How much does audio quality affect the appeal of a vocal recording?

[Tupac Shakur]

low goal and bolo aren't rhymes! How does he rhyme guns, come, gunned, and one? Those aren't rhymes either!

truth/troops/proof/too are not rhymes! Gah!

It's good that you're pointing out the flaws in some of my weaker tracks. These are good example of what you shouldn't be doing.

[Al B. Sure!]

2pac in Ambitionz as a Ridah:

So many battlefield scars while driven in plush cars
This life as a rap star is nothing without heart

He rhymes cars with star and heart!


He did literally the same thing I did!

Aint no weaker tracks. Ambitionz as a Ridah is one of 2pac's most recognizable songs.

[Tupac Shakur]

****, I had forgotten how tight my flow was on Ambitionz as a Ridah. Who the **** even cares what I'm saying? The flow is hypnotic...

[Al B. Sure!]

So what you're saying is yeah rhymes aren't the problem. You get the flow down, rhymes don't matter. Which is what I've been saying!

[Tupac Shakur]

If you can't even master rhyming, how are you going to master flow? You gotta walk before you can run.

[Al B. Sure!]

If you can't even master rhyming, how are you going to master flow? You gotta walk before you can run.

Flow comes before rhymes.

Rappers have flowed well without using any rhymes. Phonte from Little Brother did a verse on a song where he didn't rhyme but flowed extremely well. People loved ODB and he barely rhymed at all.

On the other hand, rhymes with no flow sucks ass.

[Tupac Shakur]

On the other hand, rhymes with no flow sucks ass.

It's better than no rhymes with no flow, which is what you're currently offering. You can also make it with rhymes and no flow; just look at the Beastie Boys.

[Al B. Sure!]

I thought about your change some more. I don't want to change leave to flee because it changes the meaning. Flee has the wrong connotations of sounding cowardly and running away. Leave is the right word I want there; it's more a resigned removal from the situation, unwilling but inevitable, which is what I'm going for... I italicize the operative words: I think I'm gonna have to leave.

Substituting flee for leave, even if it polishes up the rhyme (which I don't think is necessary; it's assonance already), changes the character of what I'm saying.

Ultimately, expressing my meaning and using the right connotations trumps technical polish. That hierarchy informs my word choice.

[Tupac Shakur]

Jesus Christ. It's ****ing rap, not slam poetry. Flow and rhyme (which sound pleasant to the listener) are far more important than precise meanings and the use of obscure verse techniques (which no one cares about).

[Tupac Shakur]

Advice from a book you should read...

How to Rap explains that "rhyme is often thought to be the most important factor in rap writing... rhyme is what gives rap lyrics their musicality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapping

[Al B. Sure!]

I have the book, fool.

Page 84:

"Assonance is the most widely used type of rhyme in hip hop lyrics today, since it is so versatile. With assonance, you don't have to find words that rhyme perfectly, so a lot more words can be rhymed together."

[Tupac Shakur]

To learn how to rap, I never needed no book.