Rakim - Sweat the Technique: Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius

I hear the same questions all the time. Whats it mean to be a writer? A rapper? A lyricist? Where do I go in my mind to create the perfect rhyme? What energy do I channel to move an audience? To manipulate syllables into syncopated flow and paint a story with words and music? How do I get someone to stop a record, rewind, replay, and rethink everything they thought they heard the first time?

What made me sit down thirty years ago and say, My name is Rakim Allah, and Im about to flip the whole script?

My writing starts in an empty room. It doesnt really matter where because I have written everywhere. Its just me and Four White Walls. Maybe one that just has some paint peeling in a corner of the ceiling or maybe one that has a window that looks out over the lights of a great city with those million stories bouncing through the streets. It can be a studio, a hotel, or the back of a bus. Probably they arent even white, but when I sit down, in my mind, its four walls that are as blank as the notebook Im staring down at.

It has to start with dead silence. I have to turn off that mornings music and distance myself from the distractions of lifes cacophony. No phones, no kids, no entourage or onlookers. I need to completely tune out so I can start to tune in.

I focus on my purpose. Thats what has brought me into this room and thats what will guide me now that Im here. I dig back into the bag of observations and experiences that inspire me and start to craft a storyline. I inject the spirituality that gives so much of that inspiration a greater sense of place and remember that my Self, my listeners, and my culture expect and deserve more than simplicity. They deserve a conscious message delivered through a thoughtful collection of ideas that are more than the words on the page.

And thats when I start to hear it.

Just a pitch or a tone... a buzzing energy emanating from origins beyond each of us individually but encompassing all of us universally. The energy takes a frequency, and the frequency forms into an idea. That idea takes inspiration from everything Ive learned and observed, and blends it with awareness of my self and my artistry. And it breaks the silence with music thats blended with memories and molded into something original.

My pen starts to flow. The lines in my notebook fill up and spill over to paint pictures on the white walls around me. The rhymes come from anywhere. They come from everywhere. I might have a story in mind that unfolds step by step or I might just know the end and have to work my way back. I could start with one bar or one phrase or even one word and circle around that, guided by the frequency, until the track takes full form. I draw from my knowledge and add the tricks of my technique to slip in messages that range from subtle to unavoidable. I wrap around wordplay and push boundaries of form.

I stay focused on my intentions. Make something original. Outdo what Ive already done. Write something to force the conscious listener to think, the music lover to clap, and every other rapper to turn their head and say, Damn. I want to build monuments of monologue that stand the test of time.

To guide artists and non-creatives alike through these revelations, Ive channeled my reflections into 5 Pillars of Creativity: Purpose, Inspiration, Spirituality, Consciousness, and Energy.

This is who I am and this is how I do it.