The Tale of the Rappers’ Rapper
Within the folds of the Hip-Hop community finds itself the people who practice the craft as much as they listen to it. It is in no way a small group, with each individual differing due to their musical influences, their upbringing and their locales. However, many of the artists who adhere to the ideas of lyricism through metaphors and other figures of speech as well as the technical pros who excel in their intricate usage of cadence and syllable work don't listen to the artists that the casual fans listen to. They scour the world to get the best of the best at what they're looking for, whether that be rhyming ability or power on the mic. The results are the rapper's rapper. This type of artists is either naturally born with a specific aspect that is integral to the artform or have developed it throughout the length of their careers. These are the the Lauryn Hill's, the Andre 3000's and the MF Doom's.
As a fan of Lauryn Hill's music and career, I can say that to listen to her could be rightfully compared to drinking fine wine. No one drinks fine wine, nevertheless regular wine, on a regular basis. It's a an acquired taste. While listening to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, a rapper can learn a key to the game that is done by many other rappers but never truly grasped: honesty. A rapper who raps something they haven't lived tends to have a forceful delivery so that they can sound as if it is true. Ms. Hill does something that had been done well before by rappers such as Rakim, Public Enemy and even her contemporaries, but the key difference is the exposure that she put on her personal life was a detailed and complete picture that didn't need to be explained in subsequent interviews for the message to be understood. "Doo Wop (That Thing)" is about the dangers of the opposite sexe whilel "Ex-Factor" is a an exploration of the mind of a person in a torrid relationship that doesn't want to be ended by either party. It's in honesty that one can create a song about something that hasn't been talked about before, such as Chance the Rapper's "Wala Cam" or even Tupac's ""Brenda's Got A Baby".
The story of Andre 3000 is one of the biggest dichotomies in hip-hop. A rapper who forges his career out of nothing and is often regarded as being one of the top best rappers of all-time has neither released a full solo album or a full-rap hit. His biggest success was "Hey Ya!". What makes him the rapper's rapper? If it isn't his infectious stage presence and ability to move the crowd, it's his innovation. To reinvent is what made Hip-Hop what it is - it started as a reinvention of disco and is a constant in the genre. A rapper listens to Outkast's ATLiens on signature trucks such as "Aquemini" to hear the unique way that Andre's flow impacts the overall instrumentation that he uses. Speaking of which, the instruments that he uses on a lot of The Love Below are unique and now iconic.
André (shows) that you don't need lyrics to convey emotion. Instead (he uses) the rawest instrumentation (he) can pull off, and it goes off very well.
- Zasonikku's thoughts on André 3000's Look Ma No Hands
If there's such as thing as a complete technical master, it is MF Doom. The Masked rapper has forged for himself a career that is filled with intricate punchlines and interconnecting words and syllables. The syllable work demonstrated by Doom is one of the first things that any rapper who listens to him will figure out but has much difficulty replicating. His syllable count - number of syllables used in a specific line or bar - are always perfectly matched with the beat, giving a perfect sounding rhyme every single time he touches the mic. Not to mention that he is one of the very few rappers who has both the intelligence and the skill to be able to rhyme the entire line with his punchline. But to demonstrate one of his best uses of syllable wordplay can be seen with the beginning of his hit song, Doomsday, where he says:
I used to cop a lot
But never copped no drop
Hold mics like pony tails, tight, and bob a lot
Stop and stick around
Come through and dig the sound
Of the fly brown six-o sicko psycho who throws his d*** around- MF Doom on "Doomsday"
A rapper's rapper is one of the most important parts of a rapper's style and flair. There is no Drake without Kanye West just as there is no Nicki Minaj without Lil Kim. THe influence that a previous generation has on the rappers of the future can be seen everywherea. Mibla rappers are products of two prominent rappers, Future and T-Pain due to their style and use of auto-tune. Who a rapper listens to during their free time becomes the rapper they go to learn from. Their impact is substantial because it doesn't matter how honest, impactful or technically gifted you are: what matters is that you properly pay homage to the greats that paved the way for you by giving praise and continuing the good work that they did and/or continue to do in their careers.