This one-hour workshop explores the intersection of rap lyricism and the poetics of constrained writing.

Hip-hop has a rich poetic tradition. Constrained writing, a la the Oulipo, offers a fun and generative creative framework. By applying the lens of constraints to hip-hop lyricism we'll learn to better appreciate its creative potential.

One part writing workshop, one part primer on creative constraints, we'll push the limits of rhyme-writing and come away with a few solid bars of our own.

This workshop is part of the final presentations for Teaching as Art Online at the School for Poetic Computation, Summer 2020.

Introduction to constrained writing and the work of the Oulipo

Elements of rap lyricism: rhyme, meter, content, delivery, style

Micro-structures, how words fit with the beat, meter and subdivisions, syncopation, variation

Exercise: write a couplet that demonstrates interesting internal rhythmic structure

How words sound, in combination; complexity, internal rhyme, sound, semantics

Exercise: create your own rhyme scheme (not ABAB / AABB); write 4+ lines in it

How elements fit together: bars, verses, songs

Common structures, and ideas for experimental ones

Exercise: outline an idea for a constrained song structure

Factors in performance; vocal variations: speed, dexterity, tone, style, "flow"

We'll each share a favorite example or two from the previous exercises

Anyone with an appreciation of hip-hop as art and craft, and interest in experimental writing.

You don't need specific experience with rap or poetry, but you should feel comfortable jumping in and participating in a series of rapid creative challenges, and open to sharing some rough writing experiments with others.

This workshop is content-agnostic; your subject matter can be anything you like. The focus is on structure and style, but you're welcome to experiment with substance / semantics as well!

Bring a few ideas for topics you'd like to write about — no need for serious song concepts, just a few loose prompts for themes, situations, or images that may be a fun starting point to guide your writing.

Please also come with a list of some words, phrases, or other language elements you'd like to try incorporating. For an extra challenge, if you have a particular constraint you'd like to try working with, bring that as well!

This is a short workshop, and we won't get into recording your lyrical creations, though it's important to consider how the aural component of rap — delivery and recording — is just as important to the written words themselves.

You'll come away from the workshop with some seeds, a few bars or the beginnings of a verse, that I hope may spark some future explorations in hip-hop lyricism. If you go on to create longer work, I'd love to hear it!

Hey, I'm Brendan, aka MCTBD. I've been writing hip-hop lyrics on and off for over half my life. My rap-writing practice is less as a serious recording artist (though I have recorded a few songs over the years), and more as a playful creative outlet.

I've always loved the experimental side of writing, from inserting gratuitous flourishes in high school essays, to exploring digital literature and poetry writing in college seminars. I enjoy both learning about how creative writing works, and trying my hand at it in practice. Given the scant scholarship around hip-hop poetics generally, it's no surprise I haven't found much practical pedagogy merging lyricism and creative constraints. So, I had to create this workshop!

You can listen to a few tracks I've recorded here, including my Oulipian-inspired "Diphthong Song", a series of stanzas each constrained to use only 2 of 5 vowels.