SreepYeldarb
11-29-2006, 01:30 AM
Multi Rhymes to Improve Your Raps
What are multies?
Multi is short for “multi-syllable rhyme.” Multies are phrases in which more than one syllable rhymes. Multies can be double, triple, quadruple (etc…) rhymes.
Normal rhyme: cat / hat
Multi rhyme: my cat / hi-hat
Or a longer multi: bit my cat / hit the hi-hat
Southern rapper Ludacris loves featuring multies in his verses. Luda has a trademark delivery, in which he slows down and emphasizes the end of each line. This delivery works well when he slips in some clever multies.
I’m never going nowhere, so don’t try me,
my music sticks in fans’ veins like an I.V.
In the example from the track Number One Spot, Luadacris creates a multi with “try me” and “I.V.” He could have just rhymed “me” with “V.”, but by rhyming with the additional syllables (try with I) it becomes a multi.
What’s the difference between multies and in-rhymes?
In-rhymes:
Don’t be silly cover your milli I’m like Billy
Don’t be dumb cover your gun I ain’t fun
- Dizee Rascal, “Stand Up Tall”
Multies:
Punchlines that kill… my hits’ll bury ya,
I rap to myself on the bus like… schizophrenia
Why should I use multies?
Multies are hallmarks of all the dopest flows, and all the best rappers use them. They are more complex and more impressive than normal rhymes and so command a lot more respect. Multies add variation to your verse and will help you craft better rhymes.
How do I write multies?
Multies aren’t that much harder to write than typical rhymes, they just take more time. Step one is to find a line that you want to start with. Take this line for example:
The elite force like army rangers and navy seals,
Now we’re going to create a multi with “navy seals.” The first thing you want to do is list all the words that rhyme with “navy”. The easiest way to do this is by using a rhyme dictionary (rhymezone.com) and listing the results, but keep in mind that this will only give you the ‘perfect’ rhymes, not the slant rhymes. Slant rhymes are very important, because they allow you to write more creative lines. This is especially true when you’re writing multies, ‘cause otherwise your lines might come out contrived and stupid. The other problem with rhyming dictionaries is that they do the work for you. If you take the time to actually think for yourself of all the rhymes for the word, you’re more likely to get those rhymes in your head for future freestyles. I don’t recommend rhyme dictionaries unless you’re really stuck.
Perfect rhymes for navy:
gravy
wavy
Slant rhymes for navy:
maybe
baby
lady
rabies
weighty
etc…
Then repeat this process for the second word, in this case, “seals.”
Perfect rhymes with seals:
deals
eels
feels
heels
meals
peels
reels
squeals
steals
wheels
Slant rhymes for seals:
stales
whales
beans
etc…
Now we go through the process of linking up navy-rhymes with seals-rhymes. There are lots of combinations, so try to pick some that make some sense:
Baby meals
Wavy eels
Lady squeals
Gravy feels
Weighty whales
Then we pick one and write a line that makes sense:
I kick it operatic ‘til that fat lady squeals
or
your lyrics are stuffing, so now I know how gravy feels
or
I’ll call you Gerber cuz ya spittin’ up some baby meals
Write a bunch of them, and then pick the one that you like best to use. Or use a bunch of them in a row like this:
The elite force like army rangers and navy seals,
I kick it operatic ‘til that fat lady squeals
your lyrics are stuffing, now I know how gravy feels,
I’ll call you Gerber cuz ya spittin’ up some baby meals
That’s the simplest way to write multies. If you master that simple technique, you should already notice your lyrical skills improving.
How to Use Multies in your Rhymes
The next thing we need to cover is the difference between prominent (or “stressed”) syllables and silent (or “unstressed”) syllables. It’s the same thing that your English teacher was teaching you when you did that Shakespeare lesson on iambic pentameter. In this case, we’re going to use it to figure out how to create long strings of quality multies that flow well. The general rule is this: you have to rhyme with the prominent syllables; you can ignore the silent ones.
Prominent vs. Silent
The basic idea is that when you speak or rap there are certain syllables that you stress or put emphasis on and certain syllables that you don’t. Usually, when analyzing poetry, you’d place an accent mark (/) over the prominent syllables and a dash (-) over the silent syllables, but since different computers use different font sizes, we're going to underline the prominent syllables and do nothing on the silent syllables.
