Q&A for How to Start Rapping

Everyone has their own opinion. If you think you're good, put your music out there for others to hear. Put a rap up on YouTube. Believe me, people will let you know what they think in the comments.

You can start rapping at any age; there is no maximum or minimum. Keep in mind, however, that if you rap at a young age, some people may disagree with your music choices.

You can wear whatever you want. Rapping is about expressing yourself. Search for outfits that you think best represent who you are.

Get an Instagram account and through Instagram, you can get your followers (people who see what pictures and videos you post). Then announce to them that you have uploaded a new video onto YouTube and that they should check it out.

Try singing the alphabet really fast and get used to doing it fast. Then learn the words of a song and keep trying until you get it. Finally, listen to the song before you go to bed as it well help stick in your memory -- you might even dream about it.

To start, just write out some words that rhyme. For example, backpack, snap back, snack pack, cracker jack. It can even be more than one or two words (e.g. capacitor, mad at her, Labrador, etc.). When you first get into it, it won't need to make sense, but before you start going public it has to make sense. Keep practicing.

Yes! If you think people like it and you have got some good material, then you should upload it on your own YouTube channel.

If you want a deal, you should make a CD of 7-12 of your best songs, hand it out to artists, and interview/audition for producers. However, you could also share your music online, with sites like Soundcloud and Bandcamp.

Just before each line, take a quick breath. For example, "I stabbed Jack in the back" (breathe) "When I rap it don't sound whack."

You can easily find some cool beats on YouTube that you can rap and freestyle over. You can also make your own beats using Audacity or FL Studio on your laptop. Another way you can make cool beats is by using a drum machine. A drum machine is able to mimic the different parts of a drum set such as bass drum, kick drum, snare drum, and other percussion instruments that can help you make a beat.

Get someone to practice with and tell them to make fun of you during the practice. (This helps with confidence because you will have heard all the insults and gotten used to them, and you can practice comebacks to get better for battling.)

Try to build a fan base online using YouTube or other social media, and let everyone know that you can rap. You can also do gigs while in the other country. Then when you get back to America do the same, and that way you'll have domestic and foreign fans.

Yes, of course. You just need a beat to go along with. Say you hear a car going over a sewage grate and you hear that kerklunking noise, continue that and start rapping.

You may have to travel outside your area. Eminem used to skip school and get the bus to a nearby school where he would participate in rap battles.

There is no set limit, it depends on how successful they are. In December 1997, after the disappointing flop to his debut "Infinite", Eminem was working sixty hours a week to look after himself, his wife and newborn daughter. Then he entered the Rap Olympics in California where he finished second place in the competition and was discovered by Dr. Dre, where he signed to Aftermath Entertainment in 1998 and the rest is history. However, don't quit your job to become a rapper because the chance of mainstream success is small, but not impossible to achieve. You don't want to be penniless and sleeping rough just because your first mixtape didn't sell well.

Use another name. You don't want to be confused with someone else.

A positive mental attitude, determination, a microphone, hip-hop CDs, turntables and remember to keep it real.

You can use a digital audio workstation (DAW) to add sound effects. See the wikiHow article on how to make music using a computer for details.

Of course! As long as your lyrics make sense, you have a beat going in your head, and you're on topic, you'll sound good.

Rap flow is drum beats or drum patterns in word form. In other words, rap flow is the rhythm you are rapping in. If you want to be a good rapper, your flow needs to sound steady and on beat.

Open-mic nights in your area, rap battles, or local talent competitions. Search on the internet for these events.

Yes, you can because it will talk to people in its own way. That said, don't over do it using the poems because people might get bored.

Look up Eminem's performance at the '97 Rap Olympics. He's wearing headphones to keep up with his own beat and maintain his own flow rather than listening to the beat they're playing. Practice doing this for a while, and then try it without the headphones.

You could be a songwriter that just creates raps for other people. You might be able to solve this issue by practicing more though. I would even practice in front of your friends so you can gain some confidence performing in front of people.

You can be a Mexican-style rapper. Throw in a little Spanish and rap really fast to sound good.

You have to get permission from the copyright owner to legally use a sample (instrumental or otherwise) from their song in your own.

Not necessarily. You can use prerecorded music, or enlist musicians.

The internet has thousands of free beats you can download. You can also ask producers to make you exclusive beats, though they'll usually charge a fee.

Yes, poetry and rapping are close! And for sure, many famous singers and rappers started off with doing covers of songs.

Yeah! As long as you feel comfortable and safe go ahead; no rules against it.