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Arts and Science

Rap For Your Life

Fire off healthy messages in the coolest way. Produce a ‘healthy’ rap and speak out.

Teaching the activity
The main aim of the activity is to write rap songs about healthy lifestyle: healthy food, exercise etc, and possibly also the many choices that have to be made to be able to live a healthy life. The songs are written by the children individually or in groups of 2–4. The songs can be based, for example, on the children’s own lives.

Duration: 1–2 lessons.

The word ‘rap’ comes from ‘Rhythm And Poetry’. The rapper comes up with poetry and rhymes that are spoken or sung over a drum track – a ‘beat’ that plays in the background.

Download the beat (see 'Rap beat' in the download section) and get started straight away. Download the beat to your laptop or MP3 player. You can also burn it onto CD.

Getting started
1. Write some rap lyrics
Rap lyrics are often made up of rhymes and contain lots of slang. The language should be lively, slightly provocative and funny. Rappers often talk VERY positively about themselves.

Produce some rap lyrics with the children that fit the beat. Improvise on a particular theme or issues relating to healthy lifestyle.

When you have decided on a theme, start the beat.
Count in the first verse with “1-2-3-4” (the rap starts on the next 1).

For example, use this model:

  1. The theme or person is introduced.
  2. An event or personal experience is recounted.
  3. Something unexpected or surprising happens.
  4. The situation ends either really well or really badly. There is a high-point, a confrontation or a climax in the story.
  5. The final verse reflects a little on the event.You can also make up a simple refrain that can be sung as a chorus by everyone.

For example, use 'Chorus' (see downloads) that easily fits the beat – or come up with another melody that you think fits the rap and the beat.

2. Have a rap battle
A battle is a form of competition. In rap music a battle involves two or more rappers competing with each other in words and rhythm.

For example, the rap can be constructed as follows:

  1. Verse (rapped by 1 or 2 people)
  2. Chorus (sung by everyone)
  3. Battle (between two rappers)
  4. Chorus (everyone)
  5. Verse
  6. Etc

When you are ready to begin, start the beat.Count in the first verse with "1-2-3-4" (the rap starts on the next 1).

Tips for the instructor:

  • Help to collect the rappers’ ideas in the lyric-writing process.
  • Help to come up with ideas for themes and action
  • Write down keywords that can inspire the rappers
  • Help to write down all the lyrics as they are composed.
  • Help the rappers to get started with the verse and chorus by counting "1-2-3-4" on the beats just before the verse and chorus.


Consider adding your own sounds:
In rap music when you produce a beat solely with sounds that you make with your mouth it is called a ‘human beatbox’.Make up a human beatbox that you can rap to.

The human beatbox runs either all the time or comes in as a short interlude between rapping with everyone ‘playing’ their part of the beat.

References
Get inspiration on rap music here:

Read more on ‘human beatbox’ here: