At work during the day there's not a lot to do, so myself and several friends write raps back and forth to each other in email. Thought I'd show some of them off.

First, one I like to call "Fun With Freestyle" One of my more laid back relaxed ones.
------
freestyle rap
sometimes it feels like a trap
you wanna say certain things but they'll sound like crap
we're too busy tryin' to rhyme our words
that we don't always say exactly what we want
oops- want don't rhyme with words
and now my meter's all off
better throw in some filler words
forget the last few lines you heard
now what rhymes wit' heard?
oh i know, you turd
yeah that's right i just called you a turd
it's nothin personal i just had to rhyme
it isn't like i'm commiting a crime
oh did ya hear that one?
rhyme and crime fit together nice.
let's see what else, let me roll the dice
i'm on a roll now and it's taking it's toll
i'm talkin 'bout nothin and i feel like a fool.
oops- toll and fool don't quite sound right
so it's time for me to stop now and call it a night

This one isn't about anything in particular. Just life sucking in general (kinda emo)
--------
I was weighed and found wanting
longing for something, I found worse than
nothing.
Isn't it ironic when you're looking for the light
at the end of the tunnel
so you fight and you struggle, your eyes
fixed to your goal
And you end up getting burned by the fiery coals
The sad truth is that nobody knows
exactly what they'll find
be it a pot of gold or the shivering cold. Will you sell or be sold?

This one's in response to people jokingly making fun of us for rapping even though we're white. It's called "A Part of Me"

Theres a million voices in my head
fightin for supremacy
i don't know which voice to be
they're all tryin to get free
people laugh cus i rap and i'm not black
but those voices know no race or creed
each ah those voices is a part of me
does that mean that somethin's wrong with me?
don't i get to choose what i wanna be?

ghetto or suburb does it even matter?
eitha way s**t aint handed up on a silver platter
you can't buy an escalade just by sellin lemonade
and if you don't dress yourself up
then you gonna get played
you gotta fight for respect you gotta earn your life
or else you end up wrecked sleepin in the streets at night

This one's just kind of a fun, "Im gonna kick your *** cuz I'm the s**t" rap.

I can take a beating an come back for more
cause i'm hardcore, just let me get my foot in the door
an i'll show ya what it means to be me
try if you want but you can't be me
-why can't you see? stop livin' in that fantasy
this is a special brand of pedigree
fancy free, shut yer mouth don't rant at me
-please. you think nobody else can see?

you're second rate, you run from fate
yer whole M.O. filled with fear and hate
stop and contemplate before you instigate
cuz i'll knock you to the ground an i'll break your face
ill gouge, shred, tear, and evicerate
ill rip you to pieces use yer nuts as bait
as yer body releases your soul i'll celebrate

The next few were inspired by a situation a friend of mine was in, where his gf cheated on him and he got drunk and went over there, and things got hairy. He ended up getting beat up by his friend (who was protecting the girl from him) and then spent the night in jail.

he drank a fifth
he was talking s**t
he wouldn't quit
they had to put him down
he was hittin' people
kickin' people
tryin' ta be cool
so they tried to put him down
they punched to the gut
a kick to his nuts
covered his body with scrapes and cuts
he didn' even feel it, he was licquered up
he wouldn' let nobody bring him down
he grabbed someone's throat
that someone got choked
he didn' know, he only went with the flow
bottle to his lips and another fifth gone
the last few drips felt like the end of a song
the tinglin' in the tips of his fingers felt wrong
he began to stumble cuz his legs felt too long
his world was a haze but his fists still flew
like only a drunken master of boxing can do
he was fu**in plastered and didn' have a clue
he began to sense lights flashing red and blue
three large men pulled him down to the dirt
a glint of silver on their deep blue shirts
he struggled on while they grabbed for his wrists
locked them behind him making useless his fists
things went dark and he woke up in a cell
the beating in his head his own private hell
he'd drank too much, went looking to fight
now his life is over cuz of that fateful night.

They tried to put him down
He put himself down instead.