For example, say this out loud:
Today is the first day of the rest of my life
The meter (a map of which syllables are stressed and which are not) would be something like this:
Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
This is a typical example because often times “little” words (to, is, the, of) are silent. Obviously, when we’re talking about a silent syllable, we don’t mean literally silent. Silent just means it’s not prominent.
The simplest way of figuring out which syllables are prominent and which are silent is just to say the line out loud and listen to what you pronounce strongly and what you don’t.
Why Did I just Learn that?
Because with multies it’s important to make sure you’re rhyming with all the prominent syllables. But you don’t have to rhyme with the silent syllables.
For example, take this line:
Behind my house is the most twisted of trees
If I want to write a multi rhyme with “twisted of trees,” the first thing I need to do is figure out what is prominent and what isn’t. So I’ll map it out like this:
Behind my house is the most twisted of trees
All I really have to pay attention to is the rhyming phrase, “twisted of trees.” As you can see, the prominent sounds are “twist” and “trees.” The silent sounds are “ed” and “of”. That means that when I’m writing my multi, I need to rhyme with “twist” and “trees”, but I don’t need to rhyme with the “ed” or the “of”.
So these work:
Mystical knee
Listen to me
Mess with the bees
Then I just pick one and write a line to it:
Behind my house is the most twisted of trees,
I always ignore the birds, but I mess with the bees
Even though “ed of” doesn’t rhyme with “with the”, it doesn’t matter because they’re unstressed syllables. The line still flows. Take another example from Eminem’s verse on D12’s “My Band”. He uses the line:
I just think you’re trying to steal the light from me
In that line “light” and “me” are accented, but “from” isn’t. So he doesn’t worry about rhyming with “from,” just the other words. Like this:
I just think you’re trying to steal the light from me,
Yesterday Kuniver tried to pull a knife on me,
‘Cuz I told him Jessica Alba’s my wife to be
What About Longer Multies?
I’m glad you asked. Some rappers (especially underground rappers) like to string together long as hell multies to impress their listeners. You don’t always have to do this, but if you can drop a long-string multi occasionally, it will hit like a sound bomb.
Take this line:
Always on point with words that cut sharp
If we rhymed with “sharp” it would not be a multi. If we rhymed with “cut sharp” it would be a multi. Instead of just that, let’s try rhyming with “words (that) cut sharp” to make a long multi. Remember, because “that” isn’t prominent, we can ignore it. We just need to rhyme with words, cut, and sharp. I’m going to use a lot of slant rhymes in order to make a line that makes sense. Using the process of rhyme generating described before we get:
nerds that aren’t smart
burns the white tarp
swords that touch heart
worms make bad art
nervous you might fart
Then we put them together:
Always on point with words that cut sharp,
I’m a paradox like nerds that aren’t smart
Or we can rewrite a little, and include another multi in there as well. Remember, it’s always a good idea to revisit lines and rework them. Cut out the weak stuff, and add more quality stuff.
I spit swords that touch hearts and words that cut sharp,
You’re living proof that some nerds are not smart
Who is the King of Multies?
While lots of underground rappers pride themselves on their mastery of multies, Eminem was the first rapper to take multies into the mainstream. Not only does he use multies, he never lets them get in the way of what his lines mean. In fact a lot of his sick flow comes from his creative use of multi rhymes. You’ll find multies in all of his songs. The ones below are just particularly strong examples. Take these bars from “The Real Slim Shady”:
But Slim what if you win wouldn’t it be weird?
Why so you guys could just lie to get me here,
So you could sit me here next to Britney Spears
I think Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs
Here’s what’s so dope and amazing about those “Real Slim Shady” lines. Eminem doesn’t just rhyme with the prominent syllables, he rhymes with the silent one too (“be, me, ney” are unstressed). He also uses a lot of multies with the same rhyme pattern: 5 in 4 lines.
How did he do that? He probably wanted to write a rhyme making fun of Britney Spears, so he started with her name and started generating multies off of it. He could have used others, but he found some that matched what he was trying to say. The lesson: always start with the word or phrase that is most important.
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti
He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
Those “Lose Yourself” rhymes are some of Eminem’s absolute best, and that’s saying a lot. What he does here lyrically is all out amazing. He uses lots of multi-rhymes and in-rhymes, not seperately but together to weave a complex lyrical web.
He uses 5-6 multies in just four lines, but he also repeats the “palms” sound in other words. It’s echoed in “drop” and “bombs,” but also in “vomit” and “on his,” which is itself a little multi. The killer for me is the use of “keeps” in the last line, which rhymes with “knees weak” in the first. Study those lines, because they’re as complex rhyme-wise as some analytic calculus.
