By abstracting freestyle rap into the rules and systems that underlie its aesthetics, you notice that many elements of freestyle rapping correlate directly to common gameplay elements. Rhyming is pattern matching. Vocabulary is the collection of additional patterns to match. Composition is largely strategic and very similar to the dynamics of thinking a few moves ahead to set up a combination for maximum score.
Understanding these rules and relationships allows you to experience the thought process of a freestyle rapper while circumventing the need for actual rapping. One possible game could involve the computer feeding players a series of symbols in real time, which they must read and remember while simultaneously performing button presses related to the previous input. As players perform one line of rap, they have to compose their next line in their head. The mechanics could be a series of button presses as in PaRappa the Rapper, perhaps followed by an analog stick expression similar to the way tricks are performed in skate to represent the rapper nailing the rhyme. Properly balanced for difficulty, this design could result in a game that creates a similar experience for a player as an actual freestyle session. When combined with an audio engine that performs (or royally screws up) rhymes to reflect the player's input, the overall package could be quite compelling.
This system seems awfully cerebral at first blush, but it's no more weirdly abstracted than the mechanics of skate. The abstractions themselves are not that far off from what rappers themselves experience. In the 2000 documentary Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme, Global Phlowtations crew member Zagu Brown says, "Sometimes I think about what I'm going to say, and then sometimes I just see photos, you know, I see images, and then I just describe them best as I can, and then somewhere in the back of my mind, it's a conscious sign going off like, make the word rhyme now, maybe here." If this game was developed by a studio as knowledgeable about hip hop as EA Black Box is about skateboarding, it could be a very convincing and truly authentic gameplay experience.
Of course, no one particular design for a game about rapping is the best way to go. The point is that hip hop is an extremely deep and complex culture. If we learn about its nuances and use them to our advantage, we can transcend the false promises of a "Rock Band for rap" and create a videogame that truly resonates with hip hop.
Darius Kazemi is a game developer and a lifelong hip hop fan. He runs Orbus Gameworks, a gameplay metrics middleware company. He also has a blog about the game industry called Tiny Subversions.
