First, you must determine what kind of style you are looking for. Do you want East Coast tracks? How about crunk music or dirty south instrumentals? Another thing as an artist you must know of yourself, is just what style of music you're aiming for. A great deal of rappers just rap over any beat thinking their lyrics and vocals will carry them. What artists miss is the first thing that catches a listener's attention is the beat. If you don't have a hot beat, chances are people are not likely to wait around to check out your hot lyrics. So you must have hot beats.
When searching for rap beats online, be sure you're working with knowledgeable producer. If you like their tracks, send them an email or perhaps get in touch with them directly and let them know your feelings about their music. Inform them about your desired goals and feel them out to find out if you can work with them long term. You should make sure you do business with professionals rather than amateurs.
Also, you should definitely know if you want to purchase a royalty free beat which is a track used for promotional uses. You will not be able to market your own cd having a royalty free beat or non exclusive beat. If you're trying to make a profit off of a song, you will need to do an exclusive agreement with the producer, so you will have full rights to the track.
Finding rap beats online can be the easiest way to find your beat. Making sure you do it right and professionally can make your life easier.
http://downloadbeats.info
to hear the hottest, radio quality tracks. Royalty free tracks are also available.