By: Kathy Johnston
Submitted: 2010-08-24 00:19:49 | Word Count: 402
Arguably one of the greatest rappers of all time, Eminem is also remains one of the most versatile- razor sharp lyrics coupled with a wholly original sound make him one tough act to follow. A whole new generation of rappers want to learn how to rap like Eminem just as kids on the court want to play like Lebron James. Here are a few steps you can take to sharpen your skills like Slim Shady himself:
Harness the power of internal rhymes. One of the main differences between Eminem and most rappers is his consistent use of internal rhymes. For example, instead of saying "faster than an overweight person who sits down quickly" he says "faster than a fat man that sat down too fast." The more lines in a single line demonstrate a higher level of lyrical skill.
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But it's not just internal rhymes. As you can see, "fat," "that," and "sat" all rhyme, but there are several other words with similar vowels: "faster," "than," "man," and "fast." By using words with similar vowels--though not necessarily rhymes--Eminem has hundreds of more words at his disposal for any given verse. This is known as "assonance" and is something you must master if you want to learn how to rap like Eminem.
So how do you go about improving your use of assonance? Simple.
When writing a verse, jot down a few words you'd like to rhyme off of- let's use "attack" as an example. choose three words that sound like "attack" but don't rhyme with it. For example, you could use "smash," "grab" and "taxed." Then, consult your rhyming dictionary and choose five words that rhyme with "smash, grab and taxed." Once you do this, you'll have fifteen words that are closely related to "attack" but aren't as obvious as "back," "crack," "slack" etc.
If you want to learn how to rap like Eminem, you MUST master the use of assonance, as this is the key to his verse development and his unique flow. Practice these exercises and you'll start to see a definite improvement in your lyrical skills.
