New Trend In Rapping: Words Rhyming With the Same Exact Words

Previously in rap, emcees would have to think of new words to rhyme with words they already used--but not anymore. The best rappers in the game today rap words with--if you can believe it--the same exact words. Starting in 1992 with the Beastie Boys' Check Your Head LP ("the beginning of their downfall,"), when the Beasties dropped this monster on the sidewalk (radio):

"Everybody's rappin' like it's a commercial /
Acting like life is a big commercial"

First American "gangster" rapper Emily Dickinson did similar in "Because I Could not Stop for Death":

"We paused before a house that seemed /
A Swelling of the Ground-- /
The Roof was scarcely visible-- /
The Cornice--in the Ground."

If you like things that rhyme such as the words in rap songs (or rap & roll), you might consider reading more here.

But perhaps you need your appetite whetted! That is OK too. Below is an extensive timeline of milestones in the history of rhyme:

1995 - Seconds after triggering the first one, DJ Premier rhymes a Roland drum machine handclap with yet another Roland drum machine handclap. Then he does it again. And again. Premier rhymes the handclap five times, which at the time constituted the most consecutive rhymes in music history.

2000 - The Ying Yang Twins hit the scene, and become the first rappers who, physically, rhyme.

2001 - MC Hammer, in an effort to relaunch his career, tries to push rapping to the next level. In his song "Pushing Rapping to the Next Level", he rhymes:

"You can't touch this /
You can't touch this /
You can touch this..."

Within seconds, nothing happened.

2007(?) - For his follow-up record to Let's Get It, Young Jeezy starts off by shouting "aaay!", then holds one long "aaay" for 79 minutes. The disc comes with a companion DVD, which features bloopers and outtakes of the studio session, including an ill-fated remix with G-Unit's Yayo: Instead of rhyming, Yayo sits by the studio window, barking at moving cars.