Are you ready for your Daily Mathematics?
For several years this weblog has existed I have tried to explain that the essence of rap could be described by using a mathematical formula. Rap is a hyper-evolved level of communication using music, melody and mnemonic devices. This is why it is loved all across the globe. The greatest achievement of the human species is our ability to communicate on the highest level with speech. If we only had body movements and yelling we would have never have invented Twitter.
I think that the highest level of rap artistry is contained in the artists that frequently use polysyllabic words. The complex compound words can contain several meaning all at once based on the root of the word and the context it is delivered. The artist commonly considered to be the best rapper of all time was the master of injecting his rhyme speech with polysyllabic words. These phrases bent and stretched his rhymes well past the verse they were spoken in and put them into the stratosphere as some of the most used quotes spoken in the Hip-Hop culture.
The most important word to an emcee is polysyllabic – microphone.
‘Nuff said.
Eminem’s latest album ‘Relapse’ is fantastic for it’s graphic gory content. This album is part of the great history of epic entertaining horror-core productions. This album is rap’s ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’. It is horrific, disgusting, profane, satirical and brilliant all at the same time. Lyrically, I consider this to be on a classic level. If the beats by Dr. Dre were swapped out for some of the dark production of DOOM, or more appropriately RZA, this album would be a certified classic. This drop though is to discuss the lyrical eminence of Eminem. A reader stated that this album was garbage. I don’t believe that reader listened to this album or if he did his ability to judge art is negligible.
This album is the VAN GOGH of rap music. The fact that Eminem even referred to himself as VAN G adds to his lyrical prowess. The heartbroken madman who has gleefully crossed the line into insanity is vividly painted in story format as well as open form rap braggadocio. I asked the reader to offer an album that contained better lyrics than ‘Relapse’. His offering was Lil’ Wayne’s ‘The Carter II’. That should already tip you off to the fact that this reader is a da-dunn da-dunt. Lil’ Wayne’s ‘The Carter II’ is actually Wayne’s best album. As I scanned over the album looking for a track to do a cross-reference comparison to I looked for songs that had similar lengths to the unusually long tracks posted on ‘Relapse’. I decided to use the track ghost-written by Juelz Santana called Tha’ Mobb.
As a repayment for Santana’s skills on this song I believe Wayne introduced Juelz to syrup.
Wayne uses 853 words in this song. Thirty(30) are polysyllabic. The longest being promethezine clocking in a strong twelve(12) letters. The key number in all of these stats though is the percentage of polysyllabic words to the entire composition. Wayne’s final numbers were 3.5169/1000. That is the percantage of polysyllabic words his verses would contain per 1000 words. Big Daddy Kane averages about the same. Kane is loved and feared, but no one, not even Kane himself, calls him the greatest rapper alive. Hyperbole lives and his name is Lil’ Wayne.
The Eminem song I used is the comically violent 3am. This song had the same run time as Lil’ Wayne’s Tha’ Mobb (5mins 21sec). Eminem uses only 769 total words but forty-eight(48) of them are the 3+ syllable variety. The longest polysyllabic word in this murderous rap rampage was the thirteen(13) letter hallucinogens. Eminem was obviously on something extra to have the mind to craft this masterpiece. The average percentage of polysyllabic words per 1000 for Eminem is 6.2418 and approaching twice that of Lil’ Wayne. My point in all of this is to illustrate that the Relapse album is far from garbage no matter how you look at rap music. It merits your highest consideration for the lyrical content contained therein. And at the end of the day, instead of flow and swagger, shouldn’t lyrics matter most in RAP music?
BTW, Rakim Allah’s percentage on ‘Microphone Fiend’ was 7.272 and this is why we call him the G.O.A.T.
Additional background reading for those of you just tuning in to Dallas Penn…
Crap Music Is Making You Stupiderer…
G.O.A.T. Classic Rap Jam Cage Match…
All Day I Dream About Syllables…
More mathematics shenanigans @ DP…
Ive listened to this album a handful of times and it is no where near what I would consider to be classic. I understand your argument, and it has changed my opinion on some of his tracks for the better. However how can you let this album be considered classic when:
1) the accent he uses hurts the music more than it helps
2) lyrics such as
“this is just a story about when I was just a shorty and how i got hooked on vaaaaal heeeee uuuuuum”
“then he played ping pong with his own ding dong, that mother f**kers got nuts like king kong”
“raggedy aggedy ann and andy”
the rhyme schemes are strong, but he’s not saying anything of value, that is not lyricism
3) ems flow is lazy, remember the passion of the way i am, til i collapse, and guilty conscience, not there
I want to like this album, but for those reasons, i believe it is one of his worst albums aside from encore, please respond
Just listened to Masta Ace 2004 A Long Hot Summer.
Good “grown man rap” from a Brooklyn veteran Ace. I think Dallas & C Jack would dig this album.
^ Masta Ace “A Long Hot Summer” stays in steady rotation up in the CJ household!
Since ’04 even!