----------------
and the next one, still about the previous situation. The friend's initials are M.A.R., so when he writes raps he calls himself MARZ. That's an explanation about the first line of this following rap. I wrote this in response to a whiney rap he wrote complaining about that girl.

red planet bandit off on a tangent
like he always is
i can't stand it
why don't you can it
why should we put up wit' this s**t?
you think your life's bad?
(it aint so bad)
you think you've been had?
(you aint been had)
you think it's a fad to make us feel bad for you?
you fu**ed things up
you want me to cry for you?
well I got news for you
I've had rough times too
i've drowned my problems in JD too
i've wondered how i would ever make it through
i've wished for the end of my life to come soon
i've tried to help it along once or twice too
i deal with the s**t day to day like you
do I think my life's bad?
(it aint so bad)
worse than what anyone else has had?
(no worse than anyone else has had)
life aint peaches and cream
even if for others it seems to be
and as i wrap this up and prepare to leave
i'd like to leave you with this one last thing
"the difference between what is and what could be
is the difference between coherency and a dream
and the difference between you and me
is in the attitudes we take and the ways we perceive"
now take it to heart man
make a fresh start
sit down for a bit and draw up a plan and remember:

if you believe you can then you can.

This next one's called "golddiggers..." Kind of a fun rap making fun of not having any money cause your girlfriend runs you dry.

When I get myself a girl I'm glad
But after a month or so I start to get mad
All the money that she spends
I'm feelin like I've been had
We go to the bar she says
"Just put it on his tab"

Now my pockets are empty
can't barely afford rent so we
turn the heat down an we huddle in the cold
shiverin, teeth chatterin, we cuddle an we hold eachother
it's startin to get old
an we start to hate eachother
time goes on, we start despising one another
one day she leaves to live with her father and her mother
an I'm left sittin here, an in my head I have to wonder
maybe the sex aint worth this trial by thunder

But I get myself another girl an the cycle continues
can't afford the gas, so we walkin to the venues
walkin to the parties, eatin off the dollar menus
looking for some extra cash, you don't know what I've been through

So another relationship goes down the drain
turns out the girls like money more than they like brains
I tell myself that I'm gonna take a break from this s**t
but some time goes by and I'm back in the middle of it

This is MARZ's response to "golddiggers..." I didn't write this one, he did.

( MARZ )
Johnny pass me the Jim beam
don't stop pourin shots till the bottle is empty
I got uh story for ya .. so lets proceed

here we go again or so it would seem.
same ol stupid s**t.. same ol gullible me .
confrontations, always stopin the peace.
me causin problems, people callin the police.
broken hearts and partol cars parked in the street.
pending eviction cuz uh petty suspicions between her and me.
we were the best of friends or at least she pretended to be.
this close to gettin hit with an unitentional felony-
a year in prison , probation, a P.O to follow me-
aggravated battery for battleing, been battered and beat.
she cheated us, so i beat 'er to the punch when it came to makein a scene...
didnt fling any punches but gut checked a coupla knees-
broke some s**t, choked a b**ch and got hit in the teeth-
never saw this comin, thought we were all problem free
then i went en got what i never wanted....an empty apartment and an extra key.

and my response to that.

Lissen up Marz, I understand how you feel
I been used an abused when I thought it was real
girls I thought loved me cut me outta their lives
an I found the whole time they were with other guys.
it aint easy when you give them a part of your heart
and they take it an they mash it and they tear it apart
but here's some advice man, take a second to stop and think
don't even be where they'll be when you've had something to drink
cuz you're not gonna help the situation at all
just let it go to voicemail when they're try to call
trust me Marz I've learned that people really don't change
they won't be any different tomorrow then they were today


------------

anyway, that's it for now.

Comments? Suggestions? (If you're into this stuff, feel free to write responses back too. I won't see it as thread-hijacking)

I like the first one a lot.

Admittedly, the others didn't interest me as much. They'd probably be fine if I heard them sung, I dunno. *shrug*

I hope you realize raps are way more than just a bunch of sentences where the last word rhymes :\

Maybe they flow great and I'm not reading it right, I'd have to hear it recorded to make a better judgment, but if I'm right you should listen to more Method Man

yeh, well the all flow pretty well in my head anyway (for the most part).

There's some wording in some of them that I'm not 100% happy with, and I'll probably play around with it.

Some of them, I've rapped along to a beat with and they seemed to flow ok. Mostly if there are flow issues, I'm probably already aware of them, but feel free to make some specific suggestions or point them out if you want.

