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How to Make an AI Rap Video From a Selfie (2026)

Turn one or two selfies into a short AI rap video. Photo tips, how to write lyrics that fit, picking a stage and beat, and sharing it to TikTok or Reels.

Kiravu TeamKiravu Team

You don't need a camera, a studio or any editing skills to make a rap video starring you and your friends. You need a selfie, a few lines of lyrics and a few minutes of render time. This guide walks through the whole thing in Kiravu, from picking the photo to posting the finished clip.

Here's what you end up with: a short vertical video (12 seconds by default) of the people in your photos rapping an original verse over an AI-made beat, with their lips synced to the words. It all runs in your browser. No app to install, nothing to film.

What you need before you start

  • One or two photos. One selfie per person for a duo, one photo of both of you side by side, or a single selfie for a solo track.
  • A topic or your own lines. Kiravu has 13 topics with ready-made lyrics. Use them as they are or rewrite every word.
  • Credits. A standard song (12 seconds at 720p on the Standard model) costs 10 credits. 480p costs 5; faster or sharper models, 1080p and longer clips cost more. The cost shows before you tap the button. There's no free trial and no free preview, so it's worth getting the photo and lyrics right first. Packs and plans are on the pricing page.
  • Permission. Only upload photos of yourself or of people who agreed. No celebrities or public figures.

Step 1: Pick a mode

Kiravu has three modes:

  • Duo: two photos, one face each. Person 1 raps verse 1, person 2 raps verse 2, and you both hit the hook together at the end.
  • One photo (duo from one photo): a single picture that already shows both of you side by side. Handy when you have a great shot together and no solo selfies.
  • Solo: one selfie, one rapper. You rap both verses yourself. Good for brag tracks and birthday messages from one person. The AI rapper page has more solo ideas.

Step 2: Upload photos that work

The photo decides how much the performer looks like you. Spend a minute choosing a good one and you'll save yourself a second render. When you add a photo, Kiravu checks the number of faces and warns you if a face is small or blurry.

Photo checklist

  • Sharp and in focus
  • Facing the camera, not a side profile
  • Even light on the face (a window in daytime works well)
  • Shoulders visible, not a tight crop of just the face
  • No sunglasses, no heavy filters or beauty effects
  • In Duo mode, one face per photo
  • JPG, PNG or WEBP, up to 10 MB

Photos to skip

  • Group shots where you'd have to guess which face to use
  • Dark bar or club photos with half the face in shadow
  • Filters that change skin tone or face shape
  • Old, blurry pictures saved from a chat app

For duo videos, try to use two photos taken in similar light. Two people lit the same way look like they share the same stage.

Step 3: Pick a topic

The topic sets the starting lyrics and the mood. There are 13:

  • Best friends
  • Hype (a solo brag)
  • Birthday
  • Roast
  • Love
  • How we met
  • Who cooks
  • Team win
  • Coworkers
  • Family
  • Graduation
  • Christmas
  • Halloween

Pick the closest one, then make the lines your own in the next step.

The roast topic works a little differently. The two performers turn toward each other and trade playful insults, rap battle style. If that's your plan, read our list of clean rap battle roasts or go straight to the AI rap battle generator.

Step 4: Write lyrics that fit 12 seconds

This is the fun part, and it's where most first videos go wrong. Twelve seconds, the default length, is short. It holds two short verses and a hook. That's it. Pick a shorter clip and the verses get shorter too; topic lyrics are trimmed to fit.

Keep each verse to about 16 to 22 words

In a 12-second video, each verse should land somewhere between 16 and 22 words. Think two short lines. Go much longer and the words get rushed. Go much shorter and the verse feels empty.

Count your words. It sounds fussy, but it's the single best fix for a messy video.

End your lines on rhymes

Split each verse into two lines and make the last words rhyme: snack and back, slow and know, cake and awake. The rhyme at the end of a line is what makes it sound like rap instead of someone reading a text message out loud. Short rhyme words tend to hit harder than long ones.

Make it specific

"You're my best friend" is fine. "You still owe me for the fries from last summer" is funnier, because it's yours. Name the snack, the city, the group chat, the habit everyone teases them about. Write numbers as words if you want them said a certain way.

Keep the hook to 1 to 6 words

The hook is the line both performers shout or sing together at the end. Keep it between one and six words. Pick something you'd yell across a room: a nickname, an inside joke, "Happy birthday, Sam!" or "Day ones forever!"

