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Awful was too much. Should have said average. Also, I'm judging him from this song only. His main problem is the simple rhyme schemes. His lines are basically

Awful was too much. Should have said average. Also, I'm judging him from this song only. His main problem is the simple rhyme schemes. His lines are basically long sentences that rhyme at the end. He also frequently makes long pauses (a criminal offense in hiphop, IMO). Allow me the use of a simple example to show you the difference between him and an amazing MC (rhymes are marked as -): > Macklemore: I call that getting tricked by a business, that shirt's -hella dough- And having the same one as six other people in this club is a -hella don't- Peep game, come take a look through my -telescope- Trying to get girls from a brand? Then you -hella won't- > Nas: It ain't hard to -tell-, I -excel- then -prevail- The mic is contacted, I attract -clientele- My mic check is -life or death-, breathing a -sniper's breath- I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through -righteous steps- Deep like the -Shining-, sparkle like a -diamond- Sneak a Uzi on the -island- in my army jacket -lining- Hit the Earth like a comet –invasion-! Nas is like the Afrocentric -Asian-, half-man, half--amazing- Cause in my physical I can -express- through -song- Delete -stress- like -Motrin-, then -extend- -strong- I drink Moet with Medusa, give her shotguns in -hell- From the -spliff- that I -lift- and -inhale-, it ain't hard to -tell- --- Also note the abundance of alliterations in Nas' quote. EDIT: fixed formatting EDIT2: couldn't resist doing the whole verse for Nas. Illmatic is so good...

mikeevans 14y ago
Here's a pretty good YouTube video I've found that explains what separates the great rappers from the average rappers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miIxNCn-vjY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miIxNCn-vjY
- jgj 14y ago
  That's, at best, one thing that can separate good writers from average writers. Great rappers don't necessarily need to have complex rhyme schemes, and a complex rhyme scheme does not a great rapper make. Neither does a complex rhyme scheme alone make a great writer, as content and the use of various literary devices come into play as well. IMHO, the mark of a truly great rapper is the ability to become an instrument on the track while still communicating a great deal in a small number of words. Flow and presence are as important as lyrics and rhyme schemes, and a great rapper is one who has at least 3 out of those 4 qualities at a high level, with the 4th not bad enough to detract from the others.
siegecraft 14y ago
I tend to think you're kind of cherry picking his lyrics to support your point here: 4 lines of Macklemore versus 12 of Nas. There's plenty of internal rhymes and alliteration in: Rollin' in, hella deep, headin' to the mezzanine, Dressed in all pink, 'cept my gator shoes, those are green Draped in a leopard mink, girls standin' next to me Probably shoulda washed this, smells like R. Kelly's sheets (Piiisssssss) But shit, it was ninety-nine cents! (Bag it) Coppin' it, washin' it, 'bout to go and get some compliments Passin' up on those moccasins someone else's been walkin' in And honorable mention for this: Your grammy, your aunty, your momma, your mammy I’ll take those flannel zebra jammies, Saying "it's awful because it's not Illmatic" makes no sense; plenty of people would say Illmatic is the best hip-hop album of all time. So not living up to that standard doesn't make it awful.
- rjtavares 14y ago
  > I tend to think you're kind of cherry picking his lyrics to support your point here: 4 lines of Macklemore versus 12 of Nas. I initilly had just 6 Nas lines (which were comparable in number of words to Macklemore's 4). Regarding cherry picking, I honestly picked 4 random lines. I don't have the time to do a full statistical analysis, although that would be really interesting. > Saying "it's awful because it's not Illmatic" makes no sense; plenty of people would say Illmatic is the best hip-hop album of all time. So not living up to that standard doesn't make it awful. Fair enough. In my defense, I did upgrade from "awful" to "average".
clicks 14y ago
I think that's just being unreasonably pedantic -- I enjoy the Macklemore song, and couldn't give a darn about the Nas song.
- rjtavares 14y ago
  I have no problem with that. Quality is subjective, love is subjective, technical ability isn't.
lftl 14y ago
Listening to It Ain't Hard to Tell and Thrift Shop I can unequivocally hear a difference in the style and flow, where I could understand why you'd say Nas has more talent as a rapper. However, I find the Macklemore song more enjoyable precisely for the reasons that make him a bad rapper stylistically. Looking at the lines from each you've quoted, other than the 3rd line from Macklemore I immediately get exactly what he's communicating in the song. Nas's song is much more like a poem, I understand the metaphors and get the general gist of the song after reading your lyrics, but on a quick listen I wouldn't have much of an idea of what the song is even about. Maybe it's just a storytelling vs. poem artistic difference. Or maybe Macklemore is just more approachable for casual listeners who aren't really that connected to hip hop.
egypturnash 14y ago
Man now I wanna know if there are any rappers out there exploring other modes of poetry. Someone doing the alliteration and kennings that make up the backbone of Beowulf, or the tight syllabic constraints of a haiku, instead of rhyme...
drv 14y ago
The worst part, in my opinion, is the refrain/chorus/hook/whatever; it sounds really stilted, especially the "po-cket". The last line is a non sequitur; why is only having $20 awesome, enough to warrant an expletive? Then there's the missed opportunity to rhyme "pop some tags" with "20 dollars in my bag" or something to that effect, rather than "pocket". Maybe I just don't understand rap. :)
pdubs 14y ago
They're totally different styles of flow. I find Macklemore's flow to be much closer to a prose spoken word style of flow than someone like Nas, Eminem, or Jay-Z. It's tough, perhaps misleading, to compare given that.

