Em's punchlines / wordplay were so much better back then.

[Emadyville]

I wish it was as nonchalant as back then...it seemed to just flow whereas now they seem somewhat forced. which may be due to his faster flow and less laid back delivery

[SliK]

When you're hung from the drapes- it's curtains.

Today he literally would have said "I'll hang you from the drapes, otherwords it's curtains"

He just used to phrase them so much better, or like Amadeo said in a different thread the punch wouldn't be the main point of the bar, it would be the rhyme he was focusing on. Now it takes him half a verse to make a point. The whole Bruce Willis, David Carradine, OTHERWORDS I DIE HARD punch was painful.

[EminemBase]

I agree, I think his post-2010 lines have been so much better though. He usually hammers something until he's nailed (ehh) it, and that's what he's been doing with punchlines...

He hadn't done them for a while and never did them as much or as directly as he was attempting to do in 2010; so naturally, he started out very badly, over-writing lead-ins to punchlines which often had little relevance to what he was saying, the lines were... for their own sake...

But lately, if you take his line on "Richard" for example:

"I'm from De-troit city, you live in ani-mosity, that's a fucked up state to be in"

- it's becoming a lot more seamless.

I also love his Godzilla line on "C'mon Let Me Ride", it works within itself and he didn't write his way into a paper bag for the sake of saying it, it just happens within his wording.

So yeah, whilst I was tiring of some of the insanely lame attempts on Recovery, he's gotten a lot better at it now and I wouldn't mind more at all, I just think they should be peppered throughout his new album and not a focus point. I think he can use them well now.

[Kill You]

Agree and I agree with what EminemBase said. He's actually getting much better at them and they seem less forced.

[Elision]

it seemed to just flow whereas now they seem somewhat forced.

he meant it. now it's a gimmick.

edit: anyone here see that one episode of Black Mirror?

[Supershade]

Such an atro-city

[cityfan31]

The best thing about C'mon Let Me Ride was that he showed restraint in his verses. He let the rhymes speak for themselves, let the punchlines come naturally and let it flow rather than trying too hard. It seemed effortless.

The same can be said about Here Comes The Weekend.

So the signs are good. I can't wait to hear a single though to see the direction. I would imagine an attempt at a radio hit without the celebrity name - dropping. Something in the ilk of Business would be perfect.

[Supershade]

His first single should be called never gave a fuck, dissin the fuck out of everyone

[Jimmy Conway]

Yep, he was better when he was young. Just like most people in almost every part of life.


Youth is wasted on the young. :')

[Eedee]

This thread stays winning.

[ShadyxEminem]

A little off topic but, how great is his two If I Get Locked Up Tonight verses? Vintage Em

But yeah, he rarely used punchlines back then. His wordplay that makes me cringe the most is when he says

"Call me Brett Favre, spell it F-A-V-R-E, yep
It's wrong, other words I just fucked my RV up" I get it. I just don't like it

[Blu]

If he could just stop using "in other words" and any other variation of that phrase, his punch lines would be a helluva lot better.

[Coulter]

"Call me Brett Favre, spell it F-A-V-R-E, yep
It's wrong, other words I just fucked my RV up"[/i] I get it. I just don't like it

Not trying to give any more credit to him than he deserves, but my interpretation was that Em was explaining the line to make it A LOT more simpler than how he presented it in "Fly Away".
"Fuck an RV up like Brett Favre".

I didn't understand the line in "Fly Away", then he kinda threw it in your face like "HERE IT IS!"

[Eedee]

If he could just stop using "in other words" and any other variation of that phrase, his punch lines would be a helluva lot better.

Very, very true.

Loosen your grip on those different phrases, in other words, DROP THOSE OTHER WORDS.

[Jimmy Conway]

A little off topic but, how great is his two If I Get Locked Up Tonight verses? Vintage Em

But yeah, he rarely used punchlines back then. His wordplay that makes me cringe the most is when he says

"Call me Brett Favre, spell it F-A-V-R-E, yep
It's wrong, other words I just fucked my RV up" I get it. I just don't like it

I like how you said you get it. It makes me think of most of the time when someone doesn't like something from Em a bunch of stans come in explaining the verse. Like it's the person not understanding the lyrics and not that it sounds like shit.

NAH IT'S GOOD CAUSE SEE WHAT EM WAS SAYING.....no, we know what he was saying. It was just horrible.