The main problem with this album is that it didn’t come out in 2006. People would be killing themselves to give this a gold star if it came out back then.
dallas. before I become a father I used to post up at my local in the back couch getting drunk as eff on premium 8% colorado beer. I’d read your drops on the celly. man I miss those days. whats the point? I still love this blog dead sober. but I miss being a drunk.
damnit
“This album is rap’s ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’. ”
I believe DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince already have this covered.
I haven’t put Long Hot Summer into the headphones in a couple years, but thanks for the reminder, it’ll be a nice accompaniment on my train ride home.
In that case use your equations and let me know what Cee-Lo’s “Big Ole Words (Damn)” clocks in at. Is it the best rap song ever? Score one for the South.
@C Jack, give me a 5-yr late pass for sleeping on Ace’s 2004 album. The last 6 mos I’ve been goin thru my archive folder, listening to albums I haven’t listened to, & uncovering some dope albums I had been comatose on for no valid or apparent reason:
Blackalicious 2002 Blazing Arrow
Black Moon 1993 Enta Da Stage
Breakestra 2005 Hit The Floor
Digable Planets 1993 Reachin
Living Colour 1988 Vivid
Nicolay 2005 City Lights Vol 1.5
Orishas 2000 A Lo Cubano
Pete Rock & CL Smooth 1992 Mecca & The Soul Brother
Pete Rock & CL Smooth 1994 The Main Ingredient
Rakim 1990 Let The Rhythm Hit Em (I label all Rakim albums as “Rakim”, since Eric B didn’t do jack; Rakim, Large Professor, etc made the beats & did the DJ scratching)
Sheila E 1985 In Romance 1600
Stone Temple Pilots 2004 Purple
The Brand New Heavies 1994 Brother Sister
The Brand New Heavies 1997 Shelter
Tragedy Khadafi 1993 Saga Of A Hoodlum
Is it just me or does he sound like Ghostface on this? The accent n cadence are defintely reminiscent of recent Ironman flow…
i posted on xxlmag.com but its not poppin up so…
wuttup dp,
ill fuken post.
everybody wants hip hop to be spoon fed to them. nobody wants to take a minute to struggle wit the art. i’m an english major so i know what it means to wrestle with some boring ass text and then come out, just enlightened as fuk. also, the majority of people go to work or school, come home and tune out. they just don’t care. But, for all you “hip hop fans”, shame on yourself for calling this album wack. On some real shit, his voice gets annoying on some of the tracks but you can’t deny the skill and work he’s putting into it. wordup.
more people that were feelin’ the album need to express why, stop being greedy with ya insight lol
this shit was funny as hell:
“That should already tip you off to the fact that this reader is a da-dunn da-dunt”
rek
i hate this argument, this serves like a hip-hop version of phrenology and has no bearing on how good the music is.
I bet if you take Esoteric’s first EP Speaking Real Words and did this test it would rate extremely high but because of his accent, subject matter and sometimes wooden flow I doubt everyone would jump to agree its a classic album.
Relapse suffers to me because it covers no new ground for Eminem. I’ve heard this album before when it was MMLP and it isnt as good as MMLP therefore making this unnecessary in my mind. Luckily for Em, he’s nice enough to do this and make it palatable for his fans who seem to act more like juggalo’s every release.
I want to see Eminem’s evolution, he pisses me off when he pisses away his talent “staying in his lane”
CJ– I’ll throw on the pretty damn good Masta Ace rarity cd in your honor– “Sittin On Chrome” (Pitkin Ave Mix).
El Gringo– I know what you’re saying but think about it, if Eric B. REALLY didn’t do shit… then how come Rakim is so awful since then, with no sign he’ll ever come back either? I know, dudes burn out and R. had a run but… Rakim + Eric B. >>>>> anything without.
Don’t sleep on the new General Steele (from Smif N Wessun) album ya’ll!
Are you trying to use artist’s abilities to rhyme bigger words as a good measure of lyrical skill?
I’m not saying that using a strictly hat cat bat scheme is cool.. polysyllabic rhymes are nessecary and sound cooler most of the time or whatever i guess… but shouldnt it depend on the context of which a word is used as well and the words relation to the other words being used?
I dont know if its possible to measure skill in art forms.. although it obviously exists. My sketches dont compare to a drawing done by whatever anime fuck that draws yagashooki or w.e its called.. but could someone sit and analyze two different styles and say one is better? maybe. who the fuck knows. where did my point go…
also.. yea juelz must have wrote tha mobb… I never picked up on it even though i knew wayne used ghosts..
Post like this one are why I love this blog. No pause necessary.
One.
“Relapse album is far from garbage no matter how you look at rap music”
What if you look at an album based on listenability? This album wouldn’t be garbage, but it really isn’t that good
WWIB said “Eric B. REALLY didn’t do shit… then how come Rakim is so awful since then…”
How is Rakim awful? His 1997 & 1999 solo albums are both dope.
IIRC I read some interview, that was taken in the 2000s, of either Rakim, Large Professor, etc, that stated how MUSICALLY Eric B did not do shyt.
