Hip-Hop Education Thread

[Bomb-A®]

ive only been listening to hiphop since only 97-98 and i dont live in the US so there's a lot of things i dont understand about hip-hop (phrases etc) and i thought this would be good place to get things cleared out...so i thought of making this thread so i can ask a few questions and maybe some1 can clear things up....nd maybe others can post theyre questions too

so here's my first question:

What is a Bar? (as in 300 Bars)



peace

[J Bananas]

a bar is a stretch of time in a song, usually the length of one melody loop. the average hip hop song has about 16 bars in a verse, and 2-4 bars in the chorus. when they talkin about spittin bars, their just talkin about puttin in work on a track, more bars, the longer it is, which some artists interpret as more talent.

[Theodore]

i always thought 1 bar = 1line in a verse/chorus

[Low Key]

1 bar is 2 lines, usually rhyming. For example from 2pac's Ambitionz Az A Ridah...

So many battlefield scars while drivin' in plush cars
This life as a rap star is nothin without heart

[Danté Williams]

1 bar is 2 lines, usually rhyming. For example from 2pac's Ambitionz Az A Ridah...

So many battlefield scars while drivin' in plush cars
This life as a rap star is nothin without heart

Really? I'd say that's 2 bars right there.

[Bomb-A®]

if 1 bar = 1 line, then 16 bars = a very short verse



peace

[Machiavelli]

1 bar= 1 line

[Soulful]

1 bar is 2 lines, usually rhyming. For example from 2pac's Ambitionz Az A Ridah...

So many battlefield scars while drivin' in plush cars
This life as a rap star is nothin without heart

^^
correct.thats 1 bar

[Mac 10 †]

01    You'd love to hear the story how the thugs live in worry
02    Duck down in car seats, heat's mandatory
03    Runnin from Jake, gettin chased, hunger for papes
04    These are the breaks many mistakes go down out of state
05    Wait, I had to let it marinate we carry weight
06    Tryin to get laced, flip the ace stack the safe
07    Millionaire plan to keep the gat with the cop camera
08    Makin moves in Atlanta, back and forth scrambler
09    Cause you could have all the chips, be poor or rich
10    Still nobody want a nigga havin shit
11    If I ruled the world and everything in it, sky's the limit
12    I push a Q-45 Infinit
13    It wouldn't be no such thing as jealousies or B Felonies
14    Strictly living longevity to the destiny
15    I thought I'd never see but reality struck
16    Better find out before your time's out, what the fuck???

16 bars: taken from Nas - If I Ruled The World


01    Ever since you was a pee-wee, down by my knee with a wee-wee
02    We been coochie-coo all through school, you and me G
03    Back in the days we played practical jokes on
04    everybody smoked with they locs and the yolks on
05    All through high school, girls by the dozens
06    Sayin we cousins, knowin that we wasn't
07    But like the old saying goes
08    Times goes on, and everybody grows
09    Grew apart, had to part, went our own ways
10    You chose the dope gaaaane, my microphone pays
11    In many ways we were paid in the old days
12    So far away from the crazies with AK's
13    And though I been around clowning with the Underground
14    I'm still down with my homies from the hometown
15    And if you need, need anything at all
16    I drop it all for y'all, if my homies call

16 bars: taken from 2Pac - If My Homies Call


hope this helps...

[Cheese]

a bar is a stretch of time in a song, usually the length of one melody loop. the average hip hop song has about 16 bars in a verse, and 2-4 bars in the chorus. when they talkin about spittin bars, their just talkin about puttin in work on a track, more bars, the longer it is, which some artists interpret as more talent.

[Elevz]

The amount of rhymes or lines that fit on one bar really depends on the style of the rapper, flow etc. 2Pac spits the "So many battlefield scars while drivin' in plush cars, this life as a rap star is nothin without heart" pretty fast on a beat that's not too fast, so yeah.

It has to be said though, there's bars in every genre of music, not just hiphop. Instrumental genres got bars in them too. A bar is just the definition of the small amount of time a melody or drumloop takes. Rappers are basically just filling up those bars, and it so happens that rhyming in 4x4 schemes sounds really logical to the listener. You shouldn't stop the rhymes after about ten bars because it will usually sound strange and unlogical. Four bars at a time is the rule usually.

[UKnowWhatItIs: welcome to my traps....game over]

1 bar= 1 line

[E-L-P]

Here the breakdown, pass the doja, .45 in the holster
Hollow tips'll fold 'em, them niggaz they toy soldiers

Oh, that boy colder than Hova unless he sober
Like I'm the president, but this ain't the takeover

Now, there's the speaker, bring your ears a little closer
Before you call this a diss, and you make Hova pissed

Why would I wanna do that? When I'm just the new cat
That was taught if a nigga take shots to shoot back

Defending his yard, yeah standing his ground
I'm saying if you gonna retire, then hand me the crown

Nah, let Bleek do it, then throw him a concert in Madison square
Watch everybody sleep through it

We can go bar for bar, I'll let the lines speak to 'em
What they say? Bleek is over let Chris and Neef do it

They say the wrong thing, I'ma smack 'em silly
What you thought? Them was the only niggaz that rapped in Philly?

