Lyricism, Part I

I love Hip Hop. I love it for it's beats, love it for it's rhythm, love it for it's roots. I especially love it because of the lyrical freedom the genre employs. The best rappers use this liberty to create the illest in lyrical showmanship. In honor of Hip Hop, I'm starting a series of tributes to my favorite MCs.

Occasionally, I'll do my best to highlight some of the most impressive flows from some of my favorite artists. There's no way I can do them all justice, but this is my humble attempt to pay homage. It might be one line, or a whole verse but hopefully you'll find all of them to be as dope as I do (links to the actual recordings are included whenever possible).

Today's MCs: Nas, Eminem, and Lauryn Hill.

Nas:
"What you call a infinite brawl, eternal souls clashin'
War gets deep, some beef is everlastin'
Complete with thick scars, brothers knifin' each other
up in prison yards, drama, where does it start?"
-One Mic

"My mic check is life or death, breathin' a sniper's breath
I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps
Deep like The Shinin', sparkle like a diamond
Sneak a uzi on the island in my army jacket linin'
Hit the Earth like a comet, invasion
Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian, half-man, half-amazin'"
-It Ain't Hard To Tell


Eminem:
"And since birth I've been cursed with this curse to just curse
And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works
And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve
all this tension dispensin' these sentences
Gettin' this stress that's been eatin' me recently off of this chest
and I rest again peacefully"
-The Way I Am

"My thoughts are sporadic, I act like I’m a addict
I rap like I’m addicted to smack like I’m Kim Mathers
But I don’t want to go forth and back in constant battles
The fact is I would rather sit back and bomb some rappers
So this is like a full blown attack I’m launching at them
The track is on some battle, and raps who wants some static
Cause I don’t really think that the fact that I’m Slim matters
A plaque and platinum status is whack if I’m not the baddest"
-Til I Collapse

Lauryn Hill:
"It's funny how money change a situation
Miscommunication leads to complication
My emancipation don't fit your equation
I was on the humble, you - on every station"
-Lost Ones

"I'm about to change the focus
From the richest to the brokest
I wrote this opus
To reverse the hypnosis
Whoever's closest
To the line's gonna win it
You gonna fall tryin' to ball
While my team win the pennant
I'm about to be in it
For a minute
Then run for senate
Make a slum lord be the tenant
Give his money to kids to spend it
And then amend it
Every law that ever prevented"
-Final Hour

If you didn't have any "Oh shit!" moments while listening to these songs, then you weren't paying close enough attention, hahahaha. Hope you enjoyed 'em.

Next time: Black Thought, Scarface, Talib Kweli.