Do songwriters write the lyrics or the music first?

Question

I have written lyrics to between 30 and 40 songs. My producer said the music HAS to come first and that I MUST sing to his beat.
This is hip hop. I was raised listening to country music and just assumed the words came first and the music was created to match the song idea. What do you think???? Is this correct...I rap to his beat...or does he just not know how to make a beat taylored to me????

Answer 1

Well,most of the time it depends on the producer (a.k.a. beat maker) that you choose to work with.Jay-Z doesn't write down most of his music.So he listens to a beat and he freestyles off of it.But he made a song with the late great Notorious BIG and they both wrote the track down before they went in the studio and heard the beat (It was called Brooklyn's Finest).Your producer may have beats already and want you to rhyme off them so he can use the ones he already has.Think about it,there's a lot of tracks out there that people wrote but have so many different beats to them.That's what a remix is.So your producer should listen to the tracks that you wrote,and find a beat suitable for them from his collection.You are the artist.You have control over what track goes best with what rhyme you created.It goes both ways.But most of the time the final decision is left up to the artist.
Hope this was helpful.Good Luck :-)

Answer 2

It depends on the song. In hip-hop, usually the music comes first.

In a genre like country it is often more ambiguous; the writing of the music and lyrics is often a simultaneous process wherein the songwriter will come up with the skeleton of a tune on guitar or piano, for example, and will then write lyrics to go with it. The band will then expand the music later. And then there are examples of strictly music first or lyric first artists. It really depends on the writer.

Answer 3

it depends on what kind of music you are writing. often lyrics are considered more flexible in revising. so if the lyrics are written first then they might be adjusted to fit a song. as far as hip hop is concerned, the lyrics usually come second although i dont see why they shouldn't come first. keep writing songs because you'll eventually find a beat to fit all of them. and if you don't, keep the songs and use revise them to fit a beat. keep writing. it keeps the creative juices flowing and the more you write the more great stuff you can create. you can do a lot of things with your songs. also, you can make your songs work with music by tweaking the way you say things and the amount of syllables and stuff. just keep writing.

Answer 4

yea I agree there is more than one way to create a song. Not everyone's the same. Some artists may start either way and I heard from one band where the singer wrote the lyrics before the music on one album... while the other he had to adjust his lyrics to the beat as he would normally compose.

Answer 5

i am a songwriter i have written a lot of songs but i havent been giving them to producers, it really depends on the writer. some are comfortable writing the lyrics first before arranging or giving the tune while other have the tune first and write the lyrics... in my case i plan for the tune first and then make the lyrics out of it because its much difficult to write the lyrics without a tune that's only for my own opinion

Answer 6

therse's no proper standard either way will do.. cos thr are some songs which the music was composed first and some lyics were writen 1st... it is obvious in indian music industry:
for original songs, the lyrics written 1st
for dubbed songs (frm one language to another eg: tamil to hindi) the lyrics is written to fit the music

Answer 7

IT'S HOWEVER YOU ARE LED.

I WILL COME UP WITH LYRICS, THEN MY BROTHER WHO IS A MUSIC PRODUCER WILL LEAVE IT UP TO ME. IF I WANT A FAST BEAT, HE CAN DO IT, IF A WANT A BALLAD, HE CAN DO THAT TOO. THE SAME THING GOES IF HE HAS MUSIC FIRST AND I WANT TO ADD LYRICS. A REAL MUSIC PRODUCER CAN DO WHATEVER, WHENEVER.

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR PRODUCER ONLY KNOWS ONE WAY AND ISN'T TOO CREATIVE.

Answer 8

i think i got your question but i dont get your description. since you have some experience about i think you have the answer somewhere inside you.