Come up With a Rap Name

Whether you're naming yourself, your song, or your new rap super group, coming up with a good name is crucial to a successful rap career. While there are no "wrong" names, you should come up with something that fits you and your career. There are a million potential names out there, but only one that works for you.

Steps

Naming Yourself

  1. Keep your name short. Your name has got to be memorable and easy to say in a song or an interview. Longer names are difficult to remember, so shoot instead for one or two syllables. Even rappers with longer names usually have shortened versions (Notorious B.I.G → "Biggie," Lupe Fiasco → "Lupe," etc.)
    • Ex. Nas, Snoop Dogg, Big Boi, Common
  2. Find a name that is memorable and melodic. Names that roll off the tongue are easier to remember. Thinking of the best raps names, from Rakim to Del the Funkee Homosapien, and note how they sound out-loud. The are memorable, musical, and easily rhymed.
    • The easiest way to do this is with matching sounds, such as in Eminem and KidD Cudi.
  3. Play with your actual name. Many rappers use monikers that are slight variations on their actual name or initials. Some rappers, like Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West, even use their names outright.
    • Eminem is a play on Marshall Mathers real initials (M&M).
    • Lupe Fiasco's name, in part, comes from his given first name Wasalu.
    • Lil' Wayne was born Dwayne Carter.
  4. Brainstorm nicknames from your life. Oftentimes the most effective rap names come from real life. A good rap name is not only catchy but personal, capturing your style in a word or two, so nicknames are the perfect place for inspiration.
    • Snoop Dogg's mother called him "Snoopy" as a child
    • Waka Flocka Flame was nicknamed "Waka" by his younger cousin while watching Fozzy Bear from The Muppets.
    • Rapper, The Game was called "Game" as a kid because he loved playing sports.
  5. Pay tribute to your influences. Hip-hop has always been a genre that takes old trends and influences and remixes them in the present, so it should be no surprise that
    • Jay-Z, known as "Jazzy" as a kid, changed his name to Jay-Z as a salute to his hero, producer Jay-O.
    • 50 Cent chose his name as a reference to friend and fellow hustler Kelvin "50 Cent" Darnell Martin.
  6. Find influence from your everyday life. Sometimes the best names come from the mundane, commenting on who and what you are everyday. Think of your passions, goals, and rap style and use them for inspiration.
    • Ghostface Killah got his name from his favorite kung-fu villain.
    • 2 Chainz chose his name because "In my 8th grade yearbook picture I had on two chains," and it stuck.[1]
    • French Montana, who hails from the ex-French colony of Morocco, moved to America and picked up the last name of fictional drug dealer Tony Montana from Scarface.
  7. Use acronyms to pack hidden meaning into your name. Acronyms have a long history in hip-hop, from Common's classic song "I Used to Love H.E.R." to Kendrick's masterpiece album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City." If you use an acronym, choose something that is easy to say and think hard about what each letter should mean.
    • Big K.R.I.T. stands for "King Remembered in Time."
    • A$AP Rocky, and all the A$AP crew, have said that the name stands for "Always Strive and Prosper."
    • M.I.A. stands for "Missing in Action." Not only is this a tribute to her cousin who went missing, but a reference to the London neighborhood, Action, where she grew up.
  8. Make your name symbolic. A name with some sort of deeper meaning implies that the rapper's songs have deeper meaning. Kendrick Lamar is on record saying that he chose to use his real name because he "raps about real things," for example. His name is symbolic of his style.[2]
    • Rapsody is a play on both "rap" and the word "rhapsody," which means "an epic poem."
    • Wix Khalifa got his name from his Arabic uncle, whose name means knowledge, and the Arabic word "khalifa." which means successor.[3]
    • Raekwon the Chef chose his name because he sees writing as a form of cooking, mixing up metaphors like ingredients.
  9. Add common rap handles to your name. There are additions to rap names that have been common for years and are used by many rappers for nicknames. Some potential additions to your name include:
    • MC
    • Lil'
    • Big
    • The
    • DJ[4]
  10. Remember that the same rules apply for rap groups. Rap collectives like N.W.A, Black Hippy, or Mobb Deep still need to come up with a name that is unique, short, and symbolic.
    • Wu-Tang Clan takes it's name from the group's shared love of old kung-fu movies.
    • The Roots references a book and television series exploring the history of slavery in America, which fits their social conscious songs and message.
    • The Pro Era name comes from a popular line of clothing and the idea that the rappers are ushering in a new age of professionalism.

Naming Rap Songs and Albums

  1. Think of the message you want the song to convey. The title of a song is often the first thing a listener sees, so it needs to do a good job conveying the content of the song Read through the track list of Public Enemy's famous album Fear of a Black Planet, for example, and you know instantly that the songs are protests against a racist society and government ("911 is a Joke," "Power to the People")
    • "Rising Down," by The Roots, does a fantastic job implying the themes of the song, such as falling into poverty, while contrasting another song later in the album, "Rising Up."
    • "Memory Lane (Sittin' in the Park)," by Nas reflects on a childhood growing up in Brooklyn.
    • "Bring Da Ruckus" by the Wu Tang Clan is about getting the party started, and introducing the raucous group to the world.
  2. Name the song after the hook. The hook is the part of the song that repeats frequently either in the chorus or the background. Most songs are named after their hooks or a shortened version of the hook, such as Outkast's "Ms. Jackson," Kanye West's "All Falls Down," or Joey Bada$$'s "World Domination."
    • If your song has multiple hooks, choose the one that represents the song best, like Kendrick Lamar's "The Blacker the Berry," a song about race relations in America.
  3. Add guest rappers and producers at the end of the song title. This is a measure of mutual respect. You need to cite any other rappers who are on a song, such as "Slow Jamz (ft. Jamie Foxx & Twista)." While the name of the song is technically just "Slow Jamz," you need to add the featured artists so your listeners know who is rapping.
  4. Name your album after the overall feel of the songs. Album titles are what bring the CD's themes together. They can be simple, like Lil' Wayne's The Carter, or complex, like Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly. In either case, the title sums up the songs inside of it and gives the album direction.
    • Albums titles can refer to a rappers style, like 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Trying.
    • Many rappers have sequential albums, like Kanye West's series College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation, implying that the albums are all linked.
    • Some albums simply adopt the name of one song, usually the radio hit or the "thesis," of the album, like Common's Be.

Tips

  • Finish your lyrics before naming a song, or come up with a title before you start writing to help give the song a theme.

Warnings

  • The name you choose will quickly become the one you are known for, and it is very hard to change it later.
  • Nothing can be more damaging to your career then stealing a name.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.complex.com/music/2013/06/the-stories-behind-15-rappers-rap-names/2-chainz
  2. ↑ http://rappingmanual.com/4-guidelines-for-choosing-a-great-rap-name/
  3. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/1555884/20-stories-behind-rappers-stage-names-waka-flocka-jay-z-more?page=0%2C0
  4. ↑ http://www.myrapname.com/

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