How to record a rap album with next to no money

Photo courtesy of Seej Nguyen

Firstly, let's get this out of the way: You broke ass fuck.

Got big dreams of rap stardom but you're trying to get around spending money on a studio? For shame. For shame.

However, take it from a guy who was too cheap to pay money to make his blog,

It's okay!

Seriously, we've all been there especially when we were starting out in the game and didn't have a buck to spare. Not to mention lo-fi rap has really seen a boom with the likes of Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE gaining critical praise for their latest albums.

So today, I'm going to show you how to MacGyver the shit out of your own studio using a few household items and some clever tricks.

Your budget may vary, but you can almost certainly do all of these tricks on a budget of $0. So here we go:


Microphone: So right off the bat, you're going to need a microphone and the easiest way to get one is to go to your basement, sneak into your little sister or brother's room and jack their rockband microphone. These are actually built with the same (albeit lesser) components that actual directional microphones are made with and while you will want to eventually invest in a cardio microphone, you will get good audio from one of these suckers.

They're also the most accessible, everyone knows someone who has played rockband at one point in their lives. Be it a family member or friend, a few calls and bingo bango bongo you have an almost studio-quality microphone.

If you can't borrow one from a friend, these things go for 8 bucks online.

The only hassle is to get the best use out of it, you need a stand or something to prop the mic as well as the best position to direction it, which can be a pain sometimes.

Wind guard: Once you got the mic, you can't just jump all willy nilly into record mode. Otherwise, when you play the song back you'll hear a lot of "Pf Pf Pf." That's from the air you let out when you spit, even if you manage to direct the flow away you can still hear the wind in the background.

You need a wind guard.

This is also an extremely easy fix. You have a clothing hanger? You have socks or your mom's pantyhose? You have a makeshift wind guard. All you need to do is put the socks or pantyhose over the hanger and BOOM, studio-grade sound device,

Just a word of advice: DON'T CREEP when you're looking for pantyhose. It's a great tool but an awful conversation if you handle it poorly.

Soundproof room: Okee Dokee, this may sound like the hardest but it's actually not. Do you have a closet or a car? Perfect you have the makings of a recording booth. All you really need to do is soundproof it and that's just as easy.

All you need are a ton of blankets or egg cartons. It sounds goofy but a good comforter smothers sound and cardboard egg cartons, when rearranged on your walls can diffuse sound waves and absorb noise because of their design.

Please note: if you're going the egg carton route, you'll need more than just egg cartons to completely soundproof, the same is true for blankets. Again, this is a makeshift studio, not a professional one.


Recording program: This is easily the hardest part and there's a number of ways you can record your voice, not too many of them are free.

However, there are ways you can get music production software for free. It's important to know that there are som heavy learning curves with these programs and it may take a while for you to get used to how each works.

Here is a list of free music recording software you can try out:

1) Garage Band (for MAC or iOS) - the og and most user friendly. Steve Lacy uses this ON HIS PHONE and it comes out studio quality.

2) Audacity (free for all) - this is a completely free platform and offers a wide range of things to do.

3) Traverso (free for all) - this platform focuses on ease of access and shortcuts using your keyboard and mouse to make it easier when editing clips.

4) Arduor DAW (MAC OS Linux) - This is essentially a low-cost studio for your laptop. It supports unlimited tracks, full MIDI recording and video sync with audio (if you wanna make a music video too).

5) Jokosher (Windows Linux) - this is the windows/Linux alternative to Garage Band. This doesn't have advanced mastering and editing tools but a lot of the work has been simplified for creators trying to get into recording at a low cost.

And there you go, you have all the essentials for that sick lo-fi rap album you wanna record and release upon the world. I hope this helped you broke ass fucks outs and if you do happen to record something using these tricks, please feel free to send it my way!

I'm sure it'll be fire.