The Science of the Rewind Effect
As a hip-hop writer you want to engage your audience and make them active listeners. You want them to say "what the fuck was that, that sounded dope" and rewind.
There are many ways to achieve this.
1. Say something off the wall and surprising. This will depend on your style and your reputation with the listener.
Ex: "Rhymes is made of garlic" - Ghostface
2. Say something that provokes thought.
Ex: "Just because no one can understand how you speak - don't necessarily mean that what you be sayin is deep" - Talib Kweli
3. Use a complex rhyme scheme.
Ex: "In the middle of Little Italy little did we know that we riddled some middleman who didn't do diddily" - Big Pun
4. Use inventive wordplay.
Ex. "Safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex 'cause you don't want that late text, that 'I think I'm late' text" - Lil Wayne
Rap Rebirth’s Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums of 2010
1. Rick Ross - Teflon Don - An almost flawless album. Great beats, lots of Rozay swagger and excellent guests. No skip tracks. Perfect summer album.
2. Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives - Nas brings his usual lyrical genius and Damian Marley pulls off a nice hybrid of rap and reggae.
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - The production on this album contends with the great classics of all time. Musically it's a true masterpiece.
4. Lloyd Banks - The Hunger for More 2 - The G-Unit underdog makes a great album with that dark, dense Queens, NY sound.
5. Fashawn - Ode to Illmatic - Fashawn pays tribute to Nas' Illmatic with multis, internal rhymes, and that mid-90s hunger.
6. J Cole - Friday Night Lights - Understated piano on the production and excellent songwriting make a classic J Cole mixtape.
7. Statik Selektah & Termanology - 1982 - Brings back that mid-90s sound. Term is a master lyricist, reminds me of Big L. Statik's beats remind me of DJ Premier.
8. Drake - Thank Me Later - This album grew on me. Drake's producer 40 has a nice smoothed out sound. Drake may not be Ice Cube, but he's true to who he is.
9. Eminem - Recovery - Surprise comeback. Production is a little uneven but Em makes up for it with rapid flow, strong delivery and good lyrics.
10. Lil Wayne - I Am Not a Human Being - Solid album throughout. Good production and Wayne brings his usual wittiness. Nice prelude to Carter IV.
Lyrical Exercise #4
Lil Wayne rapping his own version of Skeelo's "I Wish I Was a Little Bit Taller"
LIL WAYNE
I wish I was a lil bit iller - wish I was a killer
Wish I was guerrilla, Godzilla, Thriller
Wish I had a lil less swag so I could brag
In my Jag, yeea man, laid back in a doorag
Weezy why you do that, maaan who that cool cat
Wish I knew who my pops was, real bad, real bad
Wish I didn't get all these girls off the ransom
Wish I was like LL, girls cuz I'm handsome
Wish I had a grandson named Branson - I dunno
Wish I could flow like a young Mic Geronimo
Wish I wasn't locked in a cage like a gerbil
Wish I had it locked like Kaiser Soze Verbal
Wish that herbal was jus enough to fuk me up
Wish that this sizzurp ain't lovely in a cup
Wish my dick ain't addict like a cancer stick
Have em coming round nonstop like a fiend chick
Wish I knew Guru before the homie passed
Wish that the Zulus had brought in some giraffes
Wish that Nicki and Drake would make a baby
I'd raise him to the best MC that would pay me
Wish I was like Jay-Z, yea an icon
Oh yea, wish I was tall and could ball like Lebron
