Rap has several components that make it a unique art that sets itself apart from other genres of music. Some important aspects are cadence, flow, and the ability to create vivid imagery and tell meaningful stories are principles to rap.

Each of these literary elements are crucial to a high-quality rap song, but a rapper’s ability to rhyme is arguably the most indispensable attribute a rapper can possess to set them apart from the competition. According to Oxford lounges, a rhyme is defined as a correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words.

Countless talented rappers display a high level of rhyme scheme, but only a few MCs have changed the rap game by the way they are incorporating rhymes into their music.
The use of rhymes to connect phrases and words is just one of the many ways rappers incorporate rhymes, but when looking at a rapper’s rhyme. A syllable is a unit of pronunciation. Words with one syllable are called monosyllabic, while words with multiple syllables are polysyllabic. Vowels and constants are linked together by syllables. This basic English structure is important to note when looking at rhymes that incorporate multi-syllable rhymes.
In the diagram below, color corresponding syllables are highlighted when present. This allows listeners to have a clear understanding of the frequent use of rhymes in this song. MF DOOM is, notably, one of the greatest MCs due to his ability to fit as many rhymes as possible in each line. The rate/or number of rhymes is one of the first things that come to mind when looking at these lines. In the first two lines, there are 16 words and 25 syllables. Doom utilizes rhyme within every word. In other words, MF DOOM lacks filler words to fill in spaces between the words that rhyme. The ability to fill lyrics with rhymes while maintaining to create a vivid story is what makes his rhymes so indispensable and inevitably creating Doom’s distinctive flow.

Diagram provided by Genius
That’s that By MF DOOM

Another iconic song that demonstrates unique rhymes is in Inspectah Deck’s verse of the 1997 WU TANG Track Triumph. Once again, in the diagram below, the syllables that are rhymed are highlighted with a correlating color. Deck starts off the track with eight syllables in the first four words alone. Just like Doom, Deck fills his lyrics to the top with rhymes to create a smooth flow throughout the entire verse. Deck utilizes multi-syllable words in order to have to connect his words throughout his verse. On the other hand, Doom uses multiple, single-syllable words to achieve the same end result, flawless rhymes.

Diagram provided by Genius
Inspectah Deck

When listening to music, we often overlook the intricacies within the lyrics. Next time a song catches your interest, looking at the lyrics and identifying the level of sophistication between words can create a new appreciation for rap and music in general.