When utilized properly, multi-syllable rhyme patterns can dramatically increase the impact of your lines. When employed incorrectly, you sound like a fucking dipshit. Follow along as we guide you from an Eleagle to a.. well.. not Eleagle.
Ever since this style became all the rage, there’s been a legion of incredibly terrible battlers desperately trying to incorporate this tactic into their arsenal. Almost all have failed. The most obvious reason for this occurrence? They fucking suck.
In order to excel at rapping in multi-syllable fashion, you must be moderately intelligent and possess a large vocabulary, as well as the self-awareness to realize when your lines are atrocious. Since the majority of battlers lack these basic fundamentals, their verses wind up becoming a jumbled mess of stupidity.
The key to spitting a good, clean multi is a very simple concept, yet it somehow eludes many, many battlers. Above all, the most important guideline to follow is relevance (this is a mandatory requirement in general, but even more important when using multi-syllables). Despite this being completely disregarded by the majority of the current battle scene, without it, the most your bars can hope to achieve is to sound pretty.. and even then, they’re still trash.
Examples:
You really think those played, used bars are gonna take you far?
You’ve got a better chance rolling through in a busted up, fake used car!
-Eleagle to D-Lor
Why is driving a used car such an impossibility? Why are we calling the car fake? There’s absolutely no reason Eleagle needed to say this. It’s forced, makes no sense and was only included because he needed words to rhyme.
Okay… maybe the kid was onto something.
Ayo! TheSaurus and Illmac? Your clitoris just builds fat..
-Frankie Wapps to TheSaurus & Illmaculate
How does a clitoris build fat?
TheSaurus’ grill, looks like a tortured seal, leftover pork & veal
Or some ordered meal from a Greek diner of half chewed orange peels
-Jaze Juce to TheSaurus
Saur’s face doesn’t resemble a seal, despite how much it’s been tortured. It’s also nothing close to a chewed up orange peel. Leaving out the worst comparison and inserting “pork and veal” at the end of the bar makes much more sense as that’s an item people might order at restaurants. Irrelevant multis ruin lines.
What is this? A.C. Slater? I think his fucking.. face seems gayer
And with 18 craters he’ll scare away each neighbor
-Jaze Juce to TheSaurus
How does a face seem gay? Why only 18 craters? Why not 17? It’s a bad sign when you need random numbers to make rhymes fit. Where’d these neighbors come from?
In case you don’t remember, but a while back there was a battler who garnered more hate than anyone else on the battle scene due to his abundant use of irrelevant and ludicrous comparisons. He’d often compare his opponents, human beings mind you, to inanimate objects that no human could possibly bear resemblance to.
Examples:
“You look like a giant sized onion on a fucking retarded broom stick!”
“Your face looks like someone stuck TNT inside a belly button!”
“His face looks like John Goodman’s face superimposed on a sack of potatoes!”
-Mic Assassin to Iron Solomon
Yeah, I’m just not too sure how accurate those lines really are. As you can see, Iron Solomon just looks like a normal human being.
I doubt anyone out there would label these comparisons acceptable, which boggles the mind because so many jump at the chance to defend similar lines which follow nearly the same formula. The only difference between them being, you guessed it, multis.
Battle rap listeners give a pass to terrible comparisons because they sound pretty when surrounded in multi-laden rhymes. They are fascinated with these schemes because they think they’re harder to write. They laugh like morons while overlooking the fact that, despite how cute it sounds, nobody resembles 12 inanimate objects or random people.
Examples:
He looks like Tiger Woods
Busted nuts inside of Little Red Riding Hood
Then out came Kobe Bryant’s foot
-Mosh Jelton to Unorthodox Phrases
Unorthodox looks nothing like Tiger Woods, but he is indeed a tall, black male so I guess whatever. What’s not debatable is the fact that he doesn’t resemble a small, fictional white girl or an NBA player’s foot. I don’t know how anyone can resmeble another human’s foot. Again, the multis are only in place to rhyme. It’s lazy writing.
You’re barely makin’ weary statements
And if you listen close enough to this fairy Haitian
You can hear Gary Payton’s cherry breakin‘
-Mosh Jelton to Unorthodox Phrases
I can’t tell if the first line is supposed to be a diss or a compliment? Weary means to cause fatigue, so um, whatever, at least it rhymes, right? Again, Unorthodox gets compared to another random black guy with another irrelevant multi attached. What the fuck does that shit even mean? Why is Gary Payton’s cherry being broken and why/how are we hearing it? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!??! *head explodes*
There’s really no explanation for these lines unless Mosh was battling Unorthodox while on a mescaline trip.
In closing, multi-syllabic rhyme patterns will never be a fair trade for making sense in a rap battle. In reality, they make you sound much, much worse. Create a line rooted in accuracy and relevance and stick to it. The battle scene will thank you.
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Responses:
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| Real talk. Cats don’t know how to rap anymore. They see a formula, try to emulate it and BAM, we have a new crop of battlers.
While I do note that extreme exxaggerations and overstatements are part of attacking your opponent. Yeah MarvWon isn’t the chairman for fast food, wearin a fat suit… we all know he is blatantly NOT wearing a fat suit (right?… well we DO KNOW) He isn’t the “chairmen” for “Fast Food” as if that (Genre?), FAST FOOD alone had a Board of directors and shit. Nonetheless its a valid/comedic exaggeration. However, one would argue that the “multi’s” ARE relevant to each other though. It’s just about finding a middle ground and not rhyming for the sake of rhyming. Oh yeah, R.I.P. ORIGINALITY!!! |
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| Illmaculate http://www.myspace.com/illmaculate |
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| It’s not about what you say, it’s about what you don’t say. I think that is what seperates great emcee’s from average rappers. Regardless of multi’s there are some things that you just shouldn’t say in a rap, battle or other wise. Nothing against Mosh, but Koby Bryant’s foot is one of those lines. You shouldn’t be talking about Koby Bryant’s foot unless he broke it and your making a punchline about it. You especially shouldn’t be comparing someone’s physical appearence to his foot. Multi or not, you just don’t say some things.
As for forced multi’s, to me they are the same thing as a stretch. You wouldn’t go crazy over a line if you had to ask yourself why does that make sense? Same thing with forced multi’s, you will not go crazy over a forced multi unless your in the heat of the moment and reacting instantly. Sometimes forced multis can trick the brain (Thank the rap gods for GrindTime). Take a look at the West Coast’s own F.L.O. This is a great example of why you don’t need forced multi’s, just good lines. When he battles it’s just funny shit, he’s not tryin’ to force anything. I would much rather listen to a creative emcee that doesn’t use multi’s to the extent of everyone else than someone who is forcing multi’s all the time. At the end of the day it’s as simple as this: Don’t say a line if it’s stupid, multi or not. |
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| 9DM http://www.myspace.com/9dm |
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| Well done article. Ultimately the use of multi’s should come down to maintaining relevance. I think a line from Eurgh sums it up pretty well, at least from a battle standpoint- “We say punchlines…. you just make stuff rhyme.” I think that line and its relevance apply to so many people particularly newcomers to the scene.
What should be understood is that some people just have a better or different grasp of language/ language mechanics than others, and that some are capable of pulling of crazy intricate schemes that still make sense and sound natural. And sounding natural is far more important than stacking a bunch of syllables on top of each other just for the sake of sounding more complex. You’re better off just getting to the point instead of addin a bunch of unnecessary decoration to a line or verse. Just be yourself people. you’ll be commended more for taking an original approach. help the scene evolve and progress. Try RE-setting the standard. |
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| TheSaurus http://www.myspace.com/bestrapperontheplanet |
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| This is the curse of following a style that isn’t your own. It’s fashion for emcees. Some people look good in skin tight jeans, others look like crap. Such is the case with multi’s being used in battles.
My take on it is this: “the result emcees are going for when using multi’s is to sound more complex than they are”. Plain and simple. If I use multi’s, it’s to make fun of the trend or to appeal to the Geeks in the audience. They like the cadence and rhythm multi’s provide. It’s like a white person trying to dance and the only ‘black move’ he knows is the HARLEM SHAKE. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up. My advice is find your own comfort zone. While that advice will never be followed it is sound. Using a style that isn’t your own will stunt your growth and leave you prone to attacks well beyond your hiphop years. Your kids will joke on you. Great article. |
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| Revanon http://www.myspace.com/revwho |
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| I think the article is great. It’s harsh, but fuck it, if things are going to change we need cats like you to point out what’s wrong with some clearly wack verses. Great job. I want to read a lot more. Keep it funny, too. |
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| Illusion-Z http://www.myspace.com/mcillusionz |
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| Multis..multis..multis..
Upcoming rappers need to realize that you can’t base your style on multis, and that you have to fit them into YOUR style.
Too many see what works and use the same criteria in there game plan. It’s about being creative and original, if you’re gonna jock the formula, you might as well jock the rhymes ’cause you ain’t being creative, so why cut corners? It’s a non stop argument, wack rappers find out what multis are and shape shift their style to compliment them. It’s boring and repetitive, there are few that do it great. So just let them stick to doing that.
Focus on your individual style and make it work. YOU DO NOT NEED MULTIS TO BE DOPE!!
Shout outs to EG for breaking it down. |
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| Organik http://www.myspace.com/organikhiphop |
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| Some people need to not use that style because it’s not natural for them, and you can hear the pattern being forced. It’s 2009, people need to focus more on switching their flows up and being creative, instead of using that SAME DELIVERY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN COPYING OFF KNOWN UNDERGROUND RAPPERS SINCE 1998.
It’s like when Canibus came out, all the sudden everybody tried to cram as many punchlines and rhyming words as possible into a few bars. If you listen to many of the new cats that use the style, it’s starting to sound played because they’re stiff with it and don’t alternate words, or change emphasis and placement for dramatic effect. Some of their voices are terrible (not naming names or regions but you know what I’m getting at) so it kind of shines a light on a flaw instead of masking it. You can’t fake a pattern through a whole battle and expect people to dig your FLOW if you’re not showing them examples of how you can change speeds, cadence. Maybe use a popular rapper’s pattern to style on somebody. It’s like they took the “style” out of an already established STYLE. It’s like 4 bars, generic line, everything rhymes….PAUSE…same set pattern…same accent, same unclipped, swaggerless, merriam webster diction. No change ups. People need to give it a rest and just start GOING IN. Shit. Also, that’s one thing the so called “glock” rappers have in the bag moreso than the “underground” or “backpack” battle rappers. Isn’t that funny? |
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| Meta4ce http://www.myspace.com/meta4ceomega |
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| Love the article. I think there have been alot of West Coast cats that fuck up multis also, not just the east, lol your being a lil bit biased. In my personal opinion the use of multis was made popular by TheSaurus and Illmac from my perspective at least, and then it spawned a whole new genre of battle rapping but the other cats doing it don’t sound orginal to me from the get so I’m not feeling it. I wish we had more orginal rappers in the game like NoCanDo, like Dumbfoundead, Soul Kahn, Hollow The Don, etc. Just my 2 cents on it. | |||
| Pumpkinhead http://www.myspace.com/pumpkinhead |
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THANK you. Hilarious article, but the message is clear and pure truth.
Multi syllable rhymes are a great tool if you already have your punchlines/relevance down pat. Once you get everything in YOUR style down, then you can worry about upping your game with multis. To base your entire style and principle around multis is to sacrifice every other important factor to the artform.
Please don’t disrespect what so many people have worked hard to create, do it for the love of it, not for the novelty.
You fantasize about having a husband named Jake who bakes you dumplings and cake
- TheSaurus to Madness
Why a husband named Jake? Why not a husband named Tom or Jim? It’s a bad sign when you need random names to make rhymes fit. Where’d these dumplings and cakes come from? Why not pies and ice cream?
WTF@this article. sounds like a dried up battler crying about a loss a to a multi rhymer. Yes it takes more skill to ryhme and make sense,very true. But multis and their inatiment jestures is what makes a battle funny and entertaining. The line juce spit about saurs was classic, face looks like a toturerd seal. even if it wasn’t a multi the vision of saurs face lookin like that would still be funny because his face is so fukked that there is no atiment way to put it. inatimentcy is only a form of imagination and creativity any how. A battle in it self is inatiment. Nobody is Really gonna do what they say in there ryhmes. So being multi or boom boom punch, its all the same.
“Yes it takes more skill to ryhme and make sense,very true. But multis and their inatiment jestures is what makes a battle funny and entertaining.”
I guess that’s where the differences are. Forced multi’s with no relevance are entertainment for you. Do I really need to go any further? Keep chasin’ that tail, tiger. Take it back to Youtube, the bar’s raised a bit higher over here.
Thanks for the advice, as a new cat ( I had my first battle at Tourettes recently) also as a fan(of music and overall art) I try to push any art I practice forward. Theres no blueprint for this MC shit yall know, young dudes like me need these articles man help us get our shit together so we can retire yall vets hahaha.
D.Unknown
I acknowledge that all those quotables up there are wack and random as fuck.
But….
So many people WIN battles with shit like that!
Mosh is winning tons of battles….Jaze Juce….Frankie Wapps….etc
people have been spittin multis for a LONG time, but as with any other popular art, it has evolved. instead of rhyming two or three syllables for a couple bars, people are rhyming 6 syllable strings for 8 bars at a time, and if they have a brain, it stays relevent the whole time. i commend this article and the work put into it, but i do think its unnecessary, unless your simply venting. If your NOT, and your trying to teach people, you might be wasting your time. the only way emcees learn, is by watching other emcees, and writing/freestyling. ive tried explaining the creative process and the infinite methods of stringing thoughts and making connections, and while they might get a slightly better understanding of rhyming, the help we give them could never help them as much as writing, and listening/watching dope emcees rhyme. i never took a word of advice from anybody on writing, i listened to emcees who were better than me lyrically.
Big props for the blog tho, it was very well put, hopefully some kids will gain something from it.
I dunno man.. I agree with a lot of what was said in this article, and the whole point of it.
But I find that when you learn something as useful as multis, you can’t really throw it off your back.. Every time I realise I’ve gone down on something when I rap, I try and fix it; usually becoming recognisably better. But each time I improve on one thing, I get worse at something else e.g. Better flow; Worse punchlines.
You can easily notice someone that jumped onto Youtube, saw Jumpoff and Grind Time like last year or something, and has now attained the generic style formulated out of everyone elses.
I’m only 17 but I’ve been watching battles since 2003/2004. And although I use multis and don’t have an amazingly original style, I still notice the difference between myself and other youngers that have suddenly decided to battle since it has become so easy to get the grips of now. Instead of slowly developing a style, it has become quickly following a trend.
For me the only way to avoid stuttering and shit chatting when rapping is to increase my vocabulary and keep practicing. I couldn’t just stop using the multi scheme.
yo wicked article, not to mention wicked that we get the point of view of some of the legendary cats (pumpkinhead brappppppp) in around the scene, and my country who ive been watchin with organik hostin, king of the dot.
anyways totally agreed with the idea of the multis, if u got a hot flip or real intellegent punch yah all for it, but like most of the examples wtf? personally all it is now is a league of people who can remember shit good ya dig?
PUMPKINHEAD
soul kahn is so over rated. hes not a bad rapper, one of the few decent ones coming out of the NY divisionalong with hollow da don.
WHOEVER WROTE THIS.
I agree, but some of the shit u said is really over stated and over done. its sometimes might not be a good sign but its alright to have random numbers and random names….like illmac said..exxagerations and overstatements are part of attacking your opponent. So it doesn’t always have to be make perfect fucking sense.
and Another thing… JAZE JUICE’s orange peel line was actually decent,you re hating on that line. that shit was dope. I know that as far a pure emceein skill and talent, jaze isnt up there. but the man is funny and orignal and thats what i like about him. not saying he is a really good rapper, just saying he is entertaining and pretty decent battle rapper when its writtens. MUCH better than wapps. now that guy sucks.
i think this article loses a lot of credit because it is written so ignorantly. If you are trying to sound intelligent by braking down the affects of multi syllable rhyme patterns then you should try to do it in a way that comes across educated.
I do agree with some of the statements in the article, however, some of the lines used as examples do not fit into the point being made
Claiming the line “you are barely making weary statements” by saying that the word weary doesnt make sense in the line is incorrect, in my opinion. The word weary means tired or fatigued, therefore he is saying you are barely making tired statements. A tired statement is something that is is played out ” that style is tired”. He is saying you are barley able to rap a style that is played out.
This article does make some good points but it fails to hold much weight because it seems to be written out of anger, just my opinion though
LOL. You are in a crew with one of the worst offenders of forced multis. It’s no wonder you defend the ‘weary statements’ line. Thanks for reading though.
Amazing article!!! Rappers should have the intelligence not to use multi’s if they can’t makes sense of them. Multi’s are just one aspect of rapping, not needed but it does up your game. Emcees like The Saurus & Ill Mac show you complex multi-syllable rhyme in rhyme structures, not many emcee’s can do that with relevance.
Some people say Im wack
well if thats true
Im the freshest wack emcee you ever heard
in your lifetime
-??? from the song 313
that did not rhyme but it sounded dope
express yourself people. Art is supposed to be a spiritual thing. if you can turn a battle into a piece of art then your one of the dopest ( Dumbfoundead anyone?). And stop tryin to emphasize every sylable so we can hear your precious multi. Flow your shit. Not realy saying that to anyone directly I’v just noticed alot of multi rappers in my city do that.
So I take it Tut looking like a mix between Jerry Rice, Barry White and Scary Spice is not a forced multi cause he’s…………black? Which one of those guys are like seven feet tall? Tut sounds like the opposite of Barry White as Barry White was known for being smooth, Tut’s voice sounds like he deep throated a cactus.
I’m actually a fan of TheSaurus, and recognize that he does this less often than say, Mosh Jelton or Eleagle, and actually this article is really pretty accurate but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
The fact is spitting forced multis is like spitting filler, and honestly I think its okay that even cats like TheSaurus get multied out as long as thats not their primary strategy. Obviously TheSaurus was not at 100% at scribble 2007. A round full of filler sucks, where as one or two filler lines are not terrible.
Remember when Mac Lethal use to have set up lines that started like, “Mac Lethal’s the iguana, see your a poor man’s version of Sinead O’ Connor”
No Mac Lethal, your obviously not an Iguana, you just didn’t think of anything else that rhyme with O’Connor.
Other than some details in my opinion being left out, this is pretty accurate.
I think something else that important is a lot of MCs try to be comedians, but aren’t funny people in real life. Like, if your not a funny guy than how about you try to work on what you are good at, maybe you can try aggressive flows out, or freestyle flips, god knows we can use more people doing that.
The TheSaurus line is a lot more accurate than anything I quoted in this article. It is also from a ‘freestyle battle’ over beats, where lines are given more leeway due to them a) being thought of on the fly or in between rounds and b) rapped over beats which sounds a whole lot better. Not to mention this was years before the huge retard craze and TheSaurus was one of the few doing those rhymes. Lines like that are what spawned idiots biting them and making them terrible.
I’m pretty sure back in the day Mac said he had goofy setups on purpose so his lines couldn’t be predicted. And again, an a capella street battle with 100% writtens against an opponent you’ve known of for months is a lot different than a freestyled line in a freestyle battle. And even so, Mac has some of the better setups and freestyled lines in history.
everyone says stupid things now and again espicially when freestyling illmac said “musack” and thesaurus said dizaster’s been a “martyr” all is life, which is impossible
waz the above comments frm THE REAL saurus, illmaculate etc??..
Yes.