BTW let me flip ur lame argument, HOW COME ERIC B NEVER DID SHYT. Most producers make random tracks for any artists, whether it’s Pete Rock, Premier, 9th Wonder, even Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park/Fort Minor made some beats for Lupe Fiasco, etc. Where’s the demand for Eric B “beats”?
Rakim has made 2 dope solo albums post 1993, Eric B has not done SHYT MUSICALLY. SCOREBOARD.
DP, i love syllables as much as the next person. But as a writer, I know they are not the end all be all. Example: Raymond Carver changed the effen game as far as short fiction goes. Most of his stories are chock full of words with only a few syllables. In fact, he and his crazy editor kept slicing and dicing his stories till they were under an avg of 8 pages each. You can’t sit here and tell me his shit isn’t genius though.
http://wings.buffalo.edu/AandL/english/courses/eng201d/asmallgoodthing.html
Sometimes it’s just about the way a word feels. My favorite word off all time is shrapnel. Fuck a meaning or how many syllables it lacks, shrapnel feels friggin amazing to say. If I didn’t even understand English, shrapnel would still prolly be my favorite word, if I ever happened across it. Why do u think folks who don’t understand a language can still vibe off of the music? It’s more than melodies, words in a song suggest texture, feeling, color, etc just by the way they sound.
And don’t get me started on the power of a work of art that can be TRANSLATED and still resonate. Syllables come and go depending on the language, so who knows how Em would be stacked up in Finnish.
I wholeheartedly agree that Lil Wayne isn’t the best comparison to make, and I may even agree with the horrorcore value of Em’s work. But I don’t buy the syllable angle. There are a lot more pieces to the puzzle.
Angela,
I love you like cooked food up in this piece but how you gonna praise a dude for his effective economy on language and you are still using “prolly” instead of the shorter and more nifty “prA’li”?
Let’s also remember that rap and music for that matter is metered with melody and beats. It is a far simpler task to insert ‘cat’, ‘hat’, ‘dat’, ‘sat’ into rhyme verses than it is ‘hypochondriac’. The former can entertain us, but the latter is more inspirational. The latter forces us to hit the rewind button.
Where Hip-Hop is concerned I value that effort from rappers myself, but that certainly doesn’t make me the last word (puns always intended at DP.com)
I been using prolly since my first ever AIM account in junior high. Old habits die hard. But prA’li does look cooler, I admit. So just for you, I’ll try to change. 🙂
ok, so you have a point when it comes to the rap mathematics, but neither heltah skeltah era rockness or sean p ever really used tons of polysyllabic words
i guess they make lots of single syllable words SOUND like a polysyllabic word, like luchini era camp lo
sean p is a god of this rap shit
100x better than marshall
dp i think your assesment of the album was on point. totally agree lyrically this is a classic album… the flow of the album is great based on the concept… everything seems to tie together except for We Made You.. but that’s em.. its going to go sideways somewhere along the way…
Angela@ProperTalks,
My homie Eric Roberson said “Don’t Change For Me”
Dallas, you should do an analysis of New Rap Language. Which is the greatest rap song of all time.
Don’t agree with the classic album stuff, but i did hear some songs that the lyrics sound tight. Just can’t get into him, sorry…
@Crisis, Camp Lo is still hitting hard!
@anomyinush, I hear you. You analogy with art like comparing Disney styles to anime, or manga to Marvel comics is very valid.
Can you really determine whether Norman Rockwell was better Al Hirschfeld? The difference between a polysyllabic word count and a monosyllabic count can even be seen in boxing. Some fighters only need only 20-25 punches to be really effective in a fight like Bernard Hopkins while some other fighters punch count can go as high as 60-80 punches . . . and still lose via TKO.
Some rappers have a really unique and great ability to express a whole lot in 2-4 bars while other emcees struggle trying to express themselves throughout an entire verse.
my mans d,
i agree w you 99% of the time but cant this time. not doubting em’s credibility, but the album as a whole didnt move me much compared to his earlier releases. HOWEVER, based on your comments about tariq and ahmir, i still have mad respect for your judgment!
@el gringo colombiano and combat jack, a BIG COSIGN……….
…..in atlanta, we used to have a vinyl/cd store called ear wax. ear wax was indepently owned and the type of place you would see in-stores by the likes of u-god, jeru the damaja, the wu, etc etc. well, ear wax closed a while back due to lack of sales and the prsence of the big boxes located nearby. the owner jasz is a pretty good friend of mine and we discuss hip-hop on a regular basis. recently, i gave him a cd spindle containing the likes of eugene mcdaniels, platinum pied pipers, some old dr dre (the one mentioned above) mix tapes when he was still doing them around 86-88 or so, winston hussey, admiral bailey and about 15 more titles that are fairly hard to find. in return, he gave me masta ace’s long hot summer and disposable arts and also ace’s emc album. i put them on and WOW!!!!!!!!!! i can say that i slept on all three : (. truly CLASSIC! well-put together and the three, when put together are like pieces of a puzzle that all tell a story.
sorry i went through china to get to manhattan, but had to give you the background for the co-sign…………….