A rhyme scheme is the pattern the rhymes make across a verse. In a poem that usually means the last word of each line. In rap it means more, because rappers rhyme inside lines, across two and three syllables, and on sounds that only nearly match. This guide takes each kind in turn with an original example, then shows how they stack up in one verse.
How a rhyme scheme is written down
Each new rhyme sound gets a letter. The first sound is A, the next is B, and so on. Lines that rhyme with each other share a letter. Four lines where the first two rhyme and the last two rhyme are AABB. Four lines where every other line rhymes are ABAB.
Letters only track the last word of each line. That is enough for most poems. In a rap verse it leaves out most of what is happening, which is why this guide also uses colour.
Start with end rhyme
An end rhyme is two lines ending on words that rhyme. Rap is counted in bars. A bar is one count of four beats, and in most rap one line fills one bar, with the end rhyme landing on or near the last beat. That is where the listener expects it, so it is where the scheme is built.
The rhyme schemes rappers use
AABB: couplets
Two lines rhyme, then the next two. This is the default in rap and has been since the start. It is easy to follow and easy to write to.
I clock in at nine and I write on the side ten hours on my feet and I'm still full of pride I wrote a verse on my break and I rapped it to the glass my reflection gave a nod, said the second one'll last
Side and pride are the A pair, glass and last the B pair. Put this through the rhyme highlighter and it also colours write in the first line along with side. That is a slant rhyme inside the line, and the letters leave it out.
AAAA: one sound for the whole run
Every line ends on the same sound, sometimes for eight or sixteen bars. It builds pressure, because the listener keeps waiting for the sound to change.
I been on the grind since the age of nine every single rhyme was a sign of the time I was drawing a line with a borrowed design now I'm doing it fine on a dime every time
In the highlighter every rhyme in this verse gets the same colour, including the ones inside the lines. Time and rhyme end on an M and line and nine end on an N. Those two sounds are close enough to count, so they all land in one family.
ABAB: alternating
Lines one and three rhyme, and lines two and four. It shows up more in sung hooks than in rap verses. It slows a verse down, because each rhyme waits a whole line for its partner.
I count the steps up to the seventh floor the lift's been broken since the summer came I leave my shoes outside the neighbour's door and every tenant knows my mother's name
Breaking the pattern
Few verses hold one scheme for sixteen bars. A common shape is couplets for most of the verse, one sound held for four bars to build, then a new sound for the last line so it hits. When you study a verse you like, mark where the sound changes. That is usually where the verse turns.
Multisyllabic rhymes
A multisyllabic rhyme, or multi, matches across two syllables or more instead of one. Vision and decision match on two syllables. So do pressure and measure. A two-syllable match is harder to find, so the listener notices it, and a verse full of them sounds worked on.
Rakim, Big Pun, Eminem and MF DOOM are all known for them. Here is a verse built on multis, in a live copy of the highlighter. Change a word and watch the colours move.
Two things to notice. The colour sits on the syllables that rhyme, so decision lights up as cision and not the whole word. And kitchen joins the vision family even though its middle sound is different. That is a slant rhyme.
Slant rhymes
A slant rhyme is two words that share most of a sound but not all of it. Time and line share the vowel and end on M and N, two sounds made close together in the mouth. Rap runs on slant rhymes. A perfect rhyme for the word you need often does not exist, and over a beat the difference is hard to hear.
I ain't got time for a half-written line and I ain't got a dime but I'm making it mine
Time and dime are a perfect rhyme. So are line and mine. The two pairs slant against each other, and the highlighter puts all four in one colour.
Internal rhymes
An internal rhyme sits inside a line instead of at its end. It lets a rapper fit three or four rhymes into a bar where end rhyme fits one. It has a post of its own, with more examples and a way to write it on purpose.
In a scheme, internal rhymes run on top of the end rhymes. The verse in the sheet above is AABB at the ends, on and gone, then me and free. Inside the lines two more families run, one through the first two bars and one through the last three. Letters show the first pattern. Colour shows both.
How to find the rhyme scheme of a verse
- Write the verse out with one bar on each line.
- Say it out loud and underline every word you hear rhyme, not only the last ones.
- Give each sound a letter or a colour. Words with the same sound get the same one.
- Mark where the sound changes. That is where the verse turns.
Or paste it into the rhyme highlighter, which does the second and third steps for you. It looks every word up in a pronunciation dictionary, so it matches by sound and not by spelling.
Which rhyme scheme is best for rap?
The one that fits the beat and what you are saying. Couplets are the safe start. Hold one sound longer when a verse needs to build. Switch sound when something in the story changes. Multis and internal rhymes go on top of whichever scheme you pick, and the verses people quote back usually have all of them running at once.
If you are starting from zero, how to write rap lyrics walks through a whole verse, from picking a beat to recording it.
Seeing the scheme while you record
This part is about what I make, so read it with that in mind. Lyriquee is a lyric plugin for FL Studio, Ableton and other music software. It colours the rhymes on your lyric sheet with the same engine as the highlighter, inside the project, next to the beat. When you rework a multi between takes, you see at once whether it still matches.
Common questions
What does AABB mean in rap?
Lines rhyme in pairs. The first two lines share one rhyme sound and the next two share another. It is the most common scheme in rap.
How many rhymes should a bar have?
There is no rule. One end rhyme per bar is the floor. Dense verses fit three or four into a bar. Past that the words start to crowd the beat.
What is a multi in rap?
Short for multisyllabic rhyme, a rhyme that matches across two syllables or more, like pressure and treasure. A multi can also run across two words, like hood up and stood up.
Is a slant rhyme a bad rhyme?
No. Most rap uses them all the time. What matters is that it sounds like a rhyme when you rap it over the beat.