Maybe if I'm not too lazy, I'll make up some recordings with a basic beat and rap along to them so you can see how it works (but I've got to warn you, I've only got a crappy computer mic).

ok, so I worke dup a beat and was kind of rapping along, and you're right, Thrawn. There's at least a few lines in each one that I'll want to rework. I don't really notice so much when I'm saying it in my head, but when you've got a steady beat going, some of them stand out a bit.

I'm gonna play around with them a bit. Some of them I've been able to reconcile to the beat just by adjusting the pace a bit and it sounds good. other lines don't seem to want to work no matter how I say them, so i'll see what I can do to move that stuff around a bit.

Some guys I talk to found this site:

http://www.spokenvswritten.com/

You should sign up, it seems to keep the skills sharp and foster improvement

Here's a verse from one of the guys in my group:

that's cool, thanks for the link.

I registered up. I'll probably pass that on to a few friends too.

here's today's batch. Battled this guy Brian at my work. (mine are in bold, his are regular, comments in italics.)

whats going on jon, are you biting your tongue
thinking of your perfect rap song
hold on while i hand you a pensil
now you can write it down as it hits you
im the wrong guy you wanna battle,
your the wrong guy, cause you'll tattle,
im tryin to keep this **** simple
so the marks will only leave a dimple
no scars no marks just a lil dent
you know everything i say was intentionally meant
yea i'll lend you my phone so you can pay your rent
but dont ask for favors im not a nice guy
im just bored awaiting home, to some pink apple pie.

ok, so I did borrow his phone to work out an issue with my rent, cause I left mine at home. This was after I took some time to respond to his previous attack (which I can't find) because we were really busy.

Come on, Brian. Stop trying to tear me.
I'm tryin ta do my job, do ya hear me?
So shut yer mouth or i'll make you fear me.
you'll s**t yer pants and won't wanna sit near me.
that's fine with me i don't want you here anyways
i'm not a homophobe but i don't sit near gays
you call yerself a gangsta but you dig the country music
half-way-crook, step away, 'fore i lose it
i'll cut you down, an not just lyrically
i'll pound you into the ground empirically.
oh i used a big word, did you catch that you fairy?
allow me to link you to a dictionary.
( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/empirically )
now how the hell do ya rhyme with a hyperlink? (haha)
guess i'll just finish up an go have a drink.

Brian's an oddity. He likes rap music, and country. Go figure. To be fair, I enjoy country on occaision myself.. But it's a rap battle, gotta pull out all the stops.

half way crook huh haha ok eminem lets go
your last rap was cute to me
you only took about three hours just to make it flow
it sounds good but you dont know what the **** yer sayin
haha id like to see you try to make me payin
i'll cut you all the time, tear you with each line
don't tell on me cause ima commit a crime
f**k yer link i got one a mine and it only cost a dime
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gay)
yer rap sucks but it could use a chyme,
i'll even give you one of mine,
still dont flow cause you write too slow,
you need to write something more suspenseful
go home with a pencil, take a night to think it thru,
breath or else you'll turn blue, jon ur gay but who knew!

"i'm gay but who knew?!"
guess i hide it much better than you
we all know you like it in the a**
but when someone sticks their d**k in my face i pass
your rhymes are like some kinda legal contract
full ah s**t than no one gets, so try to keep it on track
some day you'll learn you can't just rhyme random words
you gotta pay attention when your chiming those verbs
oops i stole yer rhyme. what you gonna do?
same thing you'll do when i steal your girl from you
you'll go cry inna corner, whine cause i'm on ya
day and night im'ah charm ya
harvest your s**t an farm ya

sorry jon ill stop sayin your homo
im going to ignore that fact and leave u alone now
your too easy to pick on
when u use my lines to put ur flip on
listen this is how it is, this is what its came to'
youve worked here longer'n me
and i get more sales than u do,
i dont even like you
back off your not welcome here
get up go pack your gear
and go find someone that wants you
http://dictionary.reference.com/unwanted
take that link and read very closely
ahh s**t im using your lines to make u feel lonely

what you don't like me?
is that s'posed ta surprise me?
you want me to cry just becuz you despise me?
maggot's opinions don't matter much to me
i get my respect from much better than you, B.
if i ever start to care about the things in me you see
i'll give someone a gun an ask them to shoot me.
why you gotta try to livin' yer life through me?
you can't beat me at this game, so don't try, newbie.

Eh, you've got a long way too go. Not that I'd do better.