When I'm producing, it's not too uncommon for me to experience writer's block in some way, I attempt to make hip hop beats at least three times every day; so undoubtedly I have to continuously look for new and creative ways to stay inspired. Awesome ideas and hot tracks don't usually come up and tap me on my shoulder like the ladies do, making beats should be as easy as it is to get phone numbers right?

But likely, your problems don't lie with the ladies (or men for all you girlie producers), you tend to suffer from writer's block, and you shouldn't, because there are sooo many outlets that are out there for you to take advantage of when looking for new ideas when making your beats, I'm talking about you can go for a drive and listen to a radio station you wouldn't normally listen to; you could get online and go to the usual music hotspots such as Youtube or Soundcloud, and even listening to records that you haven't heard in years will spark some sort of inspiration usually, or at least it does for me.

Copying what you hear on the radio ain't cool at all; but what is cool is for you to take what you hear and put your own twist on it! Taking one's idea and making it ten times doper is one technique that has been going on since the inception of music itself. You better ask Kanye about that!

I'm going to share with you these few tips that have worked for me when I allow the annoyance of evil McWritersblock to get in my way in the past, and have also helped me to strike that writer's block down with a vengence! A la Ken and Ryu Style! Street Fighter was the ish! Well that's another conversation for another day...

Take a Drive And Crank The Stereo Up!

I can't tell you how many times this tip alone has helped me to come up with some dope ideas for new tracks. What I like to do is, find a radio station that's not in the genre of music that I typically produce in, for example, I produce hip hop, so maybe I'll choose a alt rock station. There's something to be learned from anyone who is making money from making music, so if it's on the radio you better believe somebody somewhere is making money from it.

Take note of the songs that you hear, study the instruments being used, study the chord progressions. Go home and download the songs from Itunes so that you can listen to them on repeat. Listen to the percussion and drum arrangements, the tempo of the track. And then fire up your beat making equipment, and put your dope twist on that. Not only will you come up with some cool ideas, you just might create a new genre of music in the process. I've yet to hear any rock rap country classical tunes, but that's not to say that you can't make it happen.

New Tools Means New Inspiration

The only problem with this tip is that new studio production equipment can add up very quickly, spending a few hundred dollars on one piece of gear ain't hard to do at all. But... that's not to say that you have to buy new gear yourself! Going to Guitar Center or whatever musical equipment store that you have in you area will do, just go and play with the gear, get on the keyboards, scratch on the turntables, play a lick or two on some bass guitar. This is an easy way to become inspired quickly, and it'll even make you want to work harder so that you can afford some of that new gear. When you get home, I guarantee that you will be able to come up with something!

Take a Walk, Take A Breather, Exercise!

Get that blood flowing, get that heart pumping. Get some oxygen flowing to your brain. There's nothing like taking a brisk walk to get your metabolism pumping when you're tired and can't think; so this will also work well for when you're in the studio and can't think to come up with a new beat. It's funny how all kinds of thoughts come to your mind when you're just out walking around!

Also, sometimes when you are having a tough time getting something completed, it pays to walk away from it and maybe even come back to it the next day. I'll be studying some music theory one day that's hard as hell to comprehend, and then i'll put it down when I get finished banging my head against the keyboard. When I come back to it in a day or two, or maybe even a week, magically I understand and am able to comprehend whatever it was that I couldn't get just a day ago! If you're having this kind of trouble with any aspect of your music, put it down, go drink some water, take a walk, eat an apple. When you get back to it, it'll be on and poppin. Guaranteed.

It's not hard to make hip hop beats, I think that too often we make the road for us too difficult ourselves. If you try these lil small tips, I'm certain that writer's block while making beats will become a non factor, just like Evelyn from that show Basketball Wives on VH1. Just do you! And the rest will definitely follow. Better Beats Ahead.