How Many Multies Should I Use?
That’s up to you. Some rappers use multies only occasionally, while others (like Eminem) rhyme almost exclusively with multies. Try not to let multies control your rhymes. The great thing about Eminem’s verse on “Lose Yourself” is that he never sacrifices the meaning to squeeze in a multi.
The following is a unique example of a verse that rhymes over and over again with the same multi-syllable sound. The lyrics are from Papoose’s track “Thug Connection.” An underground rapper from NYC, Papoose is making a name for himself by demonstrating not only his lyrical powers, but also his versatility. He’s been featured on tracks with Busta Rhymes and even Shaquille O’Neil. This verse is a string of 30 different multies that all have the same (or similar) rhyme. Some people would definitely find this kind of rhyming excessive, but to others it’s a jaw-dropping lyrical achievement.
My lyrical tendency’s equivalent to a critical felony
Precise behind bars like a criminal’s penalty
Pinnacle definitely, hold so much jewels in my miracle memory
It’s like I’m a physical treasury
Deep into weaponry, psychotic brothas who envy me
Wanna be nuts, so I bust nuts like my genitals sexually
Punished in my mother’s stomach by swimmin through Hennessy
I was born with a difficult destiny, not your typical mentally
Givin my vision through treacheries
Syllable therapy, invincible visual energy
No artist identity resemble me, I flow like a mineral chemically
Cause I flow with a chemical chemistry
I can flow like the river through Tennessee
The mystical seventh sea, or currency at the Senegal embassy
At birth although it’s umbilical regularly
They cut a mic chord and disconnected me
Leaders political threaten me for what I write in my lyrical melody
While others broke laws, I broke lyrical legacies
Flip forever, live for infinity, respect the P
It’s Papoose, I conquered this caliber, next degree
All information displayed here, is copied from:
http://www.flocabulary.com/
Multi Rhymes to Improve Your Raps
http://www.flocabulary.com/multies.html
How to Use Multies in your Rhymes
http://www.flocabulary.com/multies2.html
Hope this helps whoever needs help or gives a more in depth explaination to multies.
Sticky maybe?
-SreepYeldarb
What are multies?
Multi is short for “multi-syllable rhyme.” Multies are phrases in which more than one syllable rhymes. Multies can be double, triple, quadruple (etc…) rhymes.
Normal rhyme: cat / hat
Multi rhyme: my cat / hi-hat
Or a longer multi: bit my cat / hit the hi-hat
Southern rapper Ludacris loves featuring multies in his verses. Luda has a trademark delivery, in which he slows down and emphasizes the end of each line. This delivery works well when he slips in some clever multies.
I’m never going nowhere, so don’t try me,
my music sticks in fans’ veins like an I.V.
In the example from the track Number One Spot, Luadacris creates a multi with “try me” and “I.V.” He could have just rhymed “me” with “V.”, but by rhyming with the additional syllables (try with I) it becomes a multi.
What’s the difference between multies and in-rhymes?
In-rhymes:
Don’t be silly cover your milli I’m like Billy
Don’t be dumb cover your gun I ain’t fun
- Dizee Rascal, “Stand Up Tall”
Multies:
Punchlines that kill… my hits’ll bury ya,
I rap to myself on the bus like… schizophrenia
Why should I use multies?
Multies are hallmarks of all the dopest flows, and all the best rappers use them. They are more complex and more impressive than normal rhymes and so command a lot more respect. Multies add variation to your verse and will help you craft better rhymes.
How do I write multies?
Multies aren’t that much harder to write than typical rhymes, they just take more time. Step one is to find a line that you want to start with. Take this line for example:
The elite force like army rangers and navy seals,
Now we’re going to create a multi with “navy seals.” The first thing you want to do is list all the words that rhyme with “navy”. The easiest way to do this is by using a rhyme dictionary (rhymezone.com) and listing the results, but keep in mind that this will only give you the ‘perfect’ rhymes, not the slant rhymes. Slant rhymes are very important, because they allow you to write more creative lines. This is especially true when you’re writing multies, ‘cause otherwise your lines might come out contrived and stupid. The other problem with rhyming dictionaries is that they do the work for you. If you take the time to actually think for yourself of all the rhymes for the word, you’re more likely to get those rhymes in your head for future freestyles. I don’t recommend rhyme dictionaries unless you’re really stuck.