See them niggaz with the soonies leave you wrapped in Philly
Then dash in groups like Beanie Mac in Philly

said Curtis Jack in Philly
Make a U-turn, I gotta go back to Philly

I forgot my cheese steak, that's what I told the cops
So they wouldn't get the dogs start searching for the glock

And I can't forget, B.I.G. got murdered by the cops
Even I was Ready To Die, when I heard that he was shot

What's beef? Beef is when I murk you on the spot
Labels signing many things, still searching for they Pac

I put purple on the block
So I don't feel threatened when Ludacris say he coming for the #1 spot

Ask 50, it get lonely on top
You can hate me or love me, but now the cops the only homies he got

When it's beef we eat, we win, but we ain't lonely we pop
You sell records but a GGG-u not!

Acting big on the radio, to me you not
You can ask Mr. CCC who hot

Tony Yayo I bet 10 G's you flop
Run up on that new 300 C you got

Stop hoping I fall, hope the bleeding stop
And I hope you black out before you see the cops

I ain't hot top for colors, I'm from Cedar Block
So I got my hot tops that make your breathing stop

I'm a gangsta slash rapper, check your CD shop
I'm like Elvis in there, they can't believe you dropped

Now I'm moving on up to George and Weezy's spot
I picked up where my homeboy Eazy stopped

I saw the west coast, put the shit on my back
Sprayed Aftermath on it, then loosened the strap

It get hot in here, let Lucifer rap
Bring hell to niggaz when Dre producing a track

Take it to the streets, put the duece duece to your hat
Then call up the pigs, tell them the rooster's back

Call Jadakiss, tell him that duke is back
I'm still by your side, no matter who comes strapped

Fuck Lloyd Banks, it ain't about who can rap
It's about when the clap, is rufus back

I see what you thinkin, you want me to die, is that so?
Now you left leaning back, thanks to Fat Joe

We got reservations in heaven, you ready? Let's go
Drop them off, then the sound like Esko

I'm a say if me and Dre talk
All Nas said back was he had a

Now that's the eulogy, beef is kinda foolish see
Niggaz running their mouth about what the fuck they gon' do to me

But quit the yapping before I proceed to clapping
And you gon' see the captain with plans of getting me captured

Even behind bars, I'm still gon' shine
I'm 10 years younger than Yayo, I get out, I'm fine

Then I go right back, nigga I pop mines
How you gon' drop Olivia, you only drop dimes

I knew you changed, when you started sleeping in that vest dog
I don't need 50 Cent, my niggaz make collect calls

1-800-split a faggot nigga wig
He got G-Unit wings, throw them off the Queens Bridge

Now your career is over, career is over
We in QB, banging CNN in the rover

T-O-N-Y, that's the phony NORE
You ain't the talk of New York, your sixteens is boring

Take that shit off , go back to PC
And tell 50 Cent you want a copy of Beef 3

I'm airing their ass out on DVD
You wanna rhyme like Lloyd Banks repeat after me

I'm a G-Unit toy soldier
On Sesame street doing voice overs

Bitch ass nigga need a rhyme dictionary, to rehearse his lines
Sound like Oscar the Grouch, with them nursery rhymes

We was in the studio, when I first got signed
He got stuck, he called 50 tryna borrow some lines

That's the wrong nigga, when you need help with your rhymes
All he gon' tell you is say G-Unit one more time

Got mad cuz I ain't wanna make your beef mine
You got lucky with Ja, why you aint go at Shyne?

He freestyled from the pen, that's just the fact
Said he'd put you with your mom, and you ain't fucked with that

Then you lied about your pops, he ain't never bust no cap
Like Father, Like Son, go ask Busta that

I knew from the beginning I couldn't trust those cats
I'd kill 'em all, if I could bring Justo back

The underground is mine, I treat it like home
It's the reason niggaz saying my name like Mike Jones

The underground is mine, I treat it like home
It's the reason niggaz saying my name like Mike Jones

The underground is mine, I treat it like home
It's the reason niggaz saying my name like Mike Jones

I said
The underground is mine, I treat it like home
It's the reason niggaz saying my name like Mike Jones

And I'm far from Houston but you can chop it and screw it
Do whatever to it, but it in the store the shit moving

Gave 'em a hundred bars, they ain't think I could do it
Came with two hundred, nigga this is more than music

