Em's Focus on Making Lyrics 'Sound' Pleasurable

[EminemBase]

Just listening to "You're Never Over", and Recovery again since a while and when he said "tryna process this loss is making me nauseous " it got me thinking how Em often focuses on making lyrics sound pleasing to the ear.

In that line he's emphasizing the letter 's' with the words he's chosen, which make that line sound very pleasurable, to me at least.

And obviously he's not the only one to do things like this, but he's a lot more consistent and persistent with it and he's done things like this throughout his career. I think this is another reason he's so huge (very little has to do with him being white, sick of hearing that) - because he not only focuses on making subject-matter meaty (I'm speaking of him in his prime) but he also focuses on making it infectious and pleasurable for the listener.

Where as a lot of rappers, even good rappers, just focus on writing good lyrics and flowing well and don't have the same obsessive detail or concern for minor, studied payoffs.

Which brings up another point, with Em he's always focusing on what the listener is thinking, with every line. I know other rappers do, but again, it's just the extremity and level of care which differentiates it. He wants you to hear and get something out of second. Where as a lot just fill up space.

Pretty pointless thread, just had that thought. Another reason his best work is like crack.

[Mr Change]

Just listening to "You're Never Over", and Recovery again since a while and when he said "tryna process this loss is making me nauseous " it got me thinking how Em often focuses on making lyrics sound pleasing to the ear.

In that line he's emphasizing the letter 's' with the words he's chosen, which make that line sound very pleasurable, to me at least.

And obviously he's not the only one to do things like this, but he's a lot more consistent and persistent with it and he's done things like this throughout his career. I think this is another reason he's so huge (very little has to do with him being white, sick of hearing that) - because he not only focuses on making subject-matter meaty (I'm speaking of him in his prime) but he also focuses on making it infectious and pleasurable for the listener.

Where as a lot of rappers, even good rappers, just focus on writing good lyrics and flowing well and don't have the same obsessive detail or concern for minor, studied payoffs.

Which brings up another point, with Em he's always focusing on what the listener is thinking, with every line. I know other rappers do, but again, it's just the extremity and level of care which differentiates it. He wants you to hear and get something out of second. Where as a lot just fill up space.

Pretty pointless thread, just had that thought. Another reason his best work is like crack.

Good explanation.

That's the thing about Eminem, you can go years and years and still find ways to point out little things that make him sound so good. Whether it be on a technical standpoint or as you just brought up, the actual sound.

[Innovation]

I agree. He also continues that "s" in the next few lines of that track. The consistently is a pleasure to listen to and it really does make you appreciate Em's craftsmanship.

I think this is also the case with multi-syllable rhyming, it's that attention to detail which makes the lyrics not only more impressive, but more of a pleasure to listen to.

Here's an example from The Kids (brilliant track by the way)

go and O.D/grow a goatee

It sounds much better as opposed to "don't O.D, or I'll have to grow a goatee", it's that sort of attention to detail which makes Eminem a fantastic lyricist.

[Bananastyle]

^^Maybe because that doesn't rhyme?

His intricate focus on every syllable and enunciation in a word is the backbone to everything else in his rhyming that's so fantastic.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

i do feel that is very missed on Recovery.

On relapse Em paid a lot of attention to that,every single shit he said seemed worded nicely,clever,witty and detailed

fuck you Eminem,once again.

[Innovation]

^^Maybe because that doesn't rhyme?

I've changed it so it rhymes, but either way, it still gets the exact same point across. The extension of the rhyme makes that bar sound much more pleasing on the ear.

i do feel that is very missed on Recovery.

On relapse Em paid a lot of attention to that,every single shit he said seemed worded nicely,clever,witty and detailed

fuck you Eminem,once again.

The accent did assist him with his rhyming in a few songs of Relapse. The best example of attention to detail in his rhyming would be his first three albums.

Not taking anything away from Relapse though, some of the rhyming is pure excellence. Just take Hello's first verse as an example, not many rappers would be able to write that intricately whilst still being witty and clever.

[Mr Change]

i do feel that is very missed on Recovery.

On relapse Em paid a lot of attention to that,every single shit he said seemed worded nicely,clever,witty and detailed

fuck you Eminem,once again.

Now, now

Recovery has it's moments

[momentsgolden]

I was thinking of making a thread like that just today! Different angle but its so true. Eminem makes music. Most rappers make rap. HUGE difference. Its how he makes his music relatable, accessible yet ultimately technically astute. And its even more impressive when he does that without changing the way words should sound.

[Devil'sAdvocate]

Yeah, he is good at the assonance. He does it in Lighters too.

good?

hes fucking brilliant at assonance.

/stanout

fuck you heauxs!

[Sam.]

He did this on "Cum On Everybody".

Made a couple of crank calls collect ,
"Ken Kaniff from Connecticut, can you accept?".

He gives this a special mention in his book.

[SliK]

It's not just his emphasis on the 's' sound that makes it so pleasing. In that single line he rhymes 'process', 'loss is' and 'nauseous', of course they sound similar (in this case, the 's' sound is most obvious) he's rhyming words... He's a rapper...

[Innovation]

It's not just his emphasis on the 's' sound that makes it so pleasing. In that single line he rhymes 'process', 'loss is' and 'nauseous', of course they sound similar (in this case, the 's' sound is most obvious) he's rhyming words... He's a rapper...

Soulja Boy rhymes words (barely), he's a rapper (debatable). See the difference here? Eminem pays a lot of attention to detail in his writing.

[GenePeer]

EmBase, it's called consonance and this wouldn't be the best example of it on Recovery.

[Amaranthine]

EmBase, it's called consonance and this wouldn't be the best example of it on Recovery.

Got more examples?

[GenePeer]

EmBase, it's called consonance and this wouldn't be the best example of it on Recovery.

Got more examples?

Is the Pope Catholic?