hackertube.io

Rapping, deconstructed: The best rhymers of all time

Vox · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Music performance & songsLanguage & linguistics

What it is

Vox breaks down how great rappers build rhymes, from Kurtis Blow's simple bars to Biggie's smooth flow and Kendrick Lamar's dense, fast delivery. It uses on-screen visualizations of rhyme structure.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN recommends it as an accessible explanation of rhyme craft that works even for people who aren't hip hop fans.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2019, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “Please consider this required watching, even if you have no interest in hip-hop music”

    Educational explainer on rhyme craft in rap, even for non-fans.

    peteforde, 2019-11 · Strong recommendation · in “Visualizing Hip-Hop Melodies (2016)”

  2. “this video is a pretty good introduction to why he was considered to be technically brilliant.”

    Good introduction to why MF DOOM was technically brilliant.

    freddie_mercury, 2021-01 · Recommendation · in “MF DOOM Has Died”

  3. “you can get really interesting journeys like this deconstruction”

    Interesting deconstruction showing YouTube music discovery journeys.

    m463, 2022-11 · Recommendation · in “Bob Dylan takes us on a wide-ranging tour of songs he admires”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: rap, rhyme schemes, hip hop, mf doom, lyricism, vox

Also recommended by the same people