So in my Criminal video I promised to do another verse from Marshall Mathers LP in case of
five hundred likes.
And as you can see, it has way more now.
So I held a vote on my Twitter to get to know which verse was the most desired.
And it was the first from "The Way I Am", so I started working on it.
But in the process of deconstructing the verse, I came to the conclusion: there's no way I
could fit this verse in a rhyme scheme video.
Firstly, because I don't wanna give rappers credit for rhymes they don't intend to make,
and secondly, because there are just moments that cannot be explained with colors and lines.
If I did this verse regardless, many of you would bash me in the comments saying something
like, "This doesn't rhyme" or "You missed this rhyme" or "You're an idiot".
And since I'm doing a different format this time, I'd like to talk about one little thing
that made this song sound so tense and straight up interesting.
Do you wonder what that thing is?
Well, I got the AnSoR.
But before I tell you, I wanna point out that Eminem was in charge of the whole process
of creating this song, including the beat.
Here's a passage from his own book "Angry Blonde":
" "The Way I Am" was one of the few tracks that I did completely by myself.
I had the beat in my head before I went into the studio to lay it down.
I had the rhyme and the piano loop all worked out.
I had Jeff play the loop and I finished
the rhyme listening to my headphone set on the way to L.A. That's why the flow is like
that, 'cause all I had was the piano loop in my headphones.
I thought about the rhyme first..."
Starting with lyrics without music is actually unlikely for a rapper, let alone a musician,
however, Eminem did just that.
When writing lyrics, he only followed the piano pattern, which is 2 short notes followed
by 1 long note, or, if we're being technical, 2 quarter notes followed by 1 half note.
Eminem mirrors it with his two short and one long syllable pattern, which, if it were a
piece of poetry, would be called anapaest, a metrical foot.
And there are four anapaest constructions in almost every line, so that way we have
tetrametric anapaest on our hands.
But you may notice that the long, emphasized notes and syllables don't land on the downbeat,
and this is where syncopation kicks in.
Syncopation is a placement of rhythmic stresses or accents where they wouldn't normally occur.
A simple example of syncopation use would be the chorus of Lupe Fiasco's classic song
"Kick, Push":
Here, Lupe says the word "coast" half a beat before when you would expect it, which makes
the hook slightly more rhythmically interesting.
You can do this with a note or a word, or you can do the same thing with a whole melody
or a vocal track, which is what Eminem does exactly, moving his verses by half a beat
backwards.
It's also present in the drumbeat: the kick drum is misplaced half a beat behind where
you would normally expect it, just like the verses, so that half of long syllables actually
land on the kick.
The only instruments with normal rhythm are the bell and the bass guitar, and they actually
open this song, serving as an important starting point.
Just listen to the live version that awkwardly starts with the piano riff:
Basically, the appeal of syncopation is that it makes the song more interesting, but, like
they say, you don't appreciate it until it's gone, so, I reconstructed the beat, but with
all the instruments playing in a regular rhythm, with no syncopation whatsoever, and of course,
with Eminem's verse shifted forward by half a beat, so that every stressed syllable lands
on the downbeat:
I think it speaks better than words.
While most rappers try to stay on the beat, Eminem goes against his own sense of rhythm,
which is an extremely difficult thing to do.
Musicians may say that he's rapping off beat, but this term might lead to confusion, as
if he misses the beat.
No, he's still in sync with it, if you excuse the pun.
If you think it's nothing special, I highly suggest you watching the Vox video about the
same type of syncopation in Radiohead's "Videotape" and how Thom Yorke, a very experienced musician,
struggled to play 4 quarter notes.
Also, in case you thought Eminem shifted his vocals in post, think again after this:
"The Way I Am" showcases Eminem's rhythmicality, which is one reason why many people consider
him to be the greatest technical rapper of all time.
Another reason is his rhyming ability.
Now, we all know Eminem likes to rhyme a lot, but this cut is different.
Due to this tetrametric anapaest construction Eminem doesn't have enough space for long
multisyllabic rhymes, therefore he mostly spits one- or two-syllable rhymes, and you
can hear them for yourselves, so instead I'd like to focus on the rhymes that didn't let
me do the usual rhyme scheme video:
1.
"Needed to be" and "Meanest MC", I kinda think it's more of an accidental quadruple rhyme,
but whatever 2.
"Berserk" and "bizarre".
This is a case of pararhyme, which means, different vowels, same consonant pattern.
A classic example of this type of rhyme is "Yo RZA, yo razor"
3.
This tension, dispensing, these senten, ces getting, this stress, this chest
4.
Eating me, recently, peacefully, decency, freaks see me, eating, feeding, speak to me
5.
N'Sync, friends think, friendly, can be, tempt me, empty, ten feet
6.
Tank is, patience.
You understand what the problem is, right?
The vowels are not identical, but they are similar, and the rhyme is 100% intentional.
I think this counts as a rhyme, but plenty of people may beg to differ.
People, we will define the rhyme, and different people have different criterias for rhymes,
that's why choosing verses and making rhyme schemes is such a hard thing for me.
But if you use slant rhymes and speak your mind clearly, I'm gonna prefer you to a rapper
who only says things because they rhyme well; 7.
Is in and "and if"; 8.
In me, -fend me.
Yes, I can only hear Eminem saying "offind me", not "offend me", which would've in and
of itself rhymed with "ten feet".
But, like many people say the word "get" as "git", this stretching is rather common, and
case in point: Kendrick Lamar's "DNA".
Nevertheless, all the rhyming is still A1 in this song, as well as in most other Eminem
songs.
But here I would like to calm down your probable obsession over rhymes.
Multisyllable lyrical miracle spiritual rhyming is not necessary to make a great rap song.
Look at Snoop Dogg, for example.
He isn't a technically impressive rapper, but he's so charismatic that people don't
even pay attention to things like frequently using "D-O-Double-G" as a filler word.
Is Snoop Dogg inherently better than Eminem?
No, they are incomparable because they focus on different aspects of rap.
And you can prefer any style you want, but I want you to appreciate both Art n Skill
of Rap.
So this was my first video not in the "Rhyme scheme" format.
For sort of setting the blueprint for it, I'd like to shout out Lyricology 101 channel,
where you can find breakdowns of frequently requested verses from songs like "Rigamortis",
"No Favors", "Renegade", "Hardknock" and more.
I'm trying to diversify my channel, so let me know your opinions, recommendations, ideas
in the comment section, and don't forget to leave a like - or a dislike if you think I
deserve it - and subscribe.
One love - and I'm out.
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