Defsounds

So from time to time, I find it in my day to go look through some of the singles that may be posted on the main page. Sometimes the song is good, sometimes its bad but thats just the way that hip hop is at the moment. You're going to have a mixture of garbage, high quality garbage, and of course, theres always the real music.

When the members on the main page have the chance to reply to some of these songs and leave their comments, one of the things that I have noticed is that nine out of ten times an argument will occur about the artist being better than another artist, or how this artist is better than every other artist for one reason or another. I must say that although I find these discussions/arguments quite amusing, a lot of the people who argue for their represented artist don't really put down too many facts. They tend to just name albums and call them classics, or say that they rap about things that matter.

So as a way to assist with these arguments, I have come up with a guideline that you members can choose to use, if you like, when gauging one rapper/emcee from another. I tend to use the following.

Flow-What it sounds like. Is it repetitive? Does it bring energy?

Delivery-How they approach every beat. Is it like everyone elses? Is it easy to replicate or does it actually take a craft?

Wordplay-Wordplay is the way in which they place the words in their verses. Synonyms, pace, breath control, vocabulary and how they use it in a verse. For example, instead of saying you make me mad with the results, an artist might go "Im repulsed at the results". It means the same thing but the new word enhances the flow and decorates the wordplay.

Simile - is nothing but a comparison using 'like' or 'as'. It's very simple to do but if done right, it is great for battles and freestyles. But because anyone can do a simile, if an artist is known for just similes, it dosen't make them talented, it makes them one dimensional and corny.

Metaphors - Metaphors are also a comparison, but you don't use like or as. Ex. "A dam is a wall to water. It blocks the (outward) movement of water."

Creativity - This is pretty simple. No artist should always sound the same, if you do then you probably suck.

And just to close things out, just because an artist talks about things that matter, does not mean that they are great rappers. Rapping about politics while another artist raps about big breasts and shiny cars dosen't make that conscious rapper superior lyrically. So stop please be conscious of the lyrics. And last but not least, SWAG has nothing to do with anything and it does not constitute someone being a great rapper so dont use it in an argument.