Twista - Rap Music Analysis

My thoughts on Tech N9ne, Krayzie Bone, and Twista are all very similar, which might not be surprising since they are all considered to have Midwest "chopper" styles. Just like the other two, Twista is another good reason why I'm moving away from using the word "flow" to refer to the musical aspects of a rapper's style. It's hard to imagine Twista's staccato, quick rhythms as flowing at all, using the same word's other definition as something that goes smoothly. This whole article could be a very short entry:

1. Twista
2. Raps fast
3. One style

But then you probably wouldn't read my articles any more.

"But wait!" His legions (legions?) of admirers will cry. "He's got more than one style!" Alright, fine, I'm sure he does. I'm sure you can dig up some song from some album where he gives a smooth, Biggie-esque flow there. And you'd be right, in a way. You'd be on track for the argument's content, but you're not on track for the premise of the argument. 

An artist isn't judged just by the type of rap they have. They're also judged by the musical influence of that rap. It doesn't matter that Eminem wasn't the first person to use extended block rhymes of 3, 4, or even 6 syllables, such as on "Just Don't Give A Fuck:" 

[i'm BUZZIN']

[dirty DOZEN]

[DIRTY ROTTEN RHYMER]

[cursin' at you players worse than MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER]

There, "dirty rotten rhymer" is rhymed with "marty schottenheimer" in Eminem's opening bars. Hear the song here.

So, I don't care if Slick Rick rhymed 6 syllables in a bar in 1987 on some obscure song.

Slick Rick didn't go on to be a huge crossover hit and become as big as Elvis on a global stage; to sell millions of records; to have shows in Asia, Europe, and so on. Eminem did. Thus, it basically means that Eminem's use of extended block rhyming is more important and more notable in the history of rap. Eminem not only pulled off extended block rhymes well; he put them in such a format and package, like the smash single for a major motion film, 8 Mile, and brought them to millions of listeners. Thus, in some sense, Eminem was the first one to make block rhymes awesome. If a listener or future rapper hears Eminem and not Slick Rick use extended block rhymes for the first time, then in a sense Eminem is the true originator, not Rick.

This is also what you have to think about when you evaluate Twista, or any rapper who becomes notable for one style. Everyone has heard "Slow Jamz", so that's what Twista's style has come to be epitomized as. If all the most popular songs from Twista are ones where he raps fast, then he is a fast rapper.

My more general beef is that I've never heard any Midwest chopper rapper successfully merge quick rhythms with a tight technique on rhymes. Long 3 or 4 syllable block rhymes simply seem foreign to the style, maybe foreign to even the very physiological pronunciation of words so quickly. Twista falls into that pitfall, and doesn't use them.

Of course, you can't dismiss Twista without giving him praise for his breath control and articulation. It really is impressive, and fights the belief held by many that rappers are amateur musicians . But Twista never uses his technical expertise to its fully artistic extent. If you always rap fast, then that is the benchmark level a listener hears from you: you rapping fast. They expect that. But if you merge slow rapping with quick rapping, and know how to move back and forth from one to the other, that makes the quick rapping more interesting and impressive. 

I far prefer Kendrick's approach to quick rapping on "Rigamortis." Besides varying his rhythms beyond simply being fast and using triplets, Kendrick knows how to move from slow to quick rhythms. He starts the song slow, and then ends it quickly. This artistic move, as simple as it is, makes his rap much more re-listenable, once the unseasoned rap listener matures and moves beyond what are, at worst, Twista's inconsequential fireworks that sound pretty but don't do much. This is a great example of a (future) GOAT outlining the difference between what makes a good rapper and what makes a legendary rapper. In any event, Kendrick's breath control is more impressive, because he is constantly varying where he takes breaths, whereas Twista doesn't. Kendrick in a way puts Twista in his place: Lamar has completely assimilated Twista's style, improved on it, and then relegated it to the backwaters of his style. It's almost as if he got bored with something so easy.

Much of this can be applied to why Eminem's "Rap God" song didn't deserve all of the media attention it got. Major international publications with no specific connection to rap but who must deal with cultural icons like Eminem regardless lost their shit over "Rap God", such as Time Magazine. Just check out this quote: 

>If “Rap God” and his first single “Berzerk” are anything to go by, the world can expect an immortal recording.

But you can know not to trust Time at all when they go on to say this:

>“I’m beginning to feel like a Rap God / All my people from the front to the back nod” spits Eminem in his trademark staccato flow.

Eminem's trademark flow isn't staccato; it's legato and flowing.

But on "Rap God," Eminem basically makes the mistake Twista has made his whole career: thinking tight instrumental technique is all you need. But whereas Eminem has multiple classic albums to fall back on, Twista doesn't. And in any event, "Rap God" saw eminem try a new style very well and showed him growing as a rapper, even at 40 years old. That's what great rappers do, and Twista never learned that.

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