time is the first thing I think of, once upon a time I couldn't think of a rhyme, that's a hip-hop crime, I was lost in my mind, doesn't make any sense, that's okay, I can change it later, that's a great part, I was lost in my mind, but now I'm feeling fine, sublime, this kind, I thought of another word, sunshine, I don't know what it sounds like, I should probably try it before I move on, let's try it. Once upon a time I couldn't think of a rhyme, that's a hip-hop crime, and I was lost in my mind, I don't need that word, let's cross it out. But now I'm feeling fine, sublime, this kind, sunshine, hmm, sunshine in my face, it changes my rhyme, remember Greening's and Hammond was rhyming at the end, I just changed my rhyming word, hmm, let's go with it, sunshine in my face, life in this place, a taste, a taste, no waste, doesn't make sense to me now, but let me try it, maybe it'll make sense to me. Once upon a time I couldn't think of a rhyme, that's a hip-hop crime, I was lost in my mind, but now I'm feeling fine, sublime, this kind, sunshine in my face, life in this place, a taste, no waste, feels weird, but we'll come back to that, no waste, feels, let's just go with that, because that's our feel, feels weird, tell the truth, feels weird, life in this place, I'm gonna cut this out, I don't like it, it's cool. Once upon a time I couldn't think of a rhyme, that's a hip-hop crime, I was lost in my mind, I won't feel fine, sublime, this kind, sunshine in my face, life in this place feels weird, okay, I can go on, and it helps if I have a focus, like if there's something I want to talk about, but you can just play with the technique, I'll tell you a story. I'm part of this program, I teach at a program called the residency, shout out to the residency, it's like a hip-hop, intensive camp, all these young people come together and they work so hard, and I got the opportunity to build a rap with one of the teachers there, and I wanted to do one that was using this technique. So I wrote four pages of rhyming words, look at all these rhyming words, and this took me like a week, I didn't do this all the one day, I did this over a long time, and anywhere I was going I kept my little notebook with me, and I would, word would pop up or somebody would say something, and I would just write it down, like, ah, that rhymes too, ah. And then I went through using this technique, built my rhyme, and I didn't like a lot of it. So I changed it over and over and over again, because I don't expect to be perfect, I've never been perfect, and I'll never be perfect, but I'd like to share that rap with you that I built. I learned it, and I performed it, and it goes like this, ignite your imagination on a search for inspiration, take an inhalation, and pique the situation, a generation facing cultural annihilation by assimilation, exfixation by incarceration, destabilization by gentrification, extermination by sterilization without authorization, maybe just intoxication, it's a covert operation of misinformation, dehumanization, spiritual contamination, but this is an affirmation that hip hop is creation. So you try it. Write down some words that rhyme, build some lines, change it, rearrange it, reframe it, give it some focus, make mistakes, lots of them, make lots and lots of mistakes, because you get better every time. Alright, don't forget to rap, R-A-P, rhythm and poetry, and that's a rap.