Even Dre knew it, that boy hot like summer
Both in the dirt, 300 Bars and Runnin

And I beef with any nigga, say my name muthafuck I'm gunnin'
You can put it on skee if you want it

I'll air you out on Drama King, Mike, or Clue
And watch them shits sell out like a Air Jordon shoe

I told Funk Flex when I catch the nigga Whoo Kid
We gon' see if he know how to DJ with bruised ribs

Don't hit me on the sidekick asking what you did
Get a gun or ask 50's police to use his

Cuz Bloods gonna get ya
Bloods, Bloods gonna get ya for that Shadyville chain

That 380 spill brains, when I pop shots
Outside NY, in front of hip-hop cops

Or broad day in L.A., I'ma tell Em and Dre
This nigga bootlegging my music, ain't nothing for him to say

Took me off my own songs, then put it on his tapes
So I'ma take him out his house, put the beam on his face

Drop him off at Terror Squad, let him scream for the jakes
Cuz when you fucking with Jayceon, you can bleed in the lake

For caking off niggaz on them CD's and tapes
Ask them to scratch a record, you will see he fake

If 50 was Puffy, you'd run and go get him a cheese cake
Take the DJ off your name, Mr. Instant replay

Not the instant replay
I mean the machine that G-Unit use every time 50 on stage singing like

Bitches only feel your shit just a lil bit
Niggaz only feel your shit just a lil bit

On my album 50 helped me just a lil bit
Only on two songs, now back to some killer shit

My clips bananas, I kill a gorilla quick
Beating on your chest, I see to your death, yep

Tell Ecko to make him a suit
Tell Reebock to make him some boots

Get him a head band, to cover the holes in his head
He a dead man for thinking he can walk through muddy waters like Redman

Banks blacked out and let the gun blam
without a M-E-T-H-O-D Man

So the lieutenant gotta ask for his strings
Take my advice, never wear air max for the

Unless you one of the Bloods, or a latin king
Cuz if your left with the Aryans your ass will sting

And your cell mate is a 25 to lifer
They will stab you then then fuck you on Rikers

And Life Goes On
Now back to the coward of the hour who lied and said he write my songs

He told Vibe Dre was gonna leave me on the shelf
So he gave me all his hits, you should've kept them for yourself

Nigga stop acting tough before I stand over you
Show you how The Documentary live on top of The Massacre

Make a move I'm blasting your ass to the last one
Ten shots from the Mack empty the rest in the passenger

Fase yelling thats enough, let the coroner bag him up
Throw in Makaveli and lift the doors on the Maganum

Gun smoking, Fase think I'm locin' backing up
Reverse the '05 hurse on 41st and traffic, what

Hip-Hop cops on my left, but I pass 'em up
The Dodge got a hemmy in it, Game got a Remy in 'em

In and out of lanes like a New York cab
I miss the Old King that New York had

Who's this fake nigga, on pictures with the Jake nigga?
Got his crew starving cuz he aint the whole cake, nigga

He ain't Nas, ain't B.I.G., ain't Jigga
If he ain't Cube or Pac then who you got?

We getting tired of you talkin about who you shot
I'll use another six bars to tell you who you not

You ain't 50 Cent, he went out like a gangsta
You went out with Vivica, three months after wanksta

Get Rich or Die Tryin, we thought you was hot
Now the same nigga wanna take us to the Candy Shop

C'mon man, what happened to the thug?
Now you could find in the club, him and Lloyd Banks hugging

Nigga got mad when The Game start buzzing
So fuck making friends now I'm into throwing slugs

Olivia talking about we a family, Game had to go
Nigga I'll smack that ho like I'm Jackie-O

Cuz I don't wanna be cool, I don't wanna be you
I don't wanna shake hands, or wear your G-Unit shoes

Don't want you on my hooks, don't wanna be in your group
Just wanna sit here and wait

To be gone, so I can head back to the block
Fresh white Nike airs and the matching socks fitted

Pull the brim low, if they don't get it
Bentley Coup on gold daytons, I was the first one with it

Four times platinum, I done been there and did it
Came in the game and shitted, then wiped my ass with it

They say the Lord givth, if Lord take it away
So I build a house on top of Hip-Hop, I'll wait for the day

Niggaz hating on me, they don't want Jayceon to play
And the DA waiting on Jayceon to make a mistake

So they can put me in the SWAT car and lock me away
Give me a odd job in the pen for minimum pay

Let me out so I can drive down criminal way
Pushing the rock, nah this ain't no subliminal Jay

The summer too hot, and I want the winter to stay
Cuz I'm a cold nigga when I put the pen to the page

Similar to them shells going into my gauge
I hand 'em off to Dre, he turned them into granades

And Just Blaze, cuz the boy got game
Like I close my eyes, and woke up in a Roc chain

Now back to reality, my gun and my vest
And if diamonds are forever, then I'm Kanye West

