What makes something lyrical?

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I would say Lil Wayne makes everything lyrical. Heres an example.

real g's move in silence like lasagna.

this line is very lyrical. it has no true meaning, it is absolutely pointless, makes no sense, doesnt even rhyme (unless some one wants to prove me otherwise), and has no flow when you actually listen to the song.










(just in case you guys think I'm serious, fuck wayne, and young money.)


here's an actual lyrical verse from EM.


It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
Why I keep on duckin' under the bed when I hear thunder
Cuz I ain't crazy, I say shit that's crazy to crazy people
To make 'em believe I'm crazy so they can relate to me
And maybe believe in Shady so they can be evil baby
I like that! I'm only as crazy as people made me
Believe me, there'll be just as many muthafuckin' murderers
And heroin users without Marlilyn's music
But I figure I make my music I don't care if you use it
To murder somebody, I just wanna be there when you do it!
Now the parents are suein' cuz little Darren is screwin'
Karen and Susan cause I told him to do it on Clue's new shit
Now it's all ruined, the whole world is fucked up
Cuz of me? Two 12-year old girls is knocked up
My attitude's 'fuck it' like Pac's was at one point
Wanna come join? Pick up a glock and just point
Now everybody's killin' everybody and everybody's bloody
And I'm just laughin' like it's funny
Cause I don't really give a shit about no-muthafuckin'-body
I'm so muthafuckin' nutty I don't give a fuck about nuttin'!

He talks about how parents are suing him for all the bad things that their kids are doing. There have been several reports of people killing because of eminem music, or things related to eminem music. An absolutely genius line right there if you ask me.

[Slim Fiasco]

^I swear if some of these verses were written by some member in the CW section, they'd be labeled as nothing special. Lyrics usually look worse on paper in comparison to how they actually sound, especially through a good flow like Eminem's.

[classthe_king]

^I swear if some of these verses were written by some member in the CW section, they'd be labeled as nothing special. Lyrics usually look worse on paper in comparison to how they actually sound, especially through a good flow like Eminem's.

And it usually works the other way around as well, verses that look extremely good on text don't sound very well rapped. The biggest transition of rapping for me was going from writing good text verses to writing good rap verses; the two are completely different.

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yeah the What The Beat verse is one of my favorites. He uses the perfect tone, and the transition from "its like a jungle some times it makes me wonder why i keep on duckin under tha bed when i hear the thunder" and then it drops and hes like "CUZ I AINT CRAZY! I SAY SHIT THATS CRAZY TO CRAZY PEOPLE TO EM BELIVE IM CRAZY SO THEY CAN RELATE TO ME AND MAYBE BELIEVE IN SHADY SO THEY CAN BE EVIL BABY. i like dat!" then it changes again "im only as crazy as ppl made me believe me."

[classthe_king]

yeah the What The Beat verse is one of my favorites. He uses the perfect tone, and the transition from "its like a jungle some times it makes me wonder why i keep on duckin under tha bed when i hear the thunder" and then it drops and hes like "CUZ I AINT CRAZY! I SAY SHIT THATS CRAZY TO CRAZY PEOPLE TO EM BELIVE IM CRAZY SO THEY CAN RELATE TO ME AND MAYBE BELIEVE IN SHADY SO THEY CAN BE EVIL BABY. i like dat!" then it changes again "im only as crazy as ppl made me believe me."

In case you never knew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6e9G-ump3Y

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^hahahha that had me crackn up. I know that song tho.

[Hadez]

sorry but i'm not buying the "it has to present a life lesson" thing.

being lyrical, in rap, is subjective anyway. but even still... it's a poetic term. poetry is interpreted in many ways.

things that come to mind if i were to judge something as lyrical include (but not limited to):
- rhyming. can they piece intelligent rhymes together in a way that doesn't hinder the message of the words themselves?
- word play
- emotional aspect, does it effect my mood?
- is there story telling? can i imagine what is being said as if i were there?
- the intention behind the writing. i can imagine the 22's on 2 Chainz whip. but for what purpose did he write this? for the sake of writing it? sorry, it's bullshit.

[Kill You]

Something that has a point or a meaning and isn't just random bullshit. There's great rhyming (which isn't also lyrical) and then there's great lyrics. Relapse, for example, I consider to be a very lyrical album. He doesn't say much of anything but he does it in great detail. Tells stories and such.