Perfect rhymes for navy:
gravy
wavy
Slant rhymes for navy:
maybe
baby
lady
rabies
weighty
etc…
Then repeat this process for the second word, in this case, “seals.”
Perfect rhymes with seals:
deals
eels
feels
heels
meals
peels
reels
squeals
steals
wheels
Slant rhymes for seals:
stales
whales
beans
etc…
Now we go through the process of linking up navy-rhymes with seals-rhymes. There are lots of combinations, so try to pick some that make some sense:
Baby meals
Wavy eels
Lady squeals
Gravy feels
Weighty whales
Then we pick one and write a line that makes sense:
I kick it operatic ‘til that fat lady squeals
or
your lyrics are stuffing, so now I know how gravy feels
or
I’ll call you Gerber cuz ya spittin’ up some baby meals
Write a bunch of them, and then pick the one that you like best to use. Or use a bunch of them in a row like this:
The elite force like army rangers and navy seals,
I kick it operatic ‘til that fat lady squeals
your lyrics are stuffing, now I know how gravy feels,
I’ll call you Gerber cuz ya spittin’ up some baby meals
That’s the simplest way to write multies. If you master that simple technique, you should already notice your lyrical skills improving.
How to Use Multies in your Rhymes
The next thing we need to cover is the difference between prominent (or “stressed”) syllables and silent (or “unstressed”) syllables. It’s the same thing that your English teacher was teaching you when you did that Shakespeare lesson on iambic pentameter. In this case, we’re going to use it to figure out how to create long strings of quality multies that flow well. The general rule is this: you have to rhyme with the prominent syllables; you can ignore the silent ones.
Prominent vs. Silent
The basic idea is that when you speak or rap there are certain syllables that you stress or put emphasis on and certain syllables that you don’t. Usually, when analyzing poetry, you’d place an accent mark (/) over the prominent syllables and a dash (-) over the silent syllables, but since different computers use different font sizes, we're going to underline the prominent syllables and do nothing on the silent syllables.
For example, say this out loud:
Today is the first day of the rest of my life
The meter (a map of which syllables are stressed and which are not) would be something like this:
Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
This is a typical example because often times “little” words (to, is, the, of) are silent. Obviously, when we’re talking about a silent syllable, we don’t mean literally silent. Silent just means it’s not prominent.
The simplest way of figuring out which syllables are prominent and which are silent is just to say the line out loud and listen to what you pronounce strongly and what you don’t.
Why Did I just Learn that?
Because with multies it’s important to make sure you’re rhyming with all the prominent syllables. But you don’t have to rhyme with the silent syllables.
For example, take this line:
Behind my house is the most twisted of trees
If I want to write a multi rhyme with “twisted of trees,” the first thing I need to do is figure out what is prominent and what isn’t. So I’ll map it out like this:
Behind my house is the most twisted of trees
All I really have to pay attention to is the rhyming phrase, “twisted of trees.” As you can see, the prominent sounds are “twist” and “trees.” The silent sounds are “ed” and “of”. That means that when I’m writing my multi, I need to rhyme with “twist” and “trees”, but I don’t need to rhyme with the “ed” or the “of”.
So these work:
Mystical knee
Listen to me
Mess with the bees
Then I just pick one and write a line to it:
Behind my house is the most twisted of trees,
I always ignore the birds, but I mess with the bees
Even though “ed of” doesn’t rhyme with “with the”, it doesn’t matter because they’re unstressed syllables. The line still flows. Take another example from Eminem’s verse on D12’s “My Band”. He uses the line:
I just think you’re trying to steal the light from me
In that line “light” and “me” are accented, but “from” isn’t. So he doesn’t worry about rhyming with “from,” just the other words. Like this:
I just think you’re trying to steal the light from me,
Yesterday Kuniver tried to pull a knife on me,
‘Cuz I told him Jessica Alba’s my wife to be
What About Longer Multies?
I’m glad you asked. Some rappers (especially underground rappers) like to string together long as hell multies to impress their listeners. You don’t always have to do this, but if you can drop a long-string multi occasionally, it will hit like a sound bomb.