Take a look at my chest, a hundred thou wet jacob
Whole crew got chains, a hundred thou can't break 'em

And the flow is hot like that wit Satan
And the only thing I got spinning is Daytons

The hotter I get the more willing to snake 'em
So soon as the beat drop, watch where I take 'em

Compton Swap meet, to get me some All-Stars
When Game in the house, they call

Cuz they heard about what went on in D.C.
Heard about Hot 97, my beef with 50

Now tell me do he got a conscience?
I think not, cuz if he did I wouldn't be involved in this nonsense

Wouldn't be in Harlem, wouldn't be at this conference
I'd rather be pushing rock, like Samantha Ronson

50 whispered in my ear, like we still bonding
We ain't friends, I'm just acting like Charles Bronson

Middle finger in the air, one hand on my Johnson
Hip-Hop police on me like I'm the convict

What happened to the old school? I thought it was rhyming
Doug E. Fresh and Dana Day on the corner like Common

Now that ain't common, it's more like Top Ramen
The flow is news, I throw it up like vomit

And I still shine like diamonds
They kicked me out of G-Unit and I rebounded like Rodman

It's still Aftermath, two feet in the pentition
I be mad, I ain't, I'm supposed to stop I can't because

I'm in the hood politican, Impala liftin'
And I keep a black .45 on the side of my prada denim

Chip on my shoulder like I'm fresh outta prison
Dollar vision, blow a hundred thou like my wallet missing

Then re-up like kid before the d-cup
Continuously getting money with my feet up

Chasing the throne, here my black Air Force
I said fuck Benzino and got the cover of The Source

Feel me? If not then I guess you gotta kill me
But you ain't gon' do that so muthafucka move back

While I do B.I.G. and 'Pac impersonations on two tracks
When I wake the dead, everybody remove hats

We miss ya'll, can I get a hand clap?

Now back to rap, why I gotta stay strapped?
On that murder T-I-P, kill you ASAP

They won't know which hole to patch up, when the clap
I tried to spare you Young Buck, now it's time for payback

It go, how you from Cashville but you ain't got no cash nigga?
Say my name now that's your fucking ass nigga

Kept your mouth shut and I gave you a pass nigga
Now I gotta lay you down like the last nigga

Buck, buck, buck from my AK-47
This nigga playing with his life, I might have to put him in heaven

Tryna play the game, talking shit up on the stereo
Prepare for burial, it's when I'm reincarnating Harry-O

And you don't want that David cuz you love your life
Get my Vibe, when it's war he pull out butter knifes

Muthafucka I'ma show you who the gangsta
All you do is Murder Inc., now who the wanksta?

When Suge had you, you were stranded on Tha Row
Juve left you for dead and went back to the NO

50 heard you on the tour bus and felt your little flow
Then he made you temporary replacement for Yayo

You a bitch, and that's hard to swallow
And you got robbed for your spinning G-Unit chain in Chicago

I call my nigga Jojo to get it back
He had the shit in his hands, and you ain't had the ten stacks

Picture that, I thought we was G-Unit
Then you ran and told 50 that I did that shit

Ask C-Murder, the boy ain't hard to find
I told Monica when I catch him The Boy is Mine

Take one shot of Brandy and pop
Watch his panties drop, when I run inside the Candy Shop

Fuck you, 50, Banks, Yayo, and the cops
And Olivia, I mean for a man she hot

Now I'm running out of breath, like I just beat boxed
Got 20 bars to go, lay it down like sheet rock

Don't worry about the flow, the boy know he hot
Hurricanes in store November, nigga fuck Reebocks

I'm fly like a Hummingbird on a tree top
The new Hov, the new B.I.G., the new 'Pac, I need three spots

280 in, ain't no getting me back
I'm yelling fuck the world, on my victory lap

Remember first it was Buddens, then it was Bleek
Now it's whoever muthafucka, yeah, who want beef?

Now whenever muthafucka, who wanna see me?
In the coffin, body exhausted, resting in peace

You don't want war nigga, you want peace
So give 'em the peace, capiche (sp?)
Let 'em rest in peace

From west to east the flow is outdatable, irreplacable
Lyrical homicide, hell is hot, I'm boxing with Satan

And I slipped 'em the ace, you cannot replace 'em
If Eazy ever decide to return, I remain Jayceon

A king in the making, and the throne is for the taking
So I climb the mountain top and put my stake in

Got the weight of the world on my shoulder
Not a nigga nor a hoodrat bitch can stop me from taking it over

This is crack music, go get the baking soda
300 Bars and Runnin, nigga the wait is over

I'm gone

[Bomb-A®]

^^ do u think any1 has the time to count that???



peace

[E-L-P]

NOPE
I DIDN'T EVEN COUNT IT