A full example

Here's an original best-friends script that fits the format:

  • Verse 1 (person 1): "We met in third grade over one stolen snack / twenty years later and you still won't give it back"
  • Verse 2 (person 2): "You call me late, I call it fashionably slow / you still saved my seat, that's all you need to know"
  • Hook (together): "Day ones forever!"

Verse 1 is 19 words. Verse 2 is 20. The hook is three. Every line ends on a rhyme.

Want more lines you can paste straight in? We wrote 60 funny rap lyrics that each fit one verse.

Which language to write in

English works best. Chinese works well. Other major languages usually work.

Step 5: Choose a stage

On every stage, each performer gets their own vintage microphone on a floor stand at chest height, so faces stay visible. Pick the stage that fits the mood:

  • Hotel Lobby orange booth: the bright orange booth from the trend. See Hotel Lobby AI for more.
  • Marble lobby: clean and a little fancy
  • Neon studio: a late-night recording session
  • Rooftop at night: city lights, nice for hype tracks and love songs
  • Graffiti alley: street feel, pairs well with boom bap
  • House party: best friends, birthdays, team wins
  • Battle stage: underground, red spotlights, built for roasts
  • Christmas lounge: holiday songs
  • Halloween night: spooky verses

Step 6: Choose a beat

  • Trap: hard 808s at about 140 BPM. Brags, roasts, team wins.
  • Boom bap: dusty 90s drums and piano at about 90 BPM. Storytelling, "how we met", anything with an old-school feel.
  • Melodic: sung pop and R&B at about 100 BPM. Love songs, birthday songs, Christmas songs.

For a birthday video, Melodic plus the house party stage is an easy pick. The birthday rap song page has ready-made birthday lines.

Step 7: Pick the quality and render

  • Standard (Seedance 2.0 Mini): 5 credits at 480p or 10 at 720p for a 12-second clip. Fine for phone feeds.
  • Fast, Pro or Flagship: faster or sharper models cost more. Pro and Flagship also render 1080p, worth it if you want to keep it or show it on a bigger screen (up to 93 credits for 12 seconds at 1080p on Flagship).
  • Length and shape: 5, 8, 10, 12 or 15 seconds, priced in proportion. 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9 all cost the same.

Before rendering, you tick a box confirming you have the right to use the photos. Then tap the button. The video is made by ByteDance Seedance.

Rendering usually takes 2 to 5 minutes. You don't have to wait on the page. Close the tab, grab a drink, and find the finished video later in My videos in your account.

If a render fails, the credits go back to your account automatically. You don't pay for failed renders. Kiravu also checks the words in every finished video. If the first take misses too many, it re-renders once for free. If both takes miss, you get the better take, and the credits come back automatically when even that take gets under 30% of the words right (up to 2 automatic lyric refunds per account in 30 days). In other cases, email support within 7 days and we review it. The refund policy has the details.

Step 8: Download and share

You get an MP4 with vocals, beat and lip-sync in one locked-off, waist-up shot. There's no watermark. Download it and post it to TikTok, Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, or drop it in WhatsApp and the group chat.

A few posting tips:

  • Post the file as it is. It's 9:16 by default, so there's nothing to crop.
  • Put the joke in the caption too. "She still hasn't returned the snack" gives people a reason to tag their own friend.
  • Tag the friend who's in it once they've seen it and said yes.
  • Make a second version. A new verse, topic or stage gives you a fresh post from the same photos.

Quick fixes when something looks off

  • The words sound rushed. The verse is too long. Trim it to 16 to 22 words for a 12-second clip, fewer for a shorter one.
  • The face doesn't look much like you. Use a sharper, front-facing photo with even light and no filter.
  • One person looks darker or softer than the other. The two photos were taken in different light. Swap one.
  • The render failed. Your credits come back on their own. Check the photo against the checklist and try again.

A note on privacy

Uploaded photos are used only to render the video and are deleted from storage after 7 days. Finished videos stay in your account until you delete them. The vocals and beat are AI-generated and original. Kiravu never uses an existing song's recording or lyrics.

Bonus: give yourselves rap names

Before you post, give the duo a name. The rap name generator is free and doesn't need an account. Put the names in the caption and you've got a group.

Make your first one

Pick a selfie, write two short verses and a hook, and choose a stage. A few minutes later, you have a rap video starring you. Head to the home page and make your first one.