mikeevans 14y ago

Here's a pretty good YouTube video I've found that explains what separates the great rappers from the average rappers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miIxNCn-vjY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miIxNCn-vjY

jgj 14y ago
That's, at best, one thing that can separate good writers from average writers. Great rappers don't necessarily need to have complex rhyme schemes, and a complex rhyme scheme does not a great rapper make. Neither does a complex rhyme scheme alone make a great writer, as content and the use of various literary devices come into play as well. IMHO, the mark of a truly great rapper is the ability to become an instrument on the track while still communicating a great deal in a small number of words. Flow and presence are as important as lyrics and rhyme schemes, and a great rapper is one who has at least 3 out of those 4 qualities at a high level, with the 4th not bad enough to detract from the others.

siegecraft 14y ago

I tend to think you're kind of cherry picking his lyrics to support your point here: 4 lines of Macklemore versus 12 of Nas. There's plenty of internal rhymes and alliteration in: Rollin' in, hella deep, headin' to the mezzanine, Dressed in all pink, 'cept my gator shoes, those are green Draped in a leopard mink, girls standin' next to me Probably shoulda washed this, smells like R. Kelly's sheets (Piiisssssss) But shit, it was ninety-nine cents! (Bag it) Coppin' it, washin' it, 'bout to go and get some compliments Passin' up on those moccasins someone else's been walkin' in And honorable mention for this: Your grammy, your aunty, your momma, your mammy I’ll take those flannel zebra jammies, Saying "it's awful because it's not Illmatic" makes no sense; plenty of people would say Illmatic is the best hip-hop album of all time. So not living up to that standard doesn't make it awful.

rjtavares 14y ago
> I tend to think you're kind of cherry picking his lyrics to support your point here: 4 lines of Macklemore versus 12 of Nas. I initilly had just 6 Nas lines (which were comparable in number of words to Macklemore's 4). Regarding cherry picking, I honestly picked 4 random lines. I don't have the time to do a full statistical analysis, although that would be really interesting. > Saying "it's awful because it's not Illmatic" makes no sense; plenty of people would say Illmatic is the best hip-hop album of all time. So not living up to that standard doesn't make it awful. Fair enough. In my defense, I did upgrade from "awful" to "average".

clicks 14y ago

I think that's just being unreasonably pedantic -- I enjoy the Macklemore song, and couldn't give a darn about the Nas song.

rjtavares 14y ago
I have no problem with that. Quality is subjective, love is subjective, technical ability isn't.

lftl 14y ago

Listening to It Ain't Hard to Tell and Thrift Shop I can unequivocally hear a difference in the style and flow, where I could understand why you'd say Nas has more talent as a rapper. However, I find the Macklemore song more enjoyable precisely for the reasons that make him a bad rapper stylistically. Looking at the lines from each you've quoted, other than the 3rd line from Macklemore I immediately get exactly what he's communicating in the song. Nas's song is much more like a poem, I understand the metaphors and get the general gist of the song after reading your lyrics, but on a quick listen I wouldn't have much of an idea of what the song is even about. Maybe it's just a storytelling vs. poem artistic difference. Or maybe Macklemore is just more approachable for casual listeners who aren't really that connected to hip hop.

egypturnash 14y ago

Man now I wanna know if there are any rappers out there exploring other modes of poetry. Someone doing the alliteration and kennings that make up the backbone of Beowulf, or the tight syllabic constraints of a haiku, instead of rhyme...

drv 14y ago

The worst part, in my opinion, is the refrain/chorus/hook/whatever; it sounds really stilted, especially the "po-cket". The last line is a non sequitur; why is only having $20 awesome, enough to warrant an expletive? Then there's the missed opportunity to rhyme "pop some tags" with "20 dollars in my bag" or something to that effect, rather than "pocket". Maybe I just don't understand rap. :)

pdubs 14y ago

They're totally different styles of flow. I find Macklemore's flow to be much closer to a prose spoken word style of flow than someone like Nas, Eminem, or Jay-Z. It's tough, perhaps misleading, to compare given that.