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I like Murda. I've always liked it from the moment I heard it.
You know how sometimes a song is looping in your head on a semi-conscious level? That was Murda this morning while I made some hot tea.
This was looping in my head:
Based on a true story we NOT worried y'all too worried
Shoot or get SHOT or a nigga choose for ya'.
I thought: "wow. another example of lengthy parallel structure & rhyming between two 11-syllable lines."
It's not all 11 syllables, but the structure parallels for 11 syllables. This is not unusual for Wayne. It's almost unheard of in the rest of rap. But then, I revisited the song.
It would be one thing if these were consecutive lines. But they're not! They're 4 lines apart.
Based on a true story we NOT worried y'all too worried
...too gorgeous
New Orleans...two choices
Shoot or get SHOT or a nigga choose for ya'.
So you've got your 3-syllable rhymes strung across: true story, too worried, too gorgeous, New Orleans, two choices, choose for ya.
But you also have two lines that aren't even consecutive that are constructed as parallels across 11 syllables.
Nobody else does this.
You know how sometimes a song is looping in your head on a semi-conscious level? That was Murda this morning while I made some hot tea.
This was looping in my head:
Based on a true story we NOT worried y'all too worried
Shoot or get SHOT or a nigga choose for ya'.
I thought: "wow. another example of lengthy parallel structure & rhyming between two 11-syllable lines."
It's not all 11 syllables, but the structure parallels for 11 syllables. This is not unusual for Wayne. It's almost unheard of in the rest of rap. But then, I revisited the song.
It would be one thing if these were consecutive lines. But they're not! They're 4 lines apart.
Based on a true story we NOT worried y'all too worried
...too gorgeous
New Orleans...two choices
Shoot or get SHOT or a nigga choose for ya'.
So you've got your 3-syllable rhymes strung across: true story, too worried, too gorgeous, New Orleans, two choices, choose for ya.
But you also have two lines that aren't even consecutive that are constructed as parallels across 11 syllables.
Nobody else does this.
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