Rap music is a genre built on rhythm, energy, and vocal expression. While the lead vocals take center stage, backing vocals or BVs as they are often referred, play an essential role in elevating and enhancing the rap performance. They serve to add depth, emphasis, and personality to your track.

In this guide, we’ll examine the different types of backing vocals used in rap and provide practical tips for recording your own.

What Are Backing Vocals & Why Are They Important in Rap?

Backing vocals in rap are any supplementary vocals that enhance the main verse or hook, adding energy and depth to your delivery. They serve as a powerful tool to bring your wordplay to life and make your performance more dynamic. Backing vocals can be categorized into three main types: Stacks (or Doubles), Spot Stacks (or Spot Doubles), and Ad-libs. Within these categories, there are endless creative possibilities, allowing you to showcase your unique style and personality.

Why Are They Important?

  • Enhance Clarity: They reinforce and draw attention to important words and punchlines. 
  • Add Power & Energy: Backing vocals create a fuller, richer and more immersive vocal sound.
  • Improve Groove & Bounce: They emphasize rhyme schemes i.e by doubling words at the same place on every bar. This can help the track feel more dynamic.
  • Define Style & Personality: Unique and original ad-libs can help distinguish artists and give you a more recognisable style.

The 3 Main Types of Backing Vocals in Rap

We have already touched upon the 3 main types of backing vocals. Let’s go deeper by taking a closer look at all three types of backing vocals and how to use them effectively.

1. Stacks (or Doubles)

What Are Stacks?

Stacks (also called doubles) involve recording a second take of the full rap verse or chorus. This vocal is then layered with the main vocal at a slightly lower volume level to add thickness and power. You can even add a second stack. This enables you to pan and widen the stereo field of the vocals within a track.

Best Techniques for Stacking:

  • Stay on time – The number one rule when recording stacks is tightness. Stacks should align perfectly with the lead vocal in order to create a coherent effect. If they’re too loose, the track will sound messy.
  • Vary tone & delivery – Try changing the vocal delivery slightly from the main vocal. By making the stacked take slightly softer or rougher it can give your vocal a completely different energy and texture. You could even try experimenting with pitch-shifting plugins to alter the pitch of your doubles.
  • Pan slightly – Keeping stacks centered works for aggressive delivery, but slight left-right panning can create the impression of width and in turn extra vibrancy. 
  • Adding Empesis to Hooks – Stacking Vocals is a great way to add emphasis to a rapped hook or chorus. For instance, you might choose to use spot stacks (see below) for the verses and full stacks for the hook. This will serve to differentiate the hooks from the verses.

A Good Example of Stacked Backing Vocals: Eminem “Lose Yourself”

Eminem uses stacked backing vocal for the majority of the lyrics in this classic track. The effect gives the track more energy, urgency and emotion.


2. Spot Stacks (or Spot Doubles)

What Are Spot Stacks?

Spot stacks involve doubling only certain words or phrases rather than a full verse or chorus. These are perfect for highlighting key moments and adding emphasis to keywords, punchlines and vocal passages. 

Best Techniques for Spot Stacks:

  • Choose impactful words – Spot stacks work best on power words like “money,” “hustle,” “game,” or words that carry the punchline to a set up.
  • Enhance Rhythmic structure – Strategically drop spot stacks on repeated phrases in a rhythmic pattern. For example, highlighting the last few words of each bar or the last line of every 2 bars.
  • Hard panning works – Record two takes of a spot stack and Pan them hard left and right for a stereo separation effect
  • Lower the volume slightly – Spot stacks should blend with the lead vocal, not overpower it.
  • Add Processing and FX – Experiment with different processing effects like reverbs, delays, filters and distortion to emphasis and add character to the spot stacks.

A Good Example of Spot Stacks: Redman “Blow Your Mind”

New Jersey Rapper Redman is a king of the BV. He uses a blend of super tight spot stacks and hyped ad libs on this track to pump up the energy.

3. Ad-Libs

What Are Ad-Libs?

Ad-libs are short improvised vocal phrases placed in between (or over) the main vocal. These can take many forms and add hype and personality to a track.

Best Techniques for Recording Ad-Libs:

  • Experiment with tone – Try whispering, shouting, or using different pitches to add variety.
  • Keep them sparse – Too many ad-libs can clutter the mix. Leave space!
  • Bring in your Homies – Why not invite your entourage to the studio and all get in the booth and vibe out to the track? This can add a live party feel to the project.
  • Make it funky – Bring the funk by channelling the spirit of funk icons such as James brown. Adding funky phrasing like grunts, yeah’s, Uh’s and wooo’s can bring added energy.
  • Chants – Rhythmic chants such as Go, Go, Go, Go or Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah really build energy, especially on hooks.
  • Quirky Sounds and effect – While funny noises such as Skrrt may have been overused why not try inventing some wacky vocalisations or sound effect of your own?
  • Narrative Reinactments – Some lyrics can call for a spoken response. For instance, a rapper may reference talking to a girl in his lyrics and the adlib could be the girl’s response.
  • Use effects – Reverb, delay, and panning make ad-libs stand out.

A Good Example of Ad-Libs: Migos “Bad and Boujee”

Migos revolutionized modern rap backing vocals with their group ad-libs. In Bad and Boujee, they create a conversational feel by dropping single-word ad-libs (e.g., “Skrrt!”, “Woo!”, “Raindrop, drop top”) between the main lines.

Summary

Backing vocals are a secret weapon in rap music. Whether it’s the stacked power of Kendrick Lamar, the hyped ad-libs of Migos, or the razor-sharp spot stacks of Busta Rhymes, BV’s help control and define a tracks energy. If you’re an artist, experiment with different techniques to find what works best for your style. The great thing about backing vocals in Hip-Hop is there’s no set rules. As long as they are tight and fit with the main vocals you can try anything. Unless you go way over board with BV’s and adlibs it’s unlikely you will ruin a track. You will most likely add to the excitement and over all energy of the performance.

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