[momentsgolden]

Lyrical...being exceptionally well in a particular (or several) fields.

Agree completely. I would add, being INTENTIONALLY exceptionally well in a particular field. I feel like the whole purpose of art is to translate a thought into a piece of work in such a strong and vivid way that it achieves the particular objective. Therefore, Hopsin's Ill Mind of Hopsin 5 is lyrically incredible because it paints a vivid picture of society and makes you visualize and empathize with his viewpoint. Marvin's Room/ Buried Alive translates you to a particular point in the antagonists life (felt like going all academic on that one lol) that can enable you to virtually live it too.

Yet,

Something that has a point or a meaning and isn't just random bullshit.

i'm not sure i agree with this. Everyone would agree that microphone (original slaughterhouse track) and Despicable are pinnacles of lyricism yet they dont seem to be overly profound. They derive their power from originality and wittiness more than any emotional change to the receptor of the track.

"Simple" lyrics are those that are not well thought out or rather the type that you would expect an average human to do. Relativity is what separates it at the end of the day. Is Usain Bolt fast? Yes, because he can cover ground at a greater distance than any other athlete in history. In the same way, lyrically superior is employing whatever technical device that you have (Lupe's social commentary, Kanye's arrogance, Nas' storrytelling, Tech N9ne's rhyming, Cunnilingus's creativeness, Lonely Islands humour, Brother Lynch Hung's fear inducing horrocore, Rhyme asylum's punchlines etc etc etc) and do it better than we would expect an average/ rookie person to do. In that way, "Friday" was lyrically solid when it came out because at the time it was superior in its ability to capture the feeling of a day in the life of a black man at the time. Listen to it now and it sounds lazy but that then ignores the relativity and originality (at least to hip-hop) when it came out.

[Fleka]

I think that lyrical, in rap, is when you are able to tell a story while using great rhyming-having great technical skills. Great story with poor rhyming is not enough, just like if you say nothing in a very technical way.

[Kill You]

Lyrical...being exceptionally well in a particular (or several) fields.

Agree completely. I would add, being INTENTIONALLY exceptionally well in a particular field. I feel like the whole purpose of art is to translate a thought into a piece of work in such a strong and vivid way that it achieves the particular objective. Therefore, Hopsin's Ill Mind of Hopsin 5 is lyrically incredible because it paints a vivid picture of society and makes you visualize and empathize with his viewpoint. Marvin's Room/ Buried Alive translates you to a particular point in the antagonists life (felt like going all academic on that one lol) that can enable you to virtually live it too.

Yet,

Something that has a point or a meaning and isn't just random bullshit.

i'm not sure i agree with this. Everyone would agree that microphone (original slaughterhouse track) and Despicable are pinnacles of lyricism yet they dont seem to be overly profound. They derive their power from originality and wittiness more than any emotional change to the receptor of the track.

"Simple" lyrics are those that are not well thought out or rather the type that you would expect an average human to do. Relativity is what separates it at the end of the day. Is Usain Bolt fast? Yes, because he can cover ground at a greater distance than any other athlete in history. In the same way, lyrically superior is employing whatever technical device that you have (Lupe's social commentary, Kanye's arrogance, Nas' storrytelling, Tech N9ne's rhyming, Cunnilingus's creativeness, Lonely Islands humour, Brother Lynch Hung's fear inducing horrocore, Rhyme asylum's punchlines etc etc etc) and do it better than we would expect an average/ rookie person to do. In that way, "Friday" was lyrically solid when it came out because at the time it was superior in its ability to capture the feeling of a day in the life of a black man at the time. Listen to it now and it sounds lazy but that then ignores the relativity and originality (at least to hip-hop) when it came out.

To me, I really feel like Despicable and Microphone DO have points. He does use a lot of random lines but he seems to stay on topic at the same time. Those freestyles display impressive lyricism, from a skill point and an actual lyrical point. The song doesn't HAVE to have an ultimate point for me, but I feel like he shouldn't just be spitting punchlines...I think Richard has good lyricism, for example, because I feel like he stays on topic the whole time, while rhyming well, while ultimately not saying much of anything.