![]() ![]() Def to play with longer syllabic runs as he closes out his four-bar patterns (ENgineLIKEi / ROLLoutTHEsta–tion). So the rhymes, in the position of “up*jump”, fall after four beats, after three beats, and after five beats–and you can feel the extra length in each ultimate rhymed line. You could theoretically replace the above two lines (“dudes ain’t throwin'” etc…) with this:īANG_TOtheBOOgieSAYup / *jump*theBOOgieSAYup / ![]() He’s still playing with ONBEATS and offbeats, though, just unrhymed ones. ![]() Since all three rhymes occur on offbeats, we’re into different flow territory than before, when he was contrasting rhyming ONBEATS and offbeats. He rhymes “yawnin'” (end of beat 4 in bar 1) and “off it” (end of beat 4 in bar 2), and then postpones the next rhyme, “call it,” by two beats, so it’s at the end of beat 2 in the fourth bar. –it–soWACK.RAPis / ALLyouCANcall–it*there / Def introduces a new four-bar flow pattern with the lines:ĭUDES_AIN’T_THROWin’THEYyawn / –in’*theyNEEDtoGEToff Whoa, now! That’s just Mos Def testing your equilibrium! “COUSinsOTHerANToANDsyn / Onyms–” is our “RHYthmOFtheBOOgieTObe” line, ending a run of syllables on an offbeat. “GENTleMEN_ / MIStasANDmisTRESes–” is our “” line, contrasting rhyming ONBEAT and offbeat syllables. This passage combines the two key rhythmic characteristics. ![]() *laDIESandGENTleMEN_ / MIStasANDmisTRESes–. Def proceeds, we get longer syllabic runs, most of which end on offbeats, culminating at the end of verse 1 with my favorite (I keep reciting it around Zack, he keeps yelling at me): See, for example, “Quiet Dog”‘s first verse, the first four lines, second half of each line:Īs Mr. Second! The characteristic syncopation of Sugarhill’s “tha / BOOgieTOtheRHYthmOFthe / BOOgieTHEbeat–” is caused by a run of syllables ending on an offbeat, which imbues the final offbeat with an unusual implicit stress. Def’s barlines half a measure, you’ll see that his unsyncopated/syncopated flow pattern corresponds neatly to the germinal “up jump the boogie” line: I should also note that, for purposes of comparison, if you offset Mr. I should note that the horizontal lines (_ and –) in Def’s rap simply indicate that he’s flowing more legato than the staccato Sugarhills, whose breaks are indicated by dots (. So “PLAIN_NESS_” and “RANGE_MENT_” are on the beat (“BANG.BANG.”), while their rhymes “bas–ic–” and “maze–ment–” are off the beat (“up*jump*”). –lu–arRANGE_MENT_ / ROCKin’Amaze–ment–fly / SIM_PLEthePLAIN_NESS_ / PROmiNENTbas–ic–zu / This contrast forms the basis of Def’s first flow pattern, which he uses for all of verse 1 and for a couple lines near the beginning of verse 2, only transposed to the second halves of the bars: That is, Sugarhill’s “” and Def’s “BANG_TOtheBOOgie” contrast with the second bar’s “up / *jump*thaBOOgie”. Def will fully exploit during the course of his “boogie to be.”įirst! Notice in the first two measures how we contrast strong unsyncopated syllables occurring ON THE BEAT with strong syncopated syllables occurring off the beat. This line has a couple noteworthy characteristics, which Mr. Def’s virtually identical take on same:īANG_TOtheBOOgieSAYup / *jump*theBOOgieTOthe / RHYthmOFtheBOOgieTObe /. (Incidentally, for some family fun, if you rap “Quiet Dog” over the Chic bassline from “Rapper’s Delight,” it fits.) Here’s Sugarhill’s “up jumps the boogie” line, flowtated:ī / *jump*thaBOOgieTOthe / RHYthmOFtheBOOgieTHEbeat / -Īnd here’s Mr. Def opens with a variation on the “up jumps the boogie” chant and closes with an extrapolation of the line “ya don’t stop the rock.” Their rhythmic characteristics are similar, so we’ll focus on the first. Like a good old-skoolchild, he doesn’t cuss. Def quotes two lines from the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” thow that’s the obvious giveaway, but also because his entire rap springs from those lines like water from Moses’s stones. Mos Def’s “Quiet Dog”, from his 2009 LP The Ecstatic, was first and foremost the party-starter of the year–but SECOND and not quite to the fore, it was a total old-skool throwback. This game makes my tongue quite lame, sir! ![]()
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