In my opinion, the flow of rap plays a big role in how you build your rhymes. In more cases than any, how you say it is as important as what you say. With that said, today we are going to talk briefly about the flow of rap.

Flow is just one additional item in your arsenal. I’ve heard rappers who had tight lyrics but a weak rap flow or a nice rap flow but weak lyrics. Now add tight lyrics and a tight flow over a tight beat and you may have a classic record on your hands.

So let’s talk about a few things that affect your flow. Flow is distinguished by how well it handles the rhythm. Some factors come into play in how well you handle the pace.

Five factors that affect flow:

• Breath
• Syllables
• Pause
• Rhyme placement
• Word length

The five factors before each can have an effect on your rap flow. We will talk about each one separately.

The way you breathe between rhymes can affect your rap beat. Artists like Big Pun, Bone Thugs, and Twister have incredible breath control. It’s hard to rhyme more than 2 or 3 bars without breathing, especially the louder your voice is, but when you decide to breathe when the rhyme will have a slight effect on your rap beat. Note that punch-ins can have the same effect as not breathing in a register.

Syllables also play an important role in the flow of rap. The syllable structure you choose to use will also affect your fluency. For example, say a full measure of one-syllable words and then a full measure of two-syllable words. You see the difference? That said, the order in which you use your syllables will also influence the flow of your rap. Keep this in mind the next time you are recording.

Pause is another factor, similar to where you choose to breathe, a pause can play the same factor and also have an effect on your flow. Although you don’t need to take a breath when you pause your rhyme, you can place a pause at the beginning of a line, in the middle, and another at the end, or wherever you want. That mainly depends on the artist and the desired flow.

Where you choose to place your rhymes is also another factor that plays into the development of your flow. The location of the rhyme may be the most important factor of all. The points you choose to put the rhyming words will determine how your fluency will develop. Inner rhyme, slant rhyme and the like fall under the location of the rhyme in relation to the flow of rap.

Last but least now, the length of your word will also have an effect. Does it extend its syllables like Big and Pac did in some of its streams, or is it something of a Ja Rule type stream? Where you choose will determine what your stream will sound like. In conclusion, add some of the 5 factors to your rhymes and see where you can get. Use various combinations of the five factors and find the flow that suits you best.

Best of luck.