Take this line:
Always on point with words that cut sharp
If we rhymed with “sharp” it would not be a multi. If we rhymed with “cut sharp” it would be a multi. Instead of just that, let’s try rhyming with “words (that) cut sharp” to make a long multi. Remember, because “that” isn’t prominent, we can ignore it. We just need to rhyme with words, cut, and sharp. I’m going to use a lot of slant rhymes in order to make a line that makes sense. Using the process of rhyme generating described before we get:
nerds that aren’t smart
burns the white tarp
swords that touch heart
worms make bad art
nervous you might fart
Then we put them together:
Always on point with words that cut sharp,
I’m a paradox like nerds that aren’t smart
Or we can rewrite a little, and include another multi in there as well. Remember, it’s always a good idea to revisit lines and rework them. Cut out the weak stuff, and add more quality stuff.
I spit swords that touch hearts and words that cut sharp,
You’re living proof that some nerds are not smart
Who is the King of Multies?
While lots of underground rappers pride themselves on their mastery of multies, Eminem was the first rapper to take multies into the mainstream. Not only does he use multies, he never lets them get in the way of what his lines mean. In fact a lot of his sick flow comes from his creative use of multi rhymes. You’ll find multies in all of his songs. The ones below are just particularly strong examples. Take these bars from “The Real Slim Shady”:
But Slim what if you win wouldn’t it be weird?
Why so you guys could just lie to get me here,
So you could sit me here next to Britney Spears
I think Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs
Here’s what’s so dope and amazing about those “Real Slim Shady” lines. Eminem doesn’t just rhyme with the prominent syllables, he rhymes with the silent one too (“be, me, ney” are unstressed). He also uses a lot of multies with the same rhyme pattern: 5 in 4 lines.
How did he do that? He probably wanted to write a rhyme making fun of Britney Spears, so he started with her name and started generating multies off of it. He could have used others, but he found some that matched what he was trying to say. The lesson: always start with the word or phrase that is most important.
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti
He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
Those “Lose Yourself” rhymes are some of Eminem’s absolute best, and that’s saying a lot. What he does here lyrically is all out amazing. He uses lots of multi-rhymes and in-rhymes, not seperately but together to weave a complex lyrical web.
He uses 5-6 multies in just four lines, but he also repeats the “palms” sound in other words. It’s echoed in “drop” and “bombs,” but also in “vomit” and “on his,” which is itself a little multi. The killer for me is the use of “keeps” in the last line, which rhymes with “knees weak” in the first. Study those lines, because they’re as complex rhyme-wise as some analytic calculus.
How Many Multies Should I Use?
That’s up to you. Some rappers use multies only occasionally, while others (like Eminem) rhyme almost exclusively with multies. Try not to let multies control your rhymes. The great thing about Eminem’s verse on “Lose Yourself” is that he never sacrifices the meaning to squeeze in a multi.
The following is a unique example of a verse that rhymes over and over again with the same multi-syllable sound. The lyrics are from Papoose’s track “Thug Connection.” An underground rapper from NYC, Papoose is making a name for himself by demonstrating not only his lyrical powers, but also his versatility. He’s been featured on tracks with Busta Rhymes and even Shaquille O’Neil. This verse is a string of 30 different multies that all have the same (or similar) rhyme. Some people would definitely find this kind of rhyming excessive, but to others it’s a jaw-dropping lyrical achievement.
My lyrical tendency’s equivalent to a critical felony
Precise behind bars like a criminal’s penalty
Pinnacle definitely, hold so much jewels in my miracle memory
It’s like I’m a physical treasury
Deep into weaponry, psychotic brothas who envy me
Wanna be nuts, so I bust nuts like my genitals sexually
Punished in my mother’s stomach by swimmin through Hennessy
I was born with a difficult destiny, not your typical mentally
Givin my vision through treacheries
Syllable therapy, invincible visual energy
No artist identity resemble me, I flow like a mineral chemically
Cause I flow with a chemical chemistry
I can flow like the river through Tennessee
The mystical seventh sea, or currency at the Senegal embassy
At birth although it’s umbilical regularly
They cut a mic chord and disconnected me
Leaders political threaten me for what I write in my lyrical melody
While others broke laws, I broke lyrical legacies
Flip forever, live for infinity, respect the P
It’s Papoose, I conquered this caliber, next degree
All information displayed here, is copied from:
http://www.flocabulary.com/
Multi Rhymes to Improve Your Raps
http://www.flocabulary.com/multies.html
How to Use Multies in your Rhymes
http://www.flocabulary.com/multies2.html
Hope this helps whoever needs help or gives a more in depth explaination to multies.
Sticky maybe?
-SreepYeldarb