In a recent interview with Armageddon (formerly of the Terror Squad) I asked him the question:
What is one of the things you’ve noticed struggling MC’s have the most trouble with?
Armageddon talks with TheStateofHipHop.com
His answer was:
“Either staying on topic or not varying their verses enough. If you choose a topic your verses need to be consistent with eachother and the overall topic. But that doesnt mean each verse has to be an imitation of the last. you can vary the verses and still stick to the topic.”
I agree fully with that asessment. Often times young hip hop heads grow up admiring Eminem, Canibus, and other admirable wordsmiths, and they get wrapped up in their lyrical ability and nothing else.
Though, yes, lyrical ability is something that should be admired and understood if one is to improve as an MC, it is not all there is to rhyming, much less to making an actual song.
In fact, its often the best lyricists who can’t seem to put a decent song together. Canibus, for example, is technically perhaps one of the best lyricists ever, but look at his song catalog and it you’ll find yourself listening to what sounds like skillfully intricate, yet out of place freestyle verses. Its almost as if you can interchange verses between a good number of his songs without anyone noticing. Not coincidentally, Canibus is not a household name (though that also may be due in part to LL Cool J blacklisting him from the game after Canibus destroyed him lyrically on “Second Round K.O.”).
Anyhow, I just thought I’d bring that to the attention of you TSOHH blog watchers out there…be sure to check out TSOHH’s Armageddon interview in it’s entirety below for more insights into the world of MCing.
Check out The State of Hip Hop’s full interview with Armageddon here.
