How Long Is A Hook In A Song

How Long Is A Hook In A Song

How long is a hook in a song you ask?  Well it's not that long.  A hook in a song is roughly 8 bars long.  What many rappers do for their hooks is they will write a 4 bar chorus and then say the chorus twice.  This will equal out to a normal hook structure.

There are other rappers who do it a little different.  Some of them will actually rap out 8 bars and spit it straight through.  This becomes the chorus for that type of structure.  With this kind of hook it does not hold the value of the other kind of hook styles because lacks the repetition that makes a hook stick in your head.

Another chorus type has the same 8 bar length but it is a little simpler.  Some rappers will write 2 bars and repeat them 4 times.  This structure is similar to how Drake raps the hook in the song "Started From The Bottom."  He simply says the two lines and then says them again and again and then again.  If you are lazy with your hook writing or if you just get cant come up with anything else then try this hook method.

32 Bar Rap

32 Bar Rap

If you want to know what a 32 bar rap is then I will definitely tell you what it is.  No we are not talking about how to wrap 32 candy bars.  We are referring to a rap song structure type.  In a rap song there are rhyming lines.  Each rhyming line represents a sentence.  Each sentence represents a thought.  And each of those thought is a rap bar.

In a basic rap song structure of 16 bars every two lines will rhyme with each other.  The first line and then second line will rhyme and so on.  Once you have your 16 lines or rhyming sentences that makes up a verse.  In a 32 bar rap you have two verses.  The 32 bar rap song structure is not really common.  The standard rap song structure is three verses.

In order to not be so similar to other artists some rappers will attempt to refine the way they do their rap songs and they will often try new structures of a rap song.  Having a two verse rap song structure means also having two hooks as well.  The chorus will follow each of the verses.

Once drawback of a 32 bar rap is the song length.  By making the song 32 bars it will shorten the time of a typical rap song.  The length of an average rap song on the radio is about 3-4 minutes.  This kind of rap will vary from the normal 48 bar rap which is the industry standard.

Rap Song Hook And Verse Length

How Long Is A Hook In A Song

There is a frequently asked question of how long is a hook in a rap song.  The answer is different depending on the length of the verses of the song.  The hook of a typical 3 verse rap song and a 2 verse rap song is 8 bars long.  That means that there are 8 rhyming lines.  The difference between them is that a 3 verse rap song usually has the hook in it 3 times.  Where as a 2 verse rap song typically has the hook 2 times in it.  The hook always follows the the verse.  So if you have 3 verses then you have 3 hooks and if you have 2 verses then you have 2 hooks.  The chorus is used at times as and intro and also the chorus can be used as the outro.  I hope that this helps you to know how long is a hook in a song.
  

How Long Is A Rap Verse

Another question often asked is how long is a rap verse.  A typical rap verse is 16 bars long.  This is what is referred to as a hot 16 or when someone says spit 16 bars.  Rap verses are usually sixteen lines in lenght.  There are also other types of rap verses such as a 24 bar rap verse.  A 24 bar rap verse is typically apart of a rap song that will include only 2 verses within it.  The structure is as such: intro, first verse, first hook, 2nd verse, second chorus, and an outro.

How Long Of Hook On 24 Bar Verse

On a 24 bar verse the typical hook is 8 bars long.  It is the same hook structure as a chorus on a 16 bar verse.  The same rules apply on both type of rap songs.  However there is no set way to structure your rap song.  You can have your producer to tailor a beat to fit any style that you would like to rap.  For instance if you wanted to have 4 verses in your rap song instead of three then you could request that you music producer add an additional 16 bars to the beat for the forth verse and another 8 bars to the beat for the fourth hook.  But if you examine the average song on the radio or on an album then the 8 bars is how long of a hook on a 24 bar verse

How Long Should A Rap Song Be

There is no set length of how long should a rap song be.  The typical rap song is 88 bars long.  It should look like the following:

RAP SONG PART	NUMBER OF BARS
INTRO	8 BARS
FIRST VERSE	16 BARS
FIRST HOOK	8 BARS
SECOND VERSE	16 BARS
SECOND HOOK	8 BARS
THIRD VERSE	16 BARS
THIRD HOOK	8 BARS
OUTRO	8 BARS

 So the "intro" should be 8 bars long.

The "1st verse" should be 16 bars long.

The "1st hook" should be 8 bars long.

The "2nd verse" should be 16 bars long.

The "2nd hook" should be 8 bars long.

The "3rd verse" should be 16 bars long.

The "3rd hook" should be 8 bars long.

And the "outro" should be 8 bars long.

Rap About Women: Subject To Rap About

Rap About Women

In order to rap about women you will need to know a great deal about them.  And if it's one thing that a rapper knows is women.  A rap video is worthless it seem without some beautiful, brown, voluptuous woman shaking what her momma gave her in it.  I can think of very few rappers who have ever make a rap video without this criteria.

And what straight man would not want that?  To rap about women you need to have women.  When dealing with them you have to take into account emotions and attitudes whether they be good or bad.  When you write a subject about women be sure to relay all of the experiences that you have gathered while dealing with them.  Was there a special woman that stole your heart?  Did she feel the same about you?  Did she break your heart into little pieces?

Write about women you may have only been with for one night.  Why was she not worthy to be more than a one night stand.  Maybe there's a woman that is pursuing you to be the father of her future children.  Whatever the topic may be you can rap about women extensively.  Your whole adult and maybe teenage life has been spend dealing with women on one level or another.  So take those experiences and turn them into a good topic to rap about.

Rap About Selling Drugs: Subject To Rap About

Rap About Selling Drugs

I really don't understand why a rapper would rap about selling drugs.  Why would you commit a crime and then willingly tell on yourself.  Seem ass backwards to me but it has always been one of the most popular topics to rap about.  Every rapper knows the consequences of getting caught with a controlled substance while driving or in their hotel room.  Turn on the news every other week some entertainer's mugshot it plastered all over the evening new about being busted with drugs.  This is a reoccurring theme in society today.  And for that reason you should have plenty of subject that you can produce from topic of selling drugs.

Tell your tales about how you got into the drug game.  Tell rhymes about how you would be out in the cold for several day and nights rocking the same clothes until your finger tips were numb.  Was business booming that well.  Tell about the parents of your friends that would come to you to by drugs because they were strung out.  How did that make you feel for your friends mom to offer you sex acts in exchange for drugs because she had no money.  Were you remorseful for selling your people drugs and death.  Or did you feel like if you didn't sell them drugs then someone else would and so you took the money. 

Tell about the issue you had to endure from the cops as a result of them seeing you dealing drugs regularly on the block.  Did the cops arrest you multiple times?  Did the cops take liberty and rough you up with police brutality?  When they stopped you did they take your money and drugs for themselves and then let you go with a warning?  Maybe and officer gunned down someone you know who was caught selling drugs and had a gun on him. Whatever the case may be there are almost infinite scenarios that can play out in your raps about selling drugs.

Rap About Sex: Subject To Rap About

Rap About Sex

A staple is the bulk of popular rap songs is to rap about sex.  Who gets more sex than a rapper?  Every rap song details how he met this girl and that girl.  How he smooth talked her into his apartment, hotel room or home.  How sexy she was and how little clothes she had on.  Then go on to what sex acts the woman or women performed on him.  And how long his stamina allowed him to last.  Then the next night rinse and repeat. Rapper fill their albums with songs that rap about women.

At every show or concert you can find teens on up to cougars throwing themselves on a rapper.  So it is no wonder how a rap about sex can be and easy topic to cover.  You can write in detail about what made a particular woman so desirable that you would sex her.  Did she stare at you from the front row while you were performing?  Did she make sexual gestures or flash her body parts at you to get your attention and turn you on?  Did she manage to find her way backstage and into your dressing room only to be in there barely clothed waiting for you.  There are many examples of subject to rap about sex.

Tell if the sex was good or bad.  Did she make herself submissive to your every desire or did she try to dominate you in raunchy manner?  Some women are like that you know!  Rap about how long you had sex and what positions the two or three of you manage to figure out.  Was it a one night thing or is it an ongoing thing.  Is she threatening to tell your spouse or girlfriend about your secret relations.  Maybe she is claiming to be pregnant with your love child in hopes to get her hand on some of that rap money that you have been steadily making?

No matter the scenario it is a good topic to rap about sex.

Rap About Clubbing: Subject To Rap About

Rap About Clubbing

If you are a party animal then it should be a no brainer for you to rap about clubbing.  What rapper has not started his career off in the clubs.  The clubs are the breeding ground for rap careers.  Local night spot may be the only place and up and coming rap artist can get his music spun.  A lot of times the radio station program directors will seek some type of payola to spin your music.  And so the club seems to be where rappers feel more at home.  And for that reason alone you can tell stories of how you struggled to get where you are and clubbing was your thing.

Rappers bring their homies and their entourages to night blubs religiously.  There is always some celebrity gossip magazine detailing exciting VIP romps of celebrity rappers and some actress or supermodel that he is supposedly secretly dating.  If the tabloid magazines can use this subject to write about why can't you.  After all it's your lifestyle and not theirs!

When crafting your rap songs about being at the club you should highlight all of the things that go on there.  Is there a hot female bartender that you love to flirt with.  Maybe there are celebrity women that you may have slept with in the club's VIP section.  Who knows what goes on behind those close door better that a rapper in that position.  This topic is extensive to write about because there is no shortage of elements and details related to it.  Almost every rap song nowadays is centered around clubbing.  So go with what works.  Like the old saying goes “if it ain't broke then don't try to fix it!”  Stick with what works and rapping about clubbing is a tried and true subject to rap about.

Rap About Clothes: Subject To Rap About

Rap About Clothes

It is routine to hear someone rap about clothes in a song.  The items that a rapper wears is the most telling part of his whole style.  You can basically tell how successful a rap star is by studying the things he wears.  If a rapper wear the brand of hip hop clothing he wore before he signed his deal then it's safe to say he is not very successful.  But if you notice a rapper wearing $1000 sneakers then it's a safe bet that he probably is well on his way to a certain level of riches.  And a good subject to rap about there is how you rose from a low lever earner to where you are now. 

I have noticed favorite rappers begin their rap careers wearing brands like Nike, Dickies, Timberland and the such.  And a few years later they were wearing Prada sneakers, Louis Vuitton and Gucci.  Brands of this caliber tend to show that a person has attained a certain level of financial success as a rapper.  The financial growth you go thru as a rap artist can be an excellent topic for you to write a rap about.

Make sure to focus on the details.  Be sure to include all of the ups and down that you have experienced on the road to earning your success.  Include details about the styles and brands you used to adorn and the clothes you no longer wear.  Explain the reason you don't wear certain brands any more.  Could it be because a designer said he didn't want people like you wearing his designs?  Could it be because those particular clothes are beneath your level of dress for the level of success that you have reached.  Whatever it is be sure to include details when you write your raps about this subject.