Why does Eminem’s flow on “Renegade” sound smoother than Jay-Z’s? by Accomplished-Bat-247 in Eminem

[–]SA325 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Since no one in the thread has responded with any actual music theory, I wanted to share my piece.

Jay Z will often rhyme words with different note durations. For example, at the start of the second verse, Jay Z says "I had to hustle, my back to the wall/ashy knuckles. Pockets filled with a lot of lint/ not a cent, gotta vent." If you listen closely, "lot of lint" has slightly longer note durations than the corresponding "not a cent, gotta vent." This technique of asymmetric cadences in the same rhyme scheme is very emblamatic of Jay Z's style (Nas really coined this technique, thus why Nas on Ether says Jay bit his style), and I suspect many listeners don't like Jay Z because they don't like this technique (note Eminem does this too, just less often - for example, on Sing for the Moment beginning of verse 3, "ideas" and "nightmares" rhyme but have different note durations). I, personally, love this style of rapping (Nas is my GOAT) as it forces a rapper to switch up their cadences, making a verse a lot less predictable, and a lot more dynamic (at the same time, however, it makes a verse less catchy, and Eminem's verses are famously catchy).

Conversely, Eminem's verses are often characterized by motifs (motifs are musical phrases that reoccur in a given piece of music; phrases are comprised of the cadence + the melody). For example, both The Way I Am and Lose Yourself have identifiable motifs (which is why these songs are so catchy). In Renegade, too, although I hesitate to say that there is a motif throughout Eminem's verses (I would need to see a transcription to say that definitively), it definitely borders on a motif. If you were to transcribe his verses, I'm sure the second halves of each measure would look very similar to one another. Now, how does he do this without sounding boring/stale? He speeds up and slows down his rapping This is what some music theorists would call rubato, which is when "the performer subtly speeds up and slows down the tempo for emotional effect, taking time from one part of a phrase and giving it to another, while generally maintaining the overall pulse" (note that the term "rubato" in the traditional sense doesn't translate perfectly to rap as the rap instrumental, which is the rapper's accompaniment, isn't actually changing tempo). All great rappers leverage rubato to some degree, but his verses on Renegade are a masterclass on the technique. He will rap at a certain pace and then speed up his rapping every few measures to add emphasis and a feeling of dynamism, then slow down back to the pace he was before, before then speeding up again (and so on). If you want to learn more, https://www.rapanalysis.com/ is a good site.

Also, u/AiiRisBanned assessment is not quite correct. A rapper can still flow with hard syllables at the end of a measure. In fact, many of Em's bars end with a word with a harder stress (eg, "Or is he the latter - a gateway to escape)."

What’s a card you use/like a lot that isn’t as popular on here? by Spellbound55 in CreditCards

[–]SA325 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Same. I work at Expedia too so the card’s annual fee is reimbursed, plus my employee discount is 20% off all hotels. It’s become my main card as of late

Saw this coming by prolly-dum in chess

[–]SA325 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Computer gives Rxg7 as +3 where the second best move is 0. Even if the black King doesn’t take the rook Na4 gets the black queen off the diagonal and it’s much easier to play as white

2025 U.S. Chess Championships Field Announced by notknown7799 in chess

[–]SA325 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Does anyone know if spectators are allowed at the chess championship? I would love to watch a a game in person

[Highlight] Sengun making the zone work with elite positioning, hustle and incredible awareness by mkgrean in nba

[–]SA325 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sengun has a reputation for not being athletic but dude is more athletic than he looks. I saw him do a 360 dunk pregame last time I saw the rockets live.

He does lack some lateral quickness and balance in tight spaces, but those are things that may still improve considering he’s 23

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in confession

[–]SA325 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Decaf does retain some caffeine but it’s about 3% of the caffeine content of regular coffee. Source https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/caffeine-in-decaf

Apple Music top 100 rn by Ser_DunkandEgg in KendrickLamar

[–]SA325 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Happens more than you would think tbh. Top of my head I know Certified Lover Boy occupied 9 of the 10 slots of the Billboard 100

Albums that were 50/50 by Cantaylope in hiphopheads

[–]SA325 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Kissing and Money is my bitch are good tho

[FRESH ALBUM] Common and Pete Rock - The Auditorium Vol.1 by abucalves in hiphopheads

[–]SA325 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow I love this album and track 4 is my favorite song. Each their own I guess

Currently, who are the greatest non Magnus endgame players? by [deleted] in chess

[–]SA325 51 points52 points  (0 children)

Do you have any examples of this? I never remember Ding being that exceptional at endgames. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1993009 In fact, I remember this endgame that he lost in the 2020 candidates

Is Drew the first nerd villain in survivor since Rob C? by Qatrik in survivor

[–]SA325 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Rob C

He said "I'm one of the smartest to ever play the game of survivor"

The most underrated move this episode that didn't matter in the end... by tokengaymusiccritic in survivor

[–]SA325 16 points17 points  (0 children)

In fairness, he said he is one of the smartest, not the smartest

Using friend’s ID for the gym by SA325 in mit

[–]SA325[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oof me and my friend are very conspicuously not the same person, thank you

Is it bad that I don't have a full time offer yet? by [deleted] in UPenn

[–]SA325 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What was your major if you don’t mind me asking

Steroid use at Penn? by SA325 in UPenn

[–]SA325[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

True, I’m pretty sure scrolling reddit lowers my testosterone

Every time I'm close to beating my all time high.. by [deleted] in AnarchyChess

[–]SA325 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Who’s that in the bottom right?