He weaves his wordplay into the verses and doesn’t make a show of it, makes it simple but effective. So something like “soon as I press that button nikkas better get right like the ambulance coming” goes under the radar
Lupe Fiasco: "Metaphors and punchlines matter....don't need to be a great lyricist to tell a story....shouldn't rely on delivery and flow"
- Thread starter the elastic
- Start date
exactly. that s the least hip-hop shyt you can ever do in lyfe. thats damn near J-cole levels of faking the phunk.
It's the complete opposite 
This sums up why Lupe's music has been so unlistenable after his first two albums.
He's too caught up in making every song some corny metaphor puzzle...mf will make a whole song based on condiment wordplay for no reason at all
It's overwritten meaningless bullshyt written for a niche audience of neck beards who like to "solve" lyrics on genius and Reddit.
"Yo did you hear the new Lupe song where he raps from the perspective of a microwave
"
Just empty meaningless word games.
This sums up why Lupe's music has been so unlistenable after his first two albums.
He's too caught up in making every song some corny metaphor puzzle...mf will make a whole song based on condiment wordplay for no reason at all
It's overwritten meaningless bullshyt written for a niche audience of neck beards who like to "solve" lyrics on genius and Reddit.
"Yo did you hear the new Lupe song where he raps from the perspective of a microwave
"Just empty meaningless word games.
It's the complete opposite
This sums up why Lupe's music has been so unlistenable after his first two albums.
He's too caught up in making every song some corny metaphor puzzle...mf will make a whole song based on condiment wordplay for no reason at all
It's overwritten meaningless bullshyt written for a niche audience of neck beards who like to "solve" lyrics on genius and Reddit.
"Yo did you hear the new Lupe song where he raps from the perspective of a microwave
Just empty meaningless word games.
his delivery is not good either. he sounds like a dork. looks like one 2. IDK how he gets the love he does online.
I only knew him from doing cornball pop records. it wasn't until I joined this site that he's apparently the god MC.
Smokin Rider
I been official
Hip-Hop wasn't born out of a college classroom nor has anyone had to pass a emcee exam to become a rapper
Smokin Rider
I been official
Double
What’s with the fake outrage? The nikka spitting facts
He said an amalgamation of consistent punches, cross references, metaphors, and good vocab makes a great lyricist
nikkas talkin bout bars. Quotable rappers that also can tell stories, the elite can do both consistently. There’s plenty of great storytelling songs in the genre by lyricists who ain’t elite, it’s a different bag
Idk why Nas name gets dragged into this. Nas ain’t a “punchline” rapper per se, but Nas especially in his early years was heavy with the punches and a forefather of the complex multi syllable rhyme schemes
He said an amalgamation of consistent punches, cross references, metaphors, and good vocab makes a great lyricist
nikkas talkin bout bars. Quotable rappers that also can tell stories, the elite can do both consistently. There’s plenty of great storytelling songs in the genre by lyricists who ain’t elite, it’s a different bag
Idk why Nas name gets dragged into this. Nas ain’t a “punchline” rapper per se, but Nas especially in his early years was heavy with the punches and a forefather of the complex multi syllable rhyme schemes
Awesome Wells
The Ghost of Jack Tripper
He's right.
But you'd have to actually know your history to know what punchlines and metaphors are, away from what you hear in today's low quality version of Hip Hop lyricism. Every top-tier MC should have every aspect of those skills he mentioned. You can't be limited in any of them. The cypher is where you can pull these out the bag and move crowds, just like you would onstage. Storytelling is another skill. And strong conceptual structure for songs is another.
There are mad factors needed to really master being an elite MC. Lupe is speaking the truth. And the problem is, the talent pool today is so wack, that people don’t even know what's required of them anymore to truly be great. The standard is a joke now. So there are tons of dudes who don’t even have one skill mastered, but think they're dope. More people should listen to the greats, so they can learn how to develop. So what Lu is doing is the kinda sh*t that more seasoned MC's should be doing too. Help these dudes get better at this sh*t.
But you'd have to actually know your history to know what punchlines and metaphors are, away from what you hear in today's low quality version of Hip Hop lyricism. Every top-tier MC should have every aspect of those skills he mentioned. You can't be limited in any of them. The cypher is where you can pull these out the bag and move crowds, just like you would onstage. Storytelling is another skill. And strong conceptual structure for songs is another.
There are mad factors needed to really master being an elite MC. Lupe is speaking the truth. And the problem is, the talent pool today is so wack, that people don’t even know what's required of them anymore to truly be great. The standard is a joke now. So there are tons of dudes who don’t even have one skill mastered, but think they're dope. More people should listen to the greats, so they can learn how to develop. So what Lu is doing is the kinda sh*t that more seasoned MC's should be doing too. Help these dudes get better at this sh*t.
spliz
SplizThaDon
spliz
SplizThaDon
Is Nas' "Rewind" lyricism? It don't got a bunch of punchlines, similes, metaphors etc. And it's a storytelling track. Mind u. Lupe himself has cited this track as an example of why Nas is one of the greatest lyricists ever. Lol.
Its why Jay the goat he does it all at a S tier level
Gritsngravy
Superstar
Y’all can like whoever yall like and I get it yall got yall favorites but objectively drill music in Zion and drogas wave has been some of the best recent albums to come out
Music is subjective but if lupe haven’t made a good song in years than I need to know the criteria of good songs, like what is supposedly good music
Music is subjective but if lupe haven’t made a good song in years than I need to know the criteria of good songs, like